I was flicking through my Facebook feed, looking for funny memes again, and I came across one of the ads from Realestate.com.au.

Realestate.com.au reminded me that it is nearly outdoor party season. And that the essential part of an outdoor party is, wait for it cause this is why Realestate.com.au is a great site, is an outdoor area! Wow! Who knew.

Well here at Coastal Turf we do, with out being boastful, specialise in Outdoor Areas. We know our Couches from our Zoysias and our Buffaloes from our Sweet Smothers. We love making a great lawn area.  And we also are really really good at Parties. Our small talk is second to none, our Dad jokes rock, and more importantly we always bring a cartoon. Be it beer or cake. We will bring it. So it makes sense that our party people here at Coastal Turf can create the perfect Outdoor Party area for you.

I believe a good Summer Outdoor Party area requires two essential things. Firstly – An open area for kids to play, adults to mingle and possibly a slip and slide to be set up. This open area should have a designated food table, preferably near a BBQ, and possibly a fridge or esky. That is mostly adult dominated.

Secondly, and probably most importantly, a nice soft cushioning area for people to sit, slide, play with a ball, and quite possibly, later on in the party fall over on. This soft cushioning area should be super absorbent to suck up and of those pesky glass spills and food drops. It shouldn’t stain from theses spills either, but retain its colour. It should be pleasing to the eye. Comforting to the buttocks. It has to a be a Coastal Turf Lawn.

 

Your lawn is the great outdoor carpet to ensure your next Outdoor Party is a success. And by having a Coastal Turf lawn expert advise you on the best variety to install at your house, and come and create your outdoor Party area as well.

Tony and Brent are great at also creating other landscaped areas as well. To #turfect your lawn (turf perfect). Give us a call and we will get the boys over to give you a quote on site.

And if you want we can also come and help your party come along as well.

 

Chat soon

Sare

 

The weather is really dry again and peoples preparation of their lawns is really starting to show.

Its the old saying that doing more now saves your back later rings very true when it comes to your lawn.

By preparing your lawn with a good under turf soil mixed with some fantastic organics like chicken manure and mushroom compost you create a fantastic nurturing environment for your new turf to start outs it life as your lawn. Having a good Soil means that the nutrients your law will crave will be readily available straight away for the little roots to access as they venture out of of the slab and try and establish.

A wonderful soil mixture will also encourage micro-organisms and worms into your soil. These create the pathways for your new little roots to follow to establish long term. Also their “waste” products leave great food for the roots to absorb on their way through the pathways.

 

Choosing the correct variety for your home is super important as well. So many times people choose a “buffalo” because it is what they see on TV. But in a full hot sun all day long the Buffalo won’t necessarily preform as well as say a Couch will. A drought tolerant lawn at the moment is really important. Where has the rain gone? We had tones of rain, and now none? So having a native lawn like the Blue Couch or a Coastal Mix, who understands we get tonnes of rain and then no rain, while still holding their colour, is really advantages at the moment.

Or by having an irrigation system that slowly feeds water into your lawn small bits at a time mean that the leaves stay soft, subtle and green all year round without costing you lots of money in water bills.

Give Coastal Turf a call and we can arrange for one of our Turfmen to come out and quote on the best for your new or existing law.

Because which side of the fence would you prefer to live on? 

Chat soon

Sare

I love How to Dad on Facebook. He is so funny. And I really wish he was around when my kids were small. They may not have turned my hair so grey.

In thinking about how his instructional videos help so many fathers and make mothers laugh, Tony the Turfman and Coastal Turf have made REAL instructional videos for installation of lawns, preparation of areas, and some about ta year on our farm. we have take a snap shot of the Turfman’s day and turned it into instructional videos.

 

You may have already seen some of these on our Facebook pages, Coastal Turf Facebook, but now we have a youtube “channel” I guess. Have a look at these videos and see what you think. But please remember I grow lawns and make them beautiful, I’m not so awesome at the whole Youtube thing yet.

Hopefully these links work. Coastal Turf Youtube

Chat soon,

And let me know what you think.

Sare

 

So Gold Coasters, what are you doing this weekend? Enjoying a long weekend?

