Sir walter buffalo grass?

Discussion in 'Landscaping' started by Sackie, 12th Apr, 2022.

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  1. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Good grass for thick, luscious look and feel?


    What would you choose?
     
  2. Properwin

    Properwin Well-Known Member

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    I have buffalo grass, it's the best. And hypoallergenic too.
     
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  3. tomerayz

    tomerayz Well-Known Member

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    Have you got kids? Have you got dogs? How big is the area, how much sun/shade is there during winter and summer?
    Are you looking for a thick-leafed grass or a thin leafed grass? Both have positives and negatives.
    Do you want something that's easy to maintain or are you a green thumb and wanna get into it?

    Based on the above, I'll give ya a good idea of what to get :)
     
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  4. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Buyer will likely have a kid. No dogs. Area is 25sqm. Decent sun and shade. Thick leaf grass. Will have pop up sprinklers on timer.

    Thanks!
     
  5. David_SYD

    David_SYD Well-Known Member

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    We’ve recently laid buffalo and really happy with it. I think I paid about $20/m2 with the underlay/ topsoil. Really easy to do.

    I understand Buffalo is more tolerant of Australia’s climate and extreme weather patterns.

    For just 25sqm, pop-up sprinklers may prove to be more cost prohibitive?
     
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  6. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    This is in the raised garden bed area isn't it? Drainage will be important
     
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  7. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    It's raised in a corten steel feature edging but it goes directly into the true ground so should be fine.
     
  8. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Pop up sprinker $400 so pretty good. The rest of the garden is drip feed water supplied.
     
  9. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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  10. tomerayz

    tomerayz Well-Known Member

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    yeah go with buffalo but forget about Sir Walter, just a money grab for over $12/m2.
    Get Shademaster or something similar, can get it for heaps cheaper & just as shade tolerant & drought tolerant.
     
  11. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Does it look and feel similar?
     
  12. tomerayz

    tomerayz Well-Known Member

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    Completely. Just a different variety is all. To the naked eye there is 0 difference.
     
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  13. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    I have a area of the yard at front naturestip and side with Sir walter. And the balance is general buffalo. Interesting to compare,

    The Sir Walter is exceptionally hardy vs standard buffalo and easily greens a deeper green. It is VERY tolerant of being a little longer. Std Buffalo isnt geat when its allowed to be a little longer. My weed doctor suggests std buffalo be lightly trimmed each week but says Sir Walter can be trimmed less frequently. Sir Walter also seems MUCH faster growing so if you cut it agrressively it bounces back very quickly. Far quicker than std buffalo. I would put the growth rate of SirWalter as three times that of std buffalo. In winter std buffalo runners can purple outside direct sunshine. Sir walter doesnt. Sir walter can be more invasive to garden beds as it grows long runners fast. Std Buffalo is slower. Same as lawn repair. Buffalo takes weeks to repair. Sir walter is super fast.

    Sir Walter CHOKES weeds like bindi and paspalum where stdbuffalo is far less effective as it sends runners across lawn rather than upwards. We (used to) get winter grass in the std buffalo but with the weed doctor its now fixed. Never get wintergrass in Sir Walter and its far more uniform. It chokes anything foreign. This means std buffalo is less dense. So weeds grow more easily. Sir walter tends to green VERY well to a deeper shade of green with slight water and given fertiliser its is lush green - far deeper than general buffalo. . In the recent rain events in Sydney I also found Sir Walter more tolerant of oversoaking v std buffalo. But Sir Walter doesnt tolerate poor drainage.

    Pets and kids with grass allergies may find the blades on SirWalter a irritant but its is less a issue for those who have hayfever v std buffalo. I find on bare feet Sir Walter is a cooler grass than buffalo as its thicker.

    If I had a choice I would have insisted on Sir Walter for the newer section. But the difference isnt that noticable. To me they are nothing alike. They look "similar"but are very different. Sir walter will grow faster.

    In drought Sir walter was brilliant with minor watering v std buffalo need much more. We have pop up sprinklers we can switch between fresh and recycled mains water.
     
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  14. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    What a fantastic and insightful analysis. Thanks!!
     
