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Post by Fletchsmile on Sept 13, 2017 12:38:48 GMT 7
With the purchase of our new house Fletch has just bought his first lawn mower in over 20 years plus a strimmer I used to quite like mowing the lawn. Quite relaxing and you see results quickly. (No doubt many men could say similar about sex ) So any tips for that beautiful lawn in Thailand? The climate is something I wonder about compared to UK as to what's best.
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Post by Fletchsmile on Sept 13, 2017 12:41:15 GMT 7
Thought this article was quite useful. No Thailand aspect though ========================================== Grasscycling – The Easiest Way to Nurture Your LawnThis simple lawn care method will reduce lawn maintenance, retain water, and fertilize your lawn naturally… find one of the bothersome aspects of mowing the lawn is stopping every few minutes to empty the grass catcher. It breaks the momentum of the job, and probably doubles the time it takes to mow the lawn. Fortunately, there’s really no need to continue this practice. Collecting and removing the grass clippings is not only unnecessary, it may in fact be counterproductive to growing a healthy lawn. The clippings, when left in place after cutting the grass, will provide a ready source of fertilizer while helping the soil retain water which promotes root growth and a healthy lawn. The simple practice of leaving clippings on the lawn after mowing is called “grasscycling”. There are a few tips to successful grasscycling, and when done properly, clippings quickly decompose and return nutrients to the soil naturally. To grasscycle properly: 1. Cut your grass when it’s dry. contd... learn.eartheasy.com/2011/06/grasscycling-the-easiest-way-to-nurture-your-lawn/
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me
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Post by me on Sept 13, 2017 14:26:30 GMT 7
With the purchase of our new house Fletch has just bought his first lawn mower in over 20 years plus a strimmer I used to quite like mowing the lawn. Quite relaxing and you see results quickly. (No doubt many men could say similar about sex ) So any tips for that beautiful lawn in Thailand? The climate is something I wonder about compared to UK as to what's best. Mad dogs and Englishmen..... well at least you can get even with the neighbors with the noise.
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Post by Soutpeel on Sept 20, 2017 12:00:25 GMT 7
Thought this article was quite useful. No Thailand aspect though ========================================== Grasscycling – The Easiest Way to Nurture Your LawnThis simple lawn care method will reduce lawn maintenance, retain water, and fertilize your lawn naturally… find one of the bothersome aspects of mowing the lawn is stopping every few minutes to empty the grass catcher. It breaks the momentum of the job, and probably doubles the time it takes to mow the lawn. Fortunately, there’s really no need to continue this practice. Collecting and removing the grass clippings is not only unnecessary, it may in fact be counterproductive to growing a healthy lawn. The clippings, when left in place after cutting the grass, will provide a ready source of fertilizer while helping the soil retain water which promotes root growth and a healthy lawn. The simple practice of leaving clippings on the lawn after mowing is called “grasscycling”. There are a few tips to successful grasscycling, and when done properly, clippings quicklyh decompose and return nutrients to the soil naturally. To grasscycle properly: 1. Cut your grass when it’s dry. contd... learn.eartheasy.com/2011/06/grasscycling-the-easiest-way-to-nurture-your-lawn/After nearly 13 years with a lawn in Thailand i am seriously considering installing the fake grass you can buy, looks very real, no cutting or watering and always stays green
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Post by bunny boiler on Sept 20, 2017 12:23:09 GMT 7
What's a strimmer? Don't you have servants to do menial tasks like mowing the lawn? Last lawn I mowed on a ride on mower going back twenty years ago I ran over a gi-fu*king-normous snake and broke the mowerblades.
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Post by Fletchsmile on Sept 20, 2017 12:23:59 GMT 7
Yes I was wondering about fake grass too. Very little upkeep I'd guess and I wonder what it costs compared to the time and effort of trying to keep a lawn. We've already a few small dry patches of brown where the grass has mostly died and this isn't exactly dry season
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Post by bunny boiler on Sept 20, 2017 12:26:18 GMT 7
Buy yourself a rake and rake it up placing it around the trees. Could always set dry grass heaps on fire I guess too. Fake grass is crap, ever had a fake grass burn as you skid to catch a ball ya know what I'm talking about.
What grass are you growing? Some are better than others.
