fake lawn becoming more popular

It seems like at last fake grass is starting to catch on in Australia - see extracts from article below.

I suspect we are going to have to go down this route at least in part so I don't go nuts from lack of greenery. Fake is better than nothing!

I reckon too it could also be a really practical lower-maintenance alternative to gravel or cobbles for the pathways between garden beds...


Extracts from "Which Grass is Greener?" (November 4, 2008)


Frustrated at seeing their once green lawns turn to parched, dusty hollows because of the watering ban, many people are weighing up the choices: is synthetic turf that you don't have to water kind to the environment or are drought tolerant grasses the way to go?

Peter Ammoun, of Lifestyle Turf, says demand has never been higher for his artificial turf, with this winter "the best ever".

"When we first started, the requests were in summer and for smaller courtyards and little shady areas," he says. "The average size was about 35 square metres, but that has doubled and people are doing their front and back gardens and around swimming pools, plus nature strips." ...


While sales of artificial turf have increased, demand for the real thing is still high, according to HG Turf's Peter van Leeuwen. He concedes that synthetic turf is more practical because there's no need for watering or mowing, but it doesn't have the same feel underfoot as natural turf, which is softer and more cooling...

"A lot of drought-hardy warm season grasses are available and, once established, require little water," van Leeuwen says. Instead, drought-tolerant, warm season grasses such as soft-leafed buffaloes are being grown including Sir Walter, sapphire and palmetto.

Kikuyu, used at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens in heavy traffic areas, and couch are also viable alternatives. However, like buffalo, they brown off (already there are signs of lawns under stress after two dry months) but they bounce back after rain or being refreshed with grey water...

The cost of natural turf and its synthetic counterparts vary greatly, with real grass costing $7-$10 a square metre and artificial turf, fully installed, $80-$90 (depending on the quality and supplier). If you choose to do it yourself, the cost is about $35 a square metre.

buying a tractor (perhaps)

Dad emailed yesterday to say he'd found a secondhand tractor he recommended that we buy.

We've toyed with the idea of getting a tractor a while. It would mean we could do all the excavations needed ourselves and save a ton on labour and equipment rental. And once finished, we could sell the tractor on again to recoup some of the capital outlay.



It is a B21 Kubota, 4 1/2 years old but has only 860 hours on the engine clock. It comes with a bucket and a backhoe, but not a posthole driller (although it is possible to buy them for it). Before selling, the dealer will be putting on new front tyres and replacing a bush in the front bucket, along with a new pin to lock the backhoe apparatus mechanically for safer transporting. We'll be getting a mechanical test done on it before decided to go ahead, but assuming that gives the all clear then it looks like I will soon own a tractor!!

From the description in the dealer's book:
"Extra heavy duty machine; For contractors requiring a heavy duty machine capable of handling long hours of operation in punishing conditions, the B21 is ideal. Specifically designed for the construction industry, the B21 has a reinforced frame, steel bonnet, cast iron front axle, heavy duty transmission and a 4 post rollover frame with steel roof. Features 4 wheel drive, self-levelling loader mechanism, industrial tyres, wet disc brakes, optional vertical stabilizer and optional 4-1 bucket (although the one we are looking at has a standard bucket, not the one that has a splitting capacity to more quickly fill it). HP 21, Engine 3 cyl diesel, Transmission is Hydrostatic, Backhoe has a max dig depth of 2330 and a reach of 3080. The Loader lift height is 2250 and lift capacity of 420 kg.

Priced new 18 months ago it was A$49150 + gst. The one Dad found second hand is A$25000. Still a pretty hefty sum, more than I've ever spent on a machine (I can see I am doomed to never have a new car!!) but given it's $500+ per day to rent the darn things that is only 50 days worth of rental... I am sure we will have more than 50 days worth of digging to do with all the excavation work needed for the garden, house, tanks, trenches for electricity wires, etc etc.

Apparently the hire firm selling it bought it new in order to rent it to one customer, a gas maintenance firm in Shepparton. It has been used by one team since new, has had all dealer services as required. Has had a new clutch plate installed 10 engine hours ago. The engine has only 860 hours total work time in the 4 1/2 years. It has been placed for sale because when it was returned from this firm for whatever reasons it meant there were too many in the yard for hire than the usual business pattern.

