Revving Up the Lawn in Spring
Spring is a good time of the year to give your lawn some attention, particularly if you have any bare patches that need replanting. Sowing seed in the bare patches is an option for some lawn varieties such as cool climate grasses, but it takes time for the seed to germinate and the lawn to grow. Laying rolls of turf gives an instant result, but can be expensive if you have one of the new prestige, soft buffalo lawns such as ‘Sir Walter’ or ‘Palmetto’. In our segment Don patched a soft buffalo lawn using two cheap and easy methods.
Part of the lawn was planted out with runners, and another section was planted with cell-grown grass. In the weeks ahead we will check back to see which of the two methods performed best.
Getting started
Before patching the soft buffalo lawn, Don aerated the bare spots using a garden fork. In areas where people constantly walk across lawn (such as the route to the clothesline), informal paths or ‘goat tracks’ appear. These worn areas become compacted, the lawn dies back and weeds flourish without competition from the lawn. The best solution to this problem is to go with the flow and lay down some stepping stones or paving, or you can try diverting traffic to give the lawn time to recover.
Because tall shrubs and trees shaded the lawn, Don decided to do the patching with ‘Palmetto’, a shade tolerant variety of soft buffalo. ‘Palmetto’ is also frost tolerant and it holds its colour in winter. It grows in most areas of Australia, but it is a particularly good choice in coastal and temperate areas. ‘Palmetto’ was developed in the United States and is widely grown there in warmer areas such as Florida.
Runners
Runners can be taken from other parts of the lawn, particularly the edges, and replanted in the bare patches. If there are no runners, another cost effective method is to buy one roll of turf. Soak it in water so that it can be pulled apart easily, and then simply plant out the runners. Water the newly planted runners well, but don’t fertilise until new growth begins.
Viro-cells
This cell-grown grass is said to outperform runners as the plants have well-developed root systems and so establish quickly when planted out. Each pack contains around 100 plants, and there are many different lawn types available. Don planted ‘Palmetto’ Viro-cells about 30cm (12″) apart, but for quicker coverage they can be planted closer together.
Further information
Viro-Cells are available at nurseries or from turf suppliers.
‘Palmetto’ and ‘Sir Walter’ turf available from turf suppliers costs vary around Australia.