Howdy... looking for some friendly advice.

Around this time last year I laid a Sir Walter turf lawn in my backyard and
it took off fantastically well - particularly with all the rain we received
in January/February.

This year the lawn is not going so well however - I live in Sydney and have
not had any reasonable rain for at least 4 or 5 months.

The subsoil for the lawn is effectively a small amount of topsoil on top of
a sandstone shelf. In some places in the yard the sandstone would be only
20-30cm or so beneath the surface. In others there is a few metres.

During winter the lawn browned off a bit, so early spring I decided to give
it a good treatment to try to bring it on again. I watered (every couple of
days for an hour or so) and fertilized (using "Buffalo blend" as recommended
by the grower).

This seemed to get the lawn greening up a bit, but as soon as I stopped
watering for a few days or we had a hot day (30 odd degrees) some patches in
the lawn start to "frizzle". The leaves curl up and look dry and start to go
white. Give it some more water at it comes back... Interestingly, the
patches do not seem to conincide with where there is only a small amount of
topsoil.

Now, with the lawn, the runners are pretty much on the surface - 30/40mm (my
mowing height) below the tops of the blades of the grass (I assume this is
normal?) but it was suggested to me I might try a light topdressing to bury
the runners and provide protection for the roots.

As an experiment I topdressed half the lawn - bottom line is that the top
dressing doesn't seem to have any affect on what I am seeing with regard the
frizzling or indeed on the growth of the lawn - it happens on both the
topdressed and the non-topdressed part of the lawn.

It pretty much seems obvious to me that given the shallow and sandy subsoil
and the lack of rain, unless I water pretty much every second or third day,
I won't be able to stop this frizzling from happening... but does anyone
have any other ideas?

Could I be missing certain elements/is what I am seeing a sympton of a Ph
problem in the soil? Is it worth getting the ph tested?

I'd like to keep the lawn soft under foot as I have a toddler who uses the
lawn daily.

Thanks for any advice.

Ciao,
Dave.

Dear Dave, First of all you need to identify what type of soil you have this
will be instrumental in determining how much water to apply and how you
apply it. For example if you water sandy soil it will drain through very
quickly so it needs to be watered often. If you have clay soil it will need
to be watered slowly for a long time or the water will run off.

It may take 3 hours of watering to get a good soaking and ensure you bring
the water level up. There is a great technical book about soils, watering
etc called Gardening Down Under available from Florilegium books in St Johns
Road Forest Lodge (GLEBE). May also be available from Royal Botanic Gardens
bookshop.

It also talks about evapotranspiration, mulching etc. Ideally you want to
get long roots on your lawn which you achieve by a good soaking a 2-3 times
a week (depending on soil type). The long roots and height of grass (approx
5cm) will ensure that your grass becomes more drought resistant and won't
start to die off on a hot day.

Thatching & coring is also important you can hire thatchers & corers to
ensure that your lawn is kept in optimum condition lawn in optimum condition
is necessary because you can effectively shade out weeds and minimise their
chance of striking seeds on bare patches.

Yes do test your soil pH. All the best with it. Heather.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Howdy... looking for some friendly advice.

Around this time last year I laid a Sir Walter turf lawn in my backyard
and
it took off fantastically well - particularly with all the rain we
received
in January/February.

This year the lawn is not going so well however - I live in Sydney and
have
not had any reasonable rain for at least 4 or 5 months.

The subsoil for the lawn is effectively a small amount of topsoil on top
of
a sandstone shelf. In some places in the yard the sandstone would be only
20-30cm or so beneath the surface. In others there is a few metres.

During winter the lawn browned off a bit, so early spring I decided to
give
it a good treatment to try to bring it on again. I watered (every couple
of
days for an hour or so) and fertilized (using "Buffalo blend" as
recommended
by the grower).

This seemed to get the lawn greening up a bit, but as soon as I stopped
watering for a few days or we had a hot day (30 odd degrees) some patches
in
the lawn start to "frizzle". The leaves curl up and look dry and start to
go
white. Give it some more water at it comes back... Interestingly, the
patches do not seem to conincide with where there is only a small amount
of
topsoil.

Now, with the lawn, the runners are pretty much on the surface - 30/40mm
(my
mowing height) below the tops of the blades of the grass (I assume this is
normal?) but it was suggested to me I might try a light topdressing to
bury
the runners and provide protection for the roots.

