Best Grass
While there isn’t a perfect grass for any location in Australia there are some choices that work better in certain places than in others. HAL ( Horticulture Australia Limited ) has combined research with WA and between them to find out what is best.
Sir Walter Rates Top
The Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation research shows that when it comes to an overall grass in Australia there is nothing better than Sir Walter. Here is what the discovered after testing 13 buffalo (Stenotaphrum secundatum) cultivars. These cultivars were tested in 7 different places and various traits were assessed including turf quality, thatch development and colour.
- Sir Walter came out on top as the biggest buffalo, and the most popular, in Oz.
- The various varieties grew to the same height except for Sapphire. It needed a bit more mowing.
- In testing Sir Walter along with Shademaster had 50% less wear. Sapphire and Palmetto had twice as much wear. They also took longer to grow back to healthy levels than Sir Walter once they were worn down.
- Testing in Shenton Park in the summer of 07 compared clippings produced by 4 buffalo grass genotypes. They were irrigated at 80%, 50% or 33% replacement of net evaporation. This testing was carried out for 98 days with 25mm mowing weekly. Again, Sir Walter came out on top with more grass clippings than any of the others under drought conditions.
- Sir Walter was shown to produce 51% more root structure in it’s second year than Palmetto. It produced 44% more than Sapphire did in the same time frame.
- Sir Walter roots were more than 50cm deep after twelve months.
- The testing also showed that Sir Walter lost the least amount of moisture, in drought conditions, from the leaf.
- When it comes to shade both Sir Walter and Sapphire did well in shade. If the turf was better in the beginning than Sir Walter and Palmetto did better.
- Of the 4 buffalo grass genotypes used for testing at Wembley Golf Course WA Sir Walter was tops in winter growth. The growth levels of Palmetto was 3.5. It outpaced Sapphire by twice the growth. Winter colour was also better in Sir Walter and Sapphire.
For more great lawn care tips keep an eye on our website and all our social media channels.
