Tips
Sowing & Growing Lawn
Lawn is one of the most pleasing ways to cover a large area in the garden. A rich green lawn sets off your house to its best advantage and makes a wonderful area for children to play, and adults to sit and enjoy the scenery.
Choosing Grasses
A lawn can be easy to care for but, remember it’s made up of living plants and, like all living things, they have needs that must be taken care of. Start by choosing a grass that is suitable for your climate and conditions. Most grasses are sun-lovers so in very shaded areas it may be better to select another ground cover.
Grass Types
Warm Season Grasses – Grow best in late spring, summer and early autumn.
Couch
A hard wearing lawn that survives with little care. Couch is a running grass that can be established from seed, runners or turf. Couch seed only germinates reliably when temperatures are between 20 and 30 degrees celsius. Couch hates shade and likes a soil pH of 6- 7. Many couch cultivars available from turf suppliers. Hybrids are also available.
Kikuyu
A fast growing, running grass that is vigorous and needs to be regularly mown to keep it as a good looking lawn. Takes a small amount of shade. Can be established from runners, seed and turf.
Buffalo
Running grass that forms a dense, coarse-textured lawn that is hard wearing but slow growing. Grown from turf or runners. There are newer cultivars that have softer leaves and are said to be more shade tolerant.
Carpet Grass
Running grass with broad leaves that resemble buffalo. It tends to discolour in cold winters and is best grown in subtropical or tropical areas. It is tolerant of acid soils but is regarded as a weed in finer turf.
Queensland Blue
A fine-leafed running grass that suits frost-free districts and has fine blue-green leaves. Queensland Blue Couch is for the warm climate lawn enthusiast and can be established from seeds or turf.
Durban Grass (sweet smother grass)
A broad-leafed, warm season grass that is more shade-tolerant than other warm season grasses. It is used as a ground cover under trees in warmer climates.
Zoysia
Known as Empire Turf, Zoysia japonica is rapidly becoming a popular lawn that is drought tolerant, hard-wearing, slow growing and has good cold tolerance.
Cool Season Grasses
Grow best in autumn and spring:
- Chewings Fescue – This grass is most often mixed with other grasses to form a fine turf. It is normally grown from seed.
- Kentucky Bluegrass – Usually grown from seed, most often in seed mixtures. Shade tolerant but needs good watering to survive hot summers.
- Bent – A fine textured lawn grass that has relatively high maintenance requirements. It can be established from runners or turf.
- Turf Type Tall Fescue – Selected forms of what was originally a coarse, hard wearing lawn grass. Modern cultivars are finer and softer. Once established, it’s more drought tolerant than other cool season grasses but always need to be left with plenty of leaf. Available as seeds or turf.
- Ryegrasses – Fine-leafed perennial ryegrasses are most often included in seed mixes. They germinate readily and grow quickly, but need good watering during dry periods. Usually grown from seed.
Mowing
With established lawns, cut warm season grasses to 2.5 cm and cool season grasses to 4 cm. Cut as frequently as possible and remove as little growth as possible.
Never mow grass too low or ‘scalp’ the grass. Grasses need their leaf blades to make food for the plant.
Lawn watering
Couch is the most drought tolerant grass. Other warm season grasses, such as kikuyu, buffalo, carpet grass and Queensland blue couch, are reasonably drought tolerant. As a rule, cool season grasses need more water, although turf type tall fescue is relatively drought tolerant once well established.
Water in the morning rather than the evening and give thorough, less frequent soakings rather than short, frequent waterings. Don’t allow surface runoff.
Fertilising Lawns
Regular light fertilising during the growing season is better than infrequent, heavy fertilising. Use a correctly balanced fertiliser (such as Thrive Lawn Food). Don’t use highly nitrogenous fertilisers like Sulphate of Ammonia. Yates Lush Lawn Lifter is an enriched organic-based lawn food with a good combination of slow release organic particles and fast acting minerals. Lush Lawn Master lasts for up to 3 months.
Comments (11)
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This area is for general comments from the Yates Garden Club community. Questions posted here will not receive a reply from Yates. For specific gardening advice visit Ask an Expert
Dorothy
Yates site member
15:20, 05 December 2009
As I come from the Northern Territory most of our lawns are planted per runners obtained from anothers lawn. Can that be done here in Qld? I have a very small area to cultivate some 17.5 x 2.5. As I am also by myself & cannot aford the expensive slabs. Kind regards Dorothy Bryant
Brenda
Yates site member
10:20, 17 February 2010
We cleared couch grass and planted sir walter buffalo; with the drought and sever heat, the couch has re grown and interwoven and taken over some patches from the sir walter! Anything we can do??
Pravin
Yates site member
20:59, 11 April 2010
Hi! I am currently working with a NGO primary school in Orange Farm South of Johannesburg and the play ground has lots sandy/ stony patchers; with very little lawn; I am hereby seeking donations for lawn or seeds. Your help will be highly appreciated by the community, goverment and me. I thank you in anticipation.
Mary
Yates site member
16:33, 06 May 2010
I have green leaf couch which is being taken over by Kikuyu. Can the Kikuyu be poisoned without killing the couch?
joanne
Yates site member
07:50, 23 July 2010
I live in Rockhampton QLD and we are almost ready to lay a new lawn. We have been considering Tropica blue [swarziland variety] I can't find any info on it on your site.Can you give me any tips or info about it?
Amir
Yates site member
16:06, 15 September 2010
I used Yates lawn seed with some recomended fertilizer from Bunning. I followed the instruction. Its been 4 months but there is NO sign of grass. Why is that ? Is this why people prefer to lay the grass rather than sowing the seeds ?
ANAN
Yates site member
02:19, 21 September 2010
Greetings Types of flat green you have an excellent We in Saudi Arabia we have a high heat and severe cold We want to work with you new types of advantage 1 Slow growth 2 high density 3 continues to grow 4 very short such as golf golf eng anan adnan
Jenny
Yates site member
16:51, 06 October 2010
Amir, I think I have the same problem as I sowed seeds about 3-4 weeks ago and I still cant see anything germinating. If you used Couch its probably because its still too cold for the seeds to germinate. They need about 21 degrees to germinate I am told but have read elsewhere between 20-30 degrees. So perhaps wait till it warms up a little and if the seed is still there it should germinate. Fingers crossed for you and me!
Penny
Yates site member
13:01, 13 October 2011
which type of grass is suitable for shady lawn?
christine
Yates site member
17:40, 17 November 2011
should kakadu turf be 80% shade tolerant. my new turf is failing under a tree. the rest of the lawn is fine. is there anything I can do to improve it. selling my house and this ruins the look of the garden.
Daniel
Yates site member
06:55, 21 November 2011
Hi Christine , you will find that it's not a shade problem but a water problem , Kakadu is probly the best shade tollerant buffalo on the market , but like any other lawn when it is placed under a tree , it compeats with it for water and fertilizer , a couple of ways to resolve this is by giving it 2 to three times more water under the tree , root pruning the tree and extra fertilizer. Regards Daniel
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