Maintaining your turf

Watering
Mowing
Fertilising
Top dressing
Scarifying

Ongoing watering requirements

Once established your lawn will still need to be watered. The amount required will depend on weather conditions and your access to water, but over-watering is wasteful and unnecessary. Water the turf deeply and for longer periods rather than giving it frequent light sprinkles.

Early mornings and evenings are when wind and evaporation are at the lowest point, making it the ideal time to water. If you live in a warm, humid area however, watering in the evening may promote some fungal problems, so it's advisable to water in the mornings.

Mowing your Turf

Mowing is often seen as a chore to be put off for as long as possible, however, mowing is a critical factor in the ongoing maintenance and finish of a good lawn. Mowing frequency, height of cut and even the type of mower used will all produce different finishes to the lawn.

It is important to realise the benefits of mowing frequently. Frequent mowing tends to thicken the lawn, conserving soil moisture and providing greater competition against weed invasion.

Frequent mowing also removes seed head on any weeds present in the lawn and therefore helps to reduce the problem of spreading weed and seed.

When mowing, never remove more than 1/3 of the leaf blade at any one time as this stresses the plant.

Fertilising your Turf

A well-planned, reasonable fertility program is a basic part of proper lawn maintenance. Lawn grasses that are under-fertilised tend to be thin with poor colour. Lawns that are over-fertilised, especially with high levels of soluble nitrogen fertiliser, tend to have thatch problems and are more prone to insect and disease damage.

The goal of a good fertility program is to produce a reasonable amount of top growth, but not at the expense of root growth or carbohydrate storage. A good root system is the key factor to a healthy lawn.

Oz Tuff Turf offers a comprehensive range of controlled release nitrogen fertiliser that will supply your turf with the appropriate nutrition for 8 to 10 weeks. If the lawn still looks good and is growing well after this period has passed, wait longer before the next application.

For further information on the fertilising your turf and the requirements for each of the Turf Varieties Oz Tuff have available see the Nutrition Guide.

Top Dressing

Topdressing of lawns is carried out only to correct deficiencies in the profile of the lawn. This process should not become an annual event. A coarse washed river sand is the ideal material to use. Topdressing should be carried out during the growing season, allowing the grass to recover quickly and reducing any possible weed infestation.

Topdressing applications should be light - no more than 10mm and the grass leaf should be still visible through the topdressing allowing the plant to continue to grow.

Scarifying

The scarification process is the removal of thatch build-up in the turf surface. Thatch is the layer of vegetative material above the soil but below the leaf. Nearly all lawns require this process at some stage of their life.

Different varieties have different rates of thatch build-up with the green couch family (Cynodon spp) having the greatest propensity to thatch and blue couch (Digitaria) the least. Excessive thatch buildup can occur with Sir Walter under moderate to high fertility and frequent irrigation conditions.

A scarifying machine works by having vertical blades rotating at high speed. These blades tease and thin out the dead material from the base of the lawn.

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