Many years ago we made the commitment to invest in Jumbo Roll installation technology, and so became the first Turf company in Western Australia to harvest and install Jumbo Rolls.

With a commitment to excellence and years of experience behind us, we still continue to be the top choice for installing this state of the art product in Western Australia.

Greenacres’s Jumbo Roll is a popular choice for many of our commercial clients as it delivers a smoother finish, requires less initial watering and can be used almost immediately. Another benefit of using Greenacres Jumbo Roll is that it enables us to lay as much as 4000m2 in a day, which results in lower labour and installation costs and less chance of injuries. Jumbo rolls also means it’s simply too heavy to steal and that vandalism from cars driving over the lawn is much less destructive.

It can be risky, however, to install Jumbo Rolls – especially for installers who are new to the technology. One of the biggest issues can arise in the time during harvesting and installation, when the lawn must be laid within 12 hours of harvest to avoid severe damage from heat exposure. Many novice installers don’t realise this and run the costly risk of their newly harvested lawns dying from heat exposure when they don’t follow the process correctly.

Over the four years of gaining valuable Jumbo Roll installation experience, we have perfected our installation process and implemented various strategies to ensure that our Jumbo Roll installations don’t suffer the same problems.

By being a turf farm first and foremost, we are the only installer that controls the whole supply chain –from growth to installation, and can ensure that every step runs smoothly. Our team plans all our installation schedules around the weather conditions. If necessary, we will be up at 4am in the morning to cut turf so that it is ready and freshly laid later the same day. We also believe that part of our success lies in the fact that we do everything internally. We run our own fleet of trucks which negates the risk of waiting on unreliable subcontractor trucks. We have a team of eight experienced installers using the specialist jumbo laying equipment to guarantee fast and effective installation, which ensures maximum take up and turf health, and minimum delays on use.

It is evident that when it comes to installing Jumbo Rolls, all installers are not equal For the best results everyone should insist on Greenacres Turf Group for all their commercial projects.
To find out more about our premier turf farm in Perth, and our vast range of services and lawn varieties, browse our website or call to request a quote.

Try these top tips for lawn care during springtime for a lush, green AND healthy lawn over the summer months.

All it takes is a little effort initially and then the sun and the soil will take over!

Soil

A healthy lawn needs a healthy base and it’s a good idea to test the pH levels of your soil in spring. As a general rule, lawns like a slightly acidic pH level (around 6.2 – 6.5) and you can check your soil with an easy-to-use DIY pH meter which you can get from your local garden shop or hardware store.

Preparation

Another important task for spring is to prepare your lawn mower for summer mowing. That means making sure the blades are sharp and clean, that the machine is well lubricated and that it’s generally in good working order. It may be worth having it serviced in early spring so it’s ready to roll when your lawn starts its warm weather growth spurt!

Reduce compaction

If your soil has become hard and compacted, it’s important to aerate it during spring. Depending on the size of your lawn, you can either use a mechanical aerator or a fork to make holes in the soil. This will reduce the compaction, control thatch (a build-up of stem material between the green top of the lawn and the soil), help stimulate new root growth and improve the filtration of water, air and nutrients.

Irrigate

Water your lawn thoroughly during the first couple of weeks of spring (depending on how much rain you have in your area of course!). Also, in areas like Perth in Western Australia where the soils are very sandy and water repellent, it’s essential to apply a wetting agent in spring. In fact, a wetting agent is a good idea for every lawn as it facilitates the penetration and dispersal of water and helps the soil hold onto water for longer. Another important tip is to water your lawn in the morning when it’s warm and the grass is actively growing. Watering in the evening or during the night can result in wasted water plus it can promote fungal diseases.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is the main ingredient in fertiliser that stimulates thick, rich growth in lawns and a healthy, deep green colour. You should fertilise your lawn in spring with a good slow-release fertiliser that contains nitrogen at a rate of 50 grams per square metre and remember to water it in very well. Always check the package instructions before applying fertiliser because these products need to be used properly and at the right time to avoid causing any damage to the lawn. Early in the growing season is best, but the timing will vary depending on where you live and what the weather is doing.

Grow

Once you’ve done all your lawn preparation in the spring, you can sit back and watch it grow! There’s nothing nicer than a lush, green and healthy lawn for kids to play on, for walking on or for just looking at, so it’s a good time to ‘spring’ into action and get your lawn ready for the warmer weather.

Here’s a handy guide for remembering what to do when it comes to springtime lawn care:
S-oil
P-repare
R-educe compaction
I-rrigate
N-itrogen
G-row

If you want more tips on how to grow and maintain your lawn, have a chat to the experts at Greenacres Turf Farm. Greenacres is the largest supplier of roll-on lawn in Perth and they’re more than happy to chat about any aspect of lawns. Have a look at their website, www.greenacresturfgroup.com.au for more tips on caring for your instant lawn or call them on 08 9525 8822 for a chat with one of their friendly team.

