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How to identify grass or lawn type?

Hi guys,

Just moved into new place first time lawn owner. Have some questions:

1. Could someone help identify what type of grass I have?

2. Also in the second photo attached, is this a weed that is growing (thr longer stems with purple tips)? This is only found in the front lawn, the neighbours front lawn seems to have these growing as well none in my backyard lawn though.

3. What's the best thing I can do to try create a "fuller" look to my lawn as some areas looking bare?

Appreciate any advice and help!

Thanks in advance!

Jimmy

1. Backyard lawn

2. Front lawn weeds?

3. Backyard lawn

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Gardening

Planting and Growing

Lawn

Comments

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jimmyjimenez. It's fantastic that you've joined us and many thanks for your question.

Congratulations on moving into your new home and your first lawn. It must be a truly exciting time for you!

The Bunnings guide Common lawn types and how to identify them is helpful for anyone wishing to identify their lawn type.

I'd have to say your grass is Buffalo, characterized by those runners on the paver in your third image, its coarseness and the broadleaf. That's the seeds of Buffalo lawn in the second picture. Your backyard might not be seeding due to slightly different conditions.

I believe aerating, topdressing and then fertilising would be the best way to create a fuller lawn. I'd recommend Scotts Lawn Builder 4kg Buffalo Slow Release Lawn Fertiliser as it feeds for three months and doesn't burn the lawn if used according to instructions.

You should find these step-by-step guides useful:

How To Care For Buffalo Lawn

How To Aerate And Top Dress Your Lawn

How To Revive Your Lawn

You might also be interested in reading through these discussions-

How to improve your lawn this Spring by @Jason

How do I repair this lawn by @wwwqi

Whole lawn is weed by @onthejob

Lawn care after dethatch couch by @Dark

Please let me know if you need further assistance or have questions.

Mitchell

jimmyjimenez

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/12342#Comment_12342

Hi Mitchell,

Thanks for your reply and helping me with my questions much appreciated legend!

I'll try out those things you've mentioned, have a great weekend mate cheers again!

mazza

wondering what type of lawn is in my new house and how do I care for it

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/16955#Comment_16955

Hi @mazza,

I'm not sure if many people would be able to identify your grass type from a single image. We'd likely need several, including close-ups of the blades. If you could take a few more closer images, we might narrow down what it is. It's certainly not a coarse bladed grass like Buffalo and is more likely something similar to fine or tall Fescue.

Regardless of the type of lawn it is, they all require much the same kind of care. The only time you really need to be careful is with varieties like Buffalo, as they are susceptible to certain selective weed killers. If you use the wrong product on them, you'll potentially kill the whole lawn.

You should find these guides useful:

A seasonal guide to lawn care

How to fertilise your lawn

How to mow your lawn like a pro

How to trim your lawn edges.

There are also a couple of great articles from our resident expert @Adam_W: How to repair a lawn and How to detect lawn problems.

Here's some of our lawn related Best Advice articles on lawns to read through:

What are your tips for keeping your lawn healthy?

When should you feed the lawn?

What lawn mower do you recommend?

Do you put clippings on the lawn?

If you have any particular questions, I trust our knowledgeable members would be more than happy to answer them for you.

Mitchell

Adam_W

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/16955#Comment_16955

Hi @mazza hard to tell without a close-up of leaf blades but I am going to go for it being a kikuyu hybrid.

SpiderPig

Grass number 1 and 2 are from the backyard.

Grass number 3 are from the front yard.

They all appeared to be different varieties.

It would be very much appreciated if someone can help us identify these grass.

TIA!

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/22957#Comment_22957

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @SpiderPig. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about grass varieties.

The coarser bladed grass (2) is likely to be Buffalo, which typically can be identified by its thick runners that aggressively try and jump over concrete kerbs and spread into gardens. The very fine grass (1) is most probably a variety of thin-bladed infill-type grasses commonly found in lawn repair seed mixes. They are designed to quickly infill an area whilst your actually grass is taking back over and will include up to five different varieties of grass.

What was your interest in the types? Are you looking to create a lawn with only one variety? The Buffalo would be the hardier of the varieties and what you'd commonly see in yards that receive regular usage.

