Growing Grass (On My Front Lawn)

[gp2002]

I have been living in my house (in a new village) for a little over 2 years.

I have a small front yard where grass was put down just after I moved in. In the beginning it was doing pretty well, but lately a portion has become quite bare and it looks as if it may happen to the entire lawn.

Underneath the grass (as I have seen in the bare area) is pretty basic coarse sand with small stones (with a few larger rocks if you dig around).

I am by no means a gardener but my guess is that grass will have a pretty difficult time growing on this type of base.

My question is..........is it worth starting over by stripping the grass, digging down to remove or churn up this base, add some type of dirt or sand base and then lay new sod or is there anyway to save what I have?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

DL

[David Peters]

It is very difficult to improve lawns from the top down. I would suggest removing the sand and stones and starting from the beginning. Then spread good soil over the area to be planted in lawn. Then, what lawn to plant? In most parts of Thailand there are only two kinds of turf for sale at garden centres. The fine leaved one, Yaa Nuan Noi (Zoysia matrella) or the broadleaved one Yaa Malay (Axonopus compressus broadleaved carpet grass).I prefer Yaa Malay because it will grow in the shade. is easy to cut, and spreads out. Yaa Nuan Noi becomes very turfy, is prickly to walk on and seems to encourage all sorts of weeds to grow. It requires continual care unlike Yaa Malay which is very robust. I suggest liming the soil to bring up the pH before laying the lawn down. Water every day until the turfs root well. Apply a NPK fertilizer every month. If you want a better lawn you may be able to buy bermuda grass seed from the USA in Bangkok (Cynodon dactylon Yaa Praek). Also do not mow your lawn too close. Mow at a high height, 3-5 cm above ground level. Many Thais let their lawn become a hay paddock then cut down to ground level. This kills the grass. Mow once a week at a good height.

Well that's all I have to say about lawns.

[IsaanAussie]

It appears to me that you have building refuse covered by whatever sand and dirt was laying around. God only knows what is buried beneath and what may be leeching out. What pH level the soil is at is a huge unknown but I would think that it could well be one extreme or the other. Get the pH tested.

You say the area is small, so I would be inclined to dig it over and remove the rubbish. Then dig in some compost to improve the soil. Good time of year to do.

If you are going to grass the area you dont need to dig too deep but you need to generate a soil profile that has a decent humus content so it will hold water and support biology. You may as well spread sand on concrete then lay out turf and expect it to thrive, as leave the ground the way it is. You want the roots to penetrate the soil beneath. Get the soil right and the watering of the grass will be less of a chore.

[WormFarmer]

Hi gp,

I had a similar problem. I noticed that a patch of grass in my lawn turned brown as soon as the rain stopped. I suspected that the turf had been laid over an area where a subcontractor had been mixing concrete for laying paving. So we rolled up the turf, dug up the concrete and aggregate we found, filled in the hole, spread wormcast over the area at the rate of 1kg per sq.m. and rolled back the turf. The photos below give an idea of what I did. The first photo was taken in November 2011 after the rains had finished. The last photo I took today, you can just about see that the grass there is even better than the surrounding grass due to the wormcast.

Cheers WF

[David Peters]

Hi gp,

I had a similar problem. I noticed that a patch of grass in my lawn turned brown as soon as the rain stopped. I suspected that the turf had been laid over an area where a subcontractor had been mixing concrete for laying paving. So we rolled up the turf, dug up the concrete and aggregate we found, filled in the hole, spread wormcast over the area at the rate of 1kg per sq.m. and rolled back the turf. The photos below give an idea of what I did. The first photo was taken in November 2011 after the rains had finished. The last photo I took today, you can just about see that the grass there is even better than the surrounding grass due to the wormcast.

Cheers WF

There you are. One can not improve lawns from the top down. One has to get the topsoil and subsoil right before starting a lawn. I see from the photos it is a Zoysia lawn (Yaa Nuan Noi). Prickly to walk on in bare feet and seem to encourage weeds of every kind. Die out under shade trees. Still you have done well.

[WormFarmer]

There you are. One can not improve lawns from the top down. One has to get the topsoil and subsoil right before starting a lawn. I see from the photos it is a Zoysia lawn (Yaa Nuan Noi). Prickly to walk on in bare feet and seem to encourage weeds of every kind. Die out under shade trees. Still you have done well.

