Lovegrove Turf Services Pty Ltd Has Concerns About the Recent Promotion Australia Wide of Soft Leaf Buffaloe
While
Lovegrove Turf Produces And Sells Soft Leaf Buffalo; For Your Information
We Point Out Below Why We Do not Endorse Claims Made By Others With
Regards To Useage In Western Australia. Especially For Those Who Rely
Upon Scheme Water And Wish To Abide By The 2 x 15 Minute Watering
Regime.
In Western Australia where we have hot dry summers and sandy (gutless) soils, lawns that have deep root systems such as kikuyu and wintergreen are more successful. All buffaloes (St Augustine grasses) are surface growers and do not deep root.
If you visit a turf farm you will observe the farmer leaves strips between the rolls of buffalo he harvests; from these strips lateral runners will grow out to produce the next crop.
Further illustrations can be seen on dry council parks where trenches are dug and filled in during the warmer times of the year. The couch or Kikuyu will deep root even more than the surrounding turf and remain more luxuriant for many years – an example of why deep aeration is needed after many seasons of mowing turf short.
Much of Eastern Australia (From where this Australia wide, high profile media advertising is generated) is often blessed with overnight precipitation in the warmer months, summers are wetter and soils are heavier and denser. Here on the swan coastal plain in our hot dry /windy summers the surface of our free draining sands dries out very quickly. Hence more water has to be applied to maintain growth.
Kikuyu and couch are often seen growing on the sides of roads, in the harshest conditions. Exposed to the increased heat and glare from the bitumen as well as increased evaporation from the passing traffic you will not find buffalo.
The new soft leaf buffaloes (some of them have been in WA 25 years) do not have the “prickle problem” of the old common buffaloes. There is little to choose between all the varieties of soft buffaloes and none of them are softer than couch or kikuyu. Softness of leaf should not be confused with sponginess.
Generally buffaloes are not tolerant of most common herbicides and manual removal of weeds is the safest option for small areas.
Buffaloes “thatch up” very quickly and can become a trip hazard when they protrude above kerbs and paths. Well cared for lawns will gain 50mm in two years. Make sure you lay your buffalo below kerb height.
During 2003/2004, the turf technician of King’s Park installed 3 relatively new varieties - Sir Walter, Palmetto, and ST91 Soft Leaf Buffaloes at several locations throughout the Park to evaluate the above factors. Six months later these areas were observed to have either been: oversewn with cool season varieties and/or encroached upon by faster growing Kikuyu or deteriorated down to a state where they were not aesthetically attractive. It is his professional opinion that these grasses do not service the needs of the park.
Buffaloes are relatively dormant in winter and their recovery after severe frosts is often slow.
As with most warm season grasses, severe frosts affect the colour. Healthy well managed lawns soon recover.
Buffaloes and couches generally
require about the same amount of mowing which is 10-20% less
mowing than kikuyu, which is a prolific winter grower.
Inspect and assess lawn varieties
that have been growing for at least two years in your neighbourhood,
which are being treated (especially with regards to watering) with
the same inputs as you are prepared to supply.