I've made no secret of the fact that I struggle with the summers here at Sunnyside. While summer used to be my favourite season when we lived in Queensland, I find that the way the beauty of winter & spring dries off into a dull brownish hue causes my spirits to fall. Alas, I am not alone in this. Summer is known here as a season where everyone tries to escape. Dave has also been struggling with the more recent summers & so we thought (now that we finally have water), that adding green turf may be a way to counteract these feelings that set in with the dryness of summer.
We ordered the turf in early spring, but as we were blessed with a very wet spring, they were unable to deliver it until mid-November (they simply could not access it as their ground was too wet). This has meant that we are having to put litres & litres of water on it every day while it establishes due to the hotter temperatures. Thankfully, we did have a good soaking rain just after it was laid, so that set it off to a good start!
The Kikuyu turf was duly delivered one warm day & we knew that that afternoon we would need to lay it. We had already cultivated the ground & added some topsoil to make sure we had the very best conditions for this grass to grow in. We all took a turn laying the turf, although Dave & the boys did the bulk of it (Ellie & I had other jobs we were working on). We had a little visitor at that time who shadowed Dave as they worked. It was so cute to see...
We were able to lay the whole of the front yard as well as add some patches to bare spots in the side & back yards. We did notice that the extra rolls (which we laid the next day) were already showing signs of distress due to the extra wait before being laid.
We all have thoroughly enjoyed walking around on green grass with our bare feet over the past month (that's the Queenslander coming out in us!). Of course some of us may have lain down on it too!!!
And now we water...and water...and water. We started three times a day & dropped it back slowly. We are still watering once a day with the edges needing a little more as they seem to dry off quickly.
However, no matter the work, we all agree that it is definitely worth it! We are loving this green surrounding our house - our little oasis! And this Christmas season we will indeed be having a 'Green Christmas!'
Have a lovely day friends!
Blessings
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