ON TH-cam there appears to be many many video extolling the virtues of scarifying or dethatching Sir Walter Buffalo (St Augustine in the US). It is very rare that this is required with buffalo lawns. Buffalo is best when it is reasonably thick and spongy. In spring all you need to do is to take the mower down a notch or two. I have a little Victa and it gets the lawn down low enough. Just fertilise with any rural type fertiliser (I use Aftergraze) and water the hell out of it for a couple of weeks. Let it grow high before mowing high. Hey presto - perfect lawn. I've had Sir Walter for a couple of decades and love the lawn. Requires very little maintenance. (and yes - I did ask the suppliers about maintenance. )
Hi Allan thanks for your message it’s great to hear you have a maintenance program that works well for you and your buffalo. Have a good weekend mate 👍
Brenton you really educated me when it comes to lawn renovations. I renovated a buffalo lawn before but i was no where near as deep on the cutting as what you did on this job. Great content like always.
Only when the soil temperature is warm enough and there is plenty of sun (I think that might be a problem in East coast of Australia so as long as it's summer) would you do it. I have done these at customers request in off season or too early in spring and while it does come back eventually it allows weeds to rise up for a month or so. And it can be patchy, it may require that you stop mowing so that the grass grows long enough to start sending enough runners into the patch areas. So timing is everything!!!
A lot of people panic when a lawn especially a front lawn is de-thatched, but now it has more space for newer grass to grow in and get healthier.great job man.
I have done this to my Mums and Dads lawn in nz last year well before I watched this video. I I must say you guys did an awesome job. Wish I had seen this then. But still the results we had were amazing. Much as the great informative video shows. Definitely do what the man says. He knows his stuff. Nothing more satisfying than having a beautiful Lawn. You can really tell a man by the lawn he keeps. Well done lads
How often would you recommend a reno like the one you did? I bought a Ryobi scarifier and I intend to run the scarifier over my SWB every year. Is that too much?
hey mate awesome recovery. unfortunately my SWB hasn’t come back as good as Pedro’s. Prob went a bit too low. My SWB has lots of grey leaf spot happening with all this rain and humidity as well. To the point where the leaf blades are wilting and dieing. The past week we got lots of sun and less rain. Which has encouraged new growth now. Should I be treating? And what’s the best way to treat? Also have the weeds that you mentioned post Reno. I’ve been holding off spraying as didn’t want to stress lawn more with selective herbicide when it’s already weakened with fungus. Cheers for any advice.
Dont worry about holding off mate hit the weeds to kill off the competition. If you have leaf spot to that degree I would consider something containing iprodione 😎 follow the label carefully and be sure to give your lawn a nice feed of rapid release fertiliser if you have not yet done so.
I scarified my neglected buffalo when I bought the house then threw some dynamic lifter and fertiliser down. Looked and smelled horrible for about 2 months, now looks great
You probably heard my sigh of relief across Oz. It's a bit late in the summer for me to do something this year, but my Sir Walter will definitely go on a scarified diet in 8 months time.
As much as as i dislike Buffalo as a turf (i'm a Santa Ana snob!), always happy to see positive results post renovation. Thanks for the update and the awesome and informative content.
I followed one of your earlier buffalo lawn reno and it came out really well. Did have some of the post reno issues you have highlighted here. Looking forward to see what you do with the dead spots and the weeds.
Thats great mate, you will always get a few little weed issues pop up when doing this sorta thing particularly with the buffalo lawns but yeah its worth the little setback I'll revisit this lawn towards the end of the summer for an update
Showed the scarified lawn to one of my clients and he thought you guys were insane lol. Looks beautiful guys.brand spanking new👌 . Love from merrylands, NSW 🇦🇺
Thanks for the video, I've been trying to decide the best way to clear thatch and this gave another option. We are currently in a drought so my plan is late February 2023 which is when our grass starts growing after Winter.
Great update Brenny and vote for Pedro 👍🇦🇺 mate you’ve opened my eyes to renovating buffalo. On another note, smart man parking the cruiser across the street 👌
That’s 1 huge mountain of clippings that was collected , 👌work🤙 Another quality buffalo reno once again mate. I’m currently getting a little bored with my sir Walter , it’s great for my shady back yard and easy to maintain , Not sure whether to stick with it Or Trial some Empire zoysia in the shadiest area of the back yard to see if it can cope with the shade as well as the buffalo Then maybe transition to zoysia 1st world problems hey 😂
I have a really good question how do you get rid of and in your grass. Also I know about the air raining of the soil with that special hole digger would that work with Clay dirt soil. Thanks.