It weighs 1.2 tonnes, so should be okay for Dad to transport on his tandem trailer, meaning that it can be stored securely in town rather than left at the block. Dad assures me too there are ample service depots in Ballarat, and probably even in Marysborough, given it is a popular, tough machine.

Patch Rogers: arts & crafts dealer

If you like this era, you will love this shop. I stumbled across it by accident when I looked at a listing he had on Ebay. It looks like not only does he specialise in Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau etc, he is heavily involved in gathering pieces for the Liberty exhibitions too.

You can see latest stock including photos and (for most) prices on his website here.

Soil test results

Yes, they have finally arrived. Here's the key extracts:



(Click to make it big enough to read).

Also, here's the background information leaflet.

Keeping bees

Sometimes things just all fall into place.

We plan to keep bees at Amherst to help with pollinating the orchard as well as for honey and beeswax.

But neither of us know the first thing about bee-keeping.

I'd been expecting it would be a hassle to find somewhere local to learn and thus we'd be better starting over here in the UK despite the climate and bee strain differences. But it turns out that couldn't be further from the truth.

The Central Goldfields region of which we're smack bang in the middle is apparently a centre for the Honey Bee industry in Australia!!!! Who knew???

Because of this, the local TAFE has multiple courses all about bee keeping. The one that sounds perfect for us is a 7 week course, 1 evening per week plus 2 weekend day practical sessions.

So bees can wait. Thank goodness, 'cos I wasn't looking forward to attempting it here in urban London. :-)

soil test update

We're still waiting for the full set of test results, but we've heard about the Foundation test.

From Dad's email (May 1st):
"He said he has done one of the tests, the foundations, and the news is good, an M classification for the footings. He has to complete the capability tests, as these require time for dispersal of water from holes before he can submit his samples"

I had a little hunt online and found a booklet thanks to Soil Test Australia which defines the different classifications. It turns out M = average. :-)



UPDATE: the full report has arrived.

taking the storage plunge

We put this off as long as we could, but have now taken the plunge and rented proper storage for all our "stuff" back in Australia. Dad really kindly had been storing it in my old bedroom, but they needed the room back and it had got to the point anyway that nothing more would fit!

Dad got us a great deal on a 4x3 unit which is well cooled and ventilated, not to mention secure, and already fitted out with shelves. It is perfectly located too, not far from Dad's place in Mitcham. Although our contract is monthly, he agreed a fixed price for a year.

Here's some photos, judging from the amount of empty space, I think this was taken early on in the moving in process. :-)

Glass dome supplier

Glass Domes.

For some weird reason an ad for a glass dome supplier came up in my gmail today. I can't work out why - the email I was looking at from my Mum mentioned a pewter jug with a lid - perhaps they'd bought an ad linked to the keyword of "lid" or something.

Anyway, I wanted to make a note of it as I've toyed with the idea of getting a display case or dome for the architectural model of our house.

Of course, we haven't actually got the model yet, let alone decorated it, so it's a bit premature to think of buying a display case... but one to remember. :-)

wrought iron supplier in Sydney

Just wanted to make a note of this site that I stumbled across while reading the Cacatua blog. Might come in handy when we finally (finally!) get to the point of needing decorative details like this.
Artistic Wrought Iron Suppliers

water tanks

We're toying with the idea of getting more water tanks installed sooner rather than later. But first, there's some decisions to make.

The first question is how much capacity we need.

We know we need about 5000 gallons dedicated just for firefighting.

Dave was then thinking we could get away with having an additional 12000 gallons for household use (bearing in mind that almost everything that goes on the garden will be recycled). But a lady I talked to in Rushworth said she got through 2000 gallons in a fortnight for her household of 3 people, which makes me fear 12000 might be cutting it fine.

I'd far rather err on the side of having more rather than less capacity, not least since if we ever have to resort to trucking in water it'd be better if we had more space on-site to store it. But at the same time, water tanks are expensive so don't want to be stupid about it.