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Sept 20, 2017 15:03:15 GMT 7
Without knowing what type of grass and how large the lawn is it's difficult to advise. If it's Malay, cut it long during the hot season since it doesn't like strong direct sun but it does thrive in shady areas - you can't really leave the trimmings on Malay grass because of the way it grows, it sends tentacles out sideways and then roots/anchors it and sprouts from there, ditto you can't really do proper lawn levelling either for the same reason. The really good news about Malay is that it's almost indestructible and even though you might think it's all dead, a little water soon brings it back again.
If it's regular grass and you're a lawn person, consider getting rid of it in favour of Bermuda which is both beautiful and can easily tolerate intense direct sunlight, it's not expensive and is well worth the effort from both an appearance and care perspective - the everyday regular lawn grass in Thailand is pants and not worth wasting time on, if you have it, buy a goat.
If a large lawn: consider installing a simple sprinkler system on a timer before you go much further, it can be worth it's weight in gold, especially when you leave the place unattended during holidays - they are easy and fun to install using blue pipe. My gardens quite large and I've installed a 13 head system that runs off nearby klong water and also off a semi-deep well using a 1 hp pump, it's the best thing I've ever done for the garden.
Your lawn mower, if bought new recently, will likely begin to fall apart after the first year, no matter how much you paid for it (unless you bought an all Honda model). The design and build quality of EUROE and ASAGARDE models is very poor. The good news is most have Briggs and Stratton engines which if you change the oil twice a year, will last a long time. So when the mower chassis breaks down, buy a new chassis and keep the old engine, repeat and rinse every two years. The alternative, if you're handy and so inclined, is to modify the chassis yourself which is not hard to do, strengthening strips required in about four places - forget your HomePro guarantee, you can't wait for three months for your mower to be returned from Bangkok, even if the repair was free.
Finally, most people don't know how to cut grass properly, it's an art form. Fortunately, I'm an expert and I hold classes every week where I instruct new students and pass along my many years of tips and tricks. The half-day course includes lawn cutting, edging and weed removable and lawn mower cleaning and polishing, all hands on at my home in Mae Rim - at 199 per person it's a bargain you can't afford to miss.
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me
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Post by me on Sept 20, 2017 15:24:23 GMT 7
Without knowing what type of grass and how large the lawn is it's difficult to advise. If it's Malay, cut it long during the hot season since it doesn't like strong direct sun but it does thrive in shady areas - you can't really leave the trimmings on Malay grass because of the way it grows, it sends tentacles out sideways and then roots/anchors it and sprouts from there, ditto you can't really do proper lawn levelling either for the same reason. The really good news about Malay is that it's almost indestructible and even though you might think it's all dead, a little water soon brings it back again. If it's regular grass and you're a lawn person, consider getting rid of it in favour of Bermuda which is both beautiful and can easily tolerate intense direct sunlight, it's not expensive and is well worth the effort from both an appearance and care perspective - the everyday regular lawn grass in Thailand is pants and not worth wasting time on, if you have it, buy a goat. If a large lawn: consider installing a simple sprinkler system on a timer before you go much further, it can be worth it's weight in gold, especially when you leave the place unattended during holidays - they are easy and fun to install using blue pipe. My gardens quite large and I've installed a 13 head system that runs off nearby klong water and also off a semi-deep well using a 1 hp pump, it's the best thing I've ever done for the garden. Your lawn mower, if bought new recently, will likely begin to fall apart after the first year, no matter how much you paid for it (unless you bought an all Honda model). The design and build quality of EUROE and ASAGARDE models is very poor. The good news is most have Briggs and Stratton engines which if you change the oil twice a year, will last a long time. So when the mower chassis breaks down, buy a new chassis and keep the old engine, repeat and rinse every two years. The alternative, if you're handy and so inclined, is to modify the chassis yourself which is not hard to do, strengthening strips required in about four places - forget your HomePro guarantee, you can't wait for three months for your mower to be returned from Bangkok, even if the repair was free. Finally, most people don't know how to cut grass properly, it's an art form. Fortunately, I'm an expert and I hold classes every week where I instruct new students and pass along my many years of tips and tricks. The half-day course includes lawn cutting, edging and weed removable and lawn mower cleaning and polishing, all hands on at my home in Mae Rim - at 199 per person it's a bargain you can't afford to miss. I guess you get people to pay you so they can whitewash your fence
