| By Todd Layt
Why would sports turf professionals even consider Buffalo for use as a sports turf? The main reason is shade, although there are other uses. 25% of lawns have shade, so you can see why Buffalo has become so popular. In recent research by the DPI Queensland released by Hal most Buffalo varieties were tested. This report also included trials in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. The research showed that in 50% shade Buffalo was much harder wearing than Kikuyu, Couch, and Sweet Smother grass and had far superior quality. Only Sydney Common Buffalo had significant more wear stress than any other Buffalo in the study based on the percentage of bare ground over a 12 week period. The study was too short in duration to really determine differences between the Buffalo cultivars for wear tolerance. It really needed to be over a 6 month period at least, and have Zoysia included, which also does well in shady worn areas. However, this research achieved a lot of goals basically finding all the modern cultivars wear very similarly in 50% shade, and far better than other grasses tested. So if you are buying a buffalo for a wear area in shade all will do pretty well. Thus for golf courses, amenity areas, and parks that have shade from trees or buildings Buffalo is the best choice. In the past in places like Melbourne and the ACT Fescue was traditionally used for these areas, but with the tightening of water supply Fescue has simply died out in many areas. Cool season grasses for most of Australia are now not viable options, except for over sowing.
In another study in the USA Couch, Zoysia and Buffalo varieties were tested for drought in a hot Texas environment, with the water being turned off for 60 days in summer. Although Couch and Zoysia did a little better, Buffalo showed that it would recover after the turf was watered again. Thus 60 days without water appears not to kill Buffalo, although I would not suggest allowing Buffalo to go that long without water if at all possible. However we do know that in full sun in very dry inland parts of Australia that Buffalo will die without some irrigation, where Couch, Kikuyu and Zoysia will often survive. The thing that lets Buffalo down for the really dry parts of the country is the absence of Rhizomes. Many inland places are very dry and hot for up to 5 months, with only the odd rain event. In places like this Buffalo needs adequate irrigation, but for coastal areas that get more frequent rain events, Buffalo is a great choice. In inland regions, Buffalo is still a good choice for shade provided occasional watering is available in Summer. The only other real alternative for shade is Zoysia. Empire Zoysia for example works well in 40% to 50% shade, where Buffalo works in up to 60% to 70 % shade, although at the higher level the quality will decline.
There are quite a few Golf courses that have used Buffalo for roughs in both sun and shade. Many council parks, commercial developments, and even road sides use Buffalo. One project I was involved in back in 2000, was the turfing of Windsor Rd near Kellyville NSW with Palmetto Buffalo. This is a reasonably dry area of Sydney, but still no where near as dry as say Dubbo. Well although 4/5 of this turf was ripped up to make a Bus lane, about a fifth is still there, still alive and doing well almost 10 years later. This Palmetto has lived just on natural rainfall for 10 years.
In Ozbreed Research Kikuyu and Couch needed a lot more mowing than Buffalo, and if left unmown for an extended period both Couch and Kikuyu were a lot taller than Buffalo. The Hal research showed that most of the Buffalo types could be sprayed with some chemicals to remove Broad leaf weeds, however the ST varieties showed far less chemical resistance in general. This chemical research was done very well, and will help growers and users better understand which chemicals can be used on which Buffalo. The WA component of the Hal research crunched a lot of numbers in the subject of water use and drought tolerance, unfortunately all that work really said nothing. Sure it worked out clipping rates and ET rates of different grasses under less water, but as any turf professional knows grasses respond differently to drought, with some going more dormant to conserve water. Calculating clipping rates and even ET rates under lower watering regimes says absolutely nothing about whether a grass can cope better with prolonged drought. Logic says lower growth is good in drought so the grass conserves water, alternatively under less water some people may want more growth for wear tolerance. It also ignores carbohydrate storage in Rhizomes etc. It is a pity a real drought tolerant study has not been conducted in Australia, but to be fair, the Hal project did very well with the limited money available. Also in Perth where people tend to water turf more than the rest of the country due to their sandy soils, this WA research is perhaps more useful. For the rest of Australia the best indicator of drought tolerance is the very expensive all be it overseas study for drought called the SAWS study in Texas, but unfortunately the only Australian available Buffalo grasses in this were the Palmetto and Sapphire types, however it did show Buffalo was still good in drought, and went on to say Buffalo is a grass that is needed for shaded areas in drought prone regions. This study did not correlate with previous ET rate studies, showing ET rates to be of little use in grass survivability. Further, one famous ET rate literature study found Kentucky Blue grass has a lower ET rate than Couch. We all know Couch is incredibly more drought tolerant than Kentucky Blue grass, which is known to be quite drought tender, so why even bother with ET rate studies.
