Ready Lawn...anyone had experience with this?

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Handsomedan

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#133894 7-Nov-2013 11:19

OK - summer landscaping project coming up.

I have a fairly flat, fully fenced front yard that I would like to flatten a bit more, put in box gardens and then lay ready-lawn on.

Does anyone have any experience with ready lawn?

I'm wondering whether there are better or worse brands...if buying from Trademe and laying myself is as effective as going to a provider and having them take care of it for me.

Front lawn area is not that big (but big enough for a kickaround with the kids), so also would like to know what my rough per sq m cost is likely to be.

Anyone care to offer advice/warnings/recommendations?

Cheers

JC

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Geekzone

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#928616 7-Nov-2013 11:19

Hmmmm. Here we go.

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

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Mark

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#928622 7-Nov-2013 11:23

PeterReader: Hmmmm. Here we go.

This PeterReader thing ... WTF is it for ?!?? Filling forums with useless posts ?

Back on topic though .. no not had any experience, but when you do please share as I need to do the same! :-)

graemeh

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#928625 7-Nov-2013 11:26

We used ready lawn when I relaid our back lawn.

It was good but long term ended up being a failure. I do not believe this was a failing with the ready lawn itself, just that our back yard is terrible for growing grass.

Handsomedan

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#928630 7-Nov-2013 11:31

graemeh: We used ready lawn when I relaid our back lawn.

It was good but long term ended up being a failure. I do not believe this was a failing with the ready lawn itself, just that our back yard is terrible for growing grass.

So this is my concern...we have more moss than grass and it's been like that for a couple of decades.

patches are bare and others are resplendent in weeds (well-mown, but weeds, nonetheless).

I have at various times over the last 10 years or so, laid seed amongst the "grass" that we have and this really hasn't had any effect - I am concerned that if I choose the wrong turf, it will simply die off.

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NonprayingMantis

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#928632 7-Nov-2013 11:32

its very easy (but tiring) work to lay it yourself, and HEAPS cheaper than getting someone to do it.

Between me and my dad we laid a 40sqm lawn in an afternoon.

Bear in mind that you need to water the crap out of it to ensure it takes well. We made the mistake of laying our lawn at the height of summer and ended up spending about $400 extra on our water bill to keep it alive.

So the sooner you can lay it the better, or wait until autumn, unelss you are happy spending up big time to keep it wet.

Handsomedan

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#928636 7-Nov-2013 11:34

NonprayingMantis: its very easy (but tiring) work to lay it yourself, and HEAPS cheaper than getting someone to do it.

Between me and my dad we laid a 40sqm lawn in an afternoon.

Bear in mind that you need to water the crap out of it to ensure it takes well. We made the mistake of laying our lawn at the height of summer and ended up spending about $400 extra on our water bill to keep it alive.

So the sooner you can lay it the better, or wait until autumn, unelss you are happy spending up big time to keep it wet.

Good advice.

Thanks

Any thoughts on price per sq m?

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graemeh

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#928639 7-Nov-2013 11:36

Handsomedan:
graemeh: We used ready lawn when I relaid our back lawn.

It was good but long term ended up being a failure. I do not believe this was a failing with the ready lawn itself, just that our back yard is terrible for growing grass.

So this is my concern...we have more moss than grass and it's been like that for a couple of decades.

patches are bare and others are resplendent in weeds (well-mown, but weeds, nonetheless).

I have at various times over the last 10 years or so, laid seed amongst the "grass" that we have and this really hasn't had any effect - I am concerned that if I choose the wrong turf, it will simply die off.

That is pretty much what has happened to us. We also have more moss than grass.

I think we have two problems, one is dampness and the other is lack of sunlight.

From what I have heard grass is pretty high maintenance and you need to spray regularly to keep the weeds away.

If it is any consolation the grass at Parliament has lots of weeds too. I figure if anyone spends a lot on gardening it will be those guys and even they can't keep the weeds and moss out.

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BinaryLimited

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#928646 7-Nov-2013 11:43

PeterReader: Hmmmm. Here we go.

lol best comment ever!

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BinaryLimited

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#928648 7-Nov-2013 11:45

Handsomedan:
NonprayingMantis: its very easy (but tiring) work to lay it yourself, and HEAPS cheaper than getting someone to do it.

Between me and my dad we laid a 40sqm lawn in an afternoon.

