Not many people think too long or hard about the type of grass in their backyard. However, if you’ve come to hate your lawn because it’s constantly covered in brown patches, never grows evenly,or just doesn’t seem to grow at all, then we might have the answer for you.
Not all grass is equal, and some types of grass will grow better than others, depending on your location and climate. Horticulturalist and Victa ambassador Adam Woodhams has some advice on how to pick the perfect lawn for your location.
How to pick the perfect lawn type
Adam Woodhams explains “If you want your grass to look great all year round, there are a few things you need to think about.” While having a lawn may sound like a simple outdoor solution, choosing your type of turf requires more thought than expected. To pick the perfect lawn type for your backyard, you first must consider:
Location
Location includes both your region’s climate and the specific positioning your lawn will have in the garden. For climate, some grass types are more suited to dry conditions, while others thrive in cooler, wetter temperatures. For positioning, lawns often require large amounts of sunlight to stay happy and healthy. If you’re planning on installing a lawn is a deeply shaded area, it may be best to consider a garden bed or fernery instead.
Soil type
Unsurprisingly, soil type plays an important part in finding your turf type. Adam Woodhams explains that the “type of soil you’ll be laying onto as some, such as those with underlying clay or acidic soils, may need hardier grasses or additional soil preparation.”
What will you use your lawn for?
Whether you’re a big family that loves a good soccer game on a Sunday afternoon, or you’ve got lots of pets that need somewhere to do their business, your lawn can be affected by any level of activity. For choosing your lawn turf type, there are some grasses that do better with heavy foot traffic, and others that work best as ‘showcase’ lawns or areas that are mostly there for display.
Let’s take a look at the 5 most common turf examples, and see what they will work best for:
5 of our top picks for turf lawns
01
Soft-leaf buffalo grass
Best for family and showcase lawns
Adam from Victa describes this lawn type as the ‘favourite Aussie family lawn’. Since it is not harsh and itchy like the old-fashioned buffalo grass, it works perfectly for footy games on a weekend and general family fun. This type is perfect for heavy foot traffic, as it can self-repair at a rapid pace. This means less patchy areas and dead spots.
With an excellent resistance to pests and disease, it doesn’t require heavy maintenance and will survive any intense sports activities that you play on it.
02
Fescue grass
Best for cooler regions, and look-but-don’t-touch lawns
If you live in a cooler climate, fescue grass is the best choice. It’s very tolerant towards high frost levels which makes it ideal for Aussie regions that experience a longer winter.
The main difference of this turf is that it is a clumping variety, rather than a running type. This means that patchiness is more likely to occur on your lawn. However, Adam Woodhams recommends the newer varieties of fescue, that are sold as RTF (rhizomatous tall fescue) which reduces the patch risk. This type is not low-maintenance, as it can grow extremely tall if left unmowed for long periods of time. Perfect for your ‘show’ garden, fescue doesn’t enjoy heavy foot traffic, but it’ll look brilliant when you’re mowing it!
03
Zoysia grass
Best swimming pools, coastal and dry areas
Amazing at withstanding all manner of conditions, including heat, cold, drought and high levels of foot traffic, zoysia grass is the ultimate ‘do-it-all’ grass. Many varieties of this grass are tolerant to salt as well, making them the ideal grass for coastal areas, or if you have a backyard pool.
This type doesn’t require too much work, and can even reduce allergy risk, with new varieties being hypo-allergenic.
04
Bermuda grass
Best for low-maintenance, showcase lawns
Bermuda grass is always the chosen type for sports fields and public spaces, due to its low demand for water and amazing self-repairing abilities. With great colour even in the colder months, bermuda grass is amazing at bouncing back to life, and will thrive in difficult weather conditions.
Adam calls this grass type the perfect choice for the ‘lazy gardener’ as it doesn’t need to be mowed, watered or maintained very often. If you’ve got a large space to cover with a lawn, this is a great option.
05
Kikuyu grass
Best for bigger lawns and tight budgets
Finally, according to Adam from Victa, kikuyu grass is most commonly found on horse racing tracks, golf courses and parks. This is because they are extremely vigorous and are extremely low maintenance.
This grass type is known for its hardiness, reliability and beautiful bright green colour. The final perk? It’s usually the cheapest lawn choice as well. Just make sure that you don’t have any shade around this grass, it definitely likes full sun conditions best!
