Sir Walter Brings Spring In Autumn

If your lawn’s one of many around Sydney now showing the effects of a particularly rough spring and summer, take heart...

There is no better time than now to give your lawn a facelift, or even replace it with a complete “greenover.”

This advice from Lance Yates, CEO of the major north-western Sydney turf farm, Windsor Turf, explodes the myth that autumn is the wrong season to install lawns in the Sydney-Wollongong-Newcastle region.

“From now until the end of May actually is a good time for lawn grass, because it grows well in cooler weather,” Lance Says.

“Yet in the past this has often been overlooked, as autumn traditionally is when Sydney region householders are advised to fertiliser lawns for winter and use a herbicide to kill cool weather weeds- the old weed-and-feed.

Facelift
“But it’s also the time to give your lawn a facelift, or put in new turf if it’s so far gone that you will need to start over. You don’t have to wait until spring.”

Lance explains that May is the right time to replace the whole lawn, or just fill in the bare spots, because the cooler weather and more frequent rain helps turf establish.

“The turf you buy and put down is really vigorous,” he says. “Quite often, when you wait to buy turf in the spring it can be weak if it’s gone through a hard winter.”

Lance says hardy Australian-developed Sir Walter is the perfect turf variety to install in autumn, because it keeps its colour and grows strongly throughout the year- as well as in shady or drier positions-while other types are dying off.

As a large licensed grower-supplier of Sir Walter and other leading varieties, Windsor Turf is seeing a major shift in eastern seaboard lawn-growing wisdom.

“Landscapers and nurseries in cooler regions, which also have been badly hit by drought and water restrictions, now appreciate the superior year-round performance of Sir Walter and other warmer-climate grasses,” Lance says.

“We’ve been flat out keeping up with demand for these types from Victoria and the ACT, where you’ll begin to see a great improvement in the year-round appearance of lawns and recreational areas- thanks mainly to Sir Walter.”

Lance says the past six months in the Sydney region also have been harder on lawns than for many years.

“The on-going hot dry spell and the introduction of water restrictions, as well as an invasion of caterpillars and army grubs, combined to leave many lawns looking brown or dead in patches,” he says.

“In some cases, complete returfing with a more suitable grass variety will be needed.”

And gardeners should take care when using convenient weed-and-feed formulas on lawns.

“Each formulation should be specifically designed for each grass type,” he warns. “It’s easy to ruin a lawn if you use the wrong one.”

“A good quality fertiliser is also important for ‘winterising’ a lawn. It will help your grass get strong and healthy, and give it time to harden off, before cold weather sets in.”

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Lance Yates at Windsor Turf
Phone: (02) 4577 2550 or 1800 802 908
Website: www.windsorturf.com.au