Bear in mind that you need to water the crap out of it to ensure it takes well. We made the mistake of laying our lawn at the height of summer and ended up spending about $400 extra on our water bill to keep it alive.

So the sooner you can lay it the better, or wait until autumn, unelss you are happy spending up big time to keep it wet.

Good advice.

Thanks

Any thoughts on price per sq m?

Yep, wait for the rainy seasons!
You also get http://www.woolgro.co.nz/wawcs0149850/49850.html
Iv heard stories that its a lot better than ready grown lawn...

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andrewNZ

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#928664 7-Nov-2013 11:52

Have you considered just spraying out the moss and weeds. The Yates "Turfix" and "Surrender" sprays work pretty well. from what I've heard and seen.
It doesn't make things any flatter of course.

You probably need to get rid of some of the weeds first anyway. Things like dandelion have very deep roots and cutting them off doesn't kill it them, you've got to pull the whole plant out or spray it.

BinaryLimited

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#928689 7-Nov-2013 12:06

andrewNZ: Have you considered just spraying out the moss and weeds. The Yates "Turfix" and "Surrender" sprays work pretty well. from what I've heard and seen.
It doesn't make things any flatter of course.

You probably need to get rid of some of the weeds first anyway. Things like dandelion have very deep roots and cutting them off doesn't kill it them, you've got to pull the whole plant out or spray it.

not sure if uv tried this but love the ad!

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scuwp

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#928697 7-Nov-2013 12:12

Most of our neighborhood fussy lawn folk have gone with hydro-seeding. Seems to pop up to an awesome lawn in seemingly a couple of weeks. Lawns take a lot of care to keep nice. Regular weeding, heaps of fertilizer, and whatever you do don't mow it too short. Whatever you do it's a perfect time right now so wouldn't ponder too long.

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andrewNZ

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#928698 7-Nov-2013 12:13

BinaryLimited:
andrewNZ: Have you considered just spraying out the moss and weeds. The Yates "Turfix" and "Surrender" sprays work pretty well. from what I've heard and seen.
It doesn't make things any flatter of course.

You probably need to get rid of some of the weeds first anyway. Things like dandelion have very deep roots and cutting them off doesn't kill it them, you've got to pull the whole plant out or spray it.

not sure if uv tried this but love the ad!

No, I "warkaway"

Haven't had good success with the hose on lawn spray. My neighbor did the moss in my lawn with the proper spray, it did a bloody good job.

I have recently tried a hose on spray for my roof (was some kind of "green" brand), time will tell if that was effective.

timmmay

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#928711 7-Nov-2013 12:23

If you have a lot of moss you need to address that first. There are various ways to get rid of it
- iron (be careful it stains concrete, hands, and anything else red)
- different sprays (not a weed spray, a proper moss spray)

Once it's gone you scrape it away, maybe leave it for a bit then do it again. Then you can level, or perhaps best look at drainage first. After that maybe you wait for the weeds to come up, spray them with roundup, give them a week to die, then dig them in.

Hydroseed worked well for me, but grass grub ate it before I worked out what the problem was. Lawing seed worked ok, nowhere near as fast or easy as hydroseed. I avoided buying presown grass rolls as I hear it can be problematic, things like shrinkage between them. Hydroseed would be my recommendation, but make sure you talk to the operator and discuss the grass variety in advance.

I had a guy sow seed for me once, the type of grass he chose grew well but looked like a field in the country - awful. Fine fescue and fine/turf rye grasses seem to be best.

Great lawns take a lot of work. I'm 3 years in and still trying.

NonprayingMantis

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#928722 7-Nov-2013 12:44

Handsomedan:
NonprayingMantis: its very easy (but tiring) work to lay it yourself, and HEAPS cheaper than getting someone to do it.

Between me and my dad we laid a 40sqm lawn in an afternoon.

Bear in mind that you need to water the crap out of it to ensure it takes well. We made the mistake of laying our lawn at the height of summer and ended up spending about $400 extra on our water bill to keep it alive.

So the sooner you can lay it the better, or wait until autumn, unelss you are happy spending up big time to keep it wet.

Good advice.

Thanks

Any thoughts on price per sq m?

I think we paid about $6/sqm, including GST, delivery with zero pallet charge (a lot of places will sting you with a pallet charge).

We are in Auckland and they were Kumeu based.

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