Still a fair way off spring yet, but I have decided to pay the lawn a bit more attention this year. Its buffalo, mixed with some kikuyu that was layed in 1988. It has never been dethatched in this time and the front is quite deep thatch layer and getting quite spongy. But I think I can get most of it by scalping/with a metal tined rake.
The back gets bindii every year worse than the front.
So what I am thinking of in the next few months is spraying for the bindii, really scalping the lawn, top dressing with yellow sand, fertilising with some liquid and granules and then some wetta soil to protect for summer.
But I am not sure of the order or when I should be doing each step
I would really appreciate any advice any of the lawn care experts like BB might have
Evidentially I like repairing mowers, but so far less fond of repairing lawn issues :)
I'd be spraying for Bindi anytime now and letting that do the job while the lawn is still slow. Buffalo doesn't go quite as dormant as Couch does but when it shows signs of becoming active then I would scalp it right back using a rotary mower that has been modified to cut below the skirt edge.
Then just screed yellow / brickies sand back and forth all over the whole lot to fill in the low spots as that's what it's all about and then apply fertiliser.
I feel I'm still at least another month or two away at the moment..........................and still haven't built my groomer to date.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Thanks BB I can tell you the buffalo is certainly not dormant
I last fertilised in may with a 50/50 mixture of powerfeed and seasol in a hose pack with a tablespoon of epsom salts and the bloody thing took off and keeps going
I guess that's why I always only wanted couch as that way I get a break from it over winter, as who wants to be out there in the cold crappy months dealing with this, definitely not me !
Anyway I still wouldn't scalp it until the warmer months come into season, say mid to late October, depending on your actual weather pattern.
A few of my neighbours have Sir Walter and theirs are all rather slow, my direct neighbour is only cutting his every 3 weeks opposed to every 4 days like he does during the height of summer.
Maybe if you don't want all the work in the colder months that you only do a shut down fertiliser in late April and not overdose it and then you should only have minimal upkeep work through the bad part of the season.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
I've just booked in a mower man to help me out with my Buff this year.
I'm currently getting it through winter with applications of Floratine Knife Plus and The Andersons Humic DG.
Come October, my mower man will core aerate both the newer (~2 years old) verge buff and the older buff out the back, which is of unknown age but has about a 3cm layer of thatch. He's also going to very lightly vertimow/groom it.
I was, and still am, a bit cautious about doing a vertimow to Buffalo, but I've seen other Buffalo lawns he's done and they've come up a treat.
I believe the order will be vertimow, core, fertiliser, soil wetter and then lightly top dress and level. I believe you want a sandy mix but also something that contains decent organics. Yellow sand won't do much in that regard, but I suppose it depends what else you've got there. I wouldn't just use yellow sand in this bottomless sandpit that is Perth soil.
I'm really keen to give my lawn a head start into summer this year. This time last year I had a broken leg and couldn't give it the love it needed. As a result I was chasing my tail through summer and used far more water than I would have liked.
I don't collect mowers. I just require Multiple Mowing Solutions™.
I have a mate south of the river who has done a careful scalp 2 seasons in a row now, and his buffalo looks amazing. You just need to make sure you keep plenty of runners and not go back to bare dirt. I’ve never tried it myself but was always skeptical of scalping buffalo. I wouldn’t use sand either - I believe even most lawn mixes from landscape suppliers are mostly sand, chicken manure, peat, loam and fertiliser. There are a couple of places around like green life soil who do a decent special lawn mix, I’m sure there are others now. This year I’m looking to use as much bentonite clay as I can get down and quality compost after a core aeration. My “soil” is typical Perth sand.
The same mate mentioned above has been using knife plus this winter, I can’t believe how good his buffalo still looks. There are a few great products available now for better than the typical places prices. I’ll be getting on to some new products this season.
I bought a litre of it back in about April, didn't think it would be much chop but my goodness was I wrong. It really is great product. Give a beautiful, natural green.
The verge Buffalo took a hammering after we had skip bins and pallets on it. The downside of doing landscaping, that stuff has got to go somewhere. Far from scientific, but last year it go mowed once between May and September. This year it's grown and filled in the damaged patches from the skip bin, etc, and needed a mow every fortnight or so. With the warm temps we've been having lately, it's getting a haircut about once a week now!
Last edited by Mystyler; 01/08/1911:42 AM. Reason: Formatting
I don't collect mowers. I just require Multiple Mowing Solutions™.
I have been giving mine a light scalp every year but am only game to go down a couple of notches in height, seems to keep it under control. There are a couple of area's that are thicker than others due to amount of sunlight etc so will go a bit further down. I read somewhere that it is best done over a couple of weeks, any thoughts ? The Knife Plus sounds good, where can you get it from ? do you use it all year as the main fertilizer ?
