Magazine - Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

By Rob Jenkins in Shows and seminars on 2nd Apr 2009 21:35

The Melbourne International Flower and Garden show isn't all about gardens! Exhibitors such as StrathAyr, HG Turf and Tigerturf all had representatives at this popular show.

The show is ranked amongst the top five flower shows in the world, and now in it's 14th year it's regarded as the largest and most successful horticultural event in the Southern Hemisphere.  Featuring the best landscape and floral talent that Australia has to offer, along side an extensive array of garden retail products, the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show is a celebration of Australian lifestyle and our great outdoors.  The show is staged within the world heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building and surrounding south Carlton Gardens.

As we all know every great garden needs grass! The type and variety of the grass however is something open for debate. With the world being more conscious of water conservation,  synthetic grass is playing a bigger role every year as sales soar in drought ravaged parts of Australia. Although it wouldn't matter what type of grass is used  in parts of NSW at the moment, as Coffs Harbour recorded up to 440 mm (17.3 inches) in 24 hours and Nambucca got pounded by 700 mm (27.6 inches) in 48 hours- even the best synthetic couldn't keep that much rain out!
 
TigerTurf's inaugural show last year saw their garden inundated with visitors amazed by the look and feel of the synthetic surfaces for landscaping. They were pleased to announce that their synthetic grass will be featured in Jason Hodges' Garden this year. Jason picked up a Silver Award for his garden in 2008.

With the current climatic conditions, TigerTurf can be a real answer to your landscaping problems. No watering, no mowing and lush and green 365 days a year.
For further information about TigerTurf contact them on 1800 802 570.

Also at the show where StrathAyr. Everyone is familiar with StrathAyr as a developer of natural turf technology and construction  in sportsfield and racetrack techniques. However, few would have heard of their Netpave range. Any stadium or golf course knows the woes of cars, they wear out the grass and leave it looking like a cow paddock with huge compaction issues. StrathAyr also provide a number of products to improve natural grass durability their Netpave range, although only for a niche market, is a fabulous idea.

Netpave needs no substructure or excavation - it is simply laid onto the grass surface and is ready to be used. Due to its design, as Netpave is only 25mm thick, it can be almost invisible after 2-3 months of a grass-growing season. So if you have issues with car parking damaging your turf, this is something worth investigating.

Call StrathAyr on 1800 622 455 if you after more details.

One of Melbourne's biggest natural turf suppliers to stadiums and the landscape industry, HG turf were also at the show. They've completed jobs at venues such as the MCG, ANZ Stadium and Eden park in NZ. HG turf have a large product range from sodded grass like Kikuyu and Santa Ana couch, as well as their popular seeded grass including Sunlover and Shademaster. HG are also a supplier of great synthetic grass.

You can find out more on HG Turf by contacting 1800 622 340

The show although not normally a high priority attendance for our industry, has some truly stunning garden displays and for any club looking at re- developing their gardens, we would recommend you to get down there as you may walk out with several fresh ideas!

Well done to all the companies from the turf industry who are out and about promoting their great products, we're sorry if we left anyone out.

Read more articles in Shows and seminars, by Rob Jenkins or from April 2009.