The Buffalo Varieties.
I have mainly concentrated on the varieties that are regularly sold, but as you will see breeding in these grasses has really warmed up.
Sir Walter
If advertising spend determined which cultivar is best this would win hands down. This grass is generally the most expensive which is to be expected when Millions are spent on advertising. In general Sir Walter performs very well, and is a good all round Buffalo, with adequate winter colour, good wear tolerance, and good disease tolerance. It also is good with chemicals that can be sprayed on Buffalo grass. It is a coarser leaf Buffalo which grows very fast compared to some other types. It definitely needs a lot more mowing compared to Shademaster and Palmetto. See Ozbreed research. In Hal research it has performed well in most other categories, having been rated to have moderate shade tolerance, good salt tolerance for Buffalo turf, and good wear tolerance. Sir Walter is a soft Buffalo to lie on. Personally I have used it at my house next to ST 85, and each year the Sir Walter lives through summer, and the ST85 drops out in Patches. It was bred by Buchanan Turf Supplies Pty Ltd and first sold in 1996.
Sapphire
I was the breeder of this grass so naturally I love it. Sapphire Buffalo was a seedling selection from the older variety of Sir Walter. The main differences between Sapphire and Sir Walter, is that Sapphire has a much finer leaf and is generally much better value for money. In some regions it sells for the same price as Sir Walter, yet in many others it is often 10 to 15% lower cost. Of the good Buffalo types, Sapphire is by far the finest textured buffalo. In sample plots people always gravitate to it because of its texture. In the recent Australian Hal research Sapphire received the highest rating shade quality, being one of only 2 Buffalos sold in Australia to receive a rating of Moderate to high levels of shade tolerance. Shademaster was the other. Amerishade which is not grown in Australia was the only other Buffalo in this category, and from my experience in the USA it does have growing issues, probably why Amerishade is not grown here. The category below this was moderate. Sapphire has winter colour about the same as Sir Walter. It is a moderately fast growing type requiring say more mowing than Palmetto, but a fraction less than Sir Walter and Kings Pride. Sapphire was mostly in the Top Statistical group like Sir Walter for Wear tolerance in shade. In the SAWS drought tolerance study Sapphire rated the best in 2007 of any buffalo after 30 days with out water, and number 2 behind Floratam after 60 Days. Floratam is not available in Australia, because basically Floratam is one of the ugliest grasses in the world. If you have ever seen it you will know what I mean. Sapphire wins one category hands down compared to other good Buffalo types, it is the finest, best looking Buffalo.
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Palmetto.
Palmetto is well known to have the best winter colour, particularly under high incidents of Frost. Palmetto was bred in the USA, and came to Australia in the late 90’s. In a 2 year trial in western Sydney it had the best winter colour. (Ozbreed) It also required less mowing compared to the other buffalo types in the trial. Another trial showed that after 5 months without mowing Palmetto reached 112mm, whilst Sir Walter reached 163cm, and Couch reached 205cm and Kikuyu made it to a massive height of 435cm. In the Hal study Palmetto in unmown sward tests for a lot more days grew to a height of 19.9cm whilst Sir Walter, Kings Pride and Matilda had a sward height of around 35cm and Sapphire about 30cm. This means if people go on holidays, or cannot mow for a while, the Palmetto will still look good. In the SAWS drought study Palmetto was the third best variety behind Sapphire and Floratam after 30 days and 60 days without water. It is moderately shade tolerant, not quite as good as Sapphire or Shademaster according to the Hal study, however in the shade it grows lower than the other good Buffalo types. The Hal study found it to have significantly less clippings in the shade. I have had Palmetto growing at my place for years, and you really do notice its drought tolerance and its lower mowing requirements. It also requires far less edging than the faster growing types. Growers may find the faster growing types quicker on the turf farm, but the end user certainly appreciates the lower maintenance of this variety. If you want reduced mowing and trimming, and want a greener lawn in winter than this ones for you.
