How to revive patchy Buffalo lawn?

Greenpinky

Hi there,

We have just moved into to a new home and our grass needs some love. We are new to gardening so pretty clueless. I think it’s buffalo grass and it seems to have lots of dead blades, I have included a closeup to determine if it is in fact buffalo or something else. We’d love to get it back to being green and lush.

We have also removed plants from a garden where they were growing out of the bed and the grass stopped growing underneath, how can we get the grass to grow back up the the edge of the garden bed again?

Cheers.

EricL

Hello @Greenpinky

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your lawn.

Congratulations in moving into your new home. From the photos you've shared, your lawn looks very recoverable, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about the brown material. The close-up does appear consistent with buffalo grass, with its broader, flatter leaves and thicker growth habit. There is also plenty of healthy green growth amongst the older brown blades, which is a good sign.

With spring underway, this is a great time to give the lawn some attention as buffalo will become much more active as the weather and soil warm up. I suggest starting with a mow, but avoid cutting it too short. Remove no more than around one-third of the green leaf at a time. Afterwards, give it a good rake to remove loose dead blades, leaves and surface debris. You don't need to remove every bit of brown material or aggressively scalp the lawn.

I would also recommend aerating the lawn, particularly anywhere the soil feels hard or compacted. For a lawn this size, you can simply push a garden fork about 75 to 100mm into the soil at regular intervals and gently rock it backwards and forwards. Alternatively, a manual lawn aerator can make the job easier. Aerating helps water, air and nutrients penetrate into the root zone and is particularly worthwhile before feeding and watering.

Once that's done, I suggest feeding with Scotts Lawn Builder 4kg Buffalo Lawn Food - 4kg, which is currently available at the store and is designed for buffalo lawns. Apply it according to the packet directions and water it in as required. For ongoing watering, a good deep soak less frequently is generally better than a light watering every day, as this encourages the lawn to develop deeper roots.

For the bare strip beside the garden bed, the previous plants appear to have shaded and crowded out the grass. Now that they've been removed, buffalo should gradually spread back into this area through its runners. Loosen and aerate the bare soil first, remove old roots and debris, and improve the surface with Scotts Lawn Builder 25L Organic Based Lawn Soil Topdress, also currently available at Bunnings. Where you're top-dressing existing grass, keep the layer fairly thin, around 5 to 10mm, so you don't bury the buffalo.

For now, I wouldn't throw lots of different treatments at the lawn. Mow, rake, aerate, feed, water and repair the bare areas, then give it several weeks of warm spring growth. You already have a good amount of healthy buffalo to work with, and with a little attention it has a very good chance of becoming much greener and thicker as we move further into spring.

Here are some handy discussions about reviving lawns:

• How to revive nature strip lawn post-construction? by @Jack4   
• How to revive my new lawn? by @THam   
• How can I revive my parents lawn? by @ivanptr  

Please remember to wear personal protection such as garden gloves and goggles.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric