I have a depressingly destroyed lawn. Partly dog damage, partly lack of care.

Its mostly buffalo, but some couch self seeded and grows better than the buffalo does, so i’m inclined to leave it and let the two types grow where they like it most. Is this a good idea?

We are thinking to get some top soil, but don’t know what time of year to put it on.

We also need to replace the sprinklers, but i haven’t really found a type/brand that i’m happy with yet.

Any ideas and advice anybody has would be greatly appreciated!

  • @[email protected]
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    78 months ago

    If you want lawn you probably want to do it now before it gets any colder. It’s going to be much easier to replace the lot in one go rather then trying to work around what you may want to keep. Good opportunity to level off any bumps and fill in any shallows.

    If I had a yard like that I’d be drawing up plans for fruit trees, veges, herbs, you name it. Is it smaller than it looks in the pic?

    • Gorgritch_Umie_KillaOP
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      38 months ago

      Hmm, replacing the lot sounds like a bigger job than what i’s bargaining for.

      So full story, bought a real fixer upper of a house. Picture late 70’s build, couple cheaply done additions, nice enough at one time, but after years of it being a rental, plus its age, the house needs a lot of attention. Consequently the garden has gone a bit haywire, especially with the introduction of the dog.

      Eventually we’ll get to re-landscaping, no joke the picture there is a third of the grass previous owners have laid, way too much for me, fruit trees are definitely on the cards.

      But fixing the garden is a few years away, as we’re renovating the house itself first.

      So, with all that said, i’m not looking for a fantastic lawn, because we’ll probably rip at least half of it up in a few years. I’s just looking for some tips to get it to regrow and stop turning it into a dustbowl for now.

  • @[email protected]
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    28 months ago

    If you are just after adding some green to the lawn, and not to fussed about two different grasses growing, I recommend Garden Basics 1kg Tough And Hardy Lawn Seed. I have had a lot of success with my lawn, either growing back grass from where I went scorched earth with weed killer, or growing grass back from removed garden beds. I got about 5-6 boxes of it, and sprinkled it around my front and back yard before we got all that rain here in Brisbane, plus a little bit of fertiliser to help.

    Here are some photos of the growth, following from death by weed killer.

    Front yard

    Back yard

    Lemon tree base

    The following are before and after, about a month apart from each other. Re-growing from removed garden beds.

    Tree 1 garden bed

    Tree 2 garden bed

    • Gorgritch_Umie_KillaOP
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      28 months ago

      Wow! Yeah, thats coming back nicely. Maybe i’ll have a look at these lawn seeds again. I saw them at bunnings the other day and wondered if they might be the go to cover the patches for now. Cheers!

  • @[email protected]
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    28 months ago

    Some easy hacks I’ve used before

    Use an application of Seasol liquid fertiliser to revive dead/struggling lawn. It’s getting a bit cool now but you could probably still give it a feed.

    Mow without the catcher on so the grass gets recycled back into the lawn.

    I’ve had some success mowing leaves into dead parts of lawn as well. Sometimes it just needs to retain a bit of moisture to get started again.

    • Gorgritch_Umie_KillaOP
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      18 months ago

      Yeah, i started using seasol its worked well in many of the parts. I might try the dead leaves idea as well

  • WIZARD POPE💫
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    -68 months ago

    Cannot wait for all the anti-lawn people to appear and start shitting on you for wanting a lawn.

    • @Dasus
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      58 months ago

      Meadows > lawns.

    • @Downcount
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      8 months ago

      Have you ever wondered the reasons “anti-lawn people” have against lawns?

      • WIZARD POPE💫
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        18 months ago

        I have and those are reasonable but if the dude wants a lawn it’s their right to have a lawn

        • @Downcount
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          18 months ago

          It is. It’s also their right to drive a big truck and leave their lights on at night.

          It’s also everybody elses right to tell them they shouldn’t do it.

          • WIZARD POPE💫
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            18 months ago

            Having a lawn is not nearly on the same level as having your lights on at night

            • @Downcount
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              8 months ago

              You are right. It’s actually worse. Especially in dry areas.

              • WIZARD POPE💫
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                18 months ago

                Well seems like me not being from a dry area affects my views

    • @[email protected]
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      8 months ago

      Nah they’re all on [email protected] and https://www.reddit.com/r/fucklawns/

      In all seriousness, if you want a lawn, have a lawn. I prefer less lawns and more gardens personally. It’s way less maintenance and better for the environment, but I also get people having pets, children, hobbies that require a lawn etc.

      Also culture wars kinda suck.