Velvetene Lawn
Description
Velvetene is an exciting new variety of seashore paspalum developed by Superior Lawns in Western Australia especially for our hard climate Velvetene has a soft-leaf, tightly knitted texture, which creates a luxurious formal looking lawn. It retains year-round colour remaining green in winter and displaying a glistening bright green shiny lustre in summer in the warmer months.
The answer to having a great lawn and still comply with the water restrictions is the new drought and salt-tolerant lawn, Velvetene™.
Uses
Velvetene has a soft dense surface suitable for family activities and is a beautiful lawn, which will be the envy of the neighbourhood It is used in public open spaces, golf courses even in the palace gardens of the United Arab Emirates.
Velvetene can be mowed as low as 3mm making it an excellent choice for bowling and putting greens. Wayne Grady has requested Velvetene be installed from tee to green at the Ipswich Golf Course in QLD.
Velvetene performs well on football ovals and has been used successfully for the bouncedown area for AFL games.
Velvetene tolerates a wide range of water sources including recycled/effluent grey water, brackish water even sea water, under good drainage conditions making Velvetene suitable for areas of limited fresh water.
Maintenance
- Summer mowing height 10 - 12mm every 7 - 14 days
- Winter mowing height 15 - 18mm every 21 - 35 days
Apply fertiliser in Spring and Autumn Applying a quality wetting agent if and where lawn is distressed, will improve water penetration through the soil.
When applying chemicals for weeds, check labels to ensure suitable for Paspalum lawn.
Characteristics of velvetene
- Tolerates high salt environments
- Aesthetically pleasing option for those looking for a feature lawn
- Environmentally friendly
- Grows in clay or sandy soils
- Soft leaves provide a non-itching surface
- Easily edged and non-invasive to garden beds.
- Outstanding deep colour with minimal fertiliser
- Grows in a wide range of soils from pH 4 to 9.5
- Grows in full sun or with a minimum of 4 hours sun and tolerates filtered shade areas
- Quickly repairs itself
- Attractive striping after mowing
- Tolerates waterlogging
- Frost tolerant
- Can be maintained with poor quality water sources
Ordering
Call
1300 808 000 and place your order with one of our friendly sales team.
- Lawn delivery: a minimum of two working days is required from date of order being placed.
- Direct Delivery from supplier to your home (delivery fee applies) Minimum order for delivery is 30m2
- Pick up from Soils Aint Soils Garden Centres Tuesday to Saturday (two working days notice is required).
- (please plan your delivery carefully making sure all ground preperations, and reticulation are completed, as you need to lay your lawn promptly to avoid spoilage)
- All Orders must be prepaid by credit card.
Payment Options
- Credit card payments only (Visa or Mastercard)
Measuring
Measure the proposed lawn area in square metres before ordering.
If you have an irregular shaped lawn, draw it up as accurately as you can and then divide it into any combination of the shapes below.
Calculate the area of each shape and then add these amounts together to determine the final area.
Schedule your turf arrival or pick up once site preparations are completed.
Site Preparation
Before you can start preparing the soil on the site of a new lawn, it will be necessary to first remove any old grass and/or weeds.
This can be done either by hand or with a non-residual herbicide like Roundup , Glyphosate or Zero Weed Spray. When used according to directions, these products will kill the existing grass. These herbicides do not kill seeds in the soil that may germinate at a later date.
Remember to wear suitable protective clothing and take care not to spray near gardens or allow the spray to drift onto them.
Soil Types
Poor white, grey and yellow sands: water and nutrient capacity is increased by incorporating 50mm of a suitable blended soil or using organic manures, preferably one large bag of pelletised chicken manure to 50 sq metres of lawn.
Rocky limestone sands: should be amended as above and should not be less than 25cms deep above sheet rock. If soil is to be added use Special Lawn Blend available from soil companies which requires no further additives.
Red and black loam sands: are usually naturally fertile and require little amendment.
Gravels and clays: can be covered with sandy loam or Special Lawn Blend to a depth of 50mm to obtain a smooth gradable surface. Add gypsum to heavy clays to improve friability and drainage. Ironstone or cap rock: should be covered with at least 25cm of soil for healthy growth.
Soil Preparation
- Cultivate the soil to 10cms, removing sticks and other debris.
- Water the prepared site thoroughly to settle soil and provide a moist base for turf installation.
- Level, roll or lightly compact leaving a uniform surface 20-30mm below hard surfaces, paving etc., (depending on the variety of turf you are laying-couches and paspalums require approximately 25mm, Buffalo's 30mm). Set reticulation sprinklers level with the soil surface to avoid damage at future renovations (de-thatching).
Installation
- Begin installing the turf along any straight edged path or driveway. As you go, walk on the turf so as to not disrupt the level soil surface.
- If you have part of a roll left over at the end of a row, use a large knife (i.e. bread knife) or spade to neatly cut off the remaining turf and use this to start on the next row. This will give a staggering of the joins similar to paving.
- Make sure all joins are butted tightly together. The use of a baton on the long side of the roll just laid will help to pull it in close.
- After installing each section water in well and roll with a heavy roller or compact with a brick paving compactor to leave a consolidated and smooth mowing surface.
- Always ensure you keep the turf moist. Refer to Watering Guide for more information. If you are using scheme water via reticulation or sprinklers to water you must register with the Water Corporation Ph 131385 and quote exemption No # EX03.
Additional hand watering is often required between your allowable watering times to ensure the turf does not stress in the warmer months.
Maintenance - Mowing
- Mow your new lawn between 7-10 days from installation if installing in an active growing period, (if installing in Winter this timeframe will not be so frequent, once a month is usually sufficient).
- Thereafter, mow every 7-10 days depending on the variety and growth rate of the lawn.
- Never remove more than one third of the leaf at any given mowing.
- The correct mowing height will vary depending on the variety of turf you have installed, the time of the year and the growth rate.
Resources and Information