We asked Eric what he thought:

Back when we lived in the bush, we had two, 20,000 ltr (5,000 gallon) tanks. All garden irrigation was via the dam water. Dam water also supplied the toilet and the laundry (cold only.) Our rainfall was somewhere in the region of 700-800 mm per. We never actually emptied one tank all the way. I suppose that a single 20,000 ltr tank may have worked, but I wouldn't have wanted to cut it that fine. I'm wondering if the 2000 gallons (8000 ltrs) in a fortnight included gardening. My feeling would be that 2 x 20,000 ltr tanks should be sufficient. Add a third if you want extra security.

Check how much water is required by the CFA. In most areas that I have dealt with, they required 10,000 ltrs. Generally, that can either by a "static" water supply (ie a stand alone tank that just sits there full of water waiting for a fire.) It can also be part of your domestic water tank. Do this by fitting a CFA valve at the bottom of the tank, and the outlet for house use part way up the tank. This means that there would always be a certain amount of water in the tank even if the house runs low. In any case, I would fit a CFA valve to all tanks. It doesn't cost much extra, and if the house catches on fire, most of us would like the CFA to use any water that is available.

Based on this, I'm thinking we'll plan on getting big tanks that can store 40,000 litres = equivalent to two 5000 gallon tanks to begin, but build in space so we can easily add a third. We'll also still have the little baby tanks that can be used to collect and hold water from various sheds and so forth, but I reckon you can probably never have enough water tanks when you live in a dry area. We'll also take the advice about having CFA valves on tanks at a level higher up than the house water, rather than a separate dedicated tank. That way they'll be able to use all the water we have rather than it be restricted to just one tank.

The second question is what colour/style of tank to use.

We've decided to put the tanks up the top, above the house and to go with above-ground tanks rather than under-ground as they seem to be a lot cheaper.

We started off thinking we'd mix them in a variety in different sizes and heritage colours to make it look almost sculptural, but Eric has now changed our minds:

"I use light colours like beige (I know that the work has negative connotations.) Light colours will reflect heat, keeping water cooler. Also, light colours disappear into the background a bit more. I would never use a green tank, especially dark green. They stand out like dogs ..... Metal tanks look the most "authentic." The plain galv metal tanks really suit the australian landscape. The ones used for houses have a PVC lining on the inside. It is a food grade plastic, but some people are concerned about he PVC"

He also gave us links to two suppliers:

Enviro-friendly tanks: These plastic tanks were recommended by a building biologist that I am working with for delivering water with fewer chemical contaminants than other options.



Or for metal tanks, Blue Scope Steel's aquaplate tanks.



My preference is for the latter, in the shade of 'pale eucalypt' steel.

There's a supplier in Ballarat which is probably our closest option:
BlueScope Water - Western Region, BALLARAT, VIC, 3350
ph: 0412 781 095 fax: 03 9830 4897

in search of artificial lawn

This is a picture of the banks of our dam that Dad took a few weeks ago. It's drier than I've ever seen, you can not only see the hump in the middle, it's now a path big enough to walk over! It really rams home that water is going to have to be very carefully allocated in the garden.




Lawn uses a lot of water but, as we discovered when visiting Beth Chatto's garden, it makes a huge difference to the look and feel of a place. Beth's "dry garden" is OK but it doesn't come close to my garden dream. To really shine, the garden beds need the the green lawn as backdrop.

Except perhaps for a tiny patch in the "secret garden", we're not going to have enough water to support real lawn. Even the drought resistant stuff you can get in Australia needs watering every 2-3 weeks. If you don't it goes brown... ok, it springs back to green-ness as soon as you water it again but what's the point, if it's brown you may as well have gravel. Besides, there's something miserable about the hardy grasses - they feel rough when you walk on them with barefeet, to me they're not a proper lawn.

Which leaves artificial lawn as the only alternative.

We looked at this a few years back and, at least then, there didn't seem to be any decent suppliers in Australia - at least not servicing the domestic market. Now though we've come across a few, and Dave has emailed them to find out more.

