The complete guide to buffalo lawns

Buffalo is one of the most popular home lawns in Australia, and for good reason. Its broad leaves and thick surface runners make a dense, soft lawn that’s comfortable underfoot, holds up to family use, and copes with a little more shade than couch or kikuyu. It is also a lawn with a few particular needs. Get those right and buffalo is easy to live with; get them wrong and you’ll be asking why it’s yellow, thin or full of weeds.

This guide covers the whole year. If you have a specific problem right now, jump to the section that fits, or ask LawnMan.

Is it buffalo?

Before you follow any buffalo advice, especially about weed killers, make sure buffalo is what you have. Look for:

• Broad, flat leaves with a rounded tip, noticeably wider than couch or kikuyu.
• Thick runners across the surface that root at each joint. Pull one up and you’ll see it’s chunky, almost like a cord.
• No underground runners. Couch and kikuyu both spread below the surface as well; buffalo doesn’t.
• A soft, springy feel in the soft-leaf varieties that most homes have now.

Kikuyu is the grass most often confused with buffalo. Kikuyu leaves are narrower and hairier, it spreads underground as well as above, and it grows very fast in warm weather. If you’re not sure, use the Grass Type Picker or read How do I tell buffalo from kikuyu? Many lawns are a mix, especially along fences and edges where kikuyu or couch has crept in.

Buffalo is sold under many variety names. Varieties differ in leaf width, colour, shade tolerance and the mowing height their growers recommend, so if you know your variety, keep your supplier’s care guide handy alongside this one.

Where buffalo grows well

Buffalo is a warm-season grass. It grows strongly from spring to autumn and slows down when it gets cold. How it behaves through the year depends on your climate zone:

These are general patterns, and varieties differ. Your turf supplier can tell you which varieties do best locally. [CONFIRM: reviewer to confirm climate suitability ratings for buffalo]

Sun and shade

Buffalo has a reputation as the “shade grass”, but it still needs direct sun. The Turf Growers Association of WA lists at least 4 hours of direct sun a day for soft leaf buffalo, the least of the main warm-season grasses it covers. Below that, any lawn grass thins out.

If part of your lawn is shaded:

• Count the hours of direct sun in summer and again in winter. Winter shade from houses and fences is often much longer.
• Mow the shaded part higher. Longer leaves capture more light.
• Cut down on traffic. Shaded grass recovers from wear more slowly.
• Don’t feed it harder. Thin shaded grass needs light, not extra fertiliser.
• Prune trees where you can, to let more light through. Tree roots also compete for water and nutrients, so the area under a tree often needs extra water as well as more light.

Where there is simply not enough sun, a mulched garden bed, paving or a shade-tolerant groundcover may serve you better than grass.

Mowing buffalo

Mowing is where most buffalo problems begin. The two rules that matter most:

1. Never take off more than a third of the leaf at once. This is a long-standing turf rule. Cutting more stresses the grass, exposes the runners and can leave the lawn yellow or brown for weeks. If the lawn has grown long, bring it down over several mows.
2. Don’t mow too low. Buffalo stores energy in its runners and needs enough leaf to feed them.

For soft leaf buffalo in Western Australia, the Turf Growers Association of WA and Water Corporation give about 15 to 20 mm. Recommended heights vary between varieties and between suppliers, so check the guide for your variety. [CONFIRM: reviewer to confirm LawnMan’s recommended mowing range for buffalo outside WA]

Adjust through the year:

• Raise the height in shade, and during heat or drought, when a little more leaf protects the soil and roots.
• Mow more often in spring and summer when buffalo grows fastest. Weekly mowing at the right height is kinder than an occasional hard cut.
• In winter, mow only when it needs it. In cooler zones that might be once a month or not at all.

Keep your mower blades sharp. A blunt blade tears the broad buffalo leaf, leaving ragged, brown tips. If you see whitish, shredded ends after mowing, it’s time to sharpen or replace the blade.

Watering buffalo

The Turf Growers Association of WA describes soft leaf buffalo as drought tolerant. Established buffalo can ride out dry spells by slowing down, then recover when water returns, but it looks and wears better with sensible watering.

• Water deeply and less often. A good soak encourages roots to grow down, where the soil stays moist for longer. A light sprinkle every day keeps roots shallow.
• Use a benchmark, then adjust. Water Corporation suggests 10 mm twice a week in summer for Perth and the South West, and much less in cooler months. If your local water authority publishes its own guidance, use that.
• Water in the early morning, so less is lost to evaporation and leaves dry during the day.
• Know what your sprinklers deliver. A catch-cup test tells you how many millimetres your system applies, and the Sprinkler Run-Time Calculator turns that into minutes.
• Follow your local water rules on allowed days and times.

If water beads or runs off instead of soaking in, the soil may have turned water-repellent. This is common on sandy soils. A wetting agent, applied at the label rate, helps water penetrate.

Feeding buffalo

Buffalo responds well to regular feeding while it’s actively growing, from spring to autumn. A well-fed lawn is thicker and greener and resists weeds better.