Hi Sam do you mean ants? If so you could use something like Zeus following the label to the letter. I think maybe the second part of the question you are referring to the pro plugger? Its probably a little extreme for aerating but there are a few hand manual coring tools you can buy that would get the job done. just be sure to get your soil well watered before you start to help the corer get into the ground 😎
I know this is a two year old video but WOW, THANK YOU!!! Also, Brenton, I am thinking it might be a good time now - end of August and the weather has really started to heat up (getting 25-27C days) and the buffalo lawn which looks AMAZING is really starting to pick up. But I have that thatch problem and although frightening (madness!!! lol .. but not really, of course) and it's really quite spongy and likely no real maintenance like this has been done for at least 10 years prior to my buying the place.. is it ok to do this at the beginning of Spring? Also, should I lay a pre-emergent herbicide and good amount of ammonium sulphate after scarification? I understand if you think the video is a little long in the tooth but it's still VERY relevant. And thank you for the tips I already have received.
Like I mentioned in the vid it needs to be fully growing and I don’t recommend doing it until mid / late spring … u less you have a pH issue I don’t think using sulfate of ammonia is a good choice . But if you follow the general guides in this video your lawn should come back beautifully
@@theaussielawn Ok. I will (bgrudgingly lol) wait. Of course, I want results and I want them NOW NOW NOW dammit!!!! A little patience for mid-late spring is just fine. It gives me a little time actually to make sure the soil ph is perfect and well fertilised so the re-growth will just pop. When it's all stripped back to the mat of runners, that's when I should spray the pre-emergent but am thinking I should over-seed heavily. Am I on the right track, mate? It's pretty tough to find answers anywhere else and I REALLY appreciate your channel and your work. Fantastic stuff.
Good stuff mate came back nicely. I've got kikuyu and mow it at 2.5 inch and it yellows over, I think it's never been renovated before, so could that be cause there's so much thatch the stolons are just to high? It needs a good reno next year and a good top dress.
@@theaussielawn cheers for the reply mate, I did scalp it down on 1 inch with the ride on a while back but because it's uneven didn't get it all but it did come back quite green. But again alot that was missed. It's mostly the leaf but most of the time it still yellows like its dying even though it's always mowed at 2.5
@@callanmurphy9807 when i cut mine sort of short it yellows, but if i only take the tips or mid blade, it stays nice and green and clean. - i'm needing to do a reno too. was tempted to just go for it lol. but maybe wait till next spring, and hire equipment. My miniature doggo, thinks the grass is a trampoline because it's so spongey.
I would be really interested to know how you treat the kikuyu in the buffalo. I've got buffalo with kikuyu creeping in and don't want it to slowly take over. any help is appreciated, thanks
Unfortunately there isn't much you can do with kikuyu control in a buffalo lawn . It will be case of live and let live. if you were super dedicated you could start painting kikuyu with a paint brush dipped in a glyphosate mixed with a marker dye, Slow but if you persevere you will get results over a long period
@@theaussielawn Yep, the two grasses have a similar molecular structure, so both are damaged by the same chemicals. The good thing is- Kikuyu grows taller than Buffalo, so like you said- glyphosate works well when rubbed on the Kikuyu - with the Buffalo un damaged below. I have used the same method removing off type common Bermuda types out of my Santa ana. You would be surprised how much kill you can get by just spending an hour rubbing , wicking or painting, Glyphosate out of a little dish. I use my bare hand , because i have found i can control dripping easier that way, and i can really get a good soaking on the off type grass plants.
@@theaussielawn Oh ok, we also get 300 days of sun a year, the most out of all capitals, even Darwin I think. Some people do grow their lawn long here, but it's not a thing really. I can see that where a lawn might not get enough sun you don't want it short. I haven't had a buffalo kawn that has become ultra thatchy myself but have mowed plenty of them and hate them. In fact one was quite large I would consider a ride on mower because I think they are 3-5 times more powerful than the most powerful push rotary mower you can generally buy around 200cc. Loved your take on the Honda. I am interested in getting one, they are very popular. I think a ride on mower may be essential though. So how does the buffalo perform better? It grows faster at 5-10cm? How does the soil hinder or help? Explain? Thanks for your help!!!
@@theaussielawn I think a ride on may demolish a buffalo lawn with ease that has thatchy and spongy profile. Unless you are preparing for the Olympics, it is just awfully hard work....
Where possible id dig it out or carefully treat the patches with a paintbrush dipped in a glyphosate mix. Buffalo is tricky when it comes to treating grassy weeds like paspalum, kikuyu, couch etc
I had a new buffalo lawn laid 3 months ago and it’s horrible to mow, bumpy & thick with the mower regularly digging in and that’s with the mower set at max height (70mm). The ground appeared to be prepared well, so I don’t understand why it’s so uneven. Should I be cutting it shorter? I was worried that the high spots would be scalped, not something you should do to a new lawn. Would being shorter reduce the mower digging in? The mower is a 18v battery one, as I have a bad back, so it’s easier to start and maintain. My first time owning a buffalo lawn, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I’ve googled almost everything to do with buffalo lawns to find the best cut height, watering time/amount etc, so I’m a real newbie on newly laid and buffalo lawn care. Cheers
Its weird that its so uneven if it was laid on nice flat ground. I see you chose that mower due to health issues but wondering if its a little too light for the buffalo lawn you are mowing. How big is the area in sqm?