Matilda.
Matilda was a seedling derived from ‘Shademaster’ on a Hawkesbury turf farm west of Sydney (NSW). This is a fast growing course leaf variety that again is a good all-rounder Buffalo. It did well in the wear tests and it was rated as moderate in the shade trials similar to Sir Walter and Kings Pride. This is a very branching and fast growing Buffalo, so it is quick for the turf farmer, but this does mean more mowing and garden edging. The other problem with fast growing highly branching Buffalo types is that after a few years they thatch more. The Winter colour of Matilda seems to be similar to Sapphire and Sir Walter. There is not as much of this grown as Sir Walter, Sapphire or Palmetto, so it may be harder to find. If you want a good strong grower or a good wearing buffalo than this could be for you, just remember to mow it short or de-thatch it every few years.
Kings Pride
In general this grass did well in the Hal trials. Good in the wear tests, moderate in the Shade tests, and does seem to have better than average winter colour. It has a very course leaf. In a lot of ways it is very similar to Sir Walter, but personally I would pick Sir Walter over Kings Pride any day. I find Sapphire, Sir Walter, Palmetto, Shademaster, and Matilda all nice soft to lie on lawns with very soft leaves. To me, Kings Pride is no where near as soft, and I actually find the leaf a little scratchy when I rub the side of it on my lips. Always a good test if a Buffalo is scratchy or not. This is my opinion so I suggest you test it for yourself, after all something like this is judgmental, and not really scientific. If you can look past the softness aspect, then Kings Pride performs well, similar to Sir Walter in most aspects. It had the fastest spread of any of the grasses listed above, so obviously it will need more garden edging than all the others, but this has positives as well, as it can recover quickly from wear.
Shademaster.
This grass is now sold quite cheaply, as the growers are finding demand for it drying up. It has terrible winter colour and thatches really badly. It does have moderate to good shade tolerance but you would only buy this grass if you wanted a real cheap grass. Many growers are now ripping it out. It's purple colour in winter is a real turn off. If you don't care about looks and want a cheap grass then this one is for you.
ST varieties. ST26, 91, 85
These grasses are the most susceptible to chemicals, and seem to get disease more easily than the good varieties. Many growers are now replacing them with Sir Walter, Sapphire, Matilda, Kings Pride and Palmetto. They are again generally cheaper than the good varieties. One of the reasons I have been told that many growers are replacing them is they get too many complaints in the establishment period. Personally I find them not as drought tolerant, but there are no real studies that have tested these types for drought. I have ST85 in part of my yard and every year in Summer dead patches appear that rarely appear in my Sapphire, Sir Walter and Palmetto.
Velvet Buffalo.
Only grown in WA. It is too disease prone to be grown in the rest of the country. It too is loosing popularity to the better varieties, but it can still be found in WA.
There are a few other Buffalo types like Ned Kelly, Marine, and common Sydney Buffalo, but these are rarely grown by anyone. Common Sydney Buffalo lost it's appeal due to its very scratchy leaf, and it would be very hard to find on any turf farm now. I think it may even be extinct as a turf farm grass.
So it is clear there is a lot of choice when it comes to Buffalo types, and in general Buffalo is an excellent choice for a shade grass, but it is also a good low maintenance turf for full sun as well requiring on average significantly less mowing than Couch and Kikuyu. This wraps up the 4 part series Turf Breeding is Warming Up.
Resouces.
HAL Project TU04013 (Completion date 14 October 2009)
Adaptation and management of Australian buffalo grass
cultivars for shade and water conservation. Alan Duff, Dr Don Loch and Dr Tim Colmer Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries
Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
Saws. Evaluation of Sixty-Day Drought Survival In San Antonia of Established Turfgrass Species and Cultivars.
Ozbreed Research into Buffalo Turf and Empire Zoysia. Various Papers. www.ozbreed.com.au See Research section.
Declaration. Todd Layt is the owner of Ozbreed which markets Palmetto and Sapphire Buffalo.
We at Golf & Sports Turf encourage feedback and discussion about all articles written within the magazine. To query the author regarding his article please email todd@ozbreed.com.au
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