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Army worm or sod web worm can be really bad news and can attack all sorts of lawns right across Australia. Sadly their favourite lawn is a healthy one.
If you notice a patch of lawn that is slightly shorter or thinner or that looks like it might have been recently mown (but you know it hasn’t) you could have army worm.
The first rule of thumb to keep in mind when mowing your Sir Walter Soft Leaf Buffalo Lawn, is that mowing height matters!
We know there’s no one mowing height that will work on all lawn types, we do know that close mowing reduces root growth though, which in turn reduces the amount of water the turf can absorb.
If you want to use a fertiliser that the experts use, Sir Walter fertiliser is the one for you. It is specially formulated for Sir Walter lawns but in fact you can use it on any other type of lawn.It is a premium lawn food specially developed for Sir Walter. It contains the right balance of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and all the trace elements that your lawn will require.Now this special blend will improve the growth and colour of your lawn be it Sir Walter or any other type. It is economical too, only 25grams per square metre of lawn. You can get your Sir Walter fertiliser in a 4kg tub or for the bigger jobs the 10kg tub.
Sir Launcher is a fantastic new water saving starter fertiliser that will save you time, money and water. Sir Launcher consists of some starter fertiliser, essential nutrients, and water crystals that act like water magnets.
The water crystals rehydrate themselves with each watering lasting several years before biodegrading harmlessly. It also helps lawns survive water restrictions by less frequent watering during establishment. It needs to be raked into the top 50-75mm of soil. You would be crazy not to use this product when laying a new lawn.
It only costs around 35cents a square metre to water restriction proof your lawn and give it the great healthy start it needs with Sir Launcher, which is money well spent!
Your first mow is a special moment and should take place as soon as the lawn needs it, generally 1 to 3 weeks after laying and all you need to do is just take the tips of and remember whenever you are mowing never take off more than a third of the leaf blade. Mowing can take place every 7 to 14 days during late spring and summer. During autumn and winter about every 2 to 5 weeks or as required.
The mowing height is best kept between 40 to 60 mm throughout the year. Mowing at a higher level will improve drought tolerance and leaf softness as well as shade out weeds and keep the soil cooler, in turn saving water.
If weeds appear mow them off to prevent them from going to seed. Any type of mower is suitable for Sir Walter as long as the blades are sharp and always remember, never mow your Sir Walter too low – about 50mil is ideal.
Sir Walter is a major source of beauty and comfort in our lives and a cleansing answer for our environment. It absorbs carbon dioxide, produces oxygen and acts as a filter for our waterways and cools the area around our homes, it really is the perfect green choice.
Helping Reduce your Carbon Footprint!
Turf has a positive role to play in combating the build up of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels and a range of other human activities. In this way Turf can help in the fight against global warming. It sequesters carbon from the atmospheres and stores it in the soil. It has a greater flexibility to do this than trees which means it can also produce oxygen more efficiently.
Studies have shown that grasses keep sequestering carbon even at high levels of carbon dioxide unlike trees that shut down when overloaded.
Cooling your home
Sir Walter greatly reduces heat. The temperature of a Sir Walter lawn in midsummer is 10 degrees less than bare soil, 20 degrees less than asphalt concrete or pebble mulch and 40 degrees less than dry synthetic turfs. In fact an average front lawn has the cooling effect of 8.75 tonnes of air conditioning without the accompanying negative effects on the environment. An average home air conditioner only has a 3-4 tonne capacity and increases carbon dioxide omissions.Something else you may not know is that there are a huge number of good bacteria and fungi in every lawn that can break down any organic pollutant.
Grass provides a greater cooling effect than trees and can achieve the same as an open water pool or lake but is 40% less wasteful in water evaporation. Another great thing about having a healthy lawn around your home if you live in a bushfire region is that it helps reduce the risk of bushfire damage.
Balancing the eco-system
Turf is a natural breeding ground for certain animals and insects that play a vital role in maintaining a balanced eco system and also it helps create a safer environment by restricting around the home the sort of vegetation where you might find snakes and rodents that can pack a nasty bite.
No matter where you live in Australia, periods of extreme heat may occur but remember Sir Walter is one of the most heat tolerant grasses out there. But if extreme heat does come around you need to make a decision. Do I let my lawn brown off and wait for normal conditions to return and for the lawn to bounce back, because it will do that. Or do I water my lawn to keep it looking good. If you do decide to water, water with one deep watering at the first signs of stress then don’t water again until the lawn starts to wilt. If you are on pure sands this will be more frequent than if you are on a heavier soil.
Encourage deep root systems
Remember that frequent light watering is bad news because this encourages shallow root systems. What you want to be doing is less frequent deeper soakings because they encourage deep root systems. This will give your lawn the legs and strength to get through the hot periods. Also if you use Sir Launcher when you put your lawn down this will help because it has the moisture magnets that will give your lawn more strength and more moisture for hot periods. A light top dressing is a good idea also because this will act a bit like a mulch and lock in that valuable moisture.