Hey mate I had the same issue out the front due to some crappy rolls of turf dying while others survived leaving the ground a bit uneven , I recently just top dressed my sir Walter even though it's not recommended for buffalo but if you keep it light and address the low spots it should help a lot 👍🏻
@@theaussielawn thanks for reply, lawn only 80sqm. I was looking at other more powerful, heavier battery mowers (Ego or Toro), but wasn’t sure if it would help for the outlay. I was also considering going back to a petrol mower (Honda buffalo that you recommended), but if it’s not easy to start and manoeuvrable, then not sure how I would go.
@@theaussielawn Absolutely agree with you about the mower being too light. Our last house had a buffalo lawn and I was using a Ryobi battery mower and had the same issues as Basil. Bought a HRX217 Honda and it was way better. The buffalo at our new home has been down 3yrs and is starting to thicken up and getting spongy. You have given me the confidence to give it a rejuvenation later this year.
Mower is too light mate. You need something heavy. If you don’t want to go out and buy a new mower get a Mowie around with say a hru 216 mower and have them mow it once a month or so and you can mow Inbetween. It’ll make a difference 👍
Quality content, especially for someone with SWB like me. Any reason you guys didn't core the lawn? Not essential? Just sussing out the best plan for my small patch. Cheers Brenton!
@@theaussielawn I have aerated a few buffalo lawns (I am not that seasoned with aeration but I know aeration works better on couch and Kikuyu than buffalo) and felt you either need a $20,000 top machine or just skip it. There may have been some results.... but I felt if the lawn is very hard it is very tough to do anything. That is why they recommend a thorough watering...... So maybe it can be better if the lawn is prepared better. I also did a hard couch one and yes same thing. No prep and poor results.
Ah you ripper that looks amazing. It looks like I have to do this too... mower catches, it's a bit spongy... good to know it won't kill it... now just to wait until October! It's going to be the longest wait of my life...
G'day Brenton. Watching your mate mow my buff is getting clogged as well and it looked a dream to mow through after it was scalped. Thinking I didn't scalp low enough at the beginning of the season I think it was only 22mm. Probably left it too late but when would you consider the cutoff in a QLD climate? Cheers bud!
@@theaussielawn in Brissy. I'll probably just wait in that case. Would rather be on the safe side and take it lower gradually and probably wait until late August then
@@Joshh3003I would be more inclined to get it done straight up not over time even if you do wait until August. Think bandaid (do you rip it off quick or slowly pull at it)
@@theaussielawn hey mate, long time but I got worried and left it til now, just took a nice chunk off the top of my front yard. I got a Masport 486 so it was on the third lowest setting, I think the lowest is 7mm so it is in 5.75mm increments so roughly 24mm should've scalped it to I believe. Would you take it down one step further or how do you attack it? Left the backyard at 29mm it's not as thatchy but will scalp it in the next week or two. Not going to water as we will be getting smashed again this summer with the la nina rains 🤣
Hey Brenton I've been watching through a bunch of your videos especially the review of the Honda Buffalo cause I'm looking at the HRX217 vs the HRU216 (self propelled cause I'm a lazy sook). In the previous video Pedro was admiring your HRU over his HRX. Did he say whether he'd buy the HRU over the HRX? I'm sure that you had your chance to have a play with his machine too and ignoring the purchase prices for both, would you still recommend the HRU over the HRX in a domestic setting?
After that video he was all set to kick the HRX to the curb and buy a HRU but I talked him out of it. As a day to day mower the HRX is fine BUT not if you are looking to mow couch grass or do annual lawn scalps. If shorter mowing is something you prefer then the HRX will be a disappointment
No you did not kill the grass you should conduit do this every year. Your ripping out unwanted thickness to let water so keen better and fertiliser you also can use a special machine that can dig holes into the dirty air right so the roots can breathe better as well.
Hey Brenton my front and back buffalo lawn is spongy as f”ck. I’ve scalped it at the start of summer and it’s still spongy as. Does it need a scarify ? Kind regards Karl
Love the videos mate! We've just bought our first house and starting to get into lawn! Just wondering if you have any recommendations for battery mowers/snippers/edgers? I don't wanna have to deal with fuel and oil, so going battery. Got 30m2 of buffalo out the front and will have 200m2 of Kikuyu out the back if that matters! Love the work
Battery/cordless garden power tools are really great these days you really cant go wrong with any. If its just the three that you were after, mower, whipper snipper/ edger? Go with the EGO power tools 56v line. You can get the 56v multi tool, can interchange heads from line trimmer to blade edge for the clean straight edge. I’d suggest just go with a brushless push mower from EGO maybe the 420mm size. But if you have the money go for the self propelled one. All these will probably cost around 1.4k but well worth it considering it will last you years.