Here are the suppliers we've found so far:
http://www.protechcorp.com.au/
http://www.artificialgrass.com.au/
http://www.tigerturf.com.au/
http://www.evergreensyntheticgrass.com.au/

Below are the questions Dave sent to each... I shall post an update with their replies. Fingers crossed. :-)

1. How real does your fake lawn feel and look? eg: If you walk on it barefoot could you tell the difference between it and real grass? If you fall over on it does it give you abrasions/burn like the old style astroturfs do? Is it possible to obtain a sample of the product?

2. Not that we are likely to need to do it often, but once the lawn is laid, if you needed to get to the ground underneath it is it possible to roll it up and re-install it later? This is a consideration because part of the area we'd like to cover has an underground gas main easement which we are not allowed to build over. As well, we are probably going to be installing various underground tanks for sewerage treatment, etc and if they could be underneath the lawn that would give us a lot more flexibility in placement.

3. To what extent is the product fireproof? If for example, a bushfire came through, would the fake grass act as a stimulant or retardant to the fire? Our property is bordered on one side by ironbark forest and so bushfire is a serious hazard we need to consider. On a smaller scale, what would happen if someone dropped a lit cigarette? If a small part was burnt, is it possible to patch?

4. Is it possible to use the fake lawn as a surface for collecting rainwater? We are going to be seeking to capture and store as much water as we can, given it's such a dry area. The lawn would be almost entirely in an area with a gentle slope, so there will be a natural path for runoff.

5. Finally, the question of price. I would be looking at 250-300 square metres coverage, though not in a square block, the grass would be going around garden beds, trees, etc. Can you give a ball park estimate of likely cost? Are there ways to minimise cost, eg: by doing the preparatory legwork and installation myself?

choosing a sewerage system

Even though it's a few years off yet before we install it, we need to decide now how the sewerage will be treated, so as to be able to show it on the planning permit application that Dad needs before he can do any proper work at the old house.

To have a shot of having a nice garden, we need to recycle as much water as possible. Most people only recycle grey water, but that means wasting all the sewerage. Given we have to go off the grid anyway (as there's no mains sewerage in our area), we've decided we'd like to get a complete grey & black water treatment and recycling system.

Dave looked at using reed beds but the eco-warrior syle of treatments looked fairly difficult to look after, so he's now leaning towards buying a readymade system. These are essentially like building a 'private' sewerage system that enables the water used to be recycled, at the minimum, to a garden, at best, to produce potable water.

Planning regulations regarding these systems are pretty strict (e.g.they need to be inspected 4 times per year minimum) and not all the advertised 'solutions' are really a complete recycling system when you delve into them. Here's the ones we found online via the EPA's website which we thought might be suitable:

Aquanova http://www.aquanova.com.au/
info@aquanova.com.au
Ecosse Pty LtdBallarat Vic 3350
Tel. 03 5331 4677

Ozzikleen http://www.ozzikleen.com/
North Central septics (echuca?)
tel: 03 5480 1387
mob: 0419 893 271

Taylex http://www.taylex.com.au/
Distributor for central goldfields:
R & F Building Industries
Frank Ortisi ph: (03) 9336 4832
mob: 0419 896 957 Frank, 0407 829 604 Rob

Septech http://www.septech.com.au/
dale@septech.com.au
tel: 1300 557 143

Envirosep http://www.envirosep.com.au/
envirosepsewage@bigpond.com
Tel: (03) 9761 9720

Biocycle http://www.biocyclejowagroup.com.au/
Eaglehawk VIC 3556Tel: (03) 5446 9004
sales@biocyclejowagroup.com.au

Dave emailed the ones who'd given email addresses and asked:

• Do you supply to the Maryborough/Avoca region?
• What is the standard cost of purchase and installation? (I know these vary with site, but a ball park figure or range would suffice)
• What are the typical maintenance requirements & costs?
• How long does the system last? (I.e. will it need to be replaced in 10 years? 15 years?
• Why is this system better than other approaches, be they reed beds or competitor systems?
  

