How do I rescue our buffalo lawn?

[Possum1304]

Hi all, I’m new to all of this and read through all the info about lawn problems.  I live in Qld, the Sunny coast, and my lawn looks great, lush and green.

However, I’m now spending some time in Melbourne where we laid a new buffalo lawn last March.  It wasn’t long that weeds started to pop up.  We removed them by hand and fertilised the new lawn as per instructions. Fertilised again last August but weeds kept coming back.

After mowing we went away for three weeks in September and came back to a ‘lawn’ looking like this!

We’ve had unseasonably cold and wet weather which probably hasn’t helped either.

There are only a few broad leaf weeds which we have removed by hand, but the rest are mainly grassy looking ones, don’t think it’s bindii or nut grass.  We’ ve pulled out a few and they come out quite easily. Roots and all, no runners.

We’d love to hear what kind they are and most importantly how to get rid of them.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Possum1304. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about lawn care.

These "weeds" enjoy your fertiliser as much as your lawn, so it's important to not only feed but apply a weed killer, too. These are a variety of Winter grasses. Here's a helpful article: How to get rid and control Winter grass. It's best to spray the lawn in autumn with Munns Professional 2.4L Winter Grass Killer Weed Control, as it's unable to kill mature Winter grass as you have here.
 

Looking at your images, it doesn't appear that much of the Buffalo lawn is left, though it might be hiding beneath the Winter grass. At this stage, you could remove the Winter grass by hand or poison it with a non-selective weed killer. These non-selective weed killers will kill everything it's sprayed on, including any remaining buffalo. Be sure to wear appropriate PPE, including a face mask, safety glasses, gloves, long-sleeved shirt and pants, and enclosed shoes.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Possum1304]

Thank you Mitchell, 

I’ll see what is left of the buffalo grass and take it from there.  If there’s enough left I’ll try and remove the weeds by hand, good exercise!

And if it’s not worthwhile then plan B, start from scratch.

[Possum1304]

Hi Mitchell, after 4 days of hard work I‘ve now removed most of the winter grass and apart from some bare patches I’m very pleased with the result.

My next question is what next, do I spray the residual winter grass or do. I use weed and feed?  I also need to top dress to fill some holes and unevenness. Please advise.BeforeAnd after

[EricL · Accepted solution]

Hi @Possum1304 

You've done very well in clearing out the winter grass. At this point in time, I suggest concentrating on the recovery of your buffalo grass. Before you apply any fertilizer or lawn seed, I suggest aerating the surface with Saxon Lawn Aerator Sandals. Aerating your lawn is important allowing deeper water penetration to improve lawn growth. It also helps to loosen the soil to reduce compaction in high traffic areas of your lawn.

Once you've aerated the soil, I propose applying buffalo lawn fertilizer and then adding top dress to the low and and bare spots of your lawn. Your goal at this point is to get your lawn back into shape, there will still be occasional growth of weeds, but these just need to be manually removed. Once your lawn is back into full health you can then begin using chemicals to treat the weeds if it's still needed. 

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

• How to care for your lawn in spring
   
• How to revive your lawn
   
• How to take care of your lawn
   

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Possum1304]

Hi Eric,

Lawn is growing nicely and so is the winter grass! Long soft green sprigs everywhere. Hand weeding is no longer an option.

What would you recommend I do, keep mowing so it doesn’t set seed or should I spray with Munn’s winter grass killer?

Please advise.  Thank you!

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Possum1304,

I'd recommend you go ahead and spray the winter grass killer. If these are new tuffs coming up, then the killer will be effective; it just doesn't work so well on mature weeds. It's perfect for the knockdown of residual winter grass to reduce seed set. 

Mitchell

[Possum1304]

Thanks Mitchell, I’ll do that and hopefully I’ll get rid of the winter grass for now.

I guess it will continue to grow again, but staying on top of it is the main thing.

[MitchellMc]

You'll need to keep the winter grass spray up for a couple of years until there is no more germinating seed @Possum1304.

Mitchell

[Possum1304]

Hi Mitchell,

 I’ve sprayed the winter grass, my next question is, can I mow the grass to keep those weeds down? they seem to be growing faster than the buffalo grass!
Also the lawn needs top dressing, it’s very uneven.  Can I do that now also or do I need to wait for those weeds to die first?

thank you!