water wise lawn
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Tracey Cole

Grow a water-wise lawn

Learn how to grow a water-wise lawn with drought-tolerant grass, soil prep tips, and low-maintenance care advice

Choosing Drought-Tolerant Grass for a Water-Wise Lawn

With long hot dry summers and water shortages, a lush, green lawn can only be a dream, and not practical.

An ideal alternative is to plant drought-tolerant grass, which will survive the dry conditions and need minimal water, care, and maintenance. There are several varieties of suitable grasses available, and good ground preparation is very important before planting to ensure a perfect result.

Preparing the Soil for Planting

Clay soil will need intensive weeding first, removing all the roots, and the ground lightly raked over, leveling as necessary.

Some compost mixed with loam will allow for good drainage while retaining some moisture. As sandy soil drains very quickly, any grass planted will need more frequent watering to survive.

Selecting the Right Grass for Your Lawn

It is preferable to choose warm-season varieties of grass, as the cooler-weather varieties have a shorter root system and will need plenty of water to thrive.

Warm-season varieties include the Cynodon (Bermuda) species, which is indigenous, drought-tolerant, and extremely low maintenance.

Kikuyu grass is a very popular type of drought-tolerant lawn grass. It is very hardy and easy to maintain.

Buffalo grass thrives in full sun and will actually grow quite well in sandy soil with minimal watering. It has a coarser texture than Kikuyu grass.

A grass that will tolerate sun or shade is Zoysia grass, which needs very little watering and mowing.

Lawn Maintenance for Drought-Tolerant Grass

When mowing these grasses, it is preferable not to cut too short, for example, 4-6cm for Kikuyu grass, and 3-4cm for varieties of Cynodon is ideal.

A good watering, once a week in the early morning once the lawn is established, will encourage a deeper root system, allowing the grass to find nutrients in the soil. Lightly rake to remove any dead grass and aerate the lawn in spring and autumn by pushing a fork into the soil after watering.

Sprinkle a good garden fertiliser over the grass every three months during the growing season. Warm-season grass is dormant during winter, so it does not need feeding during that season.

Have a look at our new Online Nursery :

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