The perfect Australian garden is a sanctuary. It’s a space where vibrant plants, established trees and beautiful garden beds come together. But the one element that ties it all together is the grass. A stretch of living, breathing green turf provides a stunning contrast to foliage and flowers, creates a soft, inviting space for family and pets to play, and forms the living heart of your yard.
Choosing the right grass for your garden depends on your local climate, soil, and lifestyle. Whether you need a drought-tolerant solution for a yard in full sun, a shade-tolerant lawn beneath a canopy of trees, or a very low-maintenance ground cover, we offer many types of premium lawn turf ideal for your garden.
Introducing Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo Grass: Australia’s Favourite Lawn
When it comes to versatility, toughness, and year-round performance, Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo is in a league of its own. Since its release in 1997, it has become Australia’s most popular lawn for good reason: it thrives in a wide range of conditions, from full sun to heavy shade, and is soft enough for kids and pets.
Sir Walter’s dense growth helps block out weeds, while its strong self-repairing ability makes it the most practical choice for high-traffic lawns. Unlike some other buffalo or zoysia varieties, it maintains its vibrant green look throughout the year in Victorian conditions, without extended dormancy.
With proven resilience and low-maintenance appeal, Sir Walter is the lawn we recommend first for most Victorian homeowners.
Why a Living Lawn is the Heart of the Garden
Amid all the pavers, pebbles and mulch, a living lawn offers benefits that manufactured ground covers simply can’t match. A natural grass surface is more than just a visual element; it’s a dynamic part of your garden’s ecosystem.
A dense lawn actively cools the surrounding environment during a hot summer, reducing radiant heat far more effectively than hard surfaces. Its strong root system helps prevent soil erosion on slopes and improves water filtration. It provides a safe, soft and forgiving surface for children and pets to play on. It also creates a beautiful, green canvas that makes your other native plants, trees, and shrubs stand out. For a truly vibrant and healthy outdoor space, nothing compares to natural turf.
Our Range of Turf for Gardens in Victoria
A very good choice for families with kids and pets looking for an easy-to-keep, comfortable lawn. Superior to other soft-leaf varieties such as Sapphire Soft Leaf Buffalo, Sir Walter is famously tough and forgiving. Its excellent shade tolerance allows it to thrive in areas with reduced light, such as under tree canopies or along fencelines. It’s robust, self-repairing and maintains its lush green look year-round with minimal fuss.
TifTuf is an ideal hybrid grass for gardens demanding durability and style. This fine-leaf warm-season grass has an incredibly strong root system, giving it unbeatable drought tolerance once established. Its rapid self-repair ability makes it ideal for high-traffic lawns doubling as playgrounds for kids and pets. With regular mowing, it delivers the dense, manicured look that turns heads around the neighbourhood.
When you need to cover a large, sunny area without breaking the bank, Eureka Kikuyu is the answer. It’s a fast-growing variety that establishes rapidly to create a dense, functional lawn that stays green and largely weed-free during the cold winds of winter. This rugged all-rounder is great at handling traffic and is a real crowd pleaser!
One of the best known ornamental grasses in the Zoysia family, Sir Grange is an exotic lawn choice suited to low-traffic areas like front yards or showpiece gardens. With its fine texture and lush, dark green colour, it creates a striking, ornamental look with minimal mowing. While best suited to low-wear areas and warmer climates, it offers a unique, elegant option for homeowners seeking to add architectural appeal.
The smart, economical choice for a classic, fine-leaf lawn. This classic couch grass is perfect for creating a manicured, tidy look in a formal garden setting, as long as you get plenty of sun. It performs best with regular mowing and care, rewarding you with a dense, rich green surface that feels great underfoot and showcases your garden beautifully.
Key Considerations for a Thriving Garden Lawn
To ensure you choose the best grass for your space, consider these key aspects:
- Full Sun vs. Shade: Be realistic about how much direct sun your yard receives. North-facing areas may need a shade-tolerant variety like Sir Walter Buffalo grass, while open yards are perfect for sun-loving couch or Kikuyu.
- Drought Tolerance: In our hot, dry climate, choosing a drought-tolerant grass is essential for a sustainable garden. TifTuf leads the pack in this respect, with Sir Walter, Eureka Premium Kikuyu VG and Nullarbor Couch earning honourable mentions.
- Your Lifestyle & Maintenance: If you’re not keen on spending too much spare time tending to your turf, keep maintenance needs in mind. Slower-growing varieties like Sir Walter and Sir Grange won’t need as much mowing, while couch or Kikuyu grasses recover faster from wear.
- Weeds and Pests: When well-maintained, our lawn varieties have a natural resistance to weeds and pests. However, when issues arise, our range of weed prevention, weed control and pest management products can nip problems in the bud.
Your Partner in Creating a Beautiful Garden
At Coolabah Turf, we’ve been helping homeowners across Melbourne and country Victoria create beautiful gardens for decades. We provide expert advice on everything from soil preparation to choosing the right variety. Your fresh turf is delivered directly from our farm, backed by a 10-year guarantee, ensuring you get the best foundation for an attractive and long-lasting lawn.
Grass For Gardens FAQs
Yes. A neatly edged lawn creates a clean, natural border for garden beds. Modern varieties of hybrid grass for gardens are bred to spread via runners (stolons and rhizomes) rather than through seed, making them better at self-repair and less likely to trigger allergies.
However, some varieties spread more aggressively than others. Sir Walter Buffalo is generally less invasive and easier to maintain along edges. Fast-growing options like couch grasses and Kikuyu provide quick coverage but due to an aggressive root system, are generally harder to keep out of garden beds.
Keeping your lawn healthy through a Victorian winter is about protecting it from the cold and setting it up for a strong spring comeback. From autumn onwards, rake away leaves and dead foliage to let precious, low-angle sunlight reach the grass. This reduces browning and helps your lawn hold onto its winter colour and vigour.
We also recommend mowing higher before the first frost to insulate the roots. Water sparingly. A deep soak in the morning is only needed if there has been a long dry spell. This simple care routine will protect your lawn through winter and ensure it’s ready for a vigorous green-up in spring.
Cool-season grasses like tall fescue and ryegrass are often used in cooler climates where winters are long and cold. These grasses grow best in spring and early summer, and tend to stay greener during winter in regions with mild temperatures. However, they generally require more water and maintenance to stay healthy in warmer parts of Australia.
At Coolabah Turf, we focus exclusively on warm-season grass varieties, which are much better suited to Australia’s hot, dry conditions. Grasses like Sir Walter Buffalo, TifTuf Bermuda and Eureka Premium VG Kikuyu thrive in full sun, are drought-tolerant, and maintain their appearance with less watering and mowing. They also bounce back more quickly after wear and tear, making them a better long-term choice for most Australian gardens.