Hi Pat Thanks for tuning in mate. As below I've heard good things about EGO but not used their stuff myself. I have the Toro 60V Battery stuff here I'll do a vid really soon with them. I have the mower, string trimmer, blower, hedge trimmer and chainsaw. All the tools can share batteries. Congrats on your new home and happy mowing
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ON TH-cam there appears to be many many video extolling the virtues of scarifying or dethatching Sir Walter Buffalo (St Augustine in the US). It is very rare that this is required with buffalo lawns. Buffalo is best when it is reasonably thick and spongy.
In spring all you need to do is to take the mower down a notch or two. I have a little Victa and it gets the lawn down low enough. Just fertilise with any rural type fertiliser (I use Aftergraze) and water the hell out of it for a couple of weeks. Let it grow high before mowing high. Hey presto - perfect lawn. I've had Sir Walter for a couple of decades and love the lawn. Requires very little maintenance. (and yes - I did ask the suppliers about maintenance. )
Hi Allan thanks for your message it’s great to hear you have a maintenance program that works well for you and your buffalo. Have a good weekend mate 👍
Brenton you really educated me when it comes to lawn renovations. I renovated a buffalo lawn before but i was no where near as deep on the cutting as what you did on this job. Great content like always.
Hi Craig cheers for the message mate, Im stoked your learning stuff from the vids mate Cheers B 🤟
@@theaussielawn brent same as Craig on this one. I really cant wait to renovate my buffalo you defz given great confidence and education in this!!
Only when the soil temperature is warm enough and there is plenty of sun (I think that might be a problem in East coast of Australia so as long as it's summer) would you do it. I have done these at customers request in off season or too early in spring and while it does come back eventually it allows weeds to rise up for a month or so. And it can be patchy, it may require that you stop mowing so that the grass grows long enough to start sending enough runners into the patch areas.
So timing is everything!!!
@@nihongo02341 Great advice thank you. Something to keep in mind.
A lot of people panic when a lawn especially a front lawn is de-thatched, but now it has more space for newer grass to grow in and get healthier.great job man.
Especially a buffalo lawn hahaha Thank you Johnny 😎
If in summer and you have enough sunshine on the lawn and fertiliser... then it's all good if great care is taken. Yes it's a great video.
I certainly panicked when doing my lawn today. I stopped before moving to the next section but see now that I can proceed lol😂
I have done this to my Mums and Dads lawn in nz last year well before I watched this video. I I must say you guys did an awesome job. Wish I had seen this then. But still the results we had were amazing. Much as the great informative video shows. Definitely do what the man says. He knows his stuff.
Nothing more satisfying than having a beautiful Lawn. You can really tell a man by the lawn he keeps.
Well done lads
Thanks Dw appreciate you taking the time to send me a message 😎
How often would you recommend a reno like the one you did? I bought a Ryobi scarifier and I intend to run the scarifier over my SWB every year. Is that too much?
I dont think it would need to be done every year thats a little excessive for this variety of lawn maybe every 2-3 but really its case by case
This has come up a treat Brenton & Pedro! Aaaaaand contrary to what you say.... you are one of the smartest lawn TH-camr! 💚💚💚💛💛💛
Yeah its bounced back so well hey. Hahaha smartest hey .... I dunno 🤷♂️ but thank you mate 😎
Happy to see the update thank you! Love the educational content.
Thanks James appreciate the support mate🤟
Very hard to kill a good lawn. It's come back beautifully . Won't retain all that extra moisture and get all soggy and spongy. Looks fabulous.
Yeah great result I feel 😎
Would you recommend a 2 inch (50mm) mow all year around over 1.5 inch (40mm) mow?
Thanks for this, out of interest, what are you going to do to get rid of the couch grass?
Nothing unfortunately mate . There’s no registered herbicides to control couch from buffalo
hey mate awesome recovery. unfortunately my SWB hasn’t come back as good as Pedro’s. Prob went a bit too low.
My SWB has lots of grey leaf spot happening with all this rain and humidity as well. To the point where the leaf blades are wilting and dieing. The past week we got lots of sun and less rain. Which has encouraged new growth now.
Should I be treating? And what’s the best way to treat?
Also have the weeds that you mentioned post Reno. I’ve been holding off spraying as didn’t want to stress lawn more with selective herbicide when it’s already weakened with fungus.
Cheers for any advice.
Dont worry about holding off mate hit the weeds to kill off the competition. If you have leaf spot to that degree I would consider something containing iprodione 😎 follow the label carefully and be sure to give your lawn a nice feed of rapid release fertiliser if you have not yet done so.
@@theaussielawn thanks for the advice
I scarified my neglected buffalo when I bought the house then threw some dynamic lifter and fertiliser down. Looked and smelled horrible for about 2 months, now looks great
haha the smell of success 😎
You probably heard my sigh of relief across Oz. It's a bit late in the summer for me to do something this year, but my Sir Walter will definitely go on a scarified diet in 8 months time.
