Lawns and Turfgrass

[Daryl]

Thought I'd post about my recent experiences with laying a new lawn...although not 'tropical' I think this is the most appropriate forum on PT.. 

Built a new home on 3/4 acre property 2 years ago, and that gives me plenty of room for all of my palms and other tropical plants...we get reasonable rainfall here, so growing a patch of grass is pretty easy...and grass has so many benefits...cools down the surrounding air and increases the humidity, as well as softening the 'landscape' and providing a nice green vista to complement palms and other tropical plants.  We had planted Wintergreen Couch (form of Bermuda Grass as referred to by those in the US) as it is cheap and tough, along our street frontage and other open parts of the garden.

I wanted to create a small area of high quality lawn next to the house, but being on the southern side of the house is shaded for part of the day in all seasons except summer. So I did some googling to see what I could use that would provide a good looking lawn...the usual recommendations for shady areas were Buffalo varieties (St Augustine for our US friends) Sir Walter and Palmetto. I'm not really a fan of this type of grass and prefer finer leaf grasses that are less itchy and scratchy when kids are playing on it. 

I decided on using a variety of Zoysia matrella called 'Shadetuff' and even though it was double the cost of couch, I am glad I used it...it has blown me away with how good it looks and how soft it is only 4 weeks after laying. I hope it performs well over time and will check back here in a few months to update...

What is everyone else using in their lawns and how has it performed for you?

Edited March 23, 2019 by Daryl

[Daryl]

 

[Daryl]

 

[waykoolplantz]

Looks great...I’ll be right over with my golfclubs

[Neil C]

Looks so good and perfect that I thought you were going to say you had put down artificial. The recent rains have certainly helped.

Regards Neil

[Daryl]

Just an update...still really impressed with this grass...stayed bright green all through winter, and through our normal spring drought...has only been watered four times since July.  Now that it is established I have dropped the mowing height a little...I love the velvety look it has.

 

 

[Palm Tree Jim]

Looking great!

Unfortunately, I retired my grass some years ago.  The amount of water needed to keep it looking good was just to much. And the fact we were in a bad drought, that did not help as well.

 

[Stevetoad]

looks great. I might look for that over here. I have dwarf bermuda right now. As my palms have grown its not getting enough sun and looking sparse and not very good. Does this type stay pretty dense in the shady areas?

[Matt in OC]

Interesting. I have a variety of Zoysia (De Anza) in my front that I like quite a bit but it is not very shade tolerant and takes quite a bit of fert to stay green through the winter. I like the look of it though.

[Daryl]

5 hours ago, Matt in OC said:

Interesting. I have a variety of Zoysia (De Anza) in my front that I like quite a bit but it is not very shade tolerant and takes quite a bit of fert to stay green through the winter. I like the look of it though.

There are so many Zoysias now...their growth and cultivation requirements are all so different as well.  But generally they seem to be more drought/heat tolerant than other commonly cultivated warm season grasses like Couch, Buffalo (Bermuda and St. Augustine in american terms :-) ) and Kikuyu that are grown here.

[Daryl]

8 hours ago, Stevetoad said:

looks great. I might look for that over here. I have dwarf bermuda right now. As my palms have grown its not getting enough sun and looking sparse and not very good. Does this type stay pretty dense in the shady areas?

Steve, this is Zoysia matrella cultivar 'Shadetuff'...bred in Brisbane so I'm not sure if it is available internationally yet. Also known as A1. It's shade tolerance is fantastic....better than any of the broad leaf grasses like Buffalo (St Augustine), Durban Grass or Carpet Grass. This patch is on the south (shady) side of my house and receives no direct sunlight all winter. There is only one small patch under the clothes line where my wife scuffs it up...so not too bad and has almost repaired itself now.  Bandicoots are another story! 

[Komang]

Nice lawn bro

I just move from tropical to Perth and need learn alot about tree and plant here with four season weather.

Do you have any sugestion for my burn yellow couch lawn this hot dry summer ?

Thanks