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Sept 20, 2017 15:48:34 GMT 7
Without knowing what type of grass and how large the lawn is it's difficult to advise. If it's Malay, cut it long during the hot season since it doesn't like strong direct sun but it does thrive in shady areas - you can't really leave the trimmings on Malay grass because of the way it grows, it sends tentacles out sideways and then roots/anchors it and sprouts from there, ditto you can't really do proper lawn levelling either for the same reason. The really good news about Malay is that it's almost indestructible and even though you might think it's all dead, a little water soon brings it back again. If it's regular grass and you're a lawn person, consider getting rid of it in favour of Bermuda which is both beautiful and can easily tolerate intense direct sunlight, it's not expensive and is well worth the effort from both an appearance and care perspective - the everyday regular lawn grass in Thailand is pants and not worth wasting time on, if you have it, buy a goat. If a large lawn: consider installing a simple sprinkler system on a timer before you go much further, it can be worth it's weight in gold, especially when you leave the place unattended during holidays - they are easy and fun to install using blue pipe. My gardens quite large and I've installed a 13 head system that runs off nearby klong water and also off a semi-deep well using a 1 hp pump, it's the best thing I've ever done for the garden. Your lawn mower, if bought new recently, will likely begin to fall apart after the first year, no matter how much you paid for it (unless you bought an all Honda model). The design and build quality of EUROE and ASAGARDE models is very poor. The good news is most have Briggs and Stratton engines which if you change the oil twice a year, will last a long time. So when the mower chassis breaks down, buy a new chassis and keep the old engine, repeat and rinse every two years. The alternative, if you're handy and so inclined, is to modify the chassis yourself which is not hard to do, strengthening strips required in about four places - forget your HomePro guarantee, you can't wait for three months for your mower to be returned from Bangkok, even if the repair was free. Finally, most people don't know how to cut grass properly, it's an art form. Fortunately, I'm an expert and I hold classes every week where I instruct new students and pass along my many years of tips and tricks. The half-day course includes lawn cutting, edging and weed removable and lawn mower cleaning and polishing, all hands on at my home in Mae Rim - at 199 per person it's a bargain you can't afford to miss. I guess you get people to pay you so they can whitewash your fence Whitewash indeed, the very thought of it! My fence is stained I'll have you know and care of it is covered under my Perimeters In Secure Settings class (undergraduate pace) which starts next month, feel free to PM for details and reservations soon so as to avoid disappointment.
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oldie
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Post by oldie on Sept 23, 2017 13:50:44 GMT 7
Mowing the lawn is like making the bed. You spend an hour beautifying it, and a year later you have to do it all over again.
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Post by Fletchsmile on Oct 5, 2017 15:46:50 GMT 7
Without knowing what type of grass and how large the lawn is it's difficult to advise. If it's Malay, cut it long during the hot season since it doesn't like strong direct sun but it does thrive in shady areas - you can't really leave the trimmings on Malay grass because of the way it grows, it sends tentacles out sideways and then roots/anchors it and sprouts from there, ditto you can't really do proper lawn levelling either for the same reason. The really good news about Malay is that it's almost indestructible and even though you might think it's all dead, a little water soon brings it back again. If it's regular grass and you're a lawn person, consider getting rid of it in favour of Bermuda which is both beautiful and can easily tolerate intense direct sunlight, it's not expensive and is well worth the effort from both an appearance and care perspective - the everyday regular lawn grass in Thailand is pants and not worth wasting time on, if you have it, buy a goat. If a large lawn: consider installing a simple sprinkler system on a timer before you go much further, it can be worth it's weight in gold, especially when you leave the place unattended during holidays - they are easy and fun to install using blue pipe. My gardens quite large and I've installed a 13 head system that runs off nearby klong water and also off a semi-deep well using a 1 hp pump, it's the best thing I've ever done for the garden. Your lawn mower, if bought new recently, will likely begin to fall apart after the first year, no matter how much you paid for it (unless you bought an all Honda model). The design and build quality of EUROE and ASAGARDE models is very poor. The good news is most have Briggs and Stratton engines which if you change the oil twice a year, will last a long time. So when the mower chassis breaks down, buy a new chassis and keep the old engine, repeat and rinse every two years. The alternative, if you're handy and so inclined, is to modify the chassis yourself which is not hard to do, strengthening strips required in about four places - forget your HomePro guarantee, you can't wait for three months for your mower to be returned from Bangkok, even if the repair was free. Finally, most people don't know how to cut grass properly, it's an art form. Fortunately, I'm an expert and I hold classes every week where I instruct new students and pass along my many years of tips and tricks. The half-day course includes lawn cutting, edging and weed removable and lawn mower cleaning and polishing, all hands on at my home in Mae Rim - at 199 per person it's a bargain you can't afford to miss. Cheers for the tips. The lawn is apparently Japanese grass. There are some patches round the back which need serious attention as the grass has gone yellow and dried out. Looking at the houses around they have the same problem. I think it's a combination of not much/poor soil and not much natural rainfall as the roof stops this particular patch getting rain. So I was looking at either 1) overseeding or 2) buying some more "ready made sods" sods. Overseeding sort of appeals as a first try. Then buying sods if that fails. I bought some soil, but the problem was which grass to use. That's when we asked which we already have. I'm not familiar with Japanese grass and I'd sort of thought there must be various types of Japanese grass. Bermuda sounds a good tip and am more familiar with it. We also bought some hose pipes and sprinklers. We looked at the blue pipe type system solution but as a first easy step have just got attachments to fix on the hose pipe. Works fine but as you say you need to switch on and off yourself. Also bought a timer as we thought likewise about how you suggested. Haven't fitted that yet though, but will get round to it. It's battery powered. I'm quite please with how the side of the house is coming along. Already the best in the street Just patches at the back needs sorting. We bought an electric mower and a strimmer. The mower is fine for what we use it for. The only things is keep having to move the cable so I don't cut thru it . I leave off the grass collection bucket part so I can do grasscycling (I think they call it) and leave the clippings on the lawn. It's set on the highest setting to take off as little off as possible while the lawn is still new. Don't think it deserves a crew cut just yet. Anyway cheers for the tips Getting advice to do with lawns is difficult in Thailand. Even buying grass for your lawn is difficult as to where to get it. Thai Watsadu, HomePro etc don't sell. It's allegedly easier to buy the other type of grass in Thailand Cheers Fletch
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Oct 5, 2017 16:14:47 GMT 7
Without knowing what type of grass and how large the lawn is it's difficult to advise. If it's Malay, cut it long during the hot season since it doesn't like strong direct sun but it does thrive in shady areas - you can't really leave the trimmings on Malay grass because of the way it grows, it sends tentacles out sideways and then roots/anchors it and sprouts from there, ditto you can't really do proper lawn levelling either for the same reason. The really good news about Malay is that it's almost indestructible and even though you might think it's all dead, a little water soon brings it back again. If it's regular grass and you're a lawn person, consider getting rid of it in favour of Bermuda which is both beautiful and can easily tolerate intense direct sunlight, it's not expensive and is well worth the effort from both an appearance and care perspective - the everyday regular lawn grass in Thailand is pants and not worth wasting time on, if you have it, buy a goat. If a large lawn: consider installing a simple sprinkler system on a timer before you go much further, it can be worth it's weight in gold, especially when you leave the place unattended during holidays - they are easy and fun to install using blue pipe. My gardens quite large and I've installed a 13 head system that runs off nearby klong water and also off a semi-deep well using a 1 hp pump, it's the best thing I've ever done for the garden. Your lawn mower, if bought new recently, will likely begin to fall apart after the first year, no matter how much you paid for it (unless you bought an all Honda model). The design and build quality of EUROE and ASAGARDE models is very poor. The good news is most have Briggs and Stratton engines which if you change the oil twice a year, will last a long time. So when the mower chassis breaks down, buy a new chassis and keep the old engine, repeat and rinse every two years. The alternative, if you're handy and so inclined, is to modify the chassis yourself which is not hard to do, strengthening strips required in about four places - forget your HomePro guarantee, you can't wait for three months for your mower to be returned from Bangkok, even if the repair was free. Finally, most people don't know how to cut grass properly, it's an art form. Fortunately, I'm an expert and I hold classes every week where I instruct new students and pass along my many years of tips and tricks. The half-day course includes lawn cutting, edging and weed removable and lawn mower cleaning and polishing, all hands on at my home in Mae Rim - at 199 per person it's a bargain you can't afford to miss. Cheers for the tips. The lawn is apparently Japanese grass. There are some patches round the back which need serious