Episode #2: Achieving the Perfect Lawn with Joe Rogers

Lawn lovers rejoice! The best season of the year has arrived, and it’s time to breathe some life back into your garden starting with your lawn. Easy lawn care tips and the latest state of the art products to keep it looking great!

Episode #2: Achieving the Perfect Lawn with Joe Rogers Transcript

Charlie Albone:

Hi, I’m Charlie Albone and welcome to episode two of That’s How We Grow, in partnership with STIHL garden power tools. If your lawn is looking a little lackluster after winter, you’re certainly not alone. Cooler weather, increased rainfall, reduced hours of sunlight and regular morning frost. Aren’t exactly the perfect conditions for a nice lush lawn. But don’t fret, there are plenty of things you can do to breathe some life back into it. But if you feel your lawn is beyond repair, we’ll also take you through how to lay a brand new lawn and what are the key steps for success.

Charlie Albone:

Either way, I’ll be sharing everything you need to know to spring your lawn back into shape. Now we are talking to Lawn Royalty, Joe Rogers, I’ve been buying lawn from Joe for years now. He’s a top bloke and he knows everything there is about grass. He’s the type of guy who watches rugby league just to look at the pitch. Without further ado, let’s talk to Joe… Joe, thank you so much for joining us. You’ve got a pretty good pedigree when it comes to turf, you brought up on a turf farm. Is that right?

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. That’s right, Charlie, thanks for having me. My father started growing grass in Barry on the south coast, New South Wales in the late 1980s. So I was born early 90, so I’ve been on a farm ever since growing up, school holidays, that sort of thing. Ever since I was born, so.

Charlie Albone:

And you got straight into the family business when you left school. So I mean, you’re the man when it comes to grass.

Joe Rogers:

Yeah.

Charlie Albone:

I won’t tell your dad that.

Joe Rogers:

Yeah, don’t say that too loudly, we normally sneak in around some way. But now ever since I left school, it was easy enough to get a job, I suppose, when your dad’s the boss. But they’re straight out of there and actually worked on a turf farm for four or five years, cutting grass, delivering grass, growing grass. And since then I’ve been working for Lawn Solutions Australia.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. So you’ve done the whole lot, you know how it all works. There’s an old saying in gardening that, you pick the right plant for the right spot and it’s going to succeed. Is that the same with turf? The different varieties are for different requirements?

Joe Rogers:

Yeah, absolutely. And I’m sure it’s a similar to plant, am not a big expert in plants. But there are certain varieties that handle shade better, that handle wear and tear better, they use less water, that should be used in certain situations. So a lot of the time to fails is it simply the wrong varieties put in the wrong spot, so. Like anything we’ve got shade time varieties, we’ve got wear time varieties and we’ve got varieties that use less water. So if you don’t have that good access to irrigation or you’re at a rural area, there’re certain varieties that suit certain applications a lot better.

Charlie Albone:

What is the best grass for shade? Because that’s the one question I get asked the most. You’re under a tree it’s quite a shady spot, can you use grass or is it better to maybe go for a ground cover or something like that?

Joe Rogers:

No, you can use grass. Grass has its limits, but it’s a really common question now with the modern day housing estate. I’d guess you’d call them small blocks, big houses, lots of shape. So, there are a shade tolerant variety. The most shade tolerant you’ll get is a Soft Leaf Buffalo, Sir Walter DNA certified is Australia’s most popular variety and the reason it is so popular is because of its shade tolerance. So, you can get away with Sir Walter in as little as sort of two to three hours of sunlight a day. You’ll need a little bit more than that if you’re getting regular wear and tear on it. But as a rule of thumb, if you put, Sir Walter DNA certified Buffalo in two to three hours of sunlight or low light areas, it’ll generally succeed and do pretty well.

Charlie Albone:

Is there ever a time when you suggest… And I’m glad that I’m on the other side of the screen when I say this, artificial turf?

Joe Rogers:

That’s a swear word around here. Charlie just really watch yourself there.

