As we moved into a new house which is build on to a land of clay, there wasn’t even any weed growing on the ground. Occasional clovers were not much as well. So first thing first, our growing family needed a lawn. As there is nothing on the ground, this will be an easy to setup thing.
The land was a bit sloppy and I carried 30 wheelbarrows full of clay soil from the next door construction. They didn’t move their dirt which is piled up at the front of their construction, I carried some of it into our backyard and levelled the land and my son Uzay was helping me.
After this tiring task, we headed to local Magnet Mart and bought some slippers for edging. These slippers are treated and does not rot easily. They are easy to work with and creating the edges is dead easy. MM also gives you the trailer for hire free of charge.
After the edging is done, you can almost imagine the lawn there. Of course all this took several weeks of planning and decision making.
The next step was getting the subsoil drip irrigation installed. I didn’t know any idea about how to do the drip irrigation and what do I need. There are heaps of things at Bunnings or MM but a complete information is no where to be found. One of my friend suggested to go to www.duralirrigation.com.au to get my drip irrigation designed for free and they sent me all the pipes and connectors. They sent the things a bit much and the left overs were enough to use in my veggie garden which we will get to it later. Also Dural Irrigation gave me a good discount. Another good friends of mine living in Sydney picked them up and brought to Canberra. Once I have the plan, all the necessary pipes, connectors, controller and so on; it is easy to set the thing up. In the mean time I ordered the lawn soil from Whole Sale Slippers Company in Quenbeyan. I have done the drip irrigation on a Saturday morning.
Drippers are laid and tested
Air Release valve at the highest point of the drip system
Galcon Controller with a mesh filter and backflow preventer
Flush Valve at the lowest point of the drip system
Full Tap Connection
When I was ordering the soil, I have also ordered 1 cubic meter cow manure. We first spreaded this manure on top of drippers as a first layer. When the grass roots reached here (about 20 cm down) cow manure will already be broken down and will be a good fertilizer for the lawn. I have called friends to help me move the lawn soil for a pizza and beer. It is a good work out to.
Once we finish topping the soil, it looked like something might grow here. The seed selection was also confusing, there are so many varieties and companies. After some research I have selected Sir Walter’s Buffalo but there was no seed available for this, only turf. Than I found Munns Arid Smart Grass. I bought a pack of 2.5 kg and another pack of 1 kg. I have about 60 square meter and 2.5 kg is enough for 62 square meter. As I have never sprinkled lawn seeds before, my hand wasn’t even. I am still keeping the 1 kg box unopened. I also bought Munns lawn starter fertilizer and mixed the seeds with it to sprinkle.
After 9 days it looked like this. we didn’t turn on the drip irrigation yet as it would be a pointless exercise. We only watered it on top for the germination and establishment period.
It looked patchy in the beginning.
After 29 days it looked like something. I even mowed it last week.
Yes there are patches but I will fix those soon. I now have a lawn. I would like thank to my boss Simon and Bülent for shifting the soil, Dural Irrigation for planning and providing the necessary things, Mohan for bringing my order from Sydney to Canberra and Munns for the Arid seeds.
