Most Popular Lawn Types In Australia

This is a quick overview to compare the five most popular lawn types in Australia.

For more information about any of the grass types covered, please see our lawn varieties section.

All grasses in this article are warm season grasses, suitable for use in all the warmer regions of Australia.

Buffalo Grass

Buffalo grass is a long standing favourite lawn type in Australia, it is known to be durable and easy to grow and maintain, and of course… Buffalo grass is best known for it's very wide leaf blade.

Buffalo grass lawns often led to many complaints in days gone by about it's scratchy nature which was often highly irritating to the skin, especially to the skin of young children who played on it the most.

Thankfully those days are long past us since the introduction of many quality Soft Leaf Buffalo lawn types. These new soft Buffalo grasses no are longer irritating, are highly soft and inviting for play, and can make a beautiful, lush lawn when cared for properly.

Despite it's newer found acceptance in Australia, which has mainly been due to mass advertising campaigns, Buffalo still has the problems of lack of underground runners, thick stalk like runners and the ever present heavy thatch problems associated with this grass type. For these reasons, Buffalo is still best ssuited to shade conditions and if personal preference favours this grass type.

New Soft Leaf Buffalo types include Matilda, Palmetto, Sir Walter and Sapphire.

Zoysia Grass

Zoysia grass has had a rocky introduction to Australia, even though it has been in the country for a very long time. This was probably due to the names it was given during it's earliest introduction. Names such as Manilla Grass, Korean Grass and Temple Grass just never resonated with Australians, and as a result, Australians were deprived of one of the very best grasses available.

Zoysia is simply a fantastic grass, it's highly tolerant to heat, has very low lawn mowing requirements, very low fertiliser requirements, is salt tolerant, very drought tolerant, looks good all year round, can be forgotten in the Winter, has low invasive properties, and it can be abused and recover (at a slower rate than Couch).

Zoysia grass has a slightly wider leaf blade than Couch which tapers to it's tip in a similar manner to Queensland Blue Couch. It is a warm season grass which will enjoy all the warmer regions of Australia, but not the colder regions. Zoysia has both aboveground Stolons and below ground Rhizomes which greatly aid in it's low water use, drought tolerance and recovery.

Zoysia deserves to be the grass to forever overtake and supersede Couch and Buffalo as Australia's most popular lawn for homes, business and government use!

Queensland Blue Couch

Queensland Blue is another long time favourite grass across Australia, and is an overall very good quality lawn, worthy of consideration as a home lawn.

Queensland Blue will thrive in both heat and humidity, it has low invasive properties, stays green and in good colour for most of the year, has low lawn mowing and lawn care requirements.

This grass will have a similar leaf shape and blade width to Zoysia, but will have an entirely different shade of green coloured leaf which often looks close to a blue coloured hue.

Queensland Blue Couch is neither from Queensland, nor is it a real Couch, in fact it's a totally different grass which has no relationship to Couch whatsoever.

In second place as the grass which next deserves to take over Couch, Queensland Blue is definitely worth consideration in the hotter or more humid areas of the country.

However, the only drawback to Queensland Blue has always been it's intolerance to weed sprays, which should be kept in consideration by homeowners.

Couch Grass

Highly popular based on it's cheap price and it's perpetual presence which seems to be everywhere. Couch is a fine leaf lawn which has some excellent qualities, which are then balanced out by it's less desirable qualities.

In favour of Couch is it's quick growth, ability to withstand wear and tear, it's quick repair ability, it's softness, and Couch really can produce a lovely looking lawn when properly cared for and mowed with a cylinder mower.

Unfortunately for Couch, is that it requires very high maintenance with regular lawn mowing and de-thatching. It will also require a good year round fertilising regimen to stay looking it's best, otherwise it can quickly become straggly, bare and ugly. But worst of all, Couch is just plain weedy, it creeps into garden beds, under fences and takes over other lawns very quickly. Controlling the spread of Couch is almost as big a job as just maintaining the lawn itself.

And this is why we recommend Zoysia, it simply has none of these detrimental factors which Couch has, and therefore is a much lower maintenance lawn, while still maintaining the ability to remain as a lovely low cut lawn which also looks beautiful after mowing with a Cylinder mower.

Kikuyu Grass

Kikuyu was another of the mainstays of Australian lawns in days gone by. Kikuyu grass is named for the most populous ethnic group in Kenya.

Kikuyu has a medium leaf width, a bright green leaf colour, is quite soft, and loves the heat, the humidity and full sun, it is also extremely adaptable with an ability to grow in very poor soil types.

But what sets Kikuyu apart from all other grasses, is that it is extremely fast growing, and highly invasive. Kikuyu is very high maintenance as it will require constant weekly lawn mowing throughout the warmer months, and can invade garden beds in just a few days. Kikuyu is also a major nuisance in the wild and waterways as a noxious weed in Australia.

The days of Kikuyu as a home lawn are almost finished, and this grass deserves to almost fade into history in Australia. This is except for only a few circumstances where it simply cannot be matched by any other turf type.

The only time Kikuyu should ever be considered is for people who have large dogs tearing up the yard, or in areas which encounter other heavy animal usages for which no other grass will keep up except Kikuyu. And also for sporting grounds and sports ovals which will be subject to heavy wear and tear.

And in these cases, only a Male Sterile Kikuyu should ever be purchased, no-one should ever plant old style Kikuyu in Australia for any reason, it's just too devastating for the Australian environment.