Charlie Albone:

I’m really on that. I can’t stand the stuff. I’ve got a friend who has it and he loves it. And I think it’s the most repulsive stuff I’ve ever seen.

Joe Rogers:

No. Look, like everything it does have its place. If you’ve got a situation where you want something green and nothing else will work, it’s in full shade then maybe you might consider putting it in, I think other things look better. But the problem with it is people generally rip it out, after they put it in because they don’t like it and it often ends up in landfill and it doesn’t take impose and it’s just ugly rubber.

Charlie Albone:

The only time I found it good is if you’ve got two hour sessions and no sunlight, then it works well.

Joe Rogers:

Heavy wear and tear and no sunlight, it always about the only time you’d put it in.

Charlie Albone:

Absolutely I’m with you on that one. When it comes to maintaining grass, what is sort of the optimum… What is the optimum schedule for looking after grass? I know a lot of people… I don’t know if you’d call them lazy gardeners as such, but they let the grass get too long and then they think, I don’t want to do this very often, I’m going to cut it as low as I possibly can. And I know that that’s terrible for grass, right? So what is the… And the reason for that is, it scalps, it exposes all the bits that shouldn’t be exposed to the sun it’s really bad for it. What is the optimum schedule for grass?

Joe Rogers:

Sure. Well, it is slightly dependent on your variety and where you are. But as a general rule of thumb, you should be fertilizing three to four times a year and that’s really important. Fertilizing obviously gives the grass it’s nutrients, it needs to grow. So if you fertilized as a rule of thumb, if people want to keep this in the back of their minds, grass goes into dormancy over winter, like certain plants do, it slows down growing. It usually wakes up about early September about springtime and later in September, early October if you’re in the cooler climates. You should fertilize as soon as you notice your grass is growing again. So as soon as you notice it wakes up from spring, it starts to green up, starts to grow, fertilize it then. And then again around Christmas time, just to keep it going through the really hot months of the year.

Joe Rogers:

And then I say Easter time, Anzac day sometime that day, at that time of the year prior to winter, are three crucial times the year to fertilize. Regular mowing is really good for grass, it’s really good for the health of the grass. It helps to tighten it up, strengthen it a lot. And if your regularly cutting the top of lawn off, it’s encouraging it to grow sideways. And what that does is that makes it a lot denser, thicker, and stronger. And it’s actually a natural weed barrier, it really develops a natural weed barrier. That’s why golf courses and the sports fields always look so good, they look so dense, so tight, so short, it’s because they’re mowing regularly. And I’m not telling people to get out there and mow every day, because I know it’s a chore to some people, it’s a hobby to some others. But over the growing months, once a week, something like that. If you get the mower out on a Sunday morning and push it around you’re doing a lot of good things for your grass by mowing regularly.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. So you’re not suggesting every day or are you suggesting every day, if you can.

Joe Rogers:

I’m not suggesting every day, if you’re that way inclined, absolutely, no those people with… There’s a lot of people out there now with feeling the mow, the real mows, the golf course and that use. And they want their lawn cut at, 10, 12, 14 millimeters really low. If you’re doing that, two to three times a week is how much you’re going to have to mow. And you would be shocked to know how many people around Australia do that now. It really is a growing channel trend and it’s awesome to see, but for your average Paneer with a steel battery mower or whatever it is, is you want to be mowing about once a week to keep a good lawn healthy over the warm-

Charlie Albone:

Do you need to do your edges once a week as well?

Joe Rogers:

Probably not as prominently as you have to mow your lawn. You could probably keep your edges to, every second mow. Again, personal preferences, it depends how you want it to look. If you want beautiful, straight, perfect edges, then doing once or every time you mow. Generally do them before you mow too, it’s a lot neater and cleaner, but once every two to three mows is fine as well, it’s not going to look too bad.

Charlie Albone:

I remember I was at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2015 and it was the mad rush before judging occurred. And it was pouring with rain and I looked across the garden and we had a sunken lawn and I saw my mom on her hands and knees cutting the edges of the grass with some scissors, that’s how much my mom loves me.

