Sir Walter lawn yellow and patchy

Bond

Hi we laid the lawn approx 2 years ago and it has always struggled. We have two other areas which are doing much better. We water with bore and fertilise with the recommended fertiliser but shows no improvement. Hope you can help.

Akanksha

Hello @Bond,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're delighted to have you join us and hope you'll find this site an excellent resource for all your home improvement and garden projects.

Sorry to hear about your lawn issues. Let me tag our horticulturalists @Noelle and @Adam_W to get their thoughts. I'm sure our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL will also be able to assist once he's back online later today.

While waiting, I'd suggest checking out the following similar discussion in case it helps: HELP - Sir Walter Lawn doing it tuff by @Samc81

The Bunnings team has also shared several guides related to lawn maintenance which you may find helpful, including How to care for buffalo lawn and What is the best lawn type for your home? (contains a section on Sir Walter buffalo turf).

Hope this helps.

Akanksha

Noelle

Hi @Bond

So we are able to give you a more personalised and appropriate response to your lawn problem, could you please tell us your location, soil type and what the quality of the bore water is like - is it brackish (salty), what is its pH, etc?

Sir Walter reacts to different climatic and soil conditions, time of year and water quality, so if we have some of those details, we can tailor our advice accordingly.

Thanks!

Bond

Hi @Noelle we live in Dawesville WA and the bite water has a high salt content. We have only had the bore for past year and the lawn has not changed since bore installed. The other patch of grass is doing really well with the bore water. When we prepared the soil it was very course and grainy and other patches were clay. We also have a lot of limestone in our ground.

Noelle

Hi again @Bond

Given the water is being used elsewhere without noticeable ill-effect, then we can potentially put that thought on hold.

The soil is more likely to be affecting the Sir Walter. While drainage is probably good over most of the area given the grainy (sandy?) nature, it is possible the lawn would respond well to aeration such as a mechanical aerator (which can be hired), hollow tyne fork or spikey-sandals.

Once the lawn has been aerated, rake out the thatch (dead grass) with a strong garden rake, then topdress with an organic lawn topdressing mix. Settle this into the grass with the rake and then apply an all purpose lawn fertiliser,exactly as directed and at the specified rate on the bag.

This treatment should help the patchy areas recover. The fertiliser will be acidic so that may offset tany negative effect of the limestone soil.

EricL

Hello @Bond

I highly recommend following @Noelle's recommendations. Aeration, top dressing and the application of an all-purpose lawn fertilizer should improve your lawns condition. I was of the same opinion that your bore water might be harming the lawn but if that were the case your entire lawn would be affected and not just a particular area. Odds are it might have something to do with the nutrients in your soil.

Observe your lawns health for the next few weeks after applying the suggestions and see if there is any improvement in its appearance.

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

I also suggest having a look at this fantastic project - Lawn renovation by @homeinmelbourne. This is an excellent example of a comprehensive revival of a lawn.

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

Eric