As an experiment I topdressed half the lawn - bottom line is that the top
dressing doesn't seem to have any affect on what I am seeing with regard
the
frizzling or indeed on the growth of the lawn - it happens on both the
topdressed and the non-topdressed part of the lawn.

It pretty much seems obvious to me that given the shallow and sandy
subsoil
and the lack of rain, unless I water pretty much every second or third
day,
I won't be able to stop this frizzling from happening... but does anyone
have any other ideas?

Could I be missing certain elements/is what I am seeing a sympton of a Ph
problem in the soil? Is it worth getting the ph tested?

I'd like to keep the lawn soft under foot as I have a toddler who uses the
lawn daily.

Thanks for any advice.

Ciao,
Dave.

Hi Heather,

From below I'm guessing you think the "frizzling" is probably due to a lack
of water?

Does anyone else have this problem?

The soil is very sandy and shallow (sits on a sandstone shelf) and as you've
noted it drains very well.

Given the nature of the soil, I would guess my best approach is to continue
watering every 2 or 3 days depending on the weather for an hour or so rather
than less often and longer?

I currently water at night (around 8/9pm) as I don't have time in the
morning - would it be more beneficial to water in the morning?

Thanks again,
Dave.

"Heather Edwards" wrote in message
...
Dear Dave, First of all you need to identify what type of soil you have
this
will be instrumental in determining how much water to apply and how you
apply it. For example if you water sandy soil it will drain through very
quickly so it needs to be watered often. If you have clay soil it will
need
to be watered slowly for a long time or the water will run off.

It may take 3 hours of watering to get a good soaking and ensure you bring
the water level up. There is a great technical book about soils, watering
etc called Gardening Down Under available from Florilegium books in St
Johns
Road Forest Lodge (GLEBE). May also be available from Royal Botanic
Gardens
bookshop.

It also talks about evapotranspiration, mulching etc. Ideally you want to
get long roots on your lawn which you achieve by a good soaking a 2-3
times
a week (depending on soil type). The long roots and height of grass
(approx
5cm) will ensure that your grass becomes more drought resistant and won't
start to die off on a hot day.

Thatching & coring is also important you can hire thatchers & corers to
ensure that your lawn is kept in optimum condition lawn in optimum
condition
is necessary because you can effectively shade out weeds and minimise
their
chance of striking seeds on bare patches.

Yes do test your soil pH. All the best with it. Heather.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Howdy... looking for some friendly advice.

Around this time last year I laid a Sir Walter turf lawn in my backyard
and
it took off fantastically well - particularly with all the rain we
received
in January/February.

This year the lawn is not going so well however - I live in Sydney and
have
not had any reasonable rain for at least 4 or 5 months.

The subsoil for the lawn is effectively a small amount of topsoil on top
of
a sandstone shelf. In some places in the yard the sandstone would be
only
20-30cm or so beneath the surface. In others there is a few metres.

During winter the lawn browned off a bit, so early spring I decided to
give
it a good treatment to try to bring it on again. I watered (every couple
of
days for an hour or so) and fertilized (using "Buffalo blend" as
recommended
by the grower).

This seemed to get the lawn greening up a bit, but as soon as I stopped
watering for a few days or we had a hot day (30 odd degrees) some
patches
in
the lawn start to "frizzle". The leaves curl up and look dry and start
to
go
white. Give it some more water at it comes back... Interestingly, the
patches do not seem to conincide with where there is only a small amount
of
topsoil.

Now, with the lawn, the runners are pretty much on the surface - 30/40mm
(my
mowing height) below the tops of the blades of the grass (I assume this
is
normal?) but it was suggested to me I might try a light topdressing to
bury
the runners and provide protection for the roots.

As an experiment I topdressed half the lawn - bottom line is that the
top
dressing doesn't seem to have any affect on what I am seeing with regard
the
frizzling or indeed on the growth of the lawn - it happens on both the
topdressed and the non-topdressed part of the lawn.

It pretty much seems obvious to me that given the shallow and sandy
subsoil
and the lack of rain, unless I water pretty much every second or third
day,
I won't be able to stop this frizzling from happening... but does anyone
have any other ideas?

Could I be missing certain elements/is what I am seeing a sympton of a
Ph
problem in the soil? Is it worth getting the ph tested?

I'd like to keep the lawn soft under foot as I have a toddler who uses
the
lawn daily.

Thanks for any advice.

Ciao,
Dave.

It sounds like you might have grubs in the lawn eating the roots. Try
fenamiphos granules (from a garden centre).