Joe Rogers:

Oh, I don’t know if my mom would do that for me. Actually, you got a good mother there [crosstalk 00:08:04] but actually, it’s funny you say that. There’s a group of lawn fanatics in Australia that do something very similar to that. It’s a hands and knees scissor type business, getting things perfect, so she’s not alone there.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. In Europe people do that, they cut their edges by shears. In Australia, it tends to be more of a battery powered, Whipper Snipper type, trimmer edge that people go for-

Joe Rogers:

Its still around?

Charlie Albone:

Each of their own, exactly. So that’s the regular maintenance. Mowing once a week, doing the edges whenever, fertilizing three times a year. When it comes to scarifying, aerating, top dressing and all that stuff, is that a yearly process? Is it a seasonal process? How do you like to see it done?

Joe Rogers:

So, I’m sort of class at a secondary lawn maintenance. So the stuff I mentioned before, which is fertilizing, mowing and also watering too. And watering important in times of drought. I usually say with watering just quickly if it hasn’t rained for two or three weeks and your grass is starting to wilt, starting to lose color, just give it a quick drink. And just remember when you’re watering your grass, less frequent, deeper waterings are more effective than giving a lot of splashes here and there. So just keep that and the bacteria-

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. Joe, it helps to draw the roots deeper into the soil, doesn’t it? So it turns out more drought tolerant.

Joe Rogers:

Correct.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah.

Joe Rogers:

Yep. You want to soak your lawn, get them roots down nice and deep. So when you do get another dry period, deeper roots mean it can access deeper water sources, so it dries perfect more essentially. So when it comes to scarifying air rating, top dressing, what you just mentioned, again, does depend on the situation and what you’re after. But as a rule of thumb, you should be aerating seasonally, I think the start of spring is a great time to aerate. And aerate just before you fertilize will help the nutrients get down deeper into the soil. So what aerating is trying to do, it’s sort of in the name, it’s trying to let air into the soil base. And what can happen over a period of time, say a year, two years to a lawn that has regular traffic is a soil can become really compacted.

Joe Rogers:

It can also almost be a lot concrete in a lot of situations, it gets that hard. So you just sink for a young plant or a small plant like turf grass, trying to put roots down. It’s easier to try and put it down into nice, fluffy, slower, than it is to concrete. So poking holes in the soil and aerating or coring once a season is super important. Now scarifying is a funny one. More people are scarifying their lawns than ever and now because more people are trying to achieve that bowling green look. If you’ve got a Couch or a Kikuyu lawn, you can scarify as regularly as you pretty much want to.

Joe Rogers:

Once a year is a really good idea. And when you’re scarifying couch or Kikuyu, you can go right down to the dirt, essentially. Couch and Kikuyu have things called rhizomes, which essentially are runners that grow under the ground. That’s why they pop up in your garden and that sort of thing sometimes. But if you cut them right down to the dirt, it sort of really rejuvenate young growth and gets the lawn back super healthy. If you’ve got Sir Walter Buffalo lawn or any type of Buffalo lawn, don’t go as low when you’re scarifying or dethatching. Because Buffalo lawns don’t have that strong underground rhizome. It’s important to leave a little bit of matter on the surface when you’re doing that.

Charlie Albone:

Okay. And would you top dress after you’ve aerated with sand to fill in those gaps?

Joe Rogers:

Great idea. Top dressing is a really good thing to do for lawn maintenance. And a couple of reasons, if you haven’t quite got your preparation right, you haven’t got the slow base you really want. Using a top dress or top dressing regularly is a great way to incorporate a nice sandy soil into what could be a pretty clay heavy profile or something like that. And doing it after top dressing or coring, just makes it easy for that scene to get down a little bit deeper and improve the overall soil profile. So top dressing is a really important thing to do, seasonally I’d reckon too.

Charlie Albone:

I guess you could fill in any small divots and things like that as well and start to get that really flat lawn if you wanted to, by doing it then as well.

Joe Rogers:

Fixing it up with top dressing down the track is an easy enough thing to do and you’ll get the result you’re after, a lot more effectively by doing it that way.