Here at our Lawn Care Products Online Shop we have everything you need to keep your Sir Walter lawn looking absolutely fantastic, everything is covered including weed control, pest control and fertilisers. You can even get yourself a Sir Walter cap and one of our favourites the Sir Walter stubby cooler.
Go to the Lawnstore to buy your lawn care products
If you want to use the fertiliser that the experts use, Sir Walter fertiliser is the one for you. It’s specially formulated for Sir Walter lawns but, in fact, you can use it on any other type of lawn. It’s a premium lawn food especially developed for Sir Walter.
It contains the right balance of nitrogen, potassium phosphorus and all the trace elements that your lawn will require. Now this special blend will improve the growth and colour of your lawn be it Sir Walter or any other type. It’s economical to only 25grams per square metre of lawn. Now you can get your Sir Walter fertiliser in a 4kg tube or for bigger jobs the 10kg tub, personally I love this stuff so much I order it by the tonne.
Spraying for weeds in Buffalo lawns can be tricky but not with Sir Walter Weed Control, it is especially designed weed control spray for your Sir Water lawn and it will get rid of Bindii, oxalis, clover and all sorts of other uninvited broadleaf weed nasties. It contains Bromoxynil so it is safe to use on Buffalo lawns and this value for money size will treat over 400 square metres.
Always follow the instructions
Always follow the label’s instructions and make sure you adhere to the applications rates. A good way to do this is firstly measure out 50 square metres of area, fill up your sprayer with just water and spray the 50 square metre area. Then measure how much water your sprayer used to cover the area and mix 30ml of weed control product with this amount of water and you are ready to go.
Remember
A couple of things to remember, don’t mow for 2 days after application and don’t be concerned if your lawn takes on a slight brown appearance in summer, that is perfectly normal and of course like with all garden products always read the instructions.
Sir Walter is a tough lawn that rarely suffers from any insect, pest or disease problems. In fact most Sir Walter lawn enquiries result in poor soil, low or no fertiliser or a lack of water. So if you find that your turf is not performing in the growing season do the following before contacting your grower.
Fertilise
Fertilise your lawn with 40g per square metre with Sir Walter Lawn Food or similar and water in until the lawn becomes soft. Repeat deep watering once per week for 6 weeks. Always pick a small area of about 1 square metre and apply twice the amount of fertiliser and water this area as a benchmark.
Water
Here is another great tip for you, have a look and see if your lawn is growing better underneath a tap or close to a water source, if it is that probably means that your whole lawn needs more water. Also if it is greener or generally looking better next to your garden beds, it could be that fertiliser and nutrients are leeching from the garden beds into the turf and that would indicate that all of your lawn probably needs a good fertilising.
Soil
Ensure that your lawn has at least 100mm of good soil underneath it, if not top dressing may be necessary.Once all these steps have been followed and at least 6 weeks of this treatment has been applied then it’s time to contact us for more help.
Seasonal
If your lawn is not looking too flash in winter, it probably means you haven’t done the right thing in autumn to give it the legs to get through the colder months. If that is the case just wait until spring comes around and the weather warms up and you can get back into your full lawn care maintenance program.
Naturally if you notice an invasion of grubs or insects, immediate action will be required to deal with them.
Why brown is green in winter. In this Sir Walter video Nigel Ruck explains why some lawns can be affected by winter dormancy in different regions around Australia.
Sir Walters’s growth habit will usually crowd out most weeds and unwanted grasses. But occasionally these undesirables will invade.Now it’s important not to confuse your weeds with your grasses. Weeds are generally soft round plants where as unwanted grasses include things like kikuyu, couch, paspalum, summergrass and wintergrass. Now these are best removed with a weed wand filled with glyphosate or for some grasses you may want to chip them out with a matic or a garden spade.
Lawn compaction is a common problem; it is caused by wear and tear and heavy traffic. For example if you like your backyard cricket, around the batting crease or bowlers run-up you will find the soil can get compacted, or if you are walking back and forward to the washing line. It is easy to check for and it is pretty easy to fix.
To test if you have a compacted lawn, simply push a garden fork or screwdriver into the ground. In a good lawn, the tines of the fork should easily go down halfway or more, if they don’t the chances are the lawn is compacted and it needs some fixing.
You can aerate compacted lawns with a garden fork or power aerator or coring machines. You can hire petrol driven lawn aerators from equipment rental companies.
You can also apply gypsum to compacted lawns at the rate of about 1 kilo per square metre. Once the lawn is aerated it will grow strongly again and outcompete bindii and other nasty broadleaf weeds.
Army worm or sod web worm can be really bad news and attack all sorts of lawns in various parts of the country. These guys are bad news and very destructive. It depends on where you live to what time of year they will attack.