Sounds good mate, Its been an unusually cool summer here too mate. I don't think we will see a single day in the 40's this summer
As much as as i dislike Buffalo as a turf (i'm a Santa Ana snob!), always happy to see positive results post renovation. Thanks for the update and the awesome and informative content.
Cheers mate, Im not a huge buff fan either, I mean there is nothing wrong with it but I do prefer finer turf generally
I followed one of your earlier buffalo lawn reno and it came out really well. Did have some of the post reno issues you have highlighted here. Looking forward to see what you do with the dead spots and the weeds.
Thats great mate, you will always get a few little weed issues pop up when doing this sorta thing particularly with the buffalo lawns but yeah its worth the little setback I'll revisit this lawn towards the end of the summer for an update
Showed the scarified lawn to one of my clients and he thought you guys were insane lol. Looks beautiful guys.brand spanking new👌 . Love from merrylands, NSW 🇦🇺
Hahaha yeah thats a fairly normal response. Thanks for the message Angelo have a good week
Thanks for the video, I've been trying to decide the best way to clear thatch and this gave another option. We are currently in a drought so my plan is late February 2023 which is when our grass starts growing after Winter.
No worries mate, where are you located? Best time for buffalo renovations are late spring once clearly past winter hibernation
Still amazes me that you guys down under bag all your clippings
Yeah we love it. We also tend to mow a lot shorter than you guys and mulching isn't wonderful at shorter cut heights.
Great update Brenny and vote for Pedro 👍🇦🇺 mate you’ve opened my eyes to renovating buffalo. On another note, smart man parking the cruiser across the street 👌
Cheers Chisel 🤟 Hahah yeah I will not be making that mistake again 😂😂😂
That’s 1 huge mountain of clippings that was collected , 👌work🤙
Another quality buffalo reno once again mate.
I’m currently getting a little bored with my sir Walter , it’s great for my shady back yard and easy to maintain ,
Not sure whether to stick with it
Or
Trial some Empire zoysia in the shadiest area of the back yard to see if it can cope with the shade as well as the buffalo
Then maybe transition to zoysia
1st world problems hey
😂
I'd have a mess around with the Zoysia 😜😜😜😜😜
I have a really good question how do you get rid of and in your grass. Also I know about the air raining of the soil with that special hole digger would that work with Clay dirt soil. Thanks.
Hi Sam do you mean ants? If so you could use something like Zeus following the label to the letter. I think maybe the second part of the question you are referring to the pro plugger? Its probably a little extreme for aerating but there are a few hand manual coring tools you can buy that would get the job done. just be sure to get your soil well watered before you start to help the corer get into the ground 😎
@@theaussielawn yes ants 🐜 thanks
I know this is a two year old video but WOW, THANK YOU!!!
Also, Brenton, I am thinking it might be a good time now - end of August and the weather has really started to heat up (getting 25-27C days) and the buffalo lawn which looks AMAZING is really starting to pick up. But I have that thatch problem and although frightening (madness!!! lol .. but not really, of course) and it's really quite spongy and likely no real maintenance like this has been done for at least 10 years prior to my buying the place.. is it ok to do this at the beginning of Spring? Also, should I lay a pre-emergent herbicide and good amount of ammonium sulphate after scarification?
I understand if you think the video is a little long in the tooth but it's still VERY relevant. And thank you for the tips I already have received.
Like I mentioned in the vid it needs to be fully growing and I don’t recommend doing it until mid / late spring … u less you have a pH issue I don’t think using sulfate of ammonia is a good choice . But if you follow the general guides in this video your lawn should come back beautifully
@@theaussielawn Ok. I will (bgrudgingly lol) wait. Of course, I want results and I want them NOW NOW NOW dammit!!!!
A little patience for mid-late spring is just fine. It gives me a little time actually to make sure the soil ph is perfect and well fertilised so the re-growth will just pop.
When it's all stripped back to the mat of runners, that's when I should spray the pre-emergent but am thinking I should over-seed heavily. Am I on the right track, mate?
It's pretty tough to find answers anywhere else and I REALLY appreciate your channel and your work. Fantastic stuff.
Good stuff mate came back nicely.
I've got kikuyu and mow it at 2.5 inch and it yellows over, I think it's never been renovated before, so could that be cause there's so much thatch the stolons are just to high? It needs a good reno next year and a good top dress.
Sounds like it would benefit from a height reset mate. If you are mowing stalks as opposed to leaf then its def worth considering next season
@@theaussielawn cheers for the reply mate, I did scalp it down on 1 inch with the ride on a while back but because it's uneven didn't get it all but it did come back quite green. But again alot that was missed. It's mostly the leaf but most of the time it still yellows like its dying even though it's always mowed at 2.5
@@callanmurphy9807 when i cut mine sort of short it yellows, but if i only take the tips or mid blade, it stays nice and green and clean. - i'm needing to do a reno too. was tempted to just go for it lol. but maybe wait till next spring, and hire equipment. My miniature doggo, thinks the grass is a trampoline because it's so spongey.
looks good. How many years before you would need to do that again?