Charlie Albone:

The key to a good lawn is the preparation, so how do you achieve that?

Joe Rogers:

Okay. There’re a couple of key steps to the process. The first one, whether it’s a bit of building rebel from a building site or an existing lawn, is to spray a herbicide or a weed killer on whatever’s there. Because if you don’t, chances are whatever’s growing there at the moment will pop back up through your new lawn, which is one thing you don’t want. So first things first, spray the weeds dead. Generally, two applications of a herbicide 10 to 14 days apart is a good idea, not just the one, because you will get a better kill on what’s there and less chance of them popping up in the future. After you kill them, it’s all about getting that base nice and soft and fluffy. So it can drain and turf can put roots down nice and easily. So decompacting the soil is super important.

Charlie Albone:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Joe Rogers:

And if you’ve got to import soil to get your levels up to where they need to be, a nice sandy soil is best for turf. Nothing too heavy or too overly organic. Sandy loam or 80, 20 mix or something like that, is ideal for turf grass.

Charlie Albone:

Okay. So I’ve seen, when people are laying grass, they decompact it, that gets the air back in it, that gives it a bit of fluffiness and a bit of life. And then you see mainly landscapers or people laying turf, I guess doing that sort of silly dance as they shuffle across the grass, recompacting it, that goes against what you’re saying. Is that not the right thing to do?

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. Look, it’s a tricky one to find the balance. So you’re spot on, you shouldn’t be overly compacting soil that you’ve just laid in preparation for turf because it contradicts the whole of decompacting and getting it nice and fluffy. But a little rule of thumb for people that are looking to lay some Turf is, when it comes to how compacted you should have the soil, is you should be able to walk over it and see where your footprints are, but they shouldn’t be leaving an indent in the soil. So that you should see the marks of the boots or the shoes, but no indent and then you know your soil is just the right amount of compaction for you to start laying turf.

Charlie Albone:

Okay. And removing stones as well, that’s an important thing to. I guess it’s the princess and the pea, isn’t it? The stone will come up through the grass, you’ll feel it when you’re laying on it, that sort of stuff.

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. Removing stones, rocks, pebbles, tiles any builders, rubbish or materials that are still left in the soil is really important for a couple of reasons. One of them is, stones and rubble that’s underneath the surface can heat up quite quickly, can cause grass to dry out in certain areas. The other is, grass finds it pretty hard putting roots down through stones and rocks and that sort of thing. So, you can end up with a dead patch about the size of whatever it is underneath the surface and just one last thing with that, it can be a bit of a safety hazard. If you’ve got kids and that sort of thing running around, tackling each other on the grass, the last thing you want is to semi buried stone sitting right where you don’t want to.

Charlie Albone:

I have two young boys that do a lot of that, chasing each other around, tackling each other on the grass at the moment so, I know all about that pain. So when you got the soil, right, so you’ve deconstructed it, is it good to add in any sort of compost or anything like that or is that too organic, it breaks down too quickly and then you get lumps?

Joe Rogers:

Now look, a certain amount of compost or manure or something like that can be good. You just got to keep in mind that turf loves free draining soils. So as long as it’s not clogging up the soil’s ability to drain and absorb water then it’s fine. A lot of people use Dynamic Lifter and manure and that sort of thing, to try and boost your organic component of the soil, the content, which is fine. But you just don’t want to go too over the top, it’s not like garden mix or garden soil, it’s just got to be free draining. So you’ve got to keep that in the back of your mind whenever you’re prepping your soil.

Charlie Albone:

Sure. So would you apply a soil wetter as well to make sure that it’s free draining? Or what’d you do after the grass is laid?

Joe Rogers:

You can apply granular wetting agents before. This is a lot of starter fertilizers that people sell with turf… Actually have a wetting agent in them, so that can be a really good idea to use a starter fertilizer when you’re laying turf. But wetting agents can generally be applied after the lawn’s installed, if you’re having any issues. But what I would recommend people to do is when they’re buying their turf, it’s just ask the question about a starter fertilizer, because a lot of them do have that wetting agent in it. And it’s a good way to give you a lawn a nice kickstart.

