The question we hear most in late winter is whether it is too early to fix the lawn. The answer depends on which grass you have. Melbourne lawns come in two families, and they grow at opposite ends of the year.
Know your grass first
Buffalo, kikuyu and couch are warm-season grasses. They spread by runners, lose colour in a cold winter and grow hard from October to March. Rye and tall fescue are cool-season grasses. They grow in clumps, stay green through winter and struggle in a hot February. Pull a handful apart. If you find runners creeping along the ground, it is a warm-season lawn.
The right month
- Laying warm-season turf: mid October to the end of March, once the soil has warmed
- Laying cool-season turf: March to May, or September to October
- Oversowing rye or fescue: April is best, September is second best
- Repairing buffalo or kikuyu: feed and water in spring and let the runners fill the gaps
Seed sown into cold soil in July mostly feeds the birds. Turf can be laid in a January heatwave, but you will be out there with a hose three times a day.
Getting the base right
Turf fails from the bottom. On clay, take off the old lawn, loosen the top 100 millimetres and spread 50 to 75 millimetres of sandy loam. Level it so it falls away from the house and finishes about 25 millimetres below the paths. Turf laid straight onto hard clay is boggy in winter and thin by its second summer.
Watering it in
Water new turf within half an hour of laying it. For the first two weeks keep it damp all the way through: a good soak each morning, with a second on days over 28 degrees. Lift a corner to check. The soil under the roll should be wet, not just the leaf. In week three, drop to every second day. By week six, a deep soak twice a week is plenty. The first mow comes when you can no longer lift a corner, usually at two to three weeks, with the mower set high.
Seed needs lighter, more frequent watering: a gentle mist twice a day until the grass is 30 millimetres tall. Check your water retailer's current rules on sprinkler hours before you set a timer. If bare patches come back in the same spot every year, look up. Shade from a gum or compaction along a worn track is the likelier cause, and seed alone will not fix either.