Making the most of your Home with fantastic lawns...

Other than your home, the outside lawns and landscaping are the next big important decision. Forward planning of the lawns, is vital right from the start of the house project.

What do I need to consider?

• What landscaping do I put in? It is important to keep the gardens separate to the lawn area. The need of the shrubs and trees is quite different to the grass in the lawn. Also, how am I going to use this area? Is it for social, relaxing, childrens play area?

• Irrigation - one of thing we tend to forget about is ensuring that the lawn has plenty of water at the right time of the year. Forward planning your watering system is very important. (There is nothing worse than coming home after a wonderful 2 weeks holiday to find a brown and dead lawn.)

• Preparation work - to ensure that you give your new grass seed the very best opportunity to germinate, having a quality top soil is a must. Poor top soil or lack of top soil, may not give you the results you expect.  A good soil level of 80-100mm is always a good beginning.

• Grass Seed what is best suited for my part of town? In the Tauranga, Mt Maunganui and Papamoa areas, they all have different soil types, and water issues. The grass types which are better suited differ from area to area.  Do I want a fine grass blade or a slightly thicker blade? A rich green or light green. There are multiple options, but again check that that grass blend is going to suit your areas conditions.

• Rolled out lawn/turf  - the beauty of this method of putting your lawn in, is that the grass is already thick, lush and has excellent plant and root growth. Again ensuring that you have irrigation in place and the right type of grass for your area, will ensure that you enjoy the advantages of having your lawn laid with instant lawn. 

• Mowing another really important part of caring for the lawn. Without regular mowing, the grass can lack lustered and thin very quickly. Mowing at the right height (30-40mm) is vital to the health of the grasses. Scalping (a kiwi favourite) is not recommended as it quickly removes moisture from around the plant, thinning happens very quickly and other plant species start arriving.

• Fertilising - keeping your well feed is also important. A good high quality turf fertiliser will provide the nutriants that you lawn needs all year round. A good application of products like Turf Gold will set your lawn up beautifully.

• Ongoing Care it is important that you have an annual Lawn Maintenance program in place. This should cater for fertilising (4-5 times a year), Autumn and Spring weed spraying (which deals with the broadleaf, creeping oxalis, prickle weed/onehunga weed and hydracottle plants, the most common weeds in the Bay of Plenty). Working with your turf specialist will ensure that you dont miss anything out.