Charlie Albone:

Okay. And so you’ve prepared the soil, getting your levels right is really important. Everybody wants that lovely, flat, perfectly flat lawn, is that what you’re trying to achieve? Or do you need some sort of a fall on it?

Joe Rogers:

Now you need some sort of a fall on it and there’s a bit of a misconception. People want that beautiful bowling green lawn look, just keep in the back of your mind, don’t spend hours and hours getting an absolutely millimeter laser perfect. Reason being, it stores an actual product, it’s a part of agriculture. Not every apple, not every potato is the same, not every roll of turf is exactly totally uniform, it’s not like timber boards, they’re not made in a factory.

Joe Rogers:

So if you spend all the time getting your prep Billiard table, beautiful, perfect, you can be a little bit disappointed when the turf can be different, a mil or two out in thickness. So, what we say is, get it smooth, get it flat, but don’t spend too much time getting an inch perfect. You’re best to fix the levels if you want that look after the turfs established in. But the main thing I’ll say when it comes to levels and getting that sorted is, to keep drainage and water flow in mind. The last thing you want is a pool in your yard, because turf hates nothing like wet feet, doesn’t like wet feet. So if you’re pulling to the center of the yard and the lawn staying wet, that’s when you run into troubles. So just think about water flow and getting that water away on your prepping your soil.

Charlie Albone:

Okay. And so when you’re prepping the levels, it’s good to use a soil spreader to get it level, but don’t bother getting on your hands and knees with a spear level. It’s not going to make the difference.

Joe Rogers:

No look you can get it reasonably smooth, but just don’t spend… Be out there hours with a laser level in a screed and getting it millimeter perfect. Because the fact of agriculture is, not every bits the same.

Charlie Albone:

Yes

Joe Rogers:

So whilst it is very consistent. There can be millimeter undulations here and there, so you just don’t want people spending too much time. It’s easy to fix afterwards.

Charlie Albone:

So when you come to actually laying the turf down, what’s the process of that? For me I like to do a border around the outside and then stagger the joins on the inside, because then you lessen the stripes when it inevitably dries out.

Joe Rogers:

Sounds like you’ve done this a couple of times before.

Charlie Albone:

I’ve laid a bit of my time, yeah. This is that the way to do it, am I doing it right?

Joe Rogers:

No, you’re spot on. So, it is important whether you’re laying slabs or rolls, depending on what type of harvest of the farm uses, is to lay a border around the outside. And the reason for that is, A, it looks great. But B, is when you’re laying on the outside, you’re generally laying up against hard surfaces like pavers, paths, fences, that sort of thing. And because they’re the hardest surfaces, generally they heat up more, so they attract more heat. So if you use cuttings or little bits of turf up against these hard surfaces, they tend to dry out a little bit quicker. So it’s better to use four slabs or four rolls around the outside.

Joe Rogers:

And the other point you made there about staggering your joints, is super important so, just like you would… People doing herringbone patterns like they do with brick, or if you just do standard staggered brick work pattern, that’s great. The reason why it’s good, is especially if you’re laying on slopes to prevent forms of erosion, it just knits that turf in a lot better. But the other reason is it just looks a lot better, you don’t want the same consistent lines running parallel when you’re laying your turf, you want it or knitted in together. It’ll establish a lock better and it’ll look better and it’ll prevent erosion.

Charlie Albone:

Would you top dress, as soon as you’ve laid to fill in any gaps between the roles to stop it drying out?

Joe Rogers:

Look, you can, there’s no harm in doing it. The only reason, the only situation I would tell people to do it is, if you’re in a cooler climate like Victoria and saying you’re laying turf on a shoulder season. So late April, early spring, something like that, it can help to speed up establishment somewhat before winter sets in. But generally, if you bought the edges of your roles and slabs up nice and close together, generally they won’t be a need to top dress at all. But if you’re going to do it, just use a sand or a really sandy soil to do it. But generally you do the job properly like you do in all your jobs. I’m saying you wouldn’t need to do it.

