Buffalo, Couch or Kikuyu? How to Tell What Lawn You Have

"Buffalo couch or kikuyu?" is the question we get asked most often, usually about thirty seconds after someone has bought the wrong bottle of weedkiller. It sounds like trivia. It is not. Your grass type decides how high you should cut it, how often it needs mowing, how it handles a Sydney summer, and which products will help it rather than kill it.

The good news is you can usually sort it out standing on the front lawn with your phone. Here is what to look for.

How do you tell buffalo from couch and kikuyu?

Look at the width of a single leaf blade and the colour of the lawn from a few metres back. Those two things get you there most of the time. Pull one runner up and have a look at how it spreads, and you have your answer.

Roughly, and these are the numbers the turf industry uses:

• Couch: fine blades, generally under about 4mm wide.
• Kikuyu: medium blades, around 4mm to 7mm, and a bright, almost neon green.
• Buffalo: wide blades, 7mm and up, in a deeper, calmer green.

Get down on one knee. Honestly, that is the whole test.

What does buffalo grass look like?

Close-up of Indian water buffalo standing in tall grass in Sundargarh, Odisha.

Buffalo has the widest, flattest leaf of the three, folded at the base, in a darker green than its neighbours. Modern soft leaf varieties, the Sir Walter style lawns you see all over new estates, are far kinder underfoot than the scratchy old buffalo people remember from the eighties.

It spreads by runners along the surface, so you can lift a strand and trace it. It is the most shade tolerant of the three, which is why it survives under a jacaranda where couch simply gives up.

What does couch look like?

Couch is the fine one. Thin blades, dense growth, and it knits into a tight carpet that looks superb when it is mown short and looks patchy the moment it is not. It loves full sun and heat, grows fast through summer, and holds a mowing stripe better than anything else.

The trade off is appetite. Couch wants feeding, regular mowing and the occasional dethatch or core to stay at its best. It rewards attention and it notices when it does not get any.

What does kikuyu look like?

Kikuyu is the bright green, coarse, vigorous one that spreads by both surface runners and underground stems. If a lawn is climbing over the path, into the garden bed and halfway up the fence, that is kikuyu doing what kikuyu does.

It is tough as boots, handles kids and dogs and a heatwave, and repairs itself faster than anything. It is also the one most likely to be in your garden beds by February. Kikuyu in summer does not so much grow as commute.

Which one is in most Hills District lawns?

Buffalo, more often than not. Across Kellyville, Castle Hill and the newer estates, soft leaf buffalo is what we see on the majority of jobs, with couch and kikuyu turning up regularly enough that we always check rather than assume. Older blocks and nature strips are more likely to be kikuyu.

A captivating close-up of an African buffalo grazing in the grasslands of South Africa.

Does it change how often you mow?

It does. Couch and kikuyu grow fast in the warm months and want mowing weekly through the peak, while buffalo is slower and happier a notch higher and a little less often. Buffalo also does not like being cut short: take too much off and it sulks for weeks. Couch, cut short, thrives.

If you want the full season by season breakdown, we have written one up in our guide to how often to mow your lawn in the Hills District.

Does it change what weedkiller you can use?

This is the one that costs people money. Broadleaf weedkillers containing dicamba are fine on couch and kikuyu but are not suitable for buffalo, so the standard bindii and clover product off the shelf can damage a buffalo lawn badly. Buffalo lawns need a buffalo safe formulation, usually bromoxynil based.

Identify the lawn first, read the label second, spray third. Both Bunnings and Husqvarna publish decent identification guides if you want a second opinion before you commit.

Which is best if you are starting again?

There is no single winner, only a best fit for your block. Buffalo if you have shade, kids and want low fuss. Couch if you have full sun and you enjoy a manicured look. Kikuyu if the yard takes a beating and you want something that bounces back and you do not mind edging it more often.

What matters far more than the variety is what happens after it goes down. A well kept kikuyu lawn beats a neglected buffalo lawn every single time.

If you are still not sure

That is completely normal, and it is the sort of thing we work out on the first visit anyway. If you would rather not think about leaf widths at all, that is fair enough. Have a look at our lawn mowing service, or ask for a quote and we will tell you what you have got and what it needs. There are more garden guides here if you would rather do it yourself.