Lawn care

The backyard lawn is part of Australian life: a place for cricket, kids, dogs and summer afternoons. Lawns cool the area around them, reduce dust and glare, and are soft underfoot. They also take water, mowing and feeding. The secret to a good lawn with less work and water is choosing the right grass for your climate and caring for it in a way that builds deep roots.

Warm-season and cool-season grasses

Warm-season grasses grow strongly in warm weather and slow down or go dormant and brown in winter. They are generally more drought and heat tolerant. Common types include:

• Buffalo (soft-leaf varieties): broad-leaf, relatively shade tolerant and hard-wearing.
• Couch: fine-leaf, fast-growing, very hard-wearing, loves sun, spreads aggressively.
• Kikuyu: vigorous, tough and fast-recovering, but invasive in garden beds and a weed in some areas.
• Zoysia: dense, slow-growing, lower maintenance and fairly drought tolerant.

Cool-season grasses grow best in spring and autumn and stay green in winter, but need more water in summer. They include tall fescue, ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass, and suit cooler southern and elevated areas.

Choosing a grass

Consider:

• Climate: heat, cold, frost and rainfall.
• Sun and shade: most grasses need several hours of sun; some buffalo and zoysia varieties tolerate more shade.
• Wear: kids, dogs and sport favour couch, kikuyu and hard-wearing buffalo.
• Water: warm-season grasses usually need less.
• Maintenance: fast growers need more mowing and edging.

Lawn can be established from seed (common for cool-season grasses and couch) or turf rolls (common for buffalo, zoysia and kikuyu).

Mowing

• Keep blades sharp for a clean cut.
• Don't remove more than about a third of the leaf in one mow.
• Mow higher in hot, dry weather and in shade; longer leaves shade the soil and support deeper roots.
• Leave clippings on the lawn ("mulch mowing") to return nutrients, unless they clump.

Watering

Water deeply and infrequently to encourage deep roots, rather than lightly every day. Water early in the morning, check that water is soaking in rather than running off, and follow local water rules. Established warm-season lawns can often survive dry periods by going dormant and recover when rain returns. Wetting agents help where soil repels water.

Feeding

Feed lawns when they're actively growing: warm-season lawns in spring and summer, cool-season lawns in autumn and spring. Use a lawn fertiliser at label rates and water it in. Over-feeding produces soft growth that needs more mowing and water and can wash into waterways.

Aeration and thatch

Compacted soil stops water and air reaching roots. Aerating with a fork or hollow-tine aerator in the growing season helps. Thatch, a layer of dead stems above the soil, can build up in vigorous grasses; scarifying or dethatching in spring removes it.

Weeds

Healthy, dense lawns resist weeds. Mow at the right height, feed and water appropriately, and hand-pull weeds such as bindii and onion weed before they spread. If you use a herbicide, choose one safe for your grass type and follow the label. Check whether your lawn grass itself is a weed risk to nearby bushland.

Shade

No lawn grass thrives in heavy shade. In shady spots, mow higher, reduce traffic, choose the most shade-tolerant variety or replace lawn with groundcovers, mulch or paving.

Lawn alternatives

If you don't use an area, it doesn't need to be lawn. Groundcovers, native grasses, mulched beds, gravel and paved areas can reduce water and mowing. Keep lawn where you play and sit.

Common mistakes

• Scalping the lawn by mowing too short.
• Daily light watering.
• Over-fertilising.
• Lawn in heavy shade.
• Letting kikuyu or couch invade garden beds.

Edging

Clean edges make a lawn look tidy and stop runner grasses invading beds. Use a lawn edger or spade, or install a physical edge of steel, brick or concrete. See paths, edging and paving.

Lawns for dogs

Dogs are hard on lawns. Urine burns patches, and running wears paths. Choose a hard-wearing grass, water urine spots to dilute them, and give dogs a designated area with mulch or paving.

Lawn pests

Lawn grubs such as armyworm and curl grubs can damage lawns, especially in warm months. Signs include brown patches, chewed leaves and birds feeding on the lawn. Check by soaking a patch with soapy water and watching for caterpillars rising, or lifting turf to look for curl grubs. Healthy lawns recover better, and products are available if needed; follow label directions.

Starting a new lawn

Prepare the soil well before laying turf or sowing seed: remove weeds, rubbish and rocks, loosen compacted soil, add a layer of quality topsoil or sandy loam if needed, level it and make sure water drains away from the house. Lay turf in spring or early autumn when it can establish quickly, pressing joints tightly together and staggering them like bricks. Water new turf frequently for the first couple of weeks until roots knit into the soil, then gradually water less often but more deeply. Keep traffic off until it is established.

Lawns in drought

During drought and water restrictions, mow higher, stop fertilising, reduce traffic and let warm-season lawns go dormant. They may turn brown but usually recover when rain returns. Check whether your water authority allows lawn watering during restrictions, and consider reducing lawn area over the longer term.

Lawn weeds

A thick, healthy lawn is the best defence against weeds, because weeds move into thin, bare and compacted areas. Common lawn weeds include bindii, clover, onion weed, dandelion and winter grass. Hand-weed small infestations, removing the whole root. Bindii is best tackled in winter and early spring, before it sets its prickly seed. Selective herbicides are available for many lawn weeds, but check that the product is safe for your type of grass, follow the label exactly and avoid spraying in hot weather. Fixing the underlying problem matters too: aerate compacted soil, improve drainage, mow at the right height and feed the lawn so grass can compete.

Lawn alternatives

For areas that rarely get walked on, consider groundcovers, mulched garden beds or native grasses instead of lawn. They use less water and need no mowing.

Key points

Choose a grass suited to your climate, sun and use, mow high with sharp blades, water deeply and infrequently, feed in the growing season, aerate when compacted and use alternatives where lawn struggles or isn't used.