By Hosea Omole
The confusion associated with picking the right lawn for your yard is not surprising. Kikuyu, Paspallum, Zimbabwe, Cape royal, Bermuda, Maadi River, Buffalo, Durban, Bahia, Carpet; these are just but a few names that refer to the different lawn grasses out there.
Moreover, the difference between one and the next is not as black and white; they happen to be all green (at least in the eyes of most of us) in the first place. Then there are a good number of quacks who peddle all manner of conjured up names and half-truths. It is hard not to get lost in the milieu.
The good news is that you don’t need to know all the species and varieties of lawn grasses to pick the right one. Getting familiar with the most common ones in your area will often suffice.
Here are some of them.
Kikuyu grass
Indigenous to the East African highlands where it thrives on roadsides and forest edges, Kikuyu grass is perhaps the best known of our lawn grasses. It is a strong and aggressive perennial that will crowd off weeds and even invade nearby flowerbeds if not properly checked. It forms an attractive bright salad-green cover that is thick, soft and somewhat springy.
The lawn will withstand light trampling hence no need to stop children from playing on it. Kikuyu grass, however, does not form the best lawn under much shade and will turn brown soon after the onset of the dry season if supplementary watering is not provided.
Paspallum
This is a coarse-bladed dark green grass with pointed tips. Although it will grow well in both sun and shade, its leaves dry out and turn dark-brown soon after the onset of dry weather. It will, however make an amazing recovery as soon as water becomes available again.
Paspallum spreads by surface stolons (runners) and is suitable for drives and for steep slopes. It is actually very effective for controlling sheet erosion in such instances. It is also strong and requires little if any weeding at all. It is, however, not suitable for sports grounds because heavy foot traffic soon exposes its stolons and the soil beneath.
Cynodon species
For lack of a better word, Cynodon is the name of a genera that contains a large number of grass species and varieties, some of which are very popular lawn grasses. Among them are the legendary South African varieties such as Cape Royal, Bradley grass and Bermuda grass.
Cape Royal produces a very dense and fine lawn with wiry stems and narrow, relatively short leaves. It is fairly drought resistant and is frequently used in semi-arid areas even though it will seldom remain green throughout in such environments.
Bradley grass is a low-growing species, which is a little less strong compared to Cape royal. It is characterised by hairy leaves that are dull-green in colour. It is, however, very popular in golf greens where colour is of secondary importance.
Bermuda grass is no doubt the sports turf of choice. It produces an attractive, low maintenance lawn that makes excellent sports fields, parks, golf courses and general utility spaces.
