Lawn Story
Episode: #8 21/10/2006
Presenter: Neville Passmore
One of Australia?s most popular home garden lawn varieties is called Buffalo, which happens to be the name of the ship that the particular variety first came to Australia on in the 19th century.
In an age where automatic irrigation was not even a dream, Buffalo grass was a real survivor. The surface growing stems, or rhizomes, and you can see the succulent organs that can store moisture for tough times.
In the 20th century, a piped water service to the house was one of those bonuses of modern living and along with it came that quest for the holy grail of suburbia; the greenest law in the street.
Old style buffalo lawns have been shown to perform well in New South Wales home gardens through those water challenged times, however the irritating tiny silicone daggers that run along the edge of the leaf blade cause rashes and itching. Buffalo also tends to have poor winter colour. As a kid this can tend to put you off playing and rolling in the grass and many home owners didn?t like the coarse broad leaf appearance.
A new selection of the modern soft leaf buffalo grass that doesn?t irritate the skin has a tight needle like profile that makes it look more like a fine leaf couch.
Sapphire Soft Leaf Buffalo (Stenotaphrum secundatum ?B12?) is extremely tough and has terrific winter colour, but the best part is it makes rolling down the hill a renewed pleasure!
It also represents a new environment sensitive move to marry the many benefits of turf with the need to reduce our demand for the cheap necessity of plant and animal life; water.
Sapphire fine leaf buffalo is available from a range of growers and for more information on where it is stocked in your area visit www.ozbreed.com.au
Ozbreed Pty Ltd
P.O Box 1011, Richmond 2753
Ph: 02 4578 0866
Fax: 02 45780855
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