• Start in spring once the lawn is clearly growing. Feeding a dormant lawn wastes fertiliser.
• Follow the label rate exactly. More is not better: too much fertiliser can burn the lawn and wash into stormwater.
• Water in granular fertiliser straight after spreading, unless the label says otherwise.
• Use a spreader for granules so the coverage is even. Hand-throwing causes stripes and burnt patches.
• Feed again in late summer or early autumn to help the lawn go into the cooler months healthy.
• Skip winter feeding in cooler zones, where buffalo slows down or goes dormant.

Use the Lawn Area Calculator to measure your lawn, then the Application Calculator to work out how much product you need at the rate on the label.

Yellow buffalo is not always hungry buffalo. It can also mean too much water, too little water, scalping, shade, grubs or disease. Read Why is my buffalo going yellow? before you reach for the fertiliser.

Weeds and herbicide safety

The most important thing to know about buffalo and weed killers: buffalo is more sensitive than other lawn grasses to some herbicides. At least one registered MCPA label, for example, warns that buffalo is more easily damaged than other grasses. A product that’s fine on couch or kikuyu can yellow, stunt or kill buffalo.

So:

• Only use a product whose label lists buffalo, at the rate given for buffalo.
• Read the whole label before you buy, not just the front panel. Check the grasses it is safe on, the weeds it controls, the rate, the water volume, and any warnings about temperature or lawn stress.
• Don’t spray stressed lawns. Labels often warn against spraying in heat, drought or before rain.
• Spot spray rather than blanket spray where you only have a few weeds.
• Never mix your own “stronger” brew. Off-label use is illegal and is how lawns get damaged.

The weeds most buffalo owners deal with:

• Winter grass (a winter annual grass weed). The best approach is prevention: a pre-emergent herbicide applied in autumn, before it germinates, using a product whose label lists buffalo. See the guide on applying pre-emergent herbicide.
• Bindii, which sets its prickly seeds in spring. Treat it in winter while it’s small, before the prickles form.
• Clover, which often appears where the lawn is low in nitrogen.
• Onion weed and nutgrass, which come back from bulbs and tubers, so they need persistence.

A thick, well-fed lawn mown at the right height is the best weed control there is. Weeds move into thin spots, so fix the cause of the gap, not just the weed.

Pests

Two pests cause most of the damage in buffalo lawns.

Lawn grubs (curl grubs) are the larvae of scarab beetles, such as African black beetle. They are C-shaped and creamy white, and they eat the roots, so the lawn browns in patches and lifts like carpet. Lift a section of turf at the edge of a brown patch and look in the root zone.

Armyworm caterpillars feed on the leaves, mostly at night, and can strip grass down to the crown. Large numbers can spread damage across a lawn in days, which is why it seems to appear overnight. Check the lawn at dusk or after dark with a torch, when the caterpillars are feeding. The good news is that the lawn usually recovers once they’re gone.

Grubs and armyworm are both warm-weather pests; armyworm is most often seen in late summer. If you find them, treat only with a product whose label lists the pest and buffalo. See How do I know if I have lawn grubs?

Diseases

Buffalo can get fungal diseases, especially in warm, humid weather.

• Brown patch shows as roughly circular patches of yellowing or brown grass. It’s favoured by warm, humid conditions and wet leaves.
• Fairy rings show as rings of darker green grass, sometimes with mushrooms, and sometimes with dead or dry grass in or around the ring.

Water in the morning so leaves dry during the day, avoid overwatering, and improve drainage. If a fungicide is needed, use one whose label lists the disease and buffalo.

Thatch, sponginess and renovation

Because buffalo spreads by thick surface runners, older lawns can build up a spongy layer of runners and dead material. A little is normal; too much makes the lawn uneven, prone to scalping, and slow to take up water.

Signs your buffalo needs attention:

• The lawn feels spongy or bouncy underfoot.
• The mower scalps it easily, leaving brown patches.
• Water runs off or sits on top.
• You can see a thick brown layer between the green leaves and the soil.

What helps:

• Core aerating relieves compaction and lets water and air reach the roots.
• Lowering the mowing height gradually in spring, while the lawn is growing strongly, can thin out excess growth. Never remove more than a third of the leaf at once.
• Topdressing with a thin layer of sandy soil can level dips. Don’t bury the leaves; they need to stay above the topdressing.

Heavier renovation, such as dethatching, is best done when buffalo is actively growing, from late spring into summer, so it can recover quickly. Water well afterwards and feed at the label rate. Don’t renovate going into winter in cooler zones.

Your buffalo year

The timing below suits most warm-temperate and temperate lawns. Tropical and subtropical lawns start earlier and finish later; cool and highland lawns start later and finish earlier. The Lawn Calendar has a month-by-month plan for your zone.

Common mistakes

• Scalping after a growth spurt. Bring the height down over several mows instead.
• Using a weed killer without checking it’s safe on buffalo. Always read the label.
• Watering a little every day. It keeps roots shallow and encourages disease.
• Feeding a dormant lawn in winter in cooler zones.
• Expecting buffalo to grow in deep shade. It needs some direct sun.
• Treating yellow grass with fertiliser before working out why it’s yellow.

Keep a record

Buffalo care is easier when you know what you did last time. Log each mow, feed, wetting agent and weed treatment in your Lawn Journal, including the product and the rate from the label. The Journal can remind you when the next job in your zone is due and warn you if you’re about to re-apply a product too soon.