Gardening can be an expensive business – but there are lots of clever ways that you can create a beautiful oasis without spending a fortune.

However, when it comes to gardens and landscaping, many people don’t realise that it pays off to invest time, money and effort on the preparation of the ground. What’s in the soil will dictate the long-term health of your plants. So, to avoid the disappointment of seeing your garden fade instead of flourish, you need to put in all the right nutrients, compost, fertilisers, wetting agents and so on into the soil before you even think about planting.

Now for some budget-beating tips on how to create a beautiful garden.

1. Make a plan

However tempting it is to rush to the nursery and fill your boot with beautiful shrubs and flowers, you ought to have a plan first. Define what type of garden you’re after (native, tropical, cottage, resort-style etc) and then draw a plan (to scale) of the whole area that is to be landscaped. This should include placing of garden beds, which plants will be used, where your trees will be placed, what hard landscaping is required (paths, raised beds etc), the irrigation system etc. You may be itching to get going on your garden project, but this is a smart move that you’ll be grateful for down the line – and it doesn’t cost a cent!

2. Source cheap (or free!) plants

The cost of buying plants from a nursery can escalate quickly – especially if you’re buying fairly large quantities. However, there are many cheaper options and your green-fingered friends are a perfect place to start! Ask them if you can have some of their extras when they’re dividing clumps of plants or see if they’re happy to propagate new plants for you from cuttings.

Neighbourhood verges during green waste collection time are another good source of free plants and don’t discount the wilted, sad-looking pots going cheaply at the nursery. Very often, it only takes a little water and TLC before they’re as good as new.

Buying plants online can also be cheaper.

3. Much more mulch

Mulching is good for gardens for many reasons. It helps insulate the soil, provides a buffer against the heat and cold, it retains water and helps keep roots moist and it keeps weeds down. In fact, mulching can reduce watering by up to 60% – so it’s a really good budget-beater too.

It makes so much ‘cents’ to mulch your whole garden, so you should contact your council or local tree lopping contractors to see if they have excess piles of woodchips or mulch which they will give to you for free, provided you collect it.

4. Substitute low-cost materials

If you’re creating pathways in your garden, paving stones or concrete can be very expensive – plus there may be installation costs too. However, loose materials like bark chips, acorn shells, crushed gravel, washed stones or pebbles from your local building supplies merchant are a very attractive alternative and they’ll cost a lot less. What’s more, laying them is an easy DIY job!

5. Simply seeds

Seeds cost a whole lot less than plants – and they’re really easy to grow too. Save on plastic pots by sowing them into egg boxes, toilet roll inners or butter tubs and then transferring the seedlings into your garden.

6. Block-busters

If you want to create raised garden beds, the humble hollow concrete block is a great budget-beating option. You can lay them standing up or sideways depending on the height of your beds, paint them any colour you like and plant your favourite edging plant in the hollow sections filled with potting soil. Too easy!

7. Search for solutions

You can save a heap of money when you create a garden if you search online for bargains. Websites like Gumtree are a great source for cheap plants, materials, pots and planters, garden tools and even irrigation systems. Don’t be put off by the fact that many items are second-hand. They’re often as good as new or just need a quick spruce-up to look fabulous.

Salvage yards are another great place to look for cheap materials.

8. Lush lawn

Contrary to what many people think, instant lawn isn’t expensive and it can transform a dustbowl into a stunning, green oasis. What is important however, is finding an instant lawn supplier who guarantees that their turf is weed-free and of the highest quality because you don’t want to end up with costly problems down the line.

One such supplier is Greenacres, the largest supplier of roll-on lawn in Perth, who guarantee great value weed-free turf at affordable prices. They also offer expert advice on how to install and care for your instant lawn, so you can save on installation costs too. Have a look at their impressive range of top quality instant lawn varieties at www.greenacresturfgroup.com.au or call them on 08 9525 8822 for a chat with one of their friendly instant-lawn experts.

Nature is the best playmate any child could wish for.

Trees can become castles, bushes can be converted into a secret fort, mud can be squished and squelched, stones and gravel can become building blocks for miniature cities, butterflies and bugs can be caught and dissected, seeds can be transformed into plants that can be eaten – nature fires up a child’s imagination and provides endless opportunities for them to play, discover and learn.

Plus, with the modern world’s obsession with screens and technology, there’s never been a more important time to encourage kids to move away from the virtual world and discover the delights of the real world.

Here are some simple and clever ways of creating a child-friendly nature play backyard that will stimulate a child’s senses and provide them with hours of fun, games and discovery. Obviously, safety is a priority so it’s important to establish the ground rules up front and avoid using any products or plants which may be harmful.

Create some space

Manicured lawns are great for cricket and croquet, but for nature play, you’ll need to set aside an area where things are a little less orderly! Screens made from natural materials like bamboo, hedging shrubs, tree stumps, grasses or even a wooden fence with a gate can be used to keep the play area separate and hide it from view if necessary.

Make a plan

Even if the play area is intended to be organic and unstructured, it’s best to draw up a design upfront so that you make the best use of the available space and don’t miss any opportunities. Some things you may want to include in your plan are a water feature, a tree for climbing, a swing or tree-house, a garden bed, shrubs or bushes for hideaways, a sandpit and a storage area for playthings – even a worm farm or compost heap.

Resource with natural materials

Your backyard wouldn’t be complete without toys and equipment – and Mother Nature has all you need. You can use water, pebbles, gum nuts, sticks, gravel, bark, plants, logs as well as a host of other natural materials for children to play with and create things with.

Some ideas for your child-friendly nature play backyard are:

• Logs of varying heights for stepping and balancing
• A pond or water feature for messy (but fun!) mud play
• A sand-pit
• A raised garden bed (which is easier for everyone to access)
• Shrubs, grasses and other materials for creating a fort, tepee or secret hideaway
• Plants which are edible, or which attract insects, or those which can be used in imaginative play such as snapdragons. Remember, fast-growing plants, herbs and veggies are going to be the most rewarding for a child
• Old tyres which can be used as storage or as building blocks
• A tree-house

Kids will love getting involved in their ‘own’ dynamic outdoor space and they’ll delight in all the many opportunities it presents for them to explore, experiment, use their imaginations and engage with nature. They’ll get dirty, but who cares. Mud can be washed off, but the memories will stay with them forever.

And if you want some lush green grass for your play backyard, you should talk the premier supplier of turf in Perth, Greenacres. They are WA’s largest turf farm and they offer a variety of quality weed-free lawns at competitive prices – so if you want to talk to the experts about roll-on lawn for your backyard, give them a call on 08 9468 9193 or visit their website, greenacresturfgroup.com.au.

Which kid doesn’t love playing outside, interacting with others, getting physical, letting off a little steam and even getting their hands dirty?

The trouble is, our children aren’t spending nearly enough time getting active in the great outdoors and, according to the experts, this sedentary lifestyle is having a negative impact on their physical and mental wellbeing.

Consider this. The Australian Government’s Department of Health recommends that toddlers and pre-schoolers should be physically active for at least three hours every day and kids aged 5 – 12 years should have at least an hour of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day, yet recent research* found that West Australian kids are spending 22 hours a week staring at an electronic device. That’s almost an entire day of screen time every week!

Clearly, we need to get our kids moving. The benefits of physical activity are well known – it helps control weight (and we’re all aware of the rising epidemic of childhood obesity), it builds muscle, promotes the strong development of bones, muscles and joints and plus there are other cognitive, social and emotional spin-offs too. But how do we get our children into the great outdoors and encourage healthy habits?

A great way of luring them outside is to have a range of interesting and fun toys that will exercise their bodies, stimulate their brains and keep them occupied for hours. There are literally thousands of options when it comes to outdoor toys and different age groups will have their favourites, but as a starting point, here are 5 tried-and-tested outdoor toys that every kid loves:

Sandpit

Kids love getting dirty and a sandpit provides a safe environment for them to dig in, build structures, create shapes and socialise with others. It encourages outdoor play and exercise and stimulates their creative minds.

Water guns

Water guns are an ideal toy for active outdoor summer fun. From small squirters to turbo blasters like the Air warriors Extreme Blastzooka, which was voted one of the best summer toys of 2016 and which can be connected to a garden hose, they provide kids with hours of energetic play. You can even get creative and arrange for a game of water gun painting. Simply set up canvases in the garden, get some water-based paints in different colours and let the kids cut loose and create artistic masterpieces!

Trampolines

There’s a reason why the Little Tikes trampoline is top of Amazon’s best seller list for toys and games. Kids love jumping on a trampoline – and whether it’s a tiny bouncy mat for toddlers or a 5 metre giant trampoline complete with basketball hoop, there’s a product to suit children of all ages. Trampolining is a great way for kids to expend energy and get a wide range of physical benefits at the same time. It improves their motor skills, co-ordination, balance and muscle control, enhances their aerial awareness and gives them better posture – plus they get hours of active fun without even realising they’re doing exercise!

