Hi OzGarden,
Recently moved and don’t know what type of grass this is. We have a few dead spots that need reseeding.
Thank you In advance!
What Type of Grass Do I Have?
Comments
its looks like rye grass but can be kikuyu too, some losers here neg you for every comment, negging is probably the only thing that makes them happy in life.
Fescue doesn’t look like a running grass should be able to get seed at Bunnings or a nursery
not the kind i'm looking for
Oh.. Lawn.
Fescue
so many losers on this forum, negs for no reason.probably hate their life. not buffalo buffalo is darker and a bit wider leaf
Thank you everyone, i'll grab some fescue seed over the weekend :)
if its rye grass, if you pull it out it has no runners or even fescue but if it has runners it must be kikuyu grass
I hate identifying lawn type and generally wouldn't rely on replies from forums unless it is from a listed lawn expert. If still unsure just take a sample with roots and all to a local nursery and they'll point you in the right direction. But if I had to take a punt, i'd say it is kikuyu variety.
I'm not too sure how lawning wise you are, so i'll put in my two cents worth here before you decide to sow in new seeds (if you haven't done already). To tell you the truth from the picture the lawn looks pretty healthy, I can spot a few patches of thatch (dead grass) which I'd recommend you to deep rake or rent a dethatcher from guys like kennards (the dethatcher is well worth the money and effort trust me, but the traditional raking is not a bad option as well if you like getting a good workout). If you talk to your neighbours on sharing a dethatcher machine for the day which they likely will be doing the same thing at some stage of their annual lawning ritual then the dethatcher will cost you and your neighbours less to rent for the day. If you dethatch, after that i'd lightly top dress and sow with seeds, because if you just throw seed over the lawn expecting it to spring up new shots then all it will be doing is growing on thatch that is essentially dead grass which will kill the new seedlings as they won't be able to form a root system into the soil.
A quick guide on process of sowing your lawn:
1- dethatch dead grass —> rake it all up or machine it
2- Top soil —> for a relatively healthy lawn i'd top soil about 5-10cm around early spring, for low spots you can pack in more top soil but just be precarious packing in too much as you don't want to have grass below the top soil that can create further thatching problems which will sponge below your top soil. Since we are breaking into Summer I wouldn't entirely recommend top soil, but if you feel necessary to resow then do very light top dress and follow up next year with the required amount that you need. Just remember the more top dress of soil you add in the more frequently you will need to water in until your grass establishes itself. Don't just throw on any type of soil like from your garden, as this will just encourage weeds to thrive from it and will reduce your lawn from getting the correct amount of nutrients. If you find that your soil is drying up pretty quickly at some of the patches than it is likely because you have too much sand silting at the top of your soil, for this you may need a less sandy mix of top soil, ask your nursery as they might recommend you to a different mixture (from the picture you've shown I think you should be fine with the regular 40s/40s/20c mix).
3 - Fertiliser —> try and use fertiliser each season. I generally find slow release fertilisers are best for me as I am not the best at applying for recommended dosage rates when putting into practice, so the slow release fertilisers are a good option as it essentially won't burn your grass if you apply that little extra to your lawn. Don't do what some others recommend in fertilising each fortnight or monthly, just do once each season and you should be fine. Doing more then the recommended dose will either kill off your lawn, or some lawns can actually handle the extra dose but puts it into overdrive which can become very difficult to control the growth especially for weeds that have already been post or pre-controlled. Time and patience is the key to a beautiful but "healthy" lawn.
4 - Dynamic lifter (for laying any new turf) —> Sometimes I just get too lazy and simply can't wait for lawn to re-establish after the dormant season has passed, and at times I would lay in new turf for some small sections of my yard. For any small sections of your lawn that you want to lay some new turf then follow the above points but add dynamic lifter to the soil where you have prepped for laying in new turf, it will help bonding your new turf to the soil. Please note that laying in new turf will require more frequent watering, but don't overdo it, just keep your new turf constantly moist until it is fully established. I generally find that after the new turf lawn has grown substantially and been mowed twice, then I cut back on the watering.
5 - Pre and post emergent —> Your lawn doesn't look to have been infested by many weeds, but may have some grubs that are chewing away at it causing it to patch up and stress. Apply some grub killers if needed, and always do your pre-emergent control of weeds depending on your lawn type (I do mine each season). Whenever you spot weeds, don't just pull them out as it can encourage more growth, ask your local nursery for advice on ridding and controlling some of the weeds that just keep shooting up, because depending on your lawn type their may actually be no selective herbicides to kill some of the weeds and you have no choice but to spot treat those with glyphosate (roundup) that you aren't able to kill with selective herbicides.
6- Every lawn type requires different care and maintenance. So follow the recommended heights to be cut for different seasons and water it at recommended. I installed buffalo a few years ago so I cut it a little higher then normal in the dormant season (winter) at around 50-80mm height, and lower in the warmer seasons 30-50mm. Once a year in early spring i'll cut it down to about 20mm (10-15mm if it is still very healthy), and i'll give it a very light top dress after dethatching. The disadvantage of dethatching a buffalo is it can take more time to repair when compared to other lawn types as you can only rely on the runners spreading well above ground. The advantage of buffalo is that it requires next to no watering at all, in winter especially I really don't have to water it all unless I have applied fertiliser/pre-post emergents the day before which I generally do regularly for about a week after treatment to help push the chems into the soil.
Hope this helps. Probably not the exact info you require but food for thought when prepping your lawn for future… let me know how you go with your lawn.
I can't tell from the photos but would suggest if it doesn't have runners buy a fescue seed if it does have runners do nothing it should fill in on it's own
Looks like kikuyu