Thu 15 February 2007 - Here is my grass
This is the nature strip outside my house. I leave it alone apart from organising to get it mowed every so often. All it gets is (comparatively rare) rain water. It’s lush and green. I don’t know why.
This is my front lawn. It gets some greywater, and a regular mowing, but is otherwise left alone. It’s a little grizzled, but surviving okay. One patch has a fresh growth of new grass.
And this is my back lawn. It gets lots of greywater (from the youngest’s bath) several days a week, and I’ve even tried putting new seed on it to get it kickstarted again. It used to be lush and green, but is now mostly barren, apart from a thin strip along one side. I think it was instant turf stuff, laid by the previous owners when the house was for sale, to look good at the time. I’ve just about given up on growing anything other than dirt on it (at least until autumn, when I’ll dig it all up and put new seed and soil on it). Maybe I should start a dirt farm.
February 15th, 2007 at 11:01am
Hate to be a cynic Daniel, but you could have a leaking pipe in the vicinity of your naturestrip!
Yeah we have (had) instant turf in the backyard, laid about 25 years ago. Don’t think it’s particularly drought resistant. Front lawn is now a fascinating tangle of exotics and natives. Our naturestrip battles away but is losing the war.
February 15th, 2007 at 2:14pm
Either that or there’s something really dodgy in your greywater. What does the kid bathe in?
February 15th, 2007 at 8:58pm
Nothing toxic, I would have thought… a little soap, sorbolene and/or shampoo.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:55am
Might be a different type of grass -
Our bodycoeporate has been investigating why our naturestrip looks much like your back lawn, but the naturestrip accors the road looks lush and green - turns out they have Kikuyu grass (dunno what we have). Apparently Kikuyu is commonly used on naturestrips and is very drought resistant and heat tolerant. But it is also considered a weed, as it spreads very quickly by runners, so not so good to use in your garden.
February 16th, 2007 at 10:22pm
The passers by smokers cigarette ash is keeping the nature stip well fertilized there fore nice and green!
any one got a light?
February 20th, 2007 at 6:42pm
As a turf professional Daniel (ahem!) I’d say the grey water has affected all sorts of things in your soil - pH, nutrient availability, salt levels, microorganism population etc. etc.
Prolly needs a good flushing of fresh water for a start.
If you’re really keen, you should get it analysed.
Funny how the “authorities” never make a point of this sort of thing happening
Kike and couch are more tolerant of grey water than fescues and ryes - the picture seems to show more of the latter species.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:04pm
RE THE GRASS
APART FROM GROWING POT SUGGEST DIG UP ENTIRELY THEN PLANT POTATOES TWO OR THREE TIMES - THIS FIXES NITROGEN IN THE SOIL - THEREAFTER YOU WILL CURSE ME AS YOU SPEND EVERYWEEKEND WITH THE MOWER