The Marketing Of Australian Lawns

The Truth About Australian Grass Lawns

As someone who puts a lot of focus into lawns in Australia I often look much deeper into many parts of the lawn industry, lawn types and even the advertising and other claims made on grass company websites.

And it's looking into these grass company claims that really does raise many concerns for me personally, and I would imagine would do the same for many other Australians if they were more informed about our grasses and lawns.

Some claims are so amazing that you would believe that some grasses are absolutely perfect for every possible environment, and don't have a single bad trait, which is just impossible, with the truth most often being to the contrary.

Not all grass companies do this, some offer excellent and well balanced research and information about the different lawn types. Ozbreed, the owners of Palmetto, Sapphire and Empire fit into this category. Many turf farm websites do exactly the same, and all these companies are standouts and should be regarded highly for sharing quality information with Australians, and with their own clients.

One of the biggest concerns I have with some of this marketing is when it comes to selling grass to Australians under the premise of the lawn being somehow "Australian" while others are somehow not.

Which is not true.

The Marketing of Lawns as Australian

Often when I see advertising and sales messages for some grass types, I also notice that some of this marketing is directly stating that the grass in question is an Australian grass. While directly alongside this same advertising, we see messages saying competing grass types come from overseas countries.

This is simply not true, and I take strong exception to this type of marketing.

All popular grasses being sold in Australia today come from other countries!

This includes all Buffalo, all Kikuyu, all Couch, all Queensland Blue, and almost all Zoysia.

The only Australian grass being sold as a lawn in Australia is Nara Native Zoysia.

So Why Are Some Grasses Called Australian

This is called marketing, and it's used as a way to try and sell more of one company's grass than a competitors grass type by telling Australians to buy a lawn from their own country rather than buying a lawn from overseas.

Which may also lead to some people to believe that some grasses may even be grown overseas and then sold in Australia - which is also not just untrue, but is actually illegal under quarantine laws.

All grasses sold in Australia are grown in Australia on Australian turf farms.

The truth is that the grasses being called Australian in marketing and advertising are all derived from overseas origins, and they were then further developed in Australia, licensed, branded and are now being sold under a new brand name.

So they are not Australian grasses at all, just further bred in Australia.

And we believe this leads to a very big difference in peoples perceptions of the grasses on sale in Australia, which are not based on the facts.

A Change In Marketing Rules

As an observer, I cannot see why this type of marketing is still allowed to occur.

Perhaps it's time for our regulators and law makers to look into these practices and insist on fair change which is also the fairest for Australian consumers and homeowners.

And instead of a grass being sold to people as an Australian grass when it is not…

It should instead be stated that the grass was further developed or bred in Australia.

Which is the truth.