I'll post an update with their responses. Update is here.

a different approach to reupholstery

I was really skeptical until we tried it for one of our armchairs and now I will never go back. Unless there's another reason for reupholstering besides replacing worn fabric, I recommend getting fitted covers instead of 'permanent' reupholstery.

We've had two armchairs done now, and for both you can't tell that it is removable. We got them done in a rough velvet-ey cream fabric and it's so practical to be able to take the covers off and throw in the washing machine. Once dry, you then just re-fit using the hidden zippers and velcro and voila, it's back to normal except now it's clean! It's a hell of a lot easier than steam cleaning.

The place we've used so far is called Plumbs Covers. Their brochures can be a pretty tacky looking and any of the special offers only applies to horrible chintzy polyester fabrics. But, they have a big range and provided you're willing to pay for the custom-made service and pick a decent fabric, it's brilliant. It worked out for us about the same price as permanent reupholstering would have, so it wasn't about saving money, but it is more practical. The best thing about it now is that they've just introduced a worldwide mailorder service. So, you just need to take the measurements yourself and send photos of the sofas / chairs you want covered and they'll make it to order.

the radiator is on sale

A year ago I wrote about this incredible radiator I'd found.



This week I got an email from Joris to say an electric version is now on sale to consumers, with a central heating version coming soon too. If you're interested in it, you can contact joris via email. The only bad thing about it is the price.

Now, you have to not think of it as a radiator.
You have to think of it as a work of art.
A work of art that was bought by several design museums and won lots of awards.


Take a deep breath.


The price is 3,950 Euros. That's around US$5000.

To put it into perspective. That's the price of a week long holiday for two somewhere nice in the Maldives or Caribbean. Or, in Amherst terms, about the same price as the sewage treatment system is likely to cost.

I'm in sticker shock. So is Dave. It is a magnificent thing, something to treasure, both functional and beautiful. I just wish it was cheaper.

online paint colour picker

Why is it that you only stumble across things after you needed them? I wish I'd known about this site when I was looking to choose colours for the Cottage. It lets you create a colour palette online and then order sample pots, colour cards, etc. designerpaints / colour picker

I want an eNook

I think this eNook is a great concept... basically, it's a narrow cupboard with storage nooks including charging plugs for all the electronic detritus of modern life. It hangs on a wall doubling as a bulletin board, only folding out when you need. I can imagine this kind of thing could be great in the kitchen or entrance hall.


As is typical, it's only available in the US (so far) but I figure it would be easy enough to do a DIY version with a bit of creativity.

water saving showers

I just came across these cool showerheads thanks to the Treehugger site and thought I'd blog it as we'll definitely need them for Amherst. We won't have mains water connection so will be reliant on all the water we can catch from rainfall. I've always disliked those showerheads that have only a few holes and dribble out water no matter how economical they are. So this looks really cool, seems like it'd give the effect of those watering-can like showerheads but without using the water! A conventional showerhead uses 25 litres per minute apparently, this uses 8.8 litres per minute if you have both showerheads going or 4.4 if it's just the one. They achieve it by aerating the water to give the same feel of water volume even though it's using less water.

tiarashower
Originally uploaded by lynetter.

the dream stove?

Now, I think I'm in dreamland here... although who knows how prices might come down over the next 5 years. But I think I've found the ideal stove for the kitchen at Amherst, as a supplement to the Aga/Rayburn. It's energy efficient, no flames to worry about, and it won't heat up the kitchen (great for cooking on those summer days of 40 degrees). Best of all, no need to bother with gas - which is a problem for us as we're going to have to use gas bottles as there's no mains connection - ironically, despite a gas pipeline running underneath part of our land!

This article in NY Times is what put me onto it. Induction cooktops! Here's an extract:

"Induction cooking has been around for decades, but until now never made it past the swinging doors of restaurant kitchens. The units were too expensive and too fussy and the concept too weird to find a home audience... At Chelsea Fine Custom Kitchens, a shop that caters to the competitive New York cook, Mr. Smeeton demonstrated two Küppersbusch cooktops, one with a special wok unit. "Ice, please," he said, sliding a steel wok into a bowl-shape indentation. He turned the power to high and allowed himself to smile when the ice started boiling before it was fully melted....