Hmmm It will depend how it goes over the next season but maybe in 2yrs
When is the best time to dethatch the lawn? I'm thinking about dethatching mine late next month or is that still a bit too early?
Depending on grass type and location... But for me I'll be starting my renovations later this month
Looks great! I might do the same! I have been removing kikuyu from my buffalo. Is that the best thing to do?
This won’t really help remove any kikuyu but it will heap to tame an unruly buffalo lawn
What was your post-care after such an aggressive Reno on buffalo? Great results!
Apart from the application of a good quality fertiliser after the reno and regular watering program nothing else
@@theaussielawn What sort of watering program would you advise after doing this? Cheers.
What do you use for the pig face and the oxalis?
Do you recommend a grass height of 2"?
Well done mate its coming back a treat.
Cheers Paul
Great video thanks Brenton. Really enjoy your content.
Thanks mate 😎
I would be really interested to know how you treat the kikuyu in the buffalo. I've got buffalo with kikuyu creeping in and don't want it to slowly take over. any help is appreciated, thanks
Unfortunately there isn't much you can do with kikuyu control in a buffalo lawn . It will be case of live and let live. if you were super dedicated you could start painting kikuyu with a paint brush dipped in a glyphosate mixed with a marker dye, Slow but if you persevere you will get results over a long period
@@theaussielawn Yep, the two grasses have a similar molecular structure, so both are damaged by the same chemicals. The good thing is- Kikuyu grows taller than Buffalo, so like you said- glyphosate works well when rubbed on the Kikuyu - with the Buffalo un damaged below. I have used the same method removing off type common Bermuda types out of my Santa ana. You would be surprised how much kill you can get by just spending an hour rubbing , wicking or painting, Glyphosate out of a little dish. I use my bare hand , because i have found i can control dripping easier that way, and i can really get a good soaking on the off type grass plants.
The first two weeks Pedro's face screamed worry!!!!
hahah His keen to do it again I said hmmm no it wont need it this soon 😜
Great vid mate! What selective herbicide did you use for the purslane?
Buffalo pro or bow and arrow will take care of the purslane
Fantastic results there. That looks a thousand times better and would be so much easier to mow.
So much better mate, but another 4 weeks and it will be mint, Its so easy to mow now and not a challenge
@@theaussielawn looking forward to the next update!
Turned out great! Well Done💫
Thank you 😎
Did you remove the weeds in tuis phase?
Wow it’s looking great. What weed killer do you recommend for the sir Walter?
Ive used the store bought Yates Buffalo Pro which works well or you can tried an online product called Bow & Arrow
@@theaussielawn thanks for the tip.
Look forward to seeing this one in a couple more weeks (and obviously also your new front lawn)
Brenton see u park ur vehicle well away lmao no more smashed windows 👍😂🤞
hahaha yeah I don't want a repeat of that again 😩🤦♂️😜
Why do you like going for higher mowing heights? In Perth I see buffalo lawns that are reel mowed. Very nicely kept.
Perth is a different beast due to your sandy profile over there but by nature buffalo lawn performs much better left longer than short.
@@theaussielawn Oh ok, we also get 300 days of sun a year, the most out of all capitals, even Darwin I think. Some people do grow their lawn long here, but it's not a thing really. I can see that where a lawn might not get enough sun you don't want it short.
I haven't had a buffalo kawn that has become ultra thatchy myself but have mowed plenty of them and hate them. In fact one was quite large I would consider a ride on mower because I think they are 3-5 times more powerful than the most powerful push rotary mower you can generally buy around 200cc.
Loved your take on the Honda. I am interested in getting one, they are very popular. I think a ride on mower may be essential though.
So how does the buffalo perform better? It grows faster at 5-10cm? How does the soil hinder or help? Explain? Thanks for your help!!!
@@theaussielawn I think a ride on may demolish a buffalo lawn with ease that has thatchy and spongy profile. Unless you are preparing for the Olympics, it is just awfully hard work....
What would you recommend for removing paspalum from a buffalo lawn?
Where possible id dig it out or carefully treat the patches with a paintbrush dipped in a glyphosate mix. Buffalo is tricky when it comes to treating grassy weeds like paspalum, kikuyu, couch etc
Did you remove the weeds in this phase?
That’s come up a treat. Looks awesome. Great job. Just wondering though, is that the yellow arches I can see in the back ground , far left? Lol
In the ground near the street light and the plants?? They are a few low spots pedro filled with sand
I had a new buffalo lawn laid 3 months ago and it’s horrible to mow, bumpy & thick with the mower regularly digging in and that’s with the mower set at max height (70mm).
The ground appeared to be prepared well, so I don’t understand why it’s so uneven.
Should I be cutting it shorter? I was worried that the high spots would be scalped, not something you should do to a new lawn.
