from Pasture to Park, an example of the conversion process of Paddock to Lawn.

If you want to convert your paddock or pasture to lawn, this article could be of some interest!

Step 1:

As the paddock had not been grazed for a very long time, there was a surplus of long and very densely matted grass and weed foliage.

So, we started with a close cut with a Mulcher.

 

Here, mulch mowing has started - you can see how heavy the growth is by checking the tractor's wheels and seeing how much they are hidden by grass. This cut was slow going as we were total mulching rather than just mowing.

Step 2:  (3 weeks later), we completed a complete spray off to kill all the existing pasture grasses and weeds currently growing.
  But there isn't a lot to see when pasture is freshly sprayed, so,

just for interest's sake - here's (half) a boom sprayer in action. Moving at 10km/hr... that's spraying at a rate of 6Ha/hr - (only on flat ground though - we have to slow down for the hills!)

The black cup on the end of the boom is a foam marker device that normally leaves a trail of white foam blobs to mark the edge of the "run". This helps align the next pass to avoid overlaps or missed strips. It's really  embarrassing when you come back in 4 weeks and see long green strips where there should be treated pasture, (i.e. brown and dead in this case).

Spraying is a real technique that takes time and experience to perfect. Calculating nozzle pressure, flow rates versus speed and so on, can get really tricky. With all agrichemicals, accurate coverage rates are super critical. A mistake can waste hundreds of dollars worth of chemical, or, worse, have a detrimental outcome to the target area.

A good point to remember here is non-systemic sprays are designed to kill plants that have greenery above ground. This is desirable as the more long term effect sprays effectively sterilise the soil, and many months will pass before you can successfully plant your lawn seed!

Step 3: Land shaping.Pasture generally becomes quite pitted and rough over time. Animals tend to graze fixed patterns, (especially when on long term grazing rotations), and ledges and tracks evolve on slopes. If the pasture is flat, you will encounter holes and bumps - all of which makes mowing with a "ride-on" a very interesting and slow exercise!
So, to minimise this issue, it is necessary to do some land shaping - knocking off the bumps and filling the holes.

Deep rotary hoeing is the start of the smoothing process. Where necessary, topsoil can be pushed aside to enable extra smoothing, then re-spread and smoothed before sowing the grass seed.


With this specific project, many ledges and bumps had to eliminated to allow safer mowing, especially on the slopes.


Sowing the grass seed can be achieved by either direct placement or broadcast spreading, (over sowing). Here, we are using the pasture renovator which has been recalibrated for lawn seed sowing. A significant cost of lawn building is the seed -  at mid 2008 prices, allow  $20-$30 per 100SqM. (Lawn sowing uses seed rates up to 10x greater than pasture!)


And here is the sown surface. Only step left now is another rolling, (and timely rain!).

A quick note for your new lawn - any disturbing of the soil will stimulate long dormant seeds into germinating amongst your new lawn seed - don't panic - this is normal! It takes several seasons of loving care to see the full results - treatment of weeds can include selective sprays, individual plant removal, and good feeding.

Also, DON'T ever mow your lawn too short - this encourages weed growth. Best to cut no shorter than 40 - 50mm. All the soil surface should be shaded by grass leaves all the time - cutting too short allows the sun to strike the soil and overheat it - encouraging weed growth.


Please note: All Block Busters staff who apply spray are certified Agrichemical handlers. Any questions? Feel welcome to contact us anytime!