Do you have a **Green** Lawn?

Yes, I meant green in colour, although it is appropiate to be green, ecologically! My parents have clay based sil & theirs holds water much better than mine. What is the name of your special trass? I have heard there are drought resistant grasses, but I have yet to see any people in my neighbourhood grow it. Some people here now give up on lawns and just put in gravel. Neither if my lawns are big, but I would like to improve them.

I think it is Zoysia and that came to mind when I read this.

Thanks a lot for that information Joyfulone, and GardenGerty. :)

Depends how much water they need. My daughter would like to grow something & watermelon would be useful. I have enough land.

If I might offer a garden hint I've found useful...when I plant my garden (veggies mainly) I take a 2 liter plastic pop bottle and cut the bottom off, and the cap. What you have left is a giant funnel. When I plant my garden I submerge these next to where I'm going to put a few plants. (Like if I'm planting 4 tomatoes, I put my funnel in the middle.) I 'plant' my funnel all the way down leaving an inch or two above ground. The plants leaves will eventually hide the funnel top. When I water plants, I fill the funnel up once and that's all. The water, and any fertilizers you give to the plants go directly to the root system. There's none of that evaporation, or watering forever only to have the top few inches get damp and never reaching the roots that need it. My plants always grow well even when we have a really dry summer. I started doing this back in the 70's and have done it ever since. Most of my neighbors and friends now do this too and we always have good gardens no matter how dry it is. I used to run the hose forever trying to get water to the roots! This is wayyyy simpler and takes far less water. Try it on a few plants and you'd be amazed at the difference:-) And yes, you can do this with a watermelon patch too, I even do this in my pumpkin patch haha.

They require quite a bit of water, but I was going to suggest something like the plan that Raven1 has. I often set a bucket or container in the back of my shower in the summer and use that water for outdoor purposes. If your milk comes in plastic jugs a trick is to poke holes in the bottom, fill it with water and put it beside the plant that you water. It gives direct water to the plant itself without watering all around it.

I mowed my lawn about 2 months ago, and it was weeds I was mowing. My ex took the lawn mower so I will have to buy a nerw one eventually. By the looks of my lawn, it wont need mowing for quite some time. I used feed & weed to kill the weeds, and now there is just bare earth with a little grass.

I don't care about the weeds, they can grow, so long as they don't have stickers - I pull those out.

Guess the lawn under the tree is competing with the treee rots and this causes less growth. Happens around my large gum trees as well

Yes, if I remember you live in very similar conditioons to me. I did the grey water thing from my washing machone last year. I was concerned about the washing powder I was using, as it wouldnt be good for the lawn. I looked for the enviro friendly washing poeder, but found them very expensive. At the moment, I sudsave to reuse water in washing.

Great tip Raven1 :)

I have a rain water tank, but there is little rain.

I have two rainwater tanks to collect rain - unfortunately we live in a drought area, so it doesn't rain very often. My tanks are empty right now.

I think they are just going through a dormant period before spring when the new grass starts to grow. We very very seldom have snow here so that is not a factor in my yard. What is strange is that my yard has some green but that is weeds...seems they can survive almost anything

Why are the lawns less green in winter? Is it the effect of snow? Are lawns are more green in winter.

Very true. And I have new strange weeds appearing this year.

You live in a tropical climate dont you?

I have been to Singapore (it was fascinating) and I did notice that many people dont have lawns or gardens. Of course, not everyone wants the bother. Smaller yards are becoming more popular here.

Really? That's so cool, I didn't expect that.. I think so too; lots of small lawns are getting the rave nowadays, must be the work to maintain it all.

So you are exact opposite to me , weather wise. I have seen a lot of the news about the rain & snow. At least your grass will stay green....

You are most welcome to respond to any of my discussions. Bores are not usually allowed in the city, although some of oour desert areas have them. Our government has bought some of the flood water from Queensland, that will help us a great deal. Also, they are building a desalination plant.

Can you create wells there too?

Gee, they both loved mowing!! Must be nice to plant veges. I had 6 fruit trees, but veges would require too much water & care. Nice that you get a green lawn in spring.

Glad your Dad loves the lawns. Bet he's good at growing other plants too.

Oh well, many Australians dont weant the bother of lawns and gardens anymore, they want smaller places so there is less to lok after. Hardly any of us have shepp, just the farmers. Horses are way too expensive for most of us.

really?I want to send my son to Australia and taste the Australia life style.Please tell me how to enjoy the Australia life?

Yes, I had more weeds than lawn at one stage. Once I got rid of the weeds, there was just brown sand & the little lawn that is left, wont grow further.

I agree. That amount of care is time consuming. Gone are the days when we could use a sprinkler, puul up a few weeds & just mown the lawn.