Our guide to Soft Leaf Buffalo Turf
If you’re researching a new turf for your home, you’ve probably noticed there are a lot of different turf varieties on the market.
It’s important to find a turf that’s well-suited to your weather conditions, home, and how you use your yard. Of course, you’ll also want a turf that feels amazing and looks just as good.
Meet Soft Leaf Buffalo turf, the low maintenance Buffalo grass
Soft Leaf Buffalo is the number one selling Buffalo grass in the world. It produces a spectacular dark emerald-green colour that is renowned for lasting throughout the winter. It is a celebrated shade grass, tolerating up to 65% shade. No shade in your yard? Don’t worry, it is equally as brilliant in full sun.
Fabulously, Soft Leaf Buffalo provides great looks for not much effort. It’s a low maintenance turf. It requires less edging and mowing than other Buffalo varieties and won’t look tall and straggly if you miss a mow since it tends to grow across rather than upright like other Buffalos.
Meanwhile, it wears well, and produces less seed to irritate allergies, making it an amazing choice for energetic young families.
What environment is Soft Leaf Buffalo suited to?
This turf is suitable for areas across the east coast of Australia, particularly in Queensland.
It holds a very high tolerance for salt, shade, frost and drought — making it an amazing turf across so many parts of Queensland.
What does the Soft Leaf Buffalo turf look like? How does it grow?
Soft Leaf Buffalo turf grows a short, broad leaf with lovely, dark emerald-green colour. It is soft to touch and underfoot and produces less seed heads than other Buffalo varieties.
This turf grows more laterally and dense than high. It is not as invasive as other varieties of Buffalo.
How to care for Soft Leaf Buffalo turf:
Once you’ve installed your new turf, it’ll take roughly three or four weeks to establish itself. Although, this depends on the season, with the turf growing slower in the cooler months.
You can check on your turf and see how it’s “taking” by lifting up a corner of grass and checking how it’s attaching to the ground.
Keep off the turf as much as you can while it establishes.
Water
The golden rule with new turf is: water it! The soil underneath your freshly laid turf should be constantly moist in its establishment period.
You might need to water your grass more frequently in the warmer months and slightly less frequently during the cooler months. If you are lucky enough to get some decent rain on your new turf, obviously less hand watering is required.
First week: water each morning and afternoon to ensure moisture in the soil.
Second week: stop watering in the evening and just water each morning.
Next two weeks: switch to watering every other morning ensuring the soil is still moist, but not saturated.
Once established: do a deep water one or two times a week. It’s best to do this in the morning.
Remember: in the Queensland weather and heat, your turf will dry out quite quickly. If the weather is warm and you’re not getting any rain, it’s important you’re maintaining your watering schedule until the turf establishes.
Mow
Once your new Soft Leaf Buffalo turf establishes, then you can begin mowing it. Your lawn should be established after roughly three to four weeks.
When you go to mow your new lawn for the first time, make sure you use a high setting on your mower deck. Aim to just give the grass a nice, small trim.
Once the turf is established, you can start mowing the lawn shorter. The optimal height for this grass is 20 to 50mm if it’s in full sun or 50 to 70mm if it’s in the shade.
Remember: your mower blades need to be sharp for the best results.
Fertilise
Soft Leaf Buffalo turf is a low maintenance turf option. You’ll only need to fertilise this grass two or three times per year, or when it starts to lose colour.
We recommend feeding your grass with a slow release organic fertiliser in early April, before the cooler weather hits, and in mid-September, as the weather begins warming up and then again in mid-summer, if needed. Good quality slow release fertilisers deliver nutrients continuously, they don’t burn and give a consistent level of growth and greening for about three months.
Be sure to follow the application rate and watering-in instructions of your chosen fertiliser.
Deter Pests
Soft Leaf Buffalo turf is highly resilient to pests. However, it’s recommended you keep an eye out for lawn grubs. Be sure to apply the appropriate pesticides if these do show up.
Control weeds
Soft Leaf Buffalo turf grows lush and dense if well maintained, holding out most weeds.
However, keep an eye out for weeds and if they do grow, make sure to remove these by hand or apply an appropriate weed killer.