Charlie Albone:

That was good. There’s an old saying in gardening that, you pick the right plant for the right spot and it’s going to succeed. Is that the same with turf, the different varieties or for different requirements?

Joe Rogers:

Yeah, absolutely. And I’m sure it’s a similar to plant, I’m not a big expert in plants, but there are certain varieties that handle shade better, that handle wear and tear better, that use less water, that should be used in certain situations. So a lot of the time to fails, is it simply the wrong varieties put in the wrong spot, so. Like anything, we’ve got shade time varieties, we’ve got wear and tear varieties and we’ve got varieties that use less water. So if you don’t have that good access to irrigation or a rural area, there’re certain varieties that suit certain applications a lot better.

Charlie Albone:

What is the best grass for shade? Because that’s the one question I get asked the most. You’re under a tree, it’s quite a shady spot. Can you use grass or is it better to maybe go for a ground cover or something like that?

Joe Rogers:

Now you can use grass. Grass has its limits, but it’s a really common question now with the modern day housing estate. I’d guess you’d call them small blocks, big houses, lots of shade. So there are shade type variety, so the most shade tolerant you’ll get is a Soft Leaf Buffalo like Sir Walter DNA certified, is Australia’s most popular variety. And the reason it is so popular is because of its shade tolerance. So you can get away with, Sir Walter in as little as sort of two to three hours of sunlight a day.

Charlie Albone:

Okay-

Joe Rogers:

You’ll need a little bit more than that if you’re getting regular wear and tear on it. But as a rule of thumb, if you put, Sir Walter DNA certified Buffalo in two to three hours of sunlight or low light areas, it’ll generally succeed and do pretty well.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. So we’ve discussed about our disgust of fake grass and I guess that’s a very modern thing. One thing that I do like about modern gardening is robotic lawn mowers. I know you’re a huge fan of these, now I’ve got the STIHL iMOW on my property and I love everything about it. I think it’s great and I know you love them as well, what is it… I mean for me, it’s it takes the chore of gardening out and my grass looks healthier. What is it that you love about them?

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. Well, I’ve got to say when I first saw the surfaced a few years ago, being in Durham, Lonnie, I was a little bit skeptical on them. I’ve got one at my place now and products like the STIHL iMOW and robotic mowers in general, I really think they’re the future. And I’m a big fan of them for a couple of reasons, personal or a selfish reason, whatever you want to call it, it’s less work at the end of the day. Look, I do like mowing my lawn, I always did, but I liked doing other stuff like hanging with my mates, family, that sort of thing, doing nothing sometimes too. So the amount of time you actually save with a robotic mower is really good and it’s generally important time too. So you’re at work, most people are at work for actually many hours a week.

Joe Rogers:

You only get a small amount of time to spend at home with your friends, with your family, doing the things you love, doing the things you want. So, if you take a chunk of that out with mowing… Robotic mowers can get rid of that. So from a personal point of view, it’s great, but from the healthier lawn, and this is often quite overlooked. Robotic mowers like the STIHL iMOW, what they do is because they’re not catching clippings, they’re actually mulching small lawn clippings back into the garden, back into the grass, every time they mow. Lawn clippings are really good source of nitrogen, so technically your kind of fertilizing your lawn, minutely fertilizing your lawn every time you mow. And if you multiply that by every single day, you’re putting a lot of nutrients back into your lawn, so it is really good for the health of your grass.

Charlie Albone:

So its like the circle of life. We could hold Simba up to the sun and start singing the Lion King every time the mower goes out.

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. You’re that way inclined, Charlie, you can do that. No worries at all. But no, look they’re super quiet, they’re good for the environment. And I mentioned before, mowing regularly is good. You can’t get much better than something that goes out every night, cut your grass for you. They’re really good thing and I think the future of lawn is in Australia.

Charlie Albone:

So do you run yours at night or during the day? Because I run mine during the day so I can watch it, because I like to watch a movie grass.