Let me mention @Adam_W to see if he could identify any specific types of grasses in your image.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Adam_W

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/22957#Comment_22957

Hey @SpiderPig and welcome.
#1 is anybodies guess. Could be kikuyu or may be a mix from packet lawn seed (they are often blends) that's been used for patching or repair.
#2 I'd put money on buffalo, probably a newer soft-leaf variety.
#3 most likely a couch but could be a zoysia.

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/74165#Comment_74165

Thank you so much for your prompt and professional response @MitchellMc. Can't believe you can actually tell #1 grass are from the repair grass I recently purchased to fix some bold patches.

Now I ended up having 3 different grass variety in my yard.

Yes. I only want one variety for my lawn, but I believe it's a bit screwed up now.

Will these three varieties outgrow each other? Which one will be the ultimate winner out of the three? Or any advice on how to resolve this mess I have now?

Below is a photo of my lawn.

Thanks again for your amazing and helpful reply.

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/74169#Comment_74169

Thank you for your information @Adam_W ! You guys are seriously helpful experts!! I have been asking around looking for answers for a long time. Now finally I found the right people!!

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/100611#Comment_100611

At this stage, the best you will be able to do without a complete overhaul is to even out the patchiness, @SpiderPig. I'd suggest you start by picking up some Yates 4L BuffaloPro Hose On Lawn Weed Killer and applying it to the lawn. There's quite a bit of clover through the lawn, which this product will kill and several other weeds at the same time. If there are any really compacted areas of soil, you might like to aerate them first and apply some topdress.

Next, I'd recommend you re-seed the entire area with the grass of your choice. Since you already have quite a bit of thin-bladed grass from your repairs, I suggest you go with something similar to Munns Professional 2.5kg Kikuyu Lawn Seed Blend. This covers 250 square meters, so make sure you purchase an adequate amount and evenly distribute it with a fertiliser spreader.

Once you have the same grass spread and germinated across the area, the patchiness will be gone, and you'll have a nice-looking lawn. It will still have mixed grass in it, but they'll be much better blended. To have just a single type of grass in the lawn, you'd really need to kill it all off and start again.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Mitchell

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/117181#Comment_117181

Are these winter grass weeds? @MitchellMc If not, what are they? I used Amgrow Bin-di and Yates Buffalo Pro a month ago but they dont seemed to work on them. Also the clover just kept on returning

Thanks again for your kind advice.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/126743#Comment_126743

Yes, it is likely Winter grass @SpiderPig and rather resistant to selective weedkillers. You should use Amgrow 100ml Winter Grass Killer on it. Not much else will kill it apart from a non-selective weed killer.

You'll likely need to do a few applications of the Buffalo Pro to remove all weeds. Different types will keep popping up, but eventually, you'll get on top of them. Once the grass is re-seeded, it will do a better job of out-competing the weeds, and the clover won't have enough light to germinate and flourish. I'd still advise doing a yearly Weed'n'Feed, though.

Mitchell

anirak

Hi, Can anyone identify this grass? It's taking over my lawn and preventing the Kikuyu from growing. It starts off green then dies over summer.

Thanks

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/24738#Comment_24738

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @anirak. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about identifying grass.

It appears to be one of the seed-bearing native grasses similar to Wallaby grass. It's completely taken over some areas, and the seeds will germinate next year. It will likely be an ongoing battle, but it'd be best to try and poison it in winter before it goes to seed. Be careful though as these non-selective weedkillers will also kill you Kikuyu if you spray it. After a couple of years of doing this, it will start to diminish, and you can re-seed with your Kikuyu.

Once it's gone to seed, there's not really much you can do until the following year. You could consider de-thatching the lawn, which might collect the dropped seed and will strip out the dead material.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

anirak

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75024#Comment_75024

Thanks for your reply @MitchellMc

It certainly does look like a type of Wallaby grass.

Great to finally know what it is and how to tackle it.

Do you recommend something in particular to poison it with? Something pet friendly and I'd rather not use gyphosate.

Thanks

robchin

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75024#Comment_75024

A weed wand is great for this sort of thing. These weed pullers are as well.