Slow cooking has its place, but when you're hungry, fast is so much better. And here was a space-age force, just in time for pasta al pesto and corn on the cob. Induction uses magnetic coils under the cooktop's glass surface to jangle the molecules of iron in the pan, turning the pan into the heat source. Different models offer different amounts of speed and power, but in all cases heat doesn't dissipate into the air so the chef stays as cool as her cucumbers. Shut down the magnetic field and cooking stops instantly. Remove the pan and the glass surface is barely warm. Indeed, Mr. Smeeton said, spills do not bake on, leaving nothing to clean up beyond the fingerprints of disbelieving guests.

The new cooktops are sold with a lot of razzle-dazzle. But the true benefits are a little subtler: once you turn off the power you can leave the pan in place; there's no need to shove it aside or lift it off the stove. Induction also holds steady at low temperatures. While experimenting with one model I found it easy to achieve that elusive trickle of bubbles known as "just below a simmer."

Irwin and I dropped by Krup's Kitchen & Bath near Union Square, where a Viking distributor, Robert A. Luyckx, was on hand with a salesman's model that requires only 110 volts, half the usual power... Irwin skeptically poured a bit of oil into a pan and added a half-pound of cold, moist stew meat. He turned the unit to high, and in seconds the oil was sizzling. In less than two minutes the meat was browned.

Viking, the company that did so much to popularize the semiprofessional gas range, now plans to introduce several induction cooktops. One cleverly combines two induction units and two that use regular radiant heat, the better to keep the cost below $2,000 and allow sentimental cooks to keep their copper pots"

I just had a look at Viking's website and they only have two induction models on sale at the moment, but I guess more will come. I also found that they have an Australian distributor in Moorabbin, which is only a few hours away from our farm, so it wouldn't be impossible to get hold of.

solar powered wallpaper

flowerstrip2
Originally uploaded by lynetter.

I don't think this is in production yet, but I think it sounds amazing. From the description: "By embedding electroluminescent materials into the design pattern of the wall paper and incorporating a built-in light sensor, the wallpaper can respond to the lighting requirement of a room, acting as a decorative element when a room is naturally bright, and as a flat wallpaper light when the room requires more light. With power supplied from a solar charged battery, it can also be manually controlled to increase or decrease luminosity. Sustainable, efficient, functional, and technologically sexy." You can find out more about it from this site

some good things: candles and wormeries

I've just started browsing a UK blog called
Hippy Shopper and they have some really nice and unusual products... I think the name Hippy is a bit of a misnomer, actually most of their stuff is pretty modern, sleek with emphasis on design, with the environmentally friendliness of it just in the background.

I especially like these alternatives to candles, which give the same kind of light but with no risk of burning your house down. Sadly not yet available in the UK, grrrr, so I shall have to seek out a friendly US seller who ships internationally... maybe there's someone on Ebay already, I hope. You can get them from vessel

On the other extreme, maybe we should get a wormery to help in making compost. Two that sell in the UK are listed here.

ZipWall

I came across ZipWall in a post on the Domestic Anarchy blog... oh how I wish we'd had this when we were renovating here. Maybe by the time we come to do it again at Amherst this will be available in Australia

Miniature cows

I've always wanted a pet cow but Dave had nearly talked me out of it because he said one cow would make too much milk for the two of us, and of course you can't just keep one cow you need at least two so they have a friend. Then I discoverd this.
All About The Kyrhet Australian Miniature Cattle Stud

Farrow & Ball fantastic paint

One last thing for today... I wonder if you can buy Farrow & Ball paint in Australia, or if not if there's something similar? We were introduced to it by a friend over here and couldn't believe the difference, now it is my first choice, except for places like the bathroom which need specialist paints, we have Farrow & Ball paint everywhere else that we've redecorated in London now. It's kind of chalkier than other paints, hard to describe and you might think it wouldn't really be noticeable vs modern paints but it is. I wonder if specialist environmentally-friendly paints are like this too? Welcome to Farrow & Ball