Joe Rogers:

That’s a problem. Wives get cranky at their husbands or husband get carried away with their wives, some are on the lawn too much and all they do is sit there and watch it, for the same amount of time that they used to be mowing. So I tend to run mine at night more so than I do in the day. It doesn’t really matter I just got the schedule on it at night. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. I suppose my front yard is quite accessible. So it is nice to know that you’re a little bit safer when the thing’s buzzing around at night.

Charlie Albone:

With garden tools as such brush cutters and hedge trimmers and stuff, battery is really pushing forward unlike the robotic lawnmowers. They’re sort of battery powered, if you will, but so are push mowers now and the performance on those are getting… Well, it’s pretty close to petrol, if not better. Some of the mowers you notice when you take them over a slightly longer grass, they speed up to cope with the stress on the motor. Are you seeing when people are asking you about lawn care, people are moving towards battery mowers?

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. You’re seeing a lot now and rightly so. Look, the petrol mowers are great and they will be great for a long time, but battery mows have so many wonderful benefits now and the power you’re getting out of battery mowers now is really good. You can almost scarify a lawn with a battery model, they’re so powerful and that’s great. And because I’m not the most mechanically minded person, having not to mix fuel and oil and having fuel hand in the shed and making a mess and spilling it everywhere is so good.

Joe Rogers:

And I know with the STIHL range, you can have the one battery for the mower, with the snipper, the blower, the hedger, all that sort of stuff. And it is so much neater, it’s quieter and you can get out at 6:30am instead of seven in the morning to annoy the neighbors. Just from an ease of use point of view, you’re never changing spark plugs, you never doing any of that sort of stuff. And now we’re getting the performance out of battery products. So, I think there are definite thing to consider if you’re looking to buy some new equipment for sure.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. Absolutely, the STIHL battery mowers actually just got awarded choices, best battery mow, which is good. That’s amazing.

Joe Rogers:

That’s great. And like I said, they really are getting better. So from a person who likes to really cut into their grass and they think only a petrol mower can do that, the proof’s in the putting there at the awards. STIHL’s got the power they’re getting now, is really good.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah, absolutely. What is it you think… Why do people like looking out on really nice flat lawn

Joe Rogers:

People are really starting to appreciate how important a good lawn is or a good backyard is or a good open space is. And what an open space does for you at home, is it… Like you said, it allows you to create memories. You talk to people, what they did when they were growing up and the first thing they normally say is, they played backyard fully, they played backyard cricket, they built bike jumps, they did this, they did that. We don’t realize how much we actually use our lawns. So they’re so important to have in there, so important to keep in good condition and I think that’s become evident with lockdowns. And now is having a good, healthy garden is so good for so many reasons, not just the look and the feel of it, but the mental and physical health benefits you get out of having a nice green open space. And I know you’d feel the same here, even taking your shoes off and just walking out on the grass, you instantly feel better. It cools the house down, it absorbs dust, it does so many wonderful things that are often quite overlooked.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah, it does. And I think you’ve told me in the past an interesting fact about the amount of oxygen, a regular lawn produces compared to a tree.

Joe Rogers:

Yeah. So we had these figures in and around our… I guess our marketing over the years is an average size long will absorb more carbon and emit more oxygen in the world’s largest tree. And so the more lawns we get out there, the more carbon we’re absorbing, the more oxygen we’re emitting and we’re creating this wonderful natural air conditioner. I guess it’s creating beautiful, clean air and it’s also cooling everything down as well.

Charlie Albone:

Yeah. What would be the number one problem you see with lawns? What do people come to you saying, I’ve got this problem, is it a fungal problem, is it a drainage problem, what is it?

