The answer in a nutshell; is no. Sir Walter turf cannot be grown from seed and it’s not alone. Most drought tolerant varieties cannot be grown from seed.
Those that can be grown from seed tend to be cool season grass varieties such as rye, fescue and blue grass. These grasses usually fail as a home lawn in most parts of Australia as our climate is just too hot for them to thrive. Cooler varieties of turf are better left to the cooler parts of Europe and upper North America.
So why can Sir Walter not be grown from seed?
While Sir Walter grass plants do produce a seed, the seed is male, sterile and not economically viable to be grown from. Even the professional turf farms need to grow Sir Walter from a cutting. This variety of grass can only be grown from vegetative material such as turf or stolons (creeping horizontal plant stems or runners that take root at points along its length the form new grass plants).
Click here to read our latest 2017 blog on Sir Walter DNA Certified Turf
Sir Walter was designed in 1996 as a turf to withstand more disease, pests and fungi than other types of grass and it worked. In addition it was also drought resistant and shade and heat tolerate all while maintaining its colour throughout the year. After over 15 years, a lot of testing and installations of Sir Walter it continues to be the best suited lawn for Australian climates; even in extreme heat and humidity, under strict water restrictions, and attack from lawn pests and weeds Sir Walter turf has survived and thrived.
No need to seed
Many people use grass seed to repair bare patches in their existing lawn. Fortunately this practice is unlikely to be required with a Sir Walter lawn as this variety of grass is self-repairing. Implement good lawn care practices such as mowing, watering and fertilising and bare patches are not usual and if they do occur, bringing the soil pH level and nutrient levels in line will enable the lawn to regain optimum health and set about repairing the damage by its self.
Where can you get Sir Walter since you cannot grow it from seed?
With over 60 licensed growers throughout Australia you are bound to find a turf farm near you that grows Sir Walter Soft Leaf Buffalo. Anyone growing and selling Sir Walter turf requires a license to do so and strict quality control conditions are enforced to protect the quality of Sir Walter supplied. A certificate of authenticity should be supplied with each purchase of turf to ensure the premium grass supplied is genuine Sir Walter Turf.
Can you tell me please what I can do to bring back yellow patches where my dog wees and kills it ?
Hi Beverly,
You need to encourage the surrounding lawn to spread to those areas, dogs urine is a form of fertiliser, so spread a little bit of fresh soil and water in, that will promote growth from the surrounding lawn. Training your dog to use the same place for a toilet is what other customers have had success with, or Dog Rocks ( can be expensive) or hosing the spot ASAP will lessen the damage.
more info see :
http://daleysturf.com.au/mans-best-friend-and-your-south-east-queensland-lawn/
Terry
Assuming ideal conditions, how fast does it spread?
Assuming ideal conditions, how far apart do you roll the turf?
Sir Walter runners can spread about 300- 400 mm in summer months, given that is has plenty of nutrients and water. However to fully grow in together and become a tight sward of turf, it will take 12 months or more. Its not advisable to lay turf slabs apart due to when you come to mow, your mower will drop down in gaps unless you top dress them flush to compensate. Then you will need to use OXAFERT to prevent weeds from taking over.
Terry
Really confused on the information on the Sir Walter grass. Maybe around 20 years or so I did buy Sir Walter lawn seed. It grew beautifully. I bought it from Bunnings at the time. Now when I want to get some more I find it has to be bought in instant form. When did they stop selling it as a seed? I have now used a different lawn seed and it is really fine and nowhere as good.
Hi