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Many open spaces are near sensitive waterways, wetlands or remnant vegetation. These site need to be protected But at the same time amenity for the community need to be provided.. Councils and developers are highly mindful of the need to create and maintain open spaces in a sustainable way.

To achieve this outcome the turf needs to present a year round green cover under low water and nutrient conditions.

Village Green is ideal for these areas as it has a massive root system and thick rhizomes that can extract nutrients and water from the soil very efficiently. It is estimated that Village Green will maintain its colour and cover with 25% less water compared to other warm season grasses.

Case study

Looks like fescue but its Village Green – Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne, VIC

A lawn area of around 700 m2 of Village Green was planted by Lilydale Instant Lawn in October 2009 at the Melbourne Zoo’s Healesville Sanctuary. Horticulture staff at the Zoo have been amazed at the speed of establishment, the darkness of the leaf and tightness of the sward.

The staff commented “looks like tall fescue not kikuyu and the overall quality compared to the normal kikuyu we have installed over the last couple of years is amazing”. The staff are very satisfied with the inherent benefits of Village Green.

Case study

Tough turf turns up trumps – City of Casey, Melbourne, VIC

Danny Edmunds Sportsground Co-ordinator, is thrilled with the way Village Green has performed on a newly-established oval in Casey, Victoria and is the first to admit it hasn’t been at the hands of any tender loving care.

“To be honest we were looking for an option that we could just throw down and walk away from — that’s pretty much what we’ve done,” Danny said.

City of Casey drew up plans for the Lawson Poole oval to be established during 2009 and the site had no access to infrastructure such as irrigation or drainage.

“We sat down with ANCO turf and discussed our options,” Danny said. “Village Green was the solution we went for and we laid it down during April 2009.“

Even though the approach was against the standard methods of warm season turf establishment, with only rainfall to aid establishment, planting at the end of summer went ahead.

“Our approach was that if we had not tried to establish the oval with kikuyu then it would never had happened.“ Danny said.  “But we knew that  because of the lack of irrigation for establishment it was our only chance. And by March–April 2010 we had 100% cover.“

Low maintenance option

For the minimal input Village Green experienced — no water, limited fertiliser and little weed and pest control — it has performed exceedingly well according to Danny. The cricket ground is yet to be played on — the season is set to start early October — but Danny is optimistic that the ground is ready.

“We’ve had a wet, cold winter and the Village Green has lost a bit of colour, but I’m not worried,” Danny said.

“We’ve treated it very low inputs and it’s still come up OK, so it looks like Village Green has the resilience we were looking for in this low-maintenance situation.”

Contact:
Danny Edmunds
Sportsground Co-ordinator
M: 03 97055200
E: dedmunds@casey.vic.gov.au