Previously I had posted about how I don’t think Windsor Green couch lawn is as drought tolerant as Santa Anna couch lawn. Here is a screen-shot from the website of the company that recommends Windsor Green for it’s drought tolerance. Click on it to enlarge:
The last bits of the Windsor Green are dying off in our Santa Anna couch lawn. Every time we have a heat wave a bit more of the Windsor Green dies. Sometimes it comes back after browning off, but I don’t think it will this time. Click on the photo below to enlarge. Note that the circled areas highlight which parts of the lawn are Windsor Green, as it is hard to tell from the photo. In fact, I actually had to go back outside after taking the photo to work out which was the Windsor Green and which was the Santa Anna. It is hard to tell, but the Windsor Green generally has a bluish tinge to it. This is the same colour as it was when I bought it, so I don’t think it’s turning bluish because of our particular soil. Up close I can tell which is the Windsor Green not only by what colour it is, but because the blades are generally slightly matted together, and dwarf like.
You can see that two of three patches of Windsor Green in the above photo are burning in the heat. The interesting part is this section of lawn gets shade from mid afternoon onwards, so it’s surprising that any lawn here would burn. It is possible that the Windsor Green is being attacked by the Santa Anna, and the heat waves are just the final blow. But, usually when there are several species of lawns they blend together. My overall conclusion is, that regardless of how drought tolerant a “lawn professional” claims Windsor Green to be, it’s not as drought tolerant as Santa Anna in our situation.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has had success with Windsor Green over Santa Anna. Perhaps there is a scenario in which Windsor Green performs better?
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Tom,
I am a turf farmer in Queensland and I have to say (with the utmost respect) your problem is your self. The Australian turf research institute gave this grass a very good rating indeed. Treat your lawn as if it were a pet. Offer your pet water,water and more water and it dies. Food (fertiliser) every eight weeks is essential (more often for your pet) to healthy growth and vigour. Where possible apply fertiliser when it is about to rain sufficiently to wash it in. Rain water has a positive charge in the ions so uptake is vastly superior to ground water which has a negative charge. Do not use just any old fertiliser. D.A.P for example will go quite well with your couch but may not suit other types of grass. Mow REGULARLY. The saying is: “the more you mow the better you will go”. Make sure your mowing heights are correct.In your case between 20-25mm will suit.Other grasses may not like this height. When you see a dead patch check it for lawn grub by applying a strong solution of dishwashing detergent in a bucket of water to the offending area. Cover this with a sack or cloth and return for a close inspection after twenty minutes or so has passed. Make sure you have not got a hard patch of ground that is water phobic. One respondent mentions his grass is only green around the edges. No doubt from watering his garden! Another mentions black beetle eats his windsor geen…..believe me black beetle is not a connoisseur and will happily eat all grass types. It is easy to blame the product and you do a disservice to a product if you are not availed of all the facts.These requirements are not unique to just this turf.Very similar approaches are required for all lawn types.Prime among them being a little more knowledge.
Incidentally I do not sell Windsor green and have no vested interest.
Regards,
Paul Clothier
Paul,
I completely understand that it is unfair to derive a conclusion without all the facts. However it is preposterous for you to say that I do a disservice to a product if I’m not availed of all the facts. What are the facts I’m missing? You also say “your problem is your self”, which infers that I’m not looking after the lawn correctly. As a side note, you should be using the reflexive pronoun “yourself”, as otherwise you’re suggesting that I have multiple ‘selfs’. This would be a paradox, as there is no plural for a ‘self’ so to say.
My overall conclusion in the article quite clearly says that Windsor Green is not as drought tolerant as Santa Anna in our situation. I put it to you that you have little knowledge of our situation, i.e. our soil type, rainfall (very different in Adelaide than Queensland – West Moreton?), tap water quality, and shade cycles. It is pretty difficult to appreciate why you are so opinionated about inferring I am the problem here, and that I don’t have all of the facts to conclude that the lawn is not as drought tolerant as Santa Anna for our situation. It is possible that you didn’t read down to the end of the article where I elaborate on the post title, although I’ll assume that you haven’t written a response almost as long as the article without actually reading it
Other than the thought provoking blog title, at no point in the content of my article did I say or imply that Windsor Green is not a good product. All that my article has said is that it is not as Santa Anna! All of your points are completely irrelevant, because you have not addressed why Santa Anna grows better than Windsor Green for our soil type, weather, and shade cycles here in our garden in Adelaide.
Did the turf research institute rate this lawn with consideration to Adelaide conditions? If not, then the rating is superfluous to this blog article. Regardless, was the rating actually better than the equivalent rating for Santa Anna? If not, then the rating works opposite to how you’ve implied. Was the rating specific to drought tolerance? If not, then it is also irrelevant to this blog article!
What do you do to your pets? I’ve never seen a pet die from drinking too much water. All the pets I’ve ever seen stop drinking when they’re no longer thirsty. Not to say that a lawn wouldn’t suffer from root rot, or underdeveloped root depth due to too frequent watering, although considering the Santa Anna couch was doing fine, and none of the lawn was being watered until it started to wilter, I highly doubt that over watering was the reason that Santa Anna couch was
Talking about respondents that aren’t from my blog. What has this got to do with my blog article? Please, keep this debate related to this blog article. I could help you start your own blog if you’re looking for somewhere to generally express your wisdom. I do not sell website or blog services and have no vested interest.
Regards,
Tom Bammann
Tom,
Just wondering if you had a further update on your plight with Windsor Green. I just laid some recently, in Adelaide (northern suburb) after following similar advice as what you were given. Hopefully I have better luck (I’m trying to be optimistic)
Cheers,
Suneel
Have to disagree with you on not as drought tollerant as Santa Anna. Live in South Australia and after 4 years of hot summers couldn’t be happier. It was layed onto a 50/50 sand loam mix about 100mm deep and under that is thick clay which was treated with gypsum. Very drought tollerant.
not very happy with windsor , not so green lawn. have had it for approx 5 yrs. was green when we got it and down hill from there. now, i have tried because of clay ish soil, water, gypsum, dynamic lifter, golf course green, a bloke from a lawn shop told me to put a liquid wetting agent on it, still not green. has been green 1 foot inside edges for a while but not much at all.am i watering it enough? can anyone tell me???
I also have to go along with the comment that Windsor Green isnt as drought tolerant as they say. Have had it for 5 years now and each summer brown patches appear and it dies. Not sure if it is the lawn itself that is the problem or maybe the poor way in which the “professionals” laid it.
gday tom, had my lawn in for about 5 years and have been very happy with it.we live in sth australia and have some very hot summers and have found the lawn to be very good.we have some trouble with black beatle but some tlc the lawn is the best in the street.cheers ricka!
Tim, thanks.
No I hadn’t seen it, but I’ve gone off wanting to upgrade to Gallery 3 until there are enough add-ons like in Gallery 2.
Cheers,
Tom
Richard,
So is this Windsor Green that you’re talking about, or some other variety? Does TLC mean you have to water and fertilise it a lot? The point is, being able to keep it alive is one thing, but how much effort and resources required is another.
Cheers,
Tom
I would have to say that I agree with you 100%. When we laid our lawn we were encouraged to go for Windsor Green rather than Santa Ana as it is very drought tolerant, however 2 summers in a row now it has all but died. Looks very much like the picture you posted of your lawn.