Lawns - the great consumer

In many instances lawns are over used in gardens due to the misconception that they are easy to maintain. Large expanses of lawns are great consumers of water, chemicals and time. Reduce or eliminate turf areas in the garden. Plant low water use varieties such as soft leaf buffalo or zoysia. Consider replacing all or part of your lawn with groundcovers or indigenous grasses.

Water Usage and Turfs

Lawns are often the biggest user of water in the garden. By considering these practices you can significantly reduce the amount of water you use in your garden.

Apply water in the cool of the morning or evening.

Give long, infrequent soaks instead of a little bit every day. Turn the watering system or sprinkler on and set a bucket out on the lawn. Time how long it takes to collect 1cm of water. That's how long you should water the lawn for. Some kind of timing device, even the alarm clock, will avoid forgetting the sprinkler overnight!

Water Requirements of Turf Types

The diagram below depicts a range of water requirements per week for a range of turf varieties.

Weeping grass

15mm

Sir Walter Buffalo

15mm

Couch

25mm

Kikuyu

30mm

Fescue

35mm

Most people would be familiar with the warm-season grasses: Couch, Zoysia and Buffalo. They spread by rhizomes (thickened stems that creep along the ground). They tend to go dormant when temperatures get cool and may turn yellow over winter in the south of Australia. These plants vary in their drought tolerance, but generally require less water than cool season grasses.

The cool season grasses, Fescue, Rye and Weeping grass remain green through the cooler weather. Deep-rooted varieties such as Fescue are able to survive through the heat of summer, although they may brown off. When rainfall becomes more frequent in autumn they put on new green growth.

Microlaena stipoides (Weeping grass) is native to Australia and New Zealand. It is a cool climate species, but is as tolerant of dry conditions as the most drought-tolerant warm-season grasses. There are many local indigenous grasses that make lovely tough lawns. Some are available as plugs or you can sow it from seed, both available at selected nurseries. You will get a better result using material sourced from local populations, as these plants will be better suited to the climate in your area.

Note: Couch, Kikuyu, Buffalo and Fescue can easily become environmental weeds if they escape from the garden when they are allowed to set seed or if the clippings are dumped in bushland or swept into the gutter.

Chemical Requirements

Use a low-nitrogen, balanced fertiliser on your lawn. Look for the Sustainable Gardening Australia signs on the fertiliser shelf of your SGA nursery that indicates an SGA Rating 1 product- Low Environmental Damage. It is better to fertilise more regularly using smaller amounts rather than all at once especially during the active growing season for the turf. If the turf is in a stage of dormancy (due to temperature or dry conditions) do not fertilise as this may place the lawn under even more stress.

When mowing your lawn, ensure that the blades of the mower are sharp, this prevents the grass blades from being torn rather than cut. Torn grass blades increase the surface area of the wound that inturn increase the chance that disease. Only cut a maximum of 1/3 of the height of the lawn at any one time to a minimum height of 40 mm. The lawn clipping are great as a fertiliser for the lawn, either use a mulching mower or simply remove the catcher to allow the clipping to remain behind. Leaving the clipping on the lawn can reduce fertilising and watering requirements by up to 20% and save time by not having to continually empty the catcher.

If a lawn becomes diseased, attacked by insects or infested with weeds this is normally a sign that the lawn is under some form of stress. Before reaching for the chemical bottle determine what is causing the underlying problem and treat that issue. Use the least environmentally damaging chemicals but only when required. If chemicals are used spot spray the infected areas rather than broad spraying the entire lawn.

For more information refer to our other helpful information sheets on Water Conservation In The Garden, Water-Efficient Irrigation Systems, Lawns, Rainwater and Greywater.

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