In the late 90s, Paul and I built our family home in Fernvale, near Wivenhoe Dam in the Brisbane Valley. After all the building was finished, the last thing we did was lay our lawn – a Queensland Blue couch lawn harvested from our then paddock at Tarampa.
That lawn performed fabulously through drought, floods, frosts, and searing summers. If it went backwards, it was never hard to restore to thriving.
Growing up, our family was very outdoorsy, and we spent countless hours playing together on that lawn.
Years later as empty nesters, Paul and I recently made some landscaping changes at our property. These changes snowballed into a new front lawn.
Though we loved our old lawn, for various reasons we knew we wouldn’t be installing Queensland Blue again.
So then came decision time. Which variety would we choose for our new front yard lawn? Of course it had to be a West Turf lawn.
West Turf varieties and their characteristics:
| Wintergreen | Aussiblue | Zoysia | Soft Leaf Buffalo | Sir Walter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth | Fast | Very fast | Slow | Slow | Fast |
| Shade Tolerance | Very low | Low-mid | Mid | High | High |
| Mowing | Medium | High | Low | Low | Medium |
| Durability | High | High | High | High | |
| Leaf and colour | Fine, Emerald | Fine-Medium, Green/Blue | Medium, Emerald | Broad, Emerald | Broad, Emerald |
Lawn choice considerations for our front yard project:
- Firstly, we obviously wanted to use our own turf stock, so our choices were Wintergreen, Aussiblue, Zoysia, Soft Leaf Buffalo, or Sir Walter.
- Secondly, in the area we were about to turf, a tree had grown tall enough to cast a huge shadow that would significantly impact the shade tolerance of any lawn we planted. The area would get 5 hours of sun each day from midday.
- Thirdly, the older we get, the less enthusiastic we are about mowing!
- Lastly, what did we liked the look and feel of for this space?
In the end the choice was easy – Zoysia!
Five reasons why Zoysia was the right choice for this project:
Growth
West Turf’s two slow-growing varieties are Zoysia and Soft Leaf Buffalo. Since we didn’t want Buffalo grass in this space, Zoysia was a good option to look impressive for longer between mows.
Shade Tolerance
Shade is a big decision maker! In the space we were turfing, an old leopard tree had grown so tall that it cast a long shadow over the area for the entire morning. Zoysia grass requires only four to five hours of direct sunlight daily, so this was a perfect fit.
Mowing
Landscaping changes meant only a push mower (not a ride on) could access the area. Zoysia requires half as much mowing as Aussiblue, or Sir Walter – so much less effort required in mowing. FYI: It’s also great for tricky to get to spaces like embankments.
Durability
Zoysia is a firm-leaved variety that can withstand wear and tear. As a slower grower, it won’t self-repair well, but we weren’t expecting any damage to occur.
Look and Feel
Above all, we wanted a stunning-looking medium-leaf emerald-green lawn. Zoysia grass has fabulous colour and is a good compromise between couch and buffalo varieties.