attention as the grass has gone yellow and dried out. Looking at the houses around they have the same problem. I think it's a combination of not much/poor soil and not much natural rainfall as the roof stops this particular patch getting rain. So I was looking at either 1) overseeding or 2) buying some more "ready made sods" sods. Overseeding sort of appeals as a first try. Then buying sods if that fails. I bought some soil, but the problem was which grass to use. That's when we asked which we already have. I'm not familiar with Japanese grass and I'd sort of thought there must be various types of Japanese grass. Bermuda sounds a good tip and am more familiar with it. We also bought some hose pipes and sprinklers. We looked at the blue pipe type system solution but as a first easy step have just got attachments to fix on the hose pipe. Works fine but as you say you need to switch on and off yourself. Also bought a timer as we thought likewise about how you suggested. Haven't fitted that yet though, but will get round to it. It's battery powered. I'm quite please with how the side of the house is coming along. Already the best in the street Just patches at the back needs sorting. We bought an electric mower and a strimmer. The mower is fine for what we use it for. The only things is keep having to move the cable so I don't cut thru it . I leave off the grass collection bucket part so I can do grasscycling (I think they call it) and leave the clippings on the lawn. It's set on the highest setting to take off as little off as possible while the lawn is still new. Don't think it deserves a crew cut just yet. Anyway cheers for the tips Getting advice to do with lawns is difficult in Thailand. Even buying grass for your lawn is difficult as to where to get it. Thai Watsadu, HomePro etc don't sell. It's allegedly easier to buy the other type of grass in Thailand Cheers Fletch A series of unconnected pointers and thoughts: I don't know anyone who seeds lawns here, I've never seen it done in Thailand. Everyone seems to use turf which in the case of Malay grass is super thin but grows very quickly. In CM there's a garden centre where all the plant/garden shops are clustered together in a large area, I'm certain you'll have similar nearby. Turf sells for between 20 and 25 baht a square metre with a discount for volume, based on the season of the year, laying costs per square metre are typically about the same as the turf but it's an easy and simple task and can actually be good fun. Mowers/strimmers: the very best electric mowers and strimmers that I've seen here are from Homeworks USA which has only recently started selling them here, Hommepro is the reseller and they are listed on the HP web site, strong hardy kit, all of which is battery operated and first rate, I have their leaf blower on 24V. If and when you get ready to instal a blue pipe sprinkler system or similar, give me a shout and I'll pass on some tips at that point, there's actually quite a science behind it all and a degree in physics wouldn't go amiss! The bigee: Japanese grass is single strand grass that grows vertically (?), if it's the same one it's hard to get it looking like a lawn as you and I might know it and it never turns dark green, always a pale green. Malay is easier to achieve that "look" and is tough as nails but it needs constant watering and is not receptive to be walked on too often (and I thought my ex-wife was picky). Cutting to the quick with Bermuda is a perhaps a thought to revisit when things have settled down and you know better the garden stores nearby. Weeds: the good news is Roundup (glyosphate) is readily available, sold in red bottles at HP. The bad news is there's no such thing as weed and feed here so either you kill everything with roundup or you paint weeds individually (are you friggin kidding me). Malay grass deters weeds more easily because it grows laterally rather than vertically, I get clover in certain seasons but never weeds per se. If you're using an electric mower, please make sure you have an RCB on your fuse box, please! (yes mum). I fitted one after we moved in and one month later managed to cut the power cord of my angle grinder whilst using it, it probably saved me a hospital visit.
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siampolee
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Post by siampolee on Oct 5, 2017 17:38:11 GMT 7
The best lawn mower(s) you can get was the type used by my grandparents on their lawn totally environmentally friendly and as regards anyone dropping in unannounced great early warning devices. Second alternative was the one used at times, an old retired farm worker of their age group indeed a craftsman. I can recall him and others working on the cereal crop at harvest time on the headlands where modern machinery couldn't reach.
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Post by Fletchsmile on Oct 9, 2017 15:10:05 GMT 7
We went looking for grass at the weekend. Ended up in a place near Ram Intra. They didn't have seeds or Bermuda grass turf, but had a local turf called "Nuan Noi" = small forest. Wasn't sure whether to get some or not. When the Mrs. asked the price it was 12 baht per square metre. So that sealed it Bought 15 square metre just to see, as that more or less filled up the car boot. So the princely some of 180 baht. That sort of price you might as well take it and see
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