Many of us can have lawns which can come under some rather heavy use, whether it be foot traffic, dogs and other pets, children playing, or backyard sports perhaps. While most of us are quite familiar with the more popular grass types in use in Australia today, many of us may not realise what their strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to their wear and tear capabilities, as well as their ability to repair after damage has occurred.
What we’ll see as follows is that some grasses may grow quickly to naturally repair themselves from damage, and that this is their strength, while other grasses may be a mixture of toughness to withstand damage as well as decent growth rates to repair any damage done. Everything is compromises as we’ll soon find out, and determining which grass type may be best for our needs will come from our own individual requirements and expectations from the use of our lawns.
And with the below article, it can be also firstly stated that almost all warm season grasses in use in Australia today already will do quite well to withstand wear and tear naturally from the use that most of us will put our lawns to, as well as to repair quite well after any damage has occurred, this article will more describe these differences.
Hopefully this may help to decide which grass may be right for our own heavy use area.
Kikuyu Grass
Can be damaged easier than other grasses - but repairs faster than other grasses.
Nothing beats the growth rates and repair rates of Kikuyu grass, which is also a grass most suitable for full sun conditions, which is why most public ovals around Australia will use this grass for its lawn. Kikuyu is very soft with a medium width leaf blade, and though the lawn itself is soft and a little weak in structure, it will repair itself very quickly from damage by dogs and other animals, children, or sports activities.
Increased growth rates will however directly transfer over to increased lawn mowing frequencies also, so be aware of this. The other factor to consider when choosing to plant Kikuyu is that it can easily spread via its fine and sticky seed heads into other lawns, gardens, and other areas of soil.
Male Sterile Kikuyu types have a sterile seed head which can not propagate into other areas, and with superior selection forming the basis of these grasses, we’ll get a better overall Kikuyu lawn too, sometimes even having Kikuyu lawns with reduced growth rates and lawn mowing requirements. Though we should keep in mind that a reduced growth rate equally translates to a slower repair rate too.
Couch Grass
A stronger grass - with quick repair capability - suitable for full sun conditions.
Couch remains an all time favourite warm season lawn in Australia, it has a fine soft leaf of a lovely green hue, it can be mowed with a cylinder mower to perfection, or with a rotary mower too. Couch is somewhat tougher in its structure than Kikuyu, and it will repair itself quite quickly in the warmer months after damage from both above and below ground runners, so long as the lawn itself is in good health. The repair rates for Couch will not be equal to that of Kikuyu, though this balances out in that it may not damage as easily as Kikuyu might either.
Zoysia Grass
A real tough guy - with slower repair capability - suitable for full sun and light shade.
Zoysia is a grass renowned for its tough structure which is derived from the natural silica in its genetic makeup. With this, Zoysia can take rather a lot of use and abuse and still look rather okay and remain in decent condition.
Zoysia can withstand damage very well, though this is balanced out in the fact that once a Zoysia lawn does become damaged that it will take longer for the lawn to repair itself again.
Slower growth rates can mean a little less lawn mowing for Zoysia, and while its repair rate will be slower than that of Kikuyu or Couch, it’ll still repair itself in a decent time period, and it won’t be as if we’ll have to wait months for full repair to occur.
Saltene Grass
If you thought Zoysia was tough - then meet Saltene - the grass designed for mistreatment.
Saltene is the real tough guy that’s even tougher than the last tough guy, Zoysia. This grass is very resilient and strong, and it can take almost any bad treatment we can throw at it and still remain standing, and recover again. Not only bad treatment with wear and tear, but also from poor soils and poor water too.
In fact, Saltene is so tough that it’s the one grass whereby it’s recommended to sharpen lawn mower blades more frequently when we have this grass as our lawn… it’s the grass that bluntens mower blades quicker than any other.
Highly durable to heavy wear, though slower to repair than Kikuyu, yet with good repair rates still, Saltene is a grass which is best suited for full sun conditions, and a grass often best planted as a lawn anywhere near the ocean. As the name suggests, Saltene is highly resilient to seawater, ocean sprays, salty soils and the like, and it can be irrigated with brackish water and still look good.
Saltene however is not the ideal lawn type for most of us in Australia - the strongest plants are not always the prettiest are they, though if well looked after it can be maintained as a nice looking lawn. Research into this grass should be done first by the homeowner, just as is recommended for Zoysia, as it won’t be to everyone’s tastes. If you personally prefer a prettier lawn which can withstand and repair from heavy use, then another of the above lawn options might be better suited.
Buffalo Grass
Mentioned here only due to its ongoing promotion and popularity in Australia. While Buffalo does withstand wear and tear decently and can repair itself decently too, due to its growing characteristics this is not generally a grass type which would be regarded for use in heavy usage circumstances, other lawn options would be better for these requirements over Buffalo.
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