Landscaping for Love and Laughter: Designs and Ideas

Buffalo grass is a very hearty, resilient type of turf that grows well with just a little maintenance and care. It has a fine texture that makes it a good choice for residential lawns, where you want soft grass under your feet. It also doesn't need as much water as other types of turf, so it's good in hotter, drier climates and for those who don't want to spend too much time or money watering their lawn. While buffalo grass is very hearty, it does still need some care and maintenance to keep it looking its best. Note a few simple tips you might follow to keep your turf looking good year-round.

1. Supplement

It's thought that buffalo grass grows better with a little bit of extra iron. When fertilizing or feeding your buffalo grass, choose a supplement or feed with added iron. This can help the grass to stay strong even in low levels of humidity and without extra watering, and to keep it strong year-round.

2. Adjust the mowing

If you live in a climate that doesn't actually get snow during wintertime, you'll still want to cut your buffalo grass during the colder months but not as much as you would in the summertime. Reduce your mowing to once per month or even every six weeks during wintertime; this will allow the buffalo grass to stay a bit thicker during colder months and, in turn, the ground will stay slightly warmer under the grass, protecting the roots.

3. Feed the grass

Even though buffalo grass withstands lower levels of watering, you still want to feed the grass regularly. It needs regular feeding or fertilizing to stay soft yet strong, so use a slow release fertilizer twice per year for your buffalo grass. This will keep it fed and strong without the grass being overwhelmed with feed or chemicals as you might see with a quick release fertilizer.

4. Avoiding watering at night

When you do water your buffalo grass, you want to avoid watering it at night. This is because the cooler temperature at night can encourage fungal disease to grow and spread through your grass. Always water the grass in the early hours of the morning so it can absorb water before the heat of the day causes the water to evaporate, and so that the lack of light overnight doesn't let fungus grow on the lawn or develop along the roots.