Why these three
The Central Coast has warm, humid summers and mild winters. That suits warm-season grasses, which spread by runners, love the heat and slow right down in the cold. Cool-season grasses like fescue can be grown here but struggle through summer and cost far more in water.
So the real choice is between buffalo, couch and kikuyu.
Buffalo
The default choice for most Central Coast homes, and for good reason. Modern soft-leaf buffalo handles shade better than anything else on this list, which matters on a block with established trees or a two-storey neighbour.
It wears well, has broad leaf that feels good underfoot, and its density crowds weeds out on its own. The trade-offs: it wants a higher cut, it is the most expensive to buy as turf, and it is sensitive to the wrong herbicide — dicamba will damage it.
Couch
The finest looking of the three. Couch takes a low cut, holds a tight, even surface, and repairs damage quickly through summer. If you want a lawn that looks like a bowling green, this is the one.
It needs full sun and will thin badly in shade. It also goes off-colour and semi-dormant through the cold months, so a couch lawn in July looks a lot less impressive than the same lawn in January. It needs mowing low and often to stay at its best.
Kikuyu
The toughest and cheapest of the three, and the fastest to repair. Kikuyu will take heavy foot traffic, kids, dogs and cricket, and grow straight back over the bare patch.
That vigour is also the catch. It grows over garden beds, under fences and into the neighbour’s yard, and through a warm wet summer it wants mowing weekly. If you like a low-maintenance yard, kikuyu is not it.
A quick way to choose
- Shade for part of the day — buffalo.
- Full sun and you want it to look sharp — couch.
- Kids, dogs and hard wear — kikuyu, or buffalo if you would rather mow less.
- Least mowing — buffalo.
- Tightest budget — kikuyu.
- Next to garden beds you care about — not kikuyu.
Laying it
New turf goes down over prepared soil — the old lawn removed, the surface levelled and the ground ready to take root. Turf laying is part of what we do, and getting the preparation right is most of what decides whether the lawn is still good in five years.