Hi David,

I'll take your word for the name of the grass and confirm that we do get weeds - but not too many so long as I keep an eye on it and pull them out. The grass is not prickly to walk on, in fact it is very nice and soft and springy to walk on. We also have the Malay grass in shady areas. Personally I do not like this type of grass, in no way does it give a nice lawn-like appearance - although it's better than nothing under trees. It spreads (creeps) quickly and if it gets into the other grass (Yaa Nuan Noi you call it) it takes over, so I am continually pulling up the runners to keep it confined to only the areas of shade.

Cheers

WF

[Foreverford]

My back aches just looking at the monster rolls of sod. Well done and many things can be done many ways. I grew turfgrass on pavement not too intentionally but definitely it can be grown from the top down no problem. Like Aussie and others say. Supply the nutrients, mulch the cuttings bacvk into the turf will eventually make slightly alkaline as is ideal to keep vermin away but Zoysia is magic grass and is the indigenous (native) grass of this area that has been shipped over the entire world and is considered an extremely effective droughtand disease resistant invasive hot weather turfgrass. effective irrigation and dilligent weeding in its original introduction will produce the best turfgrass in Thailand bar none unless you have huge saline problems then "Seashore paspalum" would be best. A constant diet of good organic compost and effective microorganisms, EM and you will have a lawn that will survive isn the best and worst of conditions. Feed it good and keep it happily moist and you can't lose. I just was in the middle of nearly a thousand of rai of it in an old pineapple plantation and it was magnificent.Fore on Fords Forever

[David Peters]

My back aches just looking at the monster rolls of sod. Well done and many things can be done many ways. I grew turfgrass on pavement not too intentionally but definitely it can be grown from the top down no problem. Like Aussie and others say. Supply the nutrients, mulch the cuttings bacvk into the turf will eventually make slightly alkaline as is ideal to keep vermin away but Zoysia is magic grass and is the indigenous (native) grass of this area that has been shipped over the entire world and is considered an extremely effective droughtand disease resistant invasive hot weather turfgrass. effective irrigation and dilligent weeding in its original introduction will produce the best turfgrass in Thailand bar none unless you have huge saline problems then "Seashore paspalum" would be best. A constant diet of good organic compost and effective microorganisms, EM and you will have a lawn that will survive isn the best and worst of conditions. Feed it good and keep it happily moist and you can't lose. I just was in the middle of nearly a thousand of rai of it in an old pineapple plantation and it was magnificent.Fore on Fords Forever

From reading your reply I guess you live in a coastal area because that would be the only region in Thailand that would have indigenous Zoysia matrella growing in Thailand. The problem with zoysia is that there are so many ecotypes and the local Thai suppliers just propagate whatever they can lay their hands on. Hence, the variation in lawns from fine, soft, stiff and overall a pale green colour. Zoysia lawns become very thatchy and prone to weed invasion. In the USA, one is fortunate to be able to buy both zoysia seed and turfs of improved dark green hybrids. Well over a dozen cultivars to choose from.

Back here in Thailand we are not so lucky.

I like Malaysia grass because of its dark green colour. Easy to spread and does become thatchy.

On my first lawn in Thailand i was lucky to have Queens blue couch (Digitaria didactyla) A lovely soft grass that did not become thatchy and required little maintenance. Unfortunately seed is currently not available.

Bermuda grasses (Cynodon dactylon) are the superior tropical turf grasses with hybrid cultivars that do not seed making the best sports turfs in tropical regions. Legend couch grass is used at Suncorp in Brisbane. Indigenous bermuda grass (Yaa phraek) is found throughout Thailand but does not make a good lawn grass. Seed of improved bermuda grasses can be purchased at garden centres in Bangkok.

Tift green bermuda grass has been around for over 30 years in Thailand.

Another grass used in Thailand is St. Augustine Grass or Buffalo Grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) but it is not as dense as bermuda grass.

I always envy those with lawns in temperate regions where the king of lawns is a dark green mixture of bent grass (Agrostis capillaris) and fescue (Festuca rubra). The courts at Wimbledon used a perennial ryegrass mixture of three cultivars.

In the meantime i will stick with my Malaysia grass and once seed of Queensland blue couch becomes available again, I will kill off the Malaysia grass and sow Queensland blue couch.