I drive past a house most mornings and the thatch is at least minimum 3 inches above the pavers, whilst near on wall it is much higher. This is google maps of it 2 years ago and it is higher now
Knife Plus is not strictly a fertiliser, but an iron compound. You can apply it all year long, but it's great in winter to give your lawn a bit of a green up and a helping hand with a few nutrients. It's absorbed by the leaf, rather than through the roots. You can get it from Ralphy's Lawn and Garden Supplies. You order online and they deliver to your door.
I'm guessing you've got Buffalo as well? I'm not the biggest fan of scalping it simply because if you go a notch too low, you risk killing it off completely. If you know your setup, and leave plenty of green runners you should be OK, can take out a bit of the thatch with a rake.
tyler,
I can't un-see that. Not the worst I've seen, but pretty bad! Bunker edging indeed...
I don't collect mowers. I just require Multiple Mowing Solutions™.
Thanks for the info, yep Buffalo. Bit of a duel edged sword I guess, If you dont do anything the lawn will end up too thick and then scalping is not an option. How do others keep the thickness under control ? I dont alter my cutting height all year and i think it helps.
Yes, you can find yourself between a rock and a hard place. I'm chickening out and and getting a professional to do a light verti mow on mine out the back this season.
I've found with Buff that the more shade it gets, the less thatch it develops. To a point, of course! ;)
I don't collect mowers. I just require Multiple Mowing Solutions™.
With a forecast of a couple of warm days followed by rain I thought it was about right to give the Buffalo preparation for the growing season. Although I don't think mine is too thick it does get a little bit spongy in places. Started by cutting at the usual height then using water based line marking spray marked the areas most in need of a light scalping. Dropped the height by 1 notch on the Gold Anniversary edition VSX 160 Victa and scalped the lawn, gee the she sounds nice and gnarly hard up on the governor in the thicker patches. It's amazing how much comes off just lowering the height on my mower by 1. My one and only tip from a non professional is to empty the catcher regularly, I only half fill before emptying as with buffalo being slightly spongy the extra weight of clippings in the catcher means you are cutting slightly lower than your setting and with a near full catcher she really digs in and you end up with an uneven or excessively gouged areas due to cutting deeper as the catcher gets heavier. Next step was to apply a bit of lawn mix in the area's that are a little thread bare, apply soil wetting agent, fertilize and give a good water. Will post updates over next couple of months to see how it goes.
I pulled the trigger a little early but the temperature is more consistent now and the beast is awakening. The areas scalped a bit more than the rest always take longer to recover but they have a good amount of new shoots.
First haircut after scalping the Buffalo, pretty happy with how it's coming along. Nice steady temperatures forecast so should help things along and as the suns comes further south the area's close to the walls get more sun.
I just scalped my Buffalo today and was cringing to do it but it had to be done, I have been cutting it on the highest setting on my ride on for a few years now and if I dropped it one notch it would scalp. I used my Honda push rotary mower which has alot more height settings and went over it a few times dropping it a notch each time till I thought was ok It's not as spongy now and should be ready for the Scotty this season. Can anyone recommend what's best to use sand or top soil to fill in the gaps and when is it best to get the Scotty on the field and do some work. Any tips would be greatly appreciated as this is new for me and I'm not someone who like to scalp my lawn, the neighbours must think I have gone mad.
I used a lawn mix rather than straight sand and it worked well, only put a small amount in the thread bare area's and as required if you have any uneven patches. Not sure what your soil is like drainage wise but would have to be better than mine so I applied a wetting agent and gave it a feed. Must be hard to concentrate on doing anything in the yard with a view like that ! what's the fishing like in the river there ?
Did my whole lot plus a neighbours down the street who's following my lead here on Friday and have to now do the final top dressing and screeding to retain that billiard table finish. My lads off on School Holidays as of tomorrow so he's the one that's going to be dragging the screeder around for an hour or so. Give the old man a break I say.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Drainage is excellent, I was thinking sand as I'm paranoid about top soil being contaminated with weeds and seeds (I know it's supposed to be treated) but I would hate to bring anything into the lawn as it's 98% weed free, what's in the lawn mix? Would you recommend top dressing now or wait to the lawn greens up a bit? I have been watering the lawn well as I have a water tank and a fire pump and plan on doing a few more cuts during the week at this height to get the lawn used to the height and not shoot back up to where it was. Also can anyone tell me when I should get the Scotty on the pitch or should I keep using the rotary mower untill the lawn starts to shape up, my other question is if I put top soil or sand can I run over it with the Scotty or will it blunt the blades.
Sorry for asking to many questions but this is new to me, I have never had my lawn this low and this is going to be my first mow with the Scotty. I'm still paranoid my lawns going to die on me.
As for the fishing it doesn't fish like it used to 30-40 years ago when you could throw a line in and catch a good fish all the time anywhere, I have grown up on this water my whole life and know where some of the bigger fish hang out now. We pick up some good bream around the 40cm mark and estuary Perch in the 40+cm, Luderick also in that size as well plenty of good sized mud crabs too, as for the flatties well 70-80cm and there's bigger ones if your patient. Live poddy mullet at night is always interesting I almost lost my fingers a couple of times as we put handlines out with 30kg+ line and we get snapped off instantly (most likely sting rays). Theres nothing like the sheer power of a massive sting ray cutting through the water when it runs.
Top dress as soon as possible as this way the lawn will shoot up through it opposed to it being smothered and having to struggle through it. basically you're putting soil on top of soil with roots in it.
I always use nothing more than orange Brickies Sand (the darker orange the better) and never all these expensive "concoctions of whatever". I will be using it again this year and I spread it out on the warn concrete and totally dry it out, this way it will run in to all the low spots just like the sand goes through the hour glass when you screed it around.
As far as using the Scotty is concerned just ensure that your bare exposed soil is just a tad damp so that it doesn't stick to the rollers and not too dry so that the air movement created by the reel doesn't flick it up like a rotary would do. No need to use the rotary for anything else other than the scalping process. In other words you could store the rotary totally off site as that's how much you're going to need it.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Sand is what I was wanting to go for, so obviously fill in between the roots and screed it to the level I have cut then just keep watering and mowing on a regular basis and fertalize and Scotty does the rest.
How many scoops of sand do you think I will need for my lawn?
I got the Scotty out over the weekend and started it up for the first time and she started second pull, it seems to be running fine just had to fix a few adjustments to the clutch leaver and adjust the drive cable as it was travelling to fast for my walking pace. Only problem I had was the on off fuel tap was leaking at the valve so I ordered a new one so easy fix.
I'm not sure how far back you've cut it, but in saying that I can't answer the question of how much sand you require as I don't know how uneven your surface is and how perfect you want to make it. The last thing you want is high spots as that's harder to work with later than low spots.
Low spots you can always fill while high spots have to be dug out or re-profiled using a modified mower like I've got. BTW don't ever worry about the thought of killing a regenerative type grass as no matter how deep you cut there will always be roots in the soil that will grow new grass.
Maybe best you take some good photos of what you have to work with and put them up here so we can give you a bit of a plan to work with.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
I haven't taken it down to dirt, but I would say I got 20-25mm to fill in the depest spots, and the thatch was only from the tree to the shed the rest is fairly new growth that I encouraged to run from the thatch stuff. I would say 8x8m, I have ordered about 1.5m3, if it needs more I will get another lot. It should be delivered today so will see if I got enough, and asses it is as I go.
I guess it is a case of what works for the individual and one size may not fit all and we are talking specifically about Buffalo. There are a couple of reasons to top dress, either to add nutrients and organic matter to the lawn or to level lawn. I have never top dressed Buffalo, I use the lawn mix very sparingly and only in the area's that are a little thread bare after the scalp. A decent lawn mix will benefit any lawn and as the soil in my area is not the best it does help, the cost difference between the mix and yellow sand was $8 for a half trailer which is enough to do my front and rear. Sand doe's the same thing as a mix without adding anything to the lawn. The reason I dont top dress is that you have scalped the lawn to reduce the thatch, why would you want to encourage it to grow thicker, faster ? Buffalo does this without help and excess thatch build up is the biggest issue with Buffalo. I think these days top dressing of Buffalo is not recommended unless for the purpose of minor leveling. If you have a deeper depressed area it's probably quicker to cut that area on 3 sides, lift it and ad soil from your garden under the section and relay it rather than progressively top dressing. I did this a couple of years ago to an area which has an old rotting root ball of a palm under the ground, might need another go next year again until things fully settle. Just my thoughts and contribution to the thread.
PS. Fishing sounds pretty good BS, jealous of those nice big flatties you guys have on the east coast, we have the bartails mainly which don't grow big, a 50cm fish is photo worthy !
Hi Wce, I don't have a photo but its coming along well
Have had very good fortune - I sprayed with seasol, power feed with some epsom salt mixed in. I watered it in, and then it rained that night. Then 2 weeks later, I spread (with a spreader) general purpose NPK lightly, and watered it in - then it rained again that night
The result has been good growth - initially some patches but these are growing out. I mowed on Victa height 7 - just a light cut, overall looking good