Joe Rogers:

Generally? The most common problems we get are generally the easiest ones to fix. I think compacted or poor quality soil would probably be the number one, that’s because so many problems actually stem from that. Even you mentioned fungus there, you mentioned weeds, you mentioned bare patches in your lawn, they’re actually all related to poor soil quality. So I think compacted soils are probably the reason for the most majority of lawn problems. So one thing I like to tell people is that if they’re not happy with the quality of their lawn or how their lawn looking, it’s got too many weeds, it’s got a fungus, yada, yada. Aerate, fertilized top dress we’ll get rid of 90% of lawn problems straight away, because you’re correcting that soil base. A healthy soil base is a healthy lawn so, I just think it’s often quite overlooked. So if you’re not quite happy with something, generally an aerate, fertilizer and a top dress will make the problem go away.

Charlie Albone:

But like you said, preparation is the key to success. When it comes to a lawn.

Joe Rogers:

100% grass is just a pretty little thing on top. It is pretty, but it’s just that all the benefit out of a good lawn comes with that preparation, so it is so important to get right.

Charlie Albone:

Well, Joe, thank you so much for your advice today. There’s going to be many gardeners out there this weekend, giving their lawn a little bit of love. So thank you for your time.

Joe Rogers:

No worries. Thanks for having me. It was fun.

CoMMUNITY QUESTIONS

Charlie Albone:

Now it is time for some community questions and I do love answering these. So Brent, from Lithgow, New South Wales asks, “Hi, Charlie, my lawn is uneven and has a couple of low patches. Can I just add some new soil to the area to level the lawn? Or do you have any special tips for leveling a lawn?” Now this all depends on how deep the divot is in your lawn. If it’s a small divot, you can just put some sand on top and the grass will grow through. If it’s a larger divot, like a pretty noticeable one that you might trip over as you walk up. You might want to cut a section of the grass out and then add some soil to bring the level up and then put the grass back. And the reason you do that is if you put sand on top of that grass, it’s just going to decompose its organic matter. And then you’re going to have a drop in level again.

So if you can get rid of the grass, fill it up with a sand and then put a grass on top. You’re going to get a much better effect and as Joe says, you need to fertilize and water that in well to establish it. Nicki from Victoria says, “I have a large tree in the front garden that has a big shade around it causing no grass. There is amazing grass in the rest of the garden. Is there anything I can do to start growing grass in an area that is in shade?” Now, shade is a big killer for grass. You could try a shade tolerant variety, such as Sir Walter Buffalo. But in my opinion, if it’s not going to get more than three or four hours of sunlight, it’s never going to be doing very well.

So my preference is to go for something that’s going to thrive in that area. You could use a lawn substitute, something like a Dichondra is going to give you a really low green ground cover. You could maybe try something like a Jugar, It might give you a little bit more height. You get a purple flower with it and it’s going to cover the ground. That’s going to remove any dust issues. It’s going to look really nice and it’s just going to lift your whole garden. You’re not going to have half eaten, half decent looking lawn I should say, you’re going to have a great looking ground cover… Do you have a gardening question? You’d like us to answer, send us an email at charlie@stihl.com.au. I look forward to getting your questions.

CONCLUSION

Charlie Albone:

Thanks for listening to That’s How We Grow, in partnership with STIHL Garden Power Tools. So what have we learned? Well, I learned that preparation is the key to a perfect lawn. And when you’re mowing, you need to be mowing more often and take less off. Or if you don’t have the time, just make a shift towards a robotic mower, like a STIHL iMOW and it can do it all for you. We also learn how to repair your lawn no matter the size of the problem, a little bit of aeration, sandy top dress and fertilize three times a year.

 

In our next episode, I will be joined by Australia’s favorite home cook, Maggie Beer. She’s not only an amazing cook, but has some of the best knowledge around when it comes to growing veggies. She cooks with all the produce grown on our property in the Barossa valley. So will talk about all things veggie patches and maybe even find out Maggie’s secret ice cream recipe. Do you need the tools to take on any garden challenge or perhaps you want to learn more about STIHL’S battery lawn mowers or their iMO robotic mower go to stihl.com.au or head to your local STIHL dealer today. Follow STIHL on Instagram, @stihl_ au and follow me on Instagram as well, @charlie_albone. And don’t forget to check out still’s blog with plenty of great gardening advice, tips, and tricks.

Listen to the audio recording of this podcast here.