This Friday is of course Gold Coast Show Holiday. And as much fun as it is to walk around the show with kids in tow spending heaps of money on food and rides that make you feel ill, Showbags, that you just HAD to have, and parking which is actually miles away from where you want to go, Why not consider finally ordering your lawn for a Friday morning delivery, and invest in your family home and their happiness.

Our farm is located in NSW. Now this means that we are unfortunately yet to find a good State of Origin football team, but we do grow a beautiful grass which could become your new lawn. And it means that we are open as usually this weekend. So we can have your new Coastal Turf lawn to your home on Friday morning.Invite your friends. Spend a fraction of the money that you would have at the show on your home.

But more importantly save your self the family torment of walking around the show. The whinging. The complaining. The vomit after a spinny ride after eating way too many dagwood dogs. (Although Dogwood dogs are AMAZING! But try and stop at one).

 

Instead create an amazing green space for Fun family activities. Change the outlook of your home from Brown to Gorgeous Green.

Book in now for your Friday or Saturday delivery and have a great Show Weekend!

 

Chat soon

Sare

 

Last year I wrote about how snoring will effect your lawn. Not your snoring, but my husbands very loud abrasive house shuddering snoring. This very loud noise is why my children can sleep through ANYTHING! Fire Alarms, Trains, City noises, LOUD MUSIC. You name it they can sleep through it. Almost peacefully. I on the other hand tend to get a slight tick on the side of my face  on day 4 with out sleep. On the farm I tend to get a little cranky by 4pm. Turf gets a bit stacked to the side after a long night. And I do get very vicious on the weeds. The boys now have  secret chocolate stack that they throw at me when they se the “I haven’t Slept” Face.

This week though I have slept beautifully.  As bad as the rest of this is going to sound, I have been well rested. Kinda.

Last week Tony was helping my Dad fence along the cattle paddock. And being the good country boy that he is, and with his lovely strong arms, he reached up to snap a branch off in the way of the to be fence. Unfortunately for him, the branch didn’t just snap off and fall to the ground, as was his amazing plan, but instead the branch snapped further back than he is expected. His arm was not quick enough to come up and protect his face. So as the branch broke, his hand which was on the further end of the branch, worked as a pivot to swing, quite hard, the end of the branch closet to the tree, (as well as his face) into his nose. Braking it quite spectacularly. There is nothing quite like excessively bleeding everywhere in extreme pain with your father-in-law and a person who you don’t really know well enough to be really hurt with.

Tony had my ute. Which being a mum means I have baby wipes in the car. Religiously! So Tony stuck nearly a whole packet of baby wipes up his nose to steam the bleeding (he didn’t think that my sanitary Girl things were useful ). And  quick call to me to say “honey, I need  some clothes and an ice pack. Possibly a beer.” My Dad was down the other end of the fence and didn’t see what happened, so just started to yell to him to hurry up with the next line. This probably didn’t aide in easing his embarrassment. When Dad arrived to Tony, my Dad who is not good at blood AT ALL, turned a trifle bit pale and had a sit down with Tony until we arrived.

Kids in tow, off I went down to the cattle farm and packed my husbands nose with clean more absorbent tissues, applied ice, gave dad a drink and then helped them to finish the fencing.

That night we settle down to bed after  few beers to “Stem the pain. Didn’t you read the article on Facebook? Everything on Facebook is true.” I am hoping that was just the pain talking and not real.  Usually after a few beers, Tony snores louder than the fright trains I lived next to at Uni. But Friday night, there was nothing! I think that the brake may have actually straightened his nose enough to stop the loudness of his snoring.

So this week, other than the occasional wake up for kids bad dreams, and Tony’s sore face needing attention, I have been able to get to sleep, even after Tony has fallen asleep before me. I have Stayed asleep. And woken up fresh and happy.

So pallets are stacked and loaded beautifully. My deliveries are completed with a smile, and I’m a bit too chatty on the phone.

Hopefully his nose heals in this position. And the snoring will stop, or at least ease off a bit.

 

Ahh the exciting life of a Turf Farmer. I Love It!

Chat soon

Sare

PS don’t scroll down unless you want to see the face of a smooshed Turfman. 

Who would have believed that we would be in a winter that means I can get my legs out into the sun? Most winters I am fully covered with several layers of warm clothes. I know. I know. We live on the Gold Coast and its always warm. Well, I believe that anything under 25 degrees is cold. Very Cold. Winter jumpers Cold.

