How to identify grass or lawn type?

[jimmyjimenez]

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

 

[SpiderPig]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

Yates Zero Weeding Herbicide Applicator Brush - Bunnings Australia

Fiskars 4 Prongs Xact Weed Puller - Bunnings Australia

[MitchellMc]

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]

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.