Tell-tale signs
What you want to watch out for are moths, either flying around a light or flying off as you walk across the lawn, because what they are doing is laying their eggs. Now the worms themselves they can be green, brownish green or black in appearance, sometimes with a stripe or triangular markings. They will hatch after about 5-7 days and that’s where the big damage is done. They attack the lawn eating it and interestingly they don’t just attack any lawn they go for a nice healthy looking lawn a bit like your Sir Walter so you need to be very careful. And once they have exhausted the food supply, they all get up in big groups and move on a bit like an army on the march.
If you do notice a patch or areas of your lawn that look a bit thinner or shorter or look like they have been mown you could have army worm.
One way to check for it is to get down on your hands and knees where the damaged area meets your normal lawn and prise the lawn apart because this could well be the army front line. What you will see is maybe some worms or some little green balls which is the waste product, basically your old lawn gone wrong. What you need to do is treat this with a fast acting insecticide such as the Sir Walter pest control, remember always read the directions first.
Lawn Care Article: Eradicating Lawn Grubs from your lawn
To keep your Sir Walter in peak condition you will need regular applications of fertiliser. Healthy deep rooted lawns are better equipped to deal with stress, maintain their winter colour and prevent the germination of weeds.
When laying you should always use a starter fertiliser such as Sir Launcher, then approximately 6-8 weeks after installation we recommend using Sir Walter Premium Lawn Food at 25grams per square metre. Then as an ongoing guide, fertilise your lawn with Sir Walter Lawn Food at the start of spring, middle of summer and autumn.When it is raining it is the perfect opportunity to get out your Sir Walter fertiliser, because you don’t have to water it in, you are saving water and your grass will love you for it! You can spread by hand or with a fertiliser spreader.
As a benchmark feed one small section of about 1 square metre with twice the amount that you apply to the rest of your lawn and water that in well too. If the rest of your lawn looses colour and this area retains its colour, it is telling you that it is time to feed again.So don’t forget regular applications of Sir Walter Premium Lawn Food will give you a nice healthy lawn all year round.
The preparation for your new lawn is just as important as the installation and crucial to its success.
Always spray the area with a weed killer such as Glypho 360 to remove any unwanted weeds, vegetation or an existing lawn and remember always follow the instructions.
Digging out existing grasses is not always a good way to kill them as some roots can go down over a metre. If your soil is not ideal and you need to improve the structure, cultivate with Gypsum organic matter for clay soils and plenty of organic matter for sandy soils before spreading a 100mm layer of turf underlay soil mix. For more specific advice do not hesitate to contact us 1300 554 442 – or ask us a question on our Facebook page.
If you have a 150mm of good soil already there is no need to bring in any new soil, just cultivate with a rotary hoe or by hand. In some situations you may want to bring in a layer of turf underlay soil mix, just to help you fine tune those levels before putting the turf down.
Calculating how much soil you will need is fairly easy. For a depth of 100m you will need 1 cubic metre per 10spm and spreading is simple. Once your soil has been cultivated and you have spread your turf underlay soil mix, it’s a great idea to add some Sir Launcher which really helps get your lawn started and established. Mix whatever you have added into the top 75mm, level it out and you are ready to go.
Is sandy soil a problem for your lawn? Sir Walter Lawn Soaker is a new soil wetting agent that has been developed for lawns laid on sandy bases. In this video Nigel Ruck explains how this product improves water penetration to the root layer of your lawn.
Installing your turf is pretty straight forward. Once you have got your preparation done you are ready to go. Turf is cut fresh at the Turf farm and delivered within 24 hours so lay it as soon as possible to avoid the roots drying out.
If the turf is left stacked for any period of time it will result in heat damage. Now the turf is best laid across any slope, this is particularly important on steep sites.
Start from a straight edge such as a driveway or pavement and lay the turf in a brick work pattern ensuring that the edges fit snugly together. Use a sharp spade, a strong knife or garden sheers to cut the turf and to fit it around irregular shapes in your garden such as trees, garden beds and garden edges.
Once you have got your lawn down it is really important to use a water filled roller, you can hire these on a daily basis. What these do is ensure the roots are in good contact with the soil below. Without this important step the roots can dry out, your turf can dry out and you will end up using a lot more water in the first 24-48 hours.
So whatever you do make sure you roll the turf.
Sir Walter is an excellent lawn for shady areas but to get the most out of it here is a few handy tips for you. First of all you need to ensure that it does get some filtered light and also if you have it growing under trees don’t let any leaf litter build up, make sure you rake that off quick smart so the blades can get any available light.You may find that in winter the grass thins out a little a bit and that’s perfectly normal, there is no need to panic. Another thing is to reduce the traffic flow in the shady areas, keep that right down to a minimum because that may wear the grass out. And of course always follow a good lawn maintenance program.
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