Would being shorter reduce the mower digging in?
The mower is a 18v battery one, as I have a bad back, so it’s easier to start and maintain.
My first time owning a buffalo lawn, so any suggestions would be appreciated.
I’ve googled almost everything to do with buffalo lawns to find the best cut height, watering time/amount etc, so I’m a real newbie on newly laid and buffalo lawn care.
Cheers
Its weird that its so uneven if it was laid on nice flat ground. I see you chose that mower due to health issues but wondering if its a little too light for the buffalo lawn you are mowing. How big is the area in sqm?
Hey mate I had the same issue out the front due to some crappy rolls of turf dying while others survived leaving the ground a bit uneven , I recently just top dressed my sir Walter even though it's not recommended for buffalo but if you keep it light and address the low spots it should help a lot 👍🏻
@@theaussielawn thanks for reply, lawn only 80sqm.
I was looking at other more powerful, heavier battery mowers (Ego or Toro), but wasn’t sure if it would help for the outlay.
I was also considering going back to a petrol mower (Honda buffalo that you recommended), but if it’s not easy to start and manoeuvrable, then not sure how I would go.
@@theaussielawn Absolutely agree with you about the mower being too light. Our last house had a buffalo lawn and I was using a Ryobi battery mower and had the same issues as Basil. Bought a HRX217 Honda and it was way better. The buffalo at our new home has been down 3yrs and is starting to thicken up and getting spongy. You have given me the confidence to give it a rejuvenation later this year.
Mower is too light mate. You need something heavy. If you don’t want to go out and buy a new mower get a Mowie around with say a hru 216 mower and have them mow it once a month or so and you can mow Inbetween. It’ll make a difference 👍
Quality content, especially for someone with SWB like me. Any reason you guys didn't core the lawn? Not essential? Just sussing out the best plan for my small patch. Cheers Brenton!
Thanks Tim, In this instance Pedro's lawn didn't require a core aeration. Our main mission was to thin out the lawn and make mowing a pleasure again
@@theaussielawn I have aerated a few buffalo lawns (I am not that seasoned with aeration but I know aeration works better on couch and Kikuyu than buffalo) and felt you either need a $20,000 top machine or just skip it. There may have been some results.... but I felt if the lawn is very hard it is very tough to do anything. That is why they recommend a thorough watering......
So maybe it can be better if the lawn is prepared better. I also did a hard couch one and yes same thing. No prep and poor results.
I’m in the us. Thatched mines. What’s the best fert to use for us Saint Augustine
Thats a tricky one as I dont know what products are available to you over there in the US
@@theaussielawn understood. What did you end up using to kick stare things to get the stolons to produce faster
If only my buffalo came back that well. Always been a struggle. Looks good
Oh bugger mate, I hope that it comes good for you
Great video Brenton. Do you remember how low you went with the scalp?
Hi Luke from memory I had my Honda on 2nd lowest which is circa 20mm
@@theaussielawn thanks Brenton, love your work 👍
That lawn looked beautiful before. Not sure exactly why it needed de-thatching. Seems like a lot of work for very little result.
It had reached a point where you could no longer get a mower through it mate. It needed to be tamed. You are right there was heaps of work involved.
Ah you ripper that looks amazing. It looks like I have to do this too... mower catches, it's a bit spongy... good to know it won't kill it... now just to wait until October! It's going to be the longest wait of my life...
haha least you will have time to plan your attack on your buffalo lawn in the meantime.
G'day Brenton. Watching your mate mow my buff is getting clogged as well and it looked a dream to mow through after it was scalped. Thinking I didn't scalp low enough at the beginning of the season I think it was only 22mm. Probably left it too late but when would you consider the cutoff in a QLD climate? Cheers bud!
Hi josh it depends what part of Qld but if you where gunna do it again before winter I’d do it soon
@@theaussielawn in Brissy. I'll probably just wait in that case. Would rather be on the safe side and take it lower gradually and probably wait until late August then
@@Joshh3003I would be more inclined to get it done straight up not over time even if you do wait until August. Think bandaid (do you rip it off quick or slowly pull at it)
@@theaussielawn hey mate, long time but I got worried and left it til now, just took a nice chunk off the top of my front yard. I got a Masport 486 so it was on the third lowest setting, I think the lowest is 7mm so it is in 5.75mm increments so roughly 24mm should've scalped it to I believe. Would you take it down one step further or how do you attack it? Left the backyard at 29mm it's not as thatchy but will scalp it in the next week or two. Not going to water as we will be getting smashed again this summer with the la nina rains 🤣
1 1/2" is 38mm , almost 4cm not 3
Perslane has the highest yeild of omega 3 fatty acids of any plant species on the planet.