So most winters I am very rugged up. You can imagine my joy when this morning I woke up and though “Yep its a shorts day”. My kids were stunned by the sight of my glowing white legs this morning. My Husband was surprised. My Dad laughed. But I believe none were more surprised than I that I could have my legs out in the air at this time of year. My legs went into a little bit of shock. There was no warm jeans encasing them, and the sun almost burned them when they struck them.

Like my legs, our lawns were not expecting to be exposed to warm hot air so early in the year. Most of our lawns are still trying to go through a “slumber” period and aren’t ready to be exposed to the warm, well lets face it HOT, weather. The leaves are drying out and they are turning a pale colour. Like my legs.

For your established lawns, best to get in there now and water for 5mins at a time in the morning and possibly the evening. Refresh the plants growth and cool it down. This will help to cool your home and retain that beautiful colour now. I would totally suggest a top dressing before Spring. This will help to hold the water against the roots.

For the new lawns that are being established now, what perfect timing! The soil is warm, that will encourage root growth! Faster establishment means you can send the kids out on the lawn sooner. And more peace for you. And when they come back in they will have clean feet! Beautiful!

And my pick for the best lawn to be installing at this time of year? Old Blue! It looks amazing and it doesn’t require a lot of water. 

 

• Blue Couch is a very soft, deep Blue-Green, fine textured, leaf grass, that is native to the Far Northern NSW and SE Qld.
• As a native of our area, Blue Couch understands our weather extremes, extreme heat, and extreme wet, then extreme dry. Staying greener for longer, and recovering quickly.
• Like the name suggest, sitting on a Blue Couch lawn is like sitting on a soft comfy couch.
• Blue couch is one of the most salt tolerant turf grasses available, and the most  drought tolerant.
• Blue Couch requires a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight a day.

Blue Couch is the perfect lawn for those sunny areas around your home where you love to spend time without your shoes on.

For those who have established lawns, check out our turf tips page https://coastalturf.com.au/turf-tips/, for the wanting to create a beautiful Coastal Turf lawn, give us a call and we will send along all you need to create your amazing space.

Chat soon

Sare

 

This week is the start of the end of Weekend sports for my kids. I am so relieved but also a bit sad about about what our family will do on the weekends now. God forbid we have to clean the house. Nah. I will think of something else to do.

 

I am relieved though that my kids have the opportunity and the pleasure of playing weekend sports Outside in the fresh air on Natural Grass. It makes a big difference to our loves.

As kids they have a great time rolling and falling on the grass. Being comforted by the soft grass and having the grass absorb all the bodily fluids which come out. The ground is cool and comforting to hot sweaty bodies as they collide. I have under 11’s so there is a lot of falling.

 

My daughter plays Hockey on the artificial turf sometimes and her falls always end up with grazes that become infected. No matter what we do. The weird plastic stuff is just not comforting and it holds so many germs. I know what you hockey fanatics will say. That the ball moves better. Well I say to you that a well maintained natural turf grass that is the correct variety will have the ball run beautifully on. Take a golf green for instance…..

But a badly maintained plastic field will give you weeds coming through and germs a plenty on your open sires and burns!

Even a well painted plastic grass, which I think looks great outside of Barbie’s house, but not at anyone’s house who is not made of plastic, will get the following problems.

Natural turfgrass automatically cleans bacteria regularly, is low in heat generation that promotes activity, due to the forgiving nature of natural turfgrass less injuries occur on the sporting field, there is no rubber infill to cause breathing issues, when mowing turfgrass there is the cosmetic appeal as well as the tidying of the area, natural turfgrass does not lift without assistance, natural turfgrass waste is mulched and used as fertiliser in production and natural turfgrass sports fields are not affected by high rain events.

Really, Natural is best! Except when it comes to clothes. I do think we should all wear clothes rather than going all Natural for that. Please

Chat soon

Sare

 

 

 

This last couple of months the Turfman and I have been looking and looking and looking a different cars. We are buying a new Ute for our Family and work. And after a while I couldn’t distinguish between my Toyotas or Mitsubishis or Fords or any of the others that we looked at. They all kinda mooshed into the one car in my head.

 

It made me think about how really hard it is when you are making a decision that will effect your family’s life. Like your lawn. It is one of those things that you will look at everyday. You will use most days, and your kids will be on it with little bare feet. Your animals will play out on it everyday. And you want to make the right decision about which on his the best grass for your new lawn.

