The Grass Doctor

What is good fertilizer for Sir walter buffalo grass?

I live in Sydney NSW and just laid some Sir Walter buffalo grass. It has been in for around four to five weeks now and is now nice and green . Im quite happy with how it has grown and the colour it has. The problem i got is along the back fence line. It just seems to not be growing like the rest. Almost brown/dry even though i have watered it the same as the rest. Should i just give it more time to grow and for the roots to go deeper down. Or is there some fertiliser i could put over that area to make it greener like the other area of new turf. As i said , the new turf in all other areas is fine. Just along the back fence line it is not the same as the rest.

Public Comments

1. It may not be as simple as just adding fertiliser. In theory your lawn should grow the same there as anywhere else. Grass needs light, moisture and a free draining soil. Check there's nothing under the soil (builders rubble/cement from when the fence was installed etc) that's stopping the roots growing down or which could be affecting the acidity of the soil). Check the soil isn't compacted and absorbs the water rather than letting it pool on the surface. It also depends on the amount of shade. Next to the fence it will get more shade depending on the orientation of your block relative to the sun, but that shouldn't affect it unless you also have trees and other shrubs etc.
2. Grass is best fetilised with a specialist lawn feed, that will mainly have higher proportions of the 2 elements Nitrogen and Phosphorous. It will have other components, but these two have a major role in grass growth and health. Nitrogen is responsible for the green growth, and will encourage grass to be greener, and grow more. Phosphorous will encourage more root growth. For a newly laid lawn both of these will encourage better growth, but especially the Phosphorous will encourage root growth, thus your turf your should in better, and have a deeper root system that will sustain healthy above ground growth. Normally I recommend using a high Phosphorous feed in autumn, as this allows root development over winter, prior to a demanding summer season. It can also be useful in newly laid lawns, having a similar effect. What concerns me is that your grass is looking brown - which almost hints that this growth is dead. Whilst this does not mean that the plants themselves are dead, it is a cause for concern. I'm curious how much digging you made into the soil, before you laid the turf, as good preparation helps a lawn establish and grow well. As has been mentioned, rubble, concrete etc, would prevent the roots growing, or could help water to either drain quickly or collect at the surface, starving the roots of oxygen. If you don't recall the underlying soil quality, you could insert a fork down, and see if there are any obstructions, which would hint at rubble. Fertiliser will help cure the symptoms, as far as it's able to, but not any underlying causes of poor growth. As the problem area is near to the fence, some of the problem may just be about it getting less light, due to the shade from the fence. If you find that there may well be lots of rubble etc, then you have the option of relaying this area, or turning it over to alternative use. So, I'd aim to find out if there is any structural cause, and feed with a fertiliser that's got a high proportion of Phosphorous, to stimulate root growth, as a first step. You might also need to water this area more than the rest, if it's very free draining - regular generally long deep waterings are better than very frequent shallow watering, so I'd also check the dryness of the soil, between watering. If you can get the roots to take a deeper hold, then you could switch to a feed that's higher in Nitrogen, that will stimulate green leafy growth. Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob