Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Actually a AP lawn isn't such an insane idea so long as you are talking about a relatively small area. They make pond liner for huge ponds. If the media were sand so as not to puncture the linger when walking on the lawn you might be in good shape.

Also, the lawn does not have to be grass. What about something low growing that doesn't need mowing like white clover? Perhaps it would have to be a mix since white clover might not survive the summer. I would avoid the prairie grasses with the super deep root systems (I think buffalo grass is one) as they would probably get through any liner. Anyway, 4-6" of sand over a liner on very slightly sloped ground with drainage to the sump at the bottom and a slow drip feed accross the top and there you go, let us know how it works.

wouldnt the sand just flow out the bottom into the sump ?

lawn is what Id use , as thats what I like walking on , the rabbits like eating , and the kid likes playing on - otherwise Id go for an edible ground cover

that link to the atlantis stuff is brilliant , that solves alot . I'd go for the 50mm stuff , a whole sheet of that across the space , with a big empty box xsump down at the end .

thick pond liner , some sort of roll on food grade foam sheeting above that , then 50mm atlantis sheets , then 50mm on to ( plus inside the sheet ) of gravel or bluemetal , keeping in mind that the lawn will be even thicker again on top , so no gravel will be seen / eaten by the mower

I got me some digging to do next summer ! this summers reserved for the 2 systems Im already building

Yeah, but why????

I hate mowing.... and grass tastes like s&*t

Boris, what is lawn? In the beginning, a lawn was a bit of pasture for people to be on instead of for grassing animals. In some places it became all the rage to have a chamomile or tyme lawn. A dutch white clover lawn is pretty common where I grew up (at least it was before everyone started using products like weed and feed that kills all but a few types of grass.)

I've currently got a garden bed cover cropped in New Zeland White Cover. Really nice about 6" high and I bed the bunnies would love it. I don't think it will survive summer here in a sunny location but in an AP bed it might do fine.

So what is your defined "lawn" plant?

"Boral Quarries" ..... local concrete batcher

velvet buffallo grass is what Ive got , its more a case of - its there , and Im wasting water on it ( granted , its bore water & its cheap , but I like to see water used more than once before being lost ) , I dont have room for 2:1 GB to tank for this system , and this little idea hit me - why not run the system through the lawn aswell ,then I could have a decent stocking level and make the whole thing worthwhile

someone will need to do the math for me , I keep coming up with different amounts - the pond will be 8metres , by 1.2 metre , by around 50 cm deep

3 of Joels 2m x 1m growbeds - thats not enough . 4 x 4m lawn , 50 cm deep media ....

I know someones gonna say I "COULD" rip up the lawn and put more growbeds , but then I'll get kicked out of the house we're in, my partner will put me in a mental asylum , and the kid will have nowhere for the swingset / play outside unsupervised . so the lawn needs to stay ....
plus ,then Id get to prove to myself that it wasnt such a silly idea !

boris, geotextile is your friend. Keeps sand and grass roots where they should be.
I think a lawn grown within atlantis sheeting would feel like squished grass on hard plastic underfoot. Lawn in gravel would be even worse - you want to be walking/rolling around with your kid/playing cricket on grass+roots+soil to have some feeling of naturalness.
Anyway, you have til next summer to plan it...I'm sure you can do something great.

Rupe, you have no soul
not that I'm a big fan of lawn myself actually...
I've been pondering the idea of permeable pavers with gaps of sand/gravel beds for plants, all sitting on top of underground water storage, which can recirculate in dry times to feed the plants, top up the ap etc.

Good one AZ. Regarding my thoughts on water usage on first page, from experience I know transpiration in full sun is going to be high and use a significatn amount of water. The surface area of the grass blades would be huge - and would just increase as it gets longer. Then as staed by others, mowing is an issue (would have to be done a lot) and also wastes the water.

Good as a gimmick though - but maybe better in just a couiple of small squares incorporated into the DD type patio :-)

This might be a crazy idea...

but you liek the buffalo that you have.
how about digging long AP trenches with gravel in them.
Plant your buffalo, that will consequently go NUTS
then it will do what buffalo does best, and spread out onto the dirt where there used to be lawn, whilst always keeping a connection to the AP system.
I wonder how far it could go, 'borrowing' water from it's sucker-brothers...

To continue with KD's idea, you culd put a few gutters in the groound like trenches and cover with a few layers of geotextile special for plants (sort of a thick compacted tissue on a plastic sheet). You could probably find something similar to it in an organic material like fibre mat.

The geotextile would transfer water by capilarity to all the grass. And wouldn't need any digging and gravel preparing. And if the grass is no good, just rip out the geotextile while be easier than trying to get soil back on the gravel trenches. I grew grass on it this year, i had put geotextile on the soil to protect the top of some plant pots and sowed grass on top. The roots just went straight in the geotextile and you could pick a piece of grass without trouble and not ripping it out the soil of the pots.

And i'm with TC for the white clove since white clove captures the nitrogen from air and uses to grow, it could make e very interesting system to increase the nitrogen availability in the whole system you could be using.

A japanese guy was using white clove in winter to increase the nitrogen available in the soil prior to planting rice. He just had to cut it short and plant the rice straight afterwards since clove gets quickly degraded.

And the water issue could be fine tuned to let the grass grow but not too fast by dosing the quantity of water going in the system. Less mowing and less water loss, and you could irrigate it with a timer in the early morning and at night, would reduce a lot the loss of water during the day.

Why not concrete the whole ward and paint it green and put a large aquaponics system over the whole lot [nice hard standing area][ we will wait for steve to comment ]

Hahahaha..... sorry Boris... it's been done.....

To see.... watch the "New Inventors" on the ABC .... NOW....

Segment.... the "ebb and flow mat"...... for green roofs

And it was the "judges" pick for the show

P.S.... they're pricing it at $40/sqmtr .... Photo shows lettuce. but the segment showed "rolls" of lawn

Basically a medium of coco-coir/chip matting over a layer (or two) of liner.... collected in a tray and recirculated


Edited : Show gets re-run on Saturdays ( I think - check your local guides) .... and about 4 days to a week after the show it gets posted as a video on the website.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/

I think:
A solid impermiable layer like concrete or pond liner across the whole area about 200mm deep, with a slight slope down to a channel to flow into a sump.
200mm of coarse river sand like is used by some hydro ppl.
Subterranian drip irrigation with a high flow rate throughout the river sand.
Good filtration before the scapeline to avoid blockages
Set the timer to once a day to water the lawn, and then let it drain.

yeah , just saw that

heres the site :

http://www.kisss.net.au/