  15. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    Its not usual to see such a close comparison...I had laid the SirW a few months earlier. The reason I didnt get SirW for the newer section is the turf installers literally had a brief slot to do job on the day the floods started in March 2021. They said - Fresh turf is available today or not for 2 months ....in winter so maybe last change for 6 months perhaps. The farms had been closed for a week due to earlier rain. Apparently when ground is wet the machine sinks and damages the root system for regrowth. We had a take it or leave it issue. .....Standard buffalo is the only cuts they are doing at the farms at Windsor. No Sir Walter - wont happen. So thats what they delivered at 4am. All laid by 11am. Rain started at 1pm. A few days later the farms were under water.
     
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  16. tomerayz

    tomerayz Well-Known Member

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    This is correct for the most part. You won't find a turf farm that sells both DNA-Certified Sir Walter and another brand of Buffalo. The reason for this is because Lawn Solutions Australia owns all the intellectual property to sir walter buffalo and contracts it out to farms and doesn't allow them to sell competing varieties of Buffalo. This is why if you ARE going to buy Sir Walter, you make sure you get the DNA-Certified certificate, otherwise you are getting ripped off by paying higher prices for nothing!

    Buffalo is the most "baby" of the grasses available to the market. I mean that in the sense that is it beautiful and green but because it is broad-leaf, many many herbicides are not suitable for it. This means if you get something like Paspalum, Onion Weed, etc you are SOL unless you dig it out by hand or hand-brush with glyphosate.

    Either way, Buffalo is a great grass. There's a reason it's Australia's most popular grass. It goes well with our climate and is very easy to take care of!
     
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  17. David_SYD

    David_SYD Well-Known Member

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    Very accurate post
     
  18. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    There are specific herbicides. Bayer make one ...the only good one IMO. It is VERY good at onion weed, bindi and other weeds that broad herbicides wont kill. I know cause I needed it. Pre-emergent herbicidses target before it emerges. Kills the young growth (a bulb) in the soil so regular mowing helps it work. Its called DESTINY. Used by golf courses and bowling greens etc Cost a ****ING lot for a small bottle. FROM.....$500 -$700 for 5 tiny 50gm sachets :eek:. It super concentrated so a little goes a long way. Its like agent orange to some weeds. However I have a lawn specialist who comes 6 times a year ($99) and he sprays this in his potion together with a fertilizer mix and its working a treat. One hit and onion weed has gone after a few mows. Went yellow and then died off and isnt reshooting but it need a almost full season to ensure its gone. Kills winter grass, bindi and more.

    There is also Oxafert (and its copies)...Its a Lawn Specialists trademark protection too. Kills many things but not onion weed. Also pre-emergent.

    I love my lawn doctor !!! Coochie Hydrogreen Lawn Services | Lawn Care Company | Garden Care Services he taught me that I was making onion weed spread by pulling it out. The bulbs then divide and reshoot.

    SirWalter is a buffalo grass species - genetically modfied.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 12th Apr, 2022
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  19. tomerayz

    tomerayz Well-Known Member

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    You are most certainly correct Sir!

    As I said, veryyyy specific herbicides and they cost you an arm and a leg. Whereas if you have something like Couch or TifTuf, you can go wild with how many different herbicides you can use as they are fine-leaf grasses and unaffected by most herbicides. Destiny is some amazing stuff but the cost really nibs you in the bud and hurts the soul!

    Oxafert is only a ferteliser and pre-emergent 2-in-1. It's not a post-emergent herbicide and will not kill any current weeds in your lawn, only prevent future ones! Another good pre-emergent is Barricade and works for 6 months as most pre-emergents do (2 applications per year).

    I have Buffalo in my back lawn, TifTuf on my front, and Couch on my council. I'm lucky enough to be able to experiment with all 3 lawns and also run a lawn care business on the side so pretty much get the opportunity to buy just about any available product for lawns haha! There's so much out there it's crazy. And during Covid there was a massive push towards lawn care and you can see all these companies are now PUMPING out all these new fertilizers and products and money is just being pumped into them.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 12th Apr, 2022
  20. Greedo

    Greedo Well-Known Member

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    Wow I might need another eye test cause to me there’s a noticeable difference.
    I have buffalo throughout and love it but if I had my choice over I’d go Sir Walter every day of the week. Much nicer looking, hardier - maintains a good look with little watering/rain more so than buffalo and you have to look hard to see any weeds within.
     
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