Dump truck

Most kids have a fascination with trucks and cars, so a dump truck with an articulated bed will give them hours of fun as they create their own construction zone in the garden, the sandpit or the backyard. They can also use it to load and unload small toys, which is good for their gross and fine motor development – and you can encourage them to get involved in gardening activities by using it to ‘transport’ weeds, compost, seeds etc.

Jungle gym

Climbing or swinging can be very beneficial in the development of strong muscles and bones in children, so a jungle gym is a smart choice when it comes to outdoor toys. They appeal to kids of all ages, who will spend many healthy hours swinging, climbing, balancing, sliding and interacting with one another.

There’s no doubt that outdoor toys and play equipment get kids moving and having fun at the same time, which is so critically important for their overall health and wellbeing. It really doesn’t matter what toys they play with as long as they turn off their screens and get active in the great outdoors.

And of course, if your lawn looks green, lush and enticing, your kids will be far more likely to venture out to play. But if it’s in need of a little TLC or if you want to rip it up and install top quality, weed-free roll-on lawn in Perth, then you should head for Greenacres Turf Group. They are WA’s premier supplier for residential lawn and commercial turf and by calling 08 9525 8822 or visiting greenacresturfgroup.com.au, you can have the healthiest, greenest lawn in the street in an instant – and EVERY kid in the neighbourhood will want to play on it!

* HBF Survey Perth Now 23 May 2016

Getting kids involved in the garden is easier than most people think – and with a few simple tips and tricks, you may just ‘sow the seeds’ for a lifelong interest in all things green!

Start small and simple

Kids are far more likely to stay focused on a manageable project. A few pots or a small area (a square metre) is the perfect size for beginner gardeners.

Make it theirs

If kids are encouraged to take ownership of their garden, they’re more likely to spend time and effort on it. Help them demarcate the area using pebbles (a ‘pre-garden’ project could be painting the pebbles in different colours), railway sleepers or logs (which make good seats for little people) or low fencing and get them to create a sign for their special space.

Give them the tools

Who doesn’t love a present? A surprise gift of tools (kid sized of course) will get them excited about gardening using their very own equipment.

Speed things up

Most kids have fairly short attention spans, so it’s a good idea to choose seeds or plants that will deliver quick results. And remember, things don’t always go to plan so always plant extra to avoid disappointment.

Mix it up

Planting a variety of seeds or plants will help keep the kids interested. You’ll obviously want to choose plants that are appropriate for the season and your soil type, but some easy-to-grow ideas include sunflowers, lettuces, tomatoes, nasturtiums, potatoes, radishes, herbs and carrots. It’s also fun for children to plant seeds in patterns of their choice, such as their initials.

Record the progress

A good way of holding their interest is to record their garden’s progress using a chart or journal. Help them work out a system which records things like their watering schedule (a good incentive to keep watering!) and how well their garden is growing (for example measuring plants with a ruler).

Expand the circle of interest

Use books, videos, pictures and stories about gardens and gardening to keep the momentum going. Another idea is for children to create a book about their garden project using lots of drawings, comments or photos to make memories.

Eat or cook the harvest

Kids feel an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment when their home-grown produce is used as part of a family meal. Make a big fuss about putting their lettuce into the salad or chopping up their tomatoes for the casserole – it’ll encourage them to continue their good work.

Show it off

Encourage them to take their veggies or herbs (or small pots) to relatives, friends or to school for ‘show and tell’ activities. It’s a great confidence booster, plus it may even inspire others to get their hands dirty too.

Get creative

Even if it’s not your idea of style, you should encourage your kids to get creative in their gardens such as growing herbs in an old tyre or germinating seeds in a chipped cup. When they’re allowed to let their imaginations run wild, they’re more likely to stay engaged in the garden project.

Find teachable moments

Gardening isn’t just about watching plants grow. Finding moments to teach kids about the whole gardening lifecycle (including the important roles of earthworms, butterflies, water, sun, birds, bees, compost etc) is a good way of holding their interest.

First-hand experience of gardening will help kids understand that the more they put into a garden, the more they will get out of it. Kids who have been involved in the garden in some way are much more likely to spend more time outside in the fresh air, appreciate pretty flowers, tasty veggies, healthy salad ingredients or a lush lawn for playing on.

Ask for help

Once the kids have been involved in the garden and seen the fruits of their labour, they may even be inspired to lend a hand with weeding or mowing your lawn. However, for professional help with your turf, it’s best to talk to the experts in roll-on lawn in Perth, Greenacres Turf Group. As WA’s largest and premier turf farm for residential and commercial lawns, they will provide you with the healthiest, greenest lawn in the street – plus they guarantee that your quality roll-on lawn will be delivered within 18 hours of being cut which is great news for kids (and adults) who are impatient for results! Find them on 08 9525 8822 or visit their website, greenacresturfgroup.com.au.