 

Sometimes you have past experience with different lawns at your place. Like when you are replacing your existing yucky lawn, to a beautiful new exiting value adding lawn to your home. I kinda equate this to when you go and replace your old car with a new one that will better suit your changing family. In those cases you can at least rule out the grass varieties you know won’t grow at your place. And the grass varieties that will not fit with your changing lifestyle.

 

And then there are the cases when you are moving into a new house and you haven’t lives there. You don’t have the experience with your yard to know how much light your lawn will receive all year round. Like when you are looking at a totally new different type of car. Going from a sedan to a ute. Its going to be  difference in the lives of our family.

 

So after going through all this fuss and bother and stress of a new car, I have a new appreciation of what people go through when they buy a new car. In the interest of this, we have our display plots at JH Williams at Chinderah (24 Ozone Street), kinda like a display yard for lawns. And we offer you the chance if you want to come and walk on our paddocks at the farm at Round Mountain (near Hastings Point and Cabarita Beach NSW. Surfers always know where we are) you are more than welcome to make an appointment with me.

And if you are still confused, take home small bit of grass and see what you think.

And I have made up some info sheets with pictures for the different varieties so you can take it home and read through them again and again. Like you do with cars.

We also have some lovely clients who are happy for you to drive past their lawns and see what it looks like in your area. I think this is the best one. Because you  can see how normal people take care of their lawn. And how it grows near you.

And best yet, I can have one one of the Turfmen come to your place and look, touch and tell you what they think will work best.

Hopefully this will help you choose the best grass.

Or let me know a better way to move forward. Any thing we can do to help you choose the right lawn for your place, and make that process easier for you I would love to know.

Chat soon

Sare

It has been very cold this week in the mornings. And I am not very good at cold. I love the warm weather. Hot days bring them on. I hate putting on heaps of layers to go outside to take the kids to the bus in the mooring. Today when I came back from the bus run, I sat down with my hot cup of tea at the office desk, and started to flick through Facebook. My little vice I must admit.

 

Last year the local Sports and Bowls Club at Cabarita Beach came out tot eh farm and bought some beautiful blue couch for in-between their stunning Greens. This morning when I was flicking through Facebook, I saw a stunning picture of outdoor parties they are having on this area now.

What a great idea. Having a party on the Lawn is fantastic. When your wine glass is spilled, in my case usually because I have a child tug on my arm to tell me something really important, like they are hungry; the grass can suck it all up. Perfect! No clean up! Or when the very hungry child is running and their sausage falls on the grass and sauce is spilled everywhere, the Grass Carpet will absorb all that sauce and the party continues with a smile. The smile does come after the child gets a new sausage, as in at our house the sausage on the ground will be quickly disposed of by a lovely fat dog helping with the clean up. All you have to do is clean up all the cups and plates at the end.

But if you go to the local Sports Club, like Cabarita Beach or Pottsville, you can have your party on the grass. Enjoy the warm winter sun, enjoy your wine, get hot chips for your hungry kids, and ignore the spills, and have them clean up all the mess for you! Even better!

 

And isn’t that why we have our lawns in Winter? Its a place we can go to and enjoy the sun of winter? Give  us a call and we can help you create a fantastic Winter escape for you and your family friends at your place.

Chat soon

Sare

This weekend its a BIG time at Byron Fields. Splendour in the Grass is on. I love anything that is excited about Grass! The lawn Grass. The Lawn Grass.

I love Splendour in the Grass. They get great Bands, great location, and most important they have a Coastal Turf Lawn to Splendour on.

 

This weekend I will be Splendouring in my own Grass. I will be relaxing and sitting listening to the music on my soft Blue Couch. Some of the music will be lofting up from the Amazing Byron Fields and some will just be my own music coming out of our house. I won’t be lining up for drinks. I will just have it sitting next to me. Also when I dance on the Grass with my kids, only my husband will laugh at my mad dance moves.

 

So to get the authentic On the Grass experience, give us a call. And we have the soft Coastal Turf Grass on your lawn. And you won’t have to pay a fortune for the drinks. Or see my mad sick dance moves. Just enjoy the music you love, and the Grass that you will love even more.

 

Chat soon

Sare