Zero weed wand.jpg

Yates Zero Weeding Herbicide Applicator Brush - Bunnings Australia

Fiskars 4 Prongs Xact Weed Puller - Bunnings Australia

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/101225#Comment_101225

You might like to have a read through this wonderful article on How to remove weeds without harming your pets, @anirak.

As long as you follow directions, either Eco-Organic Garden 1L Ready To Use Slasher Organic Weedkiller or Seasol EarthCare 3L Organic Weedkiller are perfectly safe to use around your pets and do not contain glyphosate. I'd recommend keeping your pets out of the area until the products have dried. Remember, these products are non-selective and will kill all of the grass. You might like to purchase one of those products in their concentrate form, mix it up and use the Yates Zero Weeding Herbicide Applicator Brush @robchin has mentioned above. It's much easier to paint the invasive grass with the brush than to avoid your Kikuyu with a spray.

Mitchell

anirak

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/101225#Comment_101225

Yes, the weed puller is great! Unfortunately it's not worked on this grass. It's hard to find the base of the plant as it's spread so much and now it's dry, it breaks up and spreads seed everywhere. I'm going to try the wand though, looks handy for other weeds in my garden too. Thanks.

SpiderPig

What type of grass are they?

Or are they weeds?

TIA

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/24842#Comment_24842

Hi @SpiderPig,

Number one could possibly be couch or a nutgrass if it has bulbs. Number two is likely some type of summer crabgrass.

Were you looking to remove them or just interested in what they could possibly be? Using a Yates Zero Weeding Herbicide Applicator Brush and non-selective weedkiller would be an effective way of removing them. You simply need to go around with the applicator and paint the tips of their leaf blades with the poison.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Mitchell

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75069#Comment_75069

Thank you for your reply @MitchellMc .

I was only wondering if they were grass or weeds, so I can exterminate them. 🙂

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75069#Comment_75069

Do you know what type of grass these are?

I want to buy seeds to repair my lawn, but I am not too sure what type they are.

These 3 photos are the same, I zoomed it in for more clearer image.

TIA

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/101259#Comment_101259

Is this a different lawn to what you asked about previously @SpiderPig?

Mitch and Adam did their best to identify your lawn and provide advice on next steps.

Thanks,

Jason

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/117552#Comment_117552

It seems I have 4 different types of grass on each side of my house. This is the other side to the ones I previously asked about. 😅

I am certain this is not buffalo. I was told by in-store member this is kikuyu. But last time Adam adviced my other side was couch. So I am a bit confused which seed to purchase.

TIA

SpiderPig

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/117552#Comment_117552

BTW Mitch and Adam's advices were extremely helpful. I managed to fix my lawns well. Really appreciated it.

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/127011#Comment_127011

Hi @SpiderPig

I'm sure @MitchellMc and @Adam_W will be glad to hear that their recommendations helped. If you run into any other issues with your lawn, please let us know.

Eric

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/127010#Comment_127010

Hi @SpiderPig,

The two types of grass I initially identified will be considered weeds as they are invasive to your lawn.

The set of three images you posted yesterday do appear to be Kikuyu. It's typically a bit coarser than couch, with a wider blade and lays flatter. Identifying grass types can be a bit of guesswork, as there are many different types of each variety.

Mitchell

aoifeinoz

Hi, I seem to have two types of grass and I don’t know what they are. The second photo is invading I think. I hate both of them as they’re v coarse underfoot. I live in south west WA near the coast. I want a fine soft leaf

grass I can walk on in warmer months. I know nothing about aussie grass as I grew up in Ireland and there’s really just one kind of grass! Help!

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/26753#Comment_26753

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @aoifeinoz. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about grasses.

Your top photo is Buffalo. It's a hard-wearing grass that stands up well to being trafficked. Softer-leafed varieties can have issues if certain areas are walked over constantly. You might like to look at varieties such as Couch and Kikuyu, as they as softer underfoot than Buffalo.

I'm not actually sure what the invasive grass is, but it has quite a distinctive symmetrical blade structure. Let me mention a few of our gardening experts, @Noelle, @mich1972, and @Adam_W to see if they have an idea.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

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