Need Some Gardening Advise (Seed Vs Ready Roll Turf)

Ace26 on 14/12/2015 - 12:36

Hello all

I was wondering if it was easy enough to sow grass seed to get the good looking turf or am I better off buying ready to roll turf?

Area is about 30 Sq meters

I thought I would go with seed option and buffalo variety but reading some articles on the net, I found that buffalo grass doesn’t grow well from seed. I could go with some other variety of grass of course (need some help in picking the right one)

Cost for seed seems to be approx. $50 - 75 vs $240 – 300 for the ready to roll turf.

I will not get reimbursement for either of these options from the owner

Any fellow ozbargainers with prior knowledge of gardening/re-turfing can give some advice on seed vs ready to roll turf and also on variety of lawn which is easy to maintain (i.e. survives in summer/winter and shade and sun, takes less water and doesn’t attract a lot of pests and weed)

Background:

I recently moved to a rental property in the north western suburb of Sydney (Hills District) and found that the lawn has been badly neglected (amongst the other things which is duly noted in the inspection report) in the past by previous tenant/s.

I tried to remove the weed by raking and using selective weed killer and more than 60% of the lawn area was covered with weed (sadly not the useful kind of weed ). During the clearing the yard process, I found yard is filled with all kinds materials (toys, broken tiles, building material and even some household garbage) along with the uneven surface which was resulting in small puddles when it rained.

So, I decided to repair the lawn by replacing the whole turf, so far I used a mattock, shovel and rake to remove all dead grass and weed, used round up over the last two fortnights to remove almost all the debris and dead grass. Leveled the yard but still have some more stubborn grass/weeds which needs some work. I plan to complete this coming weekend and prep the yard for seed or turf.

Why am I doing this? Well, I am going to be living in this place for few years and want to take care of property in all possible ways I can so I can enjoy my stay.

PS: I’ve notified the rental agency and got a confirmation in writing that I can improve the lawn (yes, I got that in writing before touching anything)

Thanks in advance.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • nocure on 14/12/2015 - 12:46
    +3

    Get some sir Walter turf ..you won't regret it…thumbs up for being a great tenant…most people don't give a sht.

  • nrg2010 on 14/12/2015 - 13:22
    +1

    Just put in 50sq of seed, I bought mixed seed from the local Ag. shop for $27
    Really important to follow up with regular watering/sprinkler.
    Have the seed ready to broadcast for when a low is coming in. The rain will help get it started

    • Ace26 on 14/12/2015 - 14:25

      Can't install sprinklers etc (as per the rental agency) so I will have water with a hose. I couldnt find any seller who selling Sir Walter or Soft Leaf Buffalo seeds. Any ideas?

  • mskeggs on 14/12/2015 - 13:24
    +2

    I hope your landlord appreciates the work.
    Laying turf is the easy way, providing you strictly follow the watering instructions. You will get a nice lawn quickly.
    Growing from seed is what I have done a few times (but never for a full lawn, usually areas about the size of a carport).
    It is tedious, takes a long time, requires several goes, and the grass types aren't as hardy as buffalo (I haven't tried Sir Walter).
    In your shoes I would lay turf.

    • Ace26 on 14/12/2015 - 14:28

      Thanks for the advice. I will send photos etc to the owner.
      Speaking to rental agent earlier this morning, she asked me to send a copy of invoice for material. She is going to ask the owner if he will consider reimbursement (positive news) but said no promises.

  • Conka on 14/12/2015 - 13:39

    Ace, you sound like an amazing tenant.

    In your shoes, where the landlord doesn't seem to be paying for anything, I'd (personally) do nothing.

    Maybe you can get the landlord to pay for the materials, and you provide labour? I have done this with my tenants in the past, and a trusting relationship grew out of it.

    If you like your grass (useful and otherwise), the turf roll option is by far the easiest, but it is not cheap when compared to seed. Turf certainly needs less work. Whilst seed is sprouting/taking hold, you will get quite a lot of weed growing.

    Sir Walter is a great grass. Weed resistant, and grows like all crazy when one adds water. Be prepared to mow it regularly, otherwise it becomes very spongy

    In Brisbane, Sir Walter costs somewhere around the $10 sq/m. + delivery.

  • Ace26 on 14/12/2015 - 14:24

    Thanks all for the recommendations so far, I wasn't thinking Sir Walter before due to high cost but I can some sellers in Windsor/Richmond area who are selling them for $8.50 sq/m.

    Also, given the low germination rates (actual) and effort/time for the seed option, I think I will go with the ready roll Sir Walter.

  • Ace26 on 15/12/2015 - 18:36

    Suggestions seems to have bottomed out, I am still keen to understand if there were other options I should consider

  • Euphemistic on 15/12/2015 - 20:16

    I've grown a decent buffalo lawn from runners. Takes a while, but if you are prepared to work at it, why not.

    The house we moved into had very little in the back yard, a section of buffalo, a bit of kikuyu and a whole lot of bare dirt and a section where I removed a useless Boardwalk. Took some sections of buffalo that had grown out of the existing section, planted them and gave them some water and continued take some more runners and replant for the next little while. Ended up with a fairly decent lawn.

    If you want buffalo without the cost of turf and can wait you could buy a couple of rolls of turf and cut them up and spread them out.

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