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Choosing The Best Lawn Type For Your Home
Choosing The Best Lawn Type For Your Home
By Todd Layt
30 August 2011
FINDING THE RIGHT TURF FOR YOUR HOME
Shade, wear, low maintenance, salt etc. Miracle lawn types do not exist. No turf is best for all situations. Use this as a guide to find the right turf for you.
Best Lawn For Shade
All of these lawns will live in full sun.
All lawns in the higher shade categories will also thrive in lower shade categories.
Up to 15% shade
Up to 40% shade
Up to 60% shade
Up to 70% shade
Up to 95% shade
Kikuyu or Couch
Zoysia. Nara native turf or Empire Zoysia are suitable for most of Australia including all Queensland. Some other niche Zoysia types work in Northern Queensland only.
Palmetto, Sir Walter, or Matilda Buffalo lawns.
Sapphire Buffalo
Isabella Lilly Turf between stepping stones, or Dwarf Mondo grass.
Best Lawn For Lowest Maintenance
If you don’t have time to mow and edge, these are the slower growing, lowest maintenance varieties. Remember - a low maintenance lawn is also the most environmentally friendly lawn we can grow.
Zoysia Turf
Needs 70% less mowing than Kikuyu, 50% less mowing than Couch and 30% less mowing than Buffalo.
Palmetto Soft Leaf Buffalo
By far the lowest maintenance popular Buffalo in Australia.
Best Lawn For Avoiding Pesticides and Herbicides
Empire Zoysia or Nara native turf, or other Zoysia turf. All Zoysia types such as these are more resistant to lawn grub, particularly Army Worm and Web Worm. They also have the ability to smother weeds when fully established due to the unique tightly knitted stolons (runners) of this grass type.
Best Lawn For High Traffic Areas
If you have dogs or hard playing kids, these are the best wear tolerance turf.
Lawns in Full Sun
Kenda Kikuyu, or other Male Sterile Kikuyu lawns. Kikuyu is more wear tolerant than Buffalo and Zoysia turf, but needs good sunny positions.
Lawns In Moderate Shade and Full Sun
Faster growing Zoysia types like Empire and Nara are excellent for warmer regions. Eg; Queensland and Northern NSW. In Sydney and Perth they are suitable, but only if fertilised well in Spring and Autumn with a slow release fertiliser. For colder regions like Melbourne, Zoysia is not suitable for high traffic areas.
Lawns In Shade and (Sun?)
Sapphire Buffalo, Sir Walter Buffalo or Matilda Buffalo are good for most of Australia particularly for shade. For full sun Male Sterile Kikuyu forms are much harder wearing than Buffalo.
Best Lawn For Near Saltwater
If you live near the ocean or have a salt water pool, these are the best varieties
Full Sun to Moderate Shade
Nara Zoysia native turf. Nara, according to the Department of Primary Industries is far more salt tolerant than other Zoysias, Couch, Kikuyu and Buffalo types.
Heavier Shade Levels
Sapphire Buffalo, Sir Walter, Palmetto Buffalo, and Matilda are the best choice for shade and salt, but for sunny areas, Nara is far more salt tolerant. As long as the salt water is no higher than the average for pool salt water, or for coastal windy places these Buffalos are suitable.
It is with gratitude that I welcome Todd Layt as a Special Guest Contributor to The Lawn Guide as Australia's Lawn Expert.
Todd's 35 years of experience with lawns began in the 70's when as a young lad, he would help his dad harvest turf on the family farm with a walk behind Ryan Turf Cutter. This love of lawns has continued throughout Todd's life when in the 1980's he was manager of Australia's largest turf farm, and then going into business for himself starting his own turf farm called Abulk Turf.
These days, Todd is most highly regarded as the breeder of the Premium turf variety Sapphire Soft Leaf Buffalo (the world's finest leaf and most shade tolerant Buffalo grass), and the breeder of Australia's first native Zoysia lawn called Nara, as well as being the breeder of many popular water-wise plants in Australia.
Todd now heads up Ozbreed, who promote the world's best selling and Australia's lowest maintenance Soft Buffalo lawn… Palmetto, as well as the extremely hardy fine leaf Empire Zoysia.
And if that wasn't enough, Todd Layt is easily Australia's most proficient lawn care author, writing for many lawn industry magazines and online lawn care resources which share honest lawn care information with Australian homeowners and turf professionals alike.
I also acknowledge that the highest quality lawns which Todd Layt promotes through Ozbreed are advertised on The Lawn Guide.
I welcome Todd Layt as Australia's Lawn Expert.
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