Yes I would suggest it would be from a lack of water. It may also be a
nutrient problem or a soil compaction problem in that the water may run off
the soil. So you may need to decompact the soil by using a corer or simply
ramming in a garden fork. Wetting agents may also help but on large areas
make it difficult. I think I agree on your watering strategy. Watering at
night is okay but the lawn will not take it up until the next morning. So if
your soil does drain quickly your lawn will miss out on water. There are
some very cheap timers you can get for your tap which you simply manually
set each time so it would literally take you 1-2mins to get your watering
started.

http://www.sprinklersonline.com.au/ Check that one out to see what they've
got. Best of luck. Heather.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hi Heather,

From below I'm guessing you think the "frizzling" is probably due to a
lack
of water?

Does anyone else have this problem?

The soil is very sandy and shallow (sits on a sandstone shelf) and as
you've
noted it drains very well.

Given the nature of the soil, I would guess my best approach is to
continue
watering every 2 or 3 days depending on the weather for an hour or so
rather
than less often and longer?

I currently water at night (around 8/9pm) as I don't have time in the
morning - would it be more beneficial to water in the morning?

Thanks again,
Dave.

"Heather Edwards" wrote in message
...
Dear Dave, First of all you need to identify what type of soil you have
this
will be instrumental in determining how much water to apply and how you
apply it. For example if you water sandy soil it will drain through very
quickly so it needs to be watered often. If you have clay soil it will
need
to be watered slowly for a long time or the water will run off.

It may take 3 hours of watering to get a good soaking and ensure you
bring
the water level up. There is a great technical book about soils,
watering
etc called Gardening Down Under available from Florilegium books in St
Johns
Road Forest Lodge (GLEBE). May also be available from Royal Botanic
Gardens
bookshop.

It also talks about evapotranspiration, mulching etc. Ideally you want
to
get long roots on your lawn which you achieve by a good soaking a 2-3
times
a week (depending on soil type). The long roots and height of grass
(approx
5cm) will ensure that your grass becomes more drought resistant and
won't
start to die off on a hot day.

Thatching & coring is also important you can hire thatchers & corers to
ensure that your lawn is kept in optimum condition lawn in optimum
condition
is necessary because you can effectively shade out weeds and minimise
their
chance of striking seeds on bare patches.

Yes do test your soil pH. All the best with it. Heather.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Howdy... looking for some friendly advice.

Around this time last year I laid a Sir Walter turf lawn in my
backyard
and
it took off fantastically well - particularly with all the rain we
received
in January/February.

This year the lawn is not going so well however - I live in Sydney and
have
not had any reasonable rain for at least 4 or 5 months.

The subsoil for the lawn is effectively a small amount of topsoil on
top
of
a sandstone shelf. In some places in the yard the sandstone would be
only
20-30cm or so beneath the surface. In others there is a few metres.

During winter the lawn browned off a bit, so early spring I decided to
give
it a good treatment to try to bring it on again. I watered (every
couple
of
days for an hour or so) and fertilized (using "Buffalo blend" as
recommended
by the grower).

This seemed to get the lawn greening up a bit, but as soon as I
stopped
watering for a few days or we had a hot day (30 odd degrees) some
patches
in
the lawn start to "frizzle". The leaves curl up and look dry and start
to
go
white. Give it some more water at it comes back... Interestingly, the
patches do not seem to conincide with where there is only a small
amount
of
topsoil.

Now, with the lawn, the runners are pretty much on the surface -
30/40mm
(my
mowing height) below the tops of the blades of the grass (I assume
this
is
normal?) but it was suggested to me I might try a light topdressing to
bury
the runners and provide protection for the roots.

As an experiment I topdressed half the lawn - bottom line is that the
top
dressing doesn't seem to have any affect on what I am seeing with
regard
the
frizzling or indeed on the growth of the lawn - it happens on both the
topdressed and the non-topdressed part of the lawn.

It pretty much seems obvious to me that given the shallow and sandy
subsoil
and the lack of rain, unless I water pretty much every second or third
day,
I won't be able to stop this frizzling from happening... but does
anyone
have any other ideas?

Could I be missing certain elements/is what I am seeing a sympton of a
Ph
problem in the soil? Is it worth getting the ph tested?

I'd like to keep the lawn soft under foot as I have a toddler who uses
the
lawn daily.

Thanks for any advice.

Ciao,
Dave.