Lawn came up a treat
Opps yes your are right re the height conversion my bad 😆. Yeah apparently purslane is good in salads too 🤙 cheers for tuning in Brad 😎
Hey Brenton I've been watching through a bunch of your videos especially the review of the Honda Buffalo cause I'm looking at the HRX217 vs the HRU216 (self propelled cause I'm a lazy sook). In the previous video Pedro was admiring your HRU over his HRX. Did he say whether he'd buy the HRU over the HRX? I'm sure that you had your chance to have a play with his machine too and ignoring the purchase prices for both, would you still recommend the HRU over the HRX in a domestic setting?
After that video he was all set to kick the HRX to the curb and buy a HRU but I talked him out of it. As a day to day mower the HRX is fine BUT not if you are looking to mow couch grass or do annual lawn scalps. If shorter mowing is something you prefer then the HRX will be a disappointment
How often does Pedro mow his lawn?
once or twice a week pending on the season
Lol the guys voice is bloody hilarious ay “ ohh yeah maaate. Million bucks ay maaate “ . Thinks he’s such the big man ay
Glad you liked it mate 🤟
Looking good.
Thanks 👍
No you did not kill the grass you should conduit do this every year. Your ripping out unwanted thickness to let water so keen better and fertiliser you also can use a special machine that can dig holes into the dirty air right so the roots can breathe better as well.
You are bang on right Samantha, hope you enjoyed the vid 😎
@@theaussielawn yes i did thx I did a horticulture course as I wanted to be a landscaper/Gardner.
Great job boys!
Cheers Earthau 😎😎😎
Good looking recovery mates must be in heaven
Hey Caleb yeah his stoked hey. Pedro loves mowing again lol
Thought you might have ruined it 😁 certainly looked like it. Great result
Haha I think Pedro thought that too at first 😜 thank you 😊
Was that cuase from Pedro not mowing it enough?
Just years of build up and potentially a little too much love (fertiliser ) etc
Great video mate,
Just shows with the correct procedures, you can hack right into buffalo and have it back in no time! 🤙🏽
💯 mate and it would have nothing to do with the fact I like inflicting pain on buffalo 😜😎😂
Really like the buffalo content on this channel mate!
Hahaha is that because I always seem to inflict it with pain 😜😎
Hey Brenton my front and back buffalo lawn is spongy as f”ck. I’ve scalped it at the start of summer and it’s still spongy as.
Does it need a scarify ?
Kind regards
Karl
Quite possibly mate yes but definitely wait till late spring now
looks good but I am still too scared to do this to my lawn
Nice follow up.
Top stuff! 👍
Cheers mate
Wow that did come back fast 👍
Yeah not a bad turn around at all
Where are you based in Aus?
Im in Scone in the NSW Upper Hunter
Vote for Pedro!
I'm guessing your in Victoria
Na not Vic Kristian, Im in the NSW Upper Hunter Valley 🤟
What is the selective herbicide that kills burmuda and not st Augustine??????!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately there isn’t a selective herbicide that controls Bermuda growing in St Augustine @8:29
Love the videos mate! We've just bought our first house and starting to get into lawn! Just wondering if you have any recommendations for battery mowers/snippers/edgers? I don't wanna have to deal with fuel and oil, so going battery.
Got 30m2 of buffalo out the front and will have 200m2 of Kikuyu out the back if that matters! Love the work
Battery/cordless garden power tools are really great these days you really cant go wrong with any. If its just the three that you were after, mower, whipper snipper/ edger? Go with the EGO power tools 56v line. You can get the 56v multi tool, can interchange heads from line trimmer to blade edge for the clean straight edge. I’d suggest just go with a brushless push mower from EGO maybe the 420mm size. But if you have the money go for the self propelled one. All these will probably cost around 1.4k but well worth it considering it will last you years.
Hi Pat Thanks for tuning in mate. As below I've heard good things about EGO but not used their stuff myself. I have the Toro 60V Battery stuff here I'll do a vid really soon with them. I have the mower, string trimmer, blower, hedge trimmer and chainsaw. All the tools can share batteries. Congrats on your new home and happy mowing
I'm sorry, but I'm not from your part of Oz. Pedro needs subtitles for me ;-)
hahaha
Vote for Pedro
grass is hard to kill. like all weeds are.
This is true
@@theaussielawn what is funny is how many people don't believe grass is a weed.
@@jaquigreenlees sorta but a weed is defined basically as a plant growing where it isn’t wanted
That would have been the end of my lawn 😂
hahaha what sort of lawn do you have?
@@theaussielawn st Augustine grass
@@jhaze918 na mate it won’t kill it 🤙😎
🗣️ Oie Oie Oie
hahaha
I think he has lost the plot being a chooks supporter
bahahahahahaha I so hope he sees this 😜
First!???
This is a hard question 😂
First😁😁😁😁😁
🤷♂️ I dunno mate haha 😆
First??
Geez Im not sure haha
Great video mate. Was looking forward to the update.
So, did Pedro help you lay that couch at your place???
Hi Jase yeah mate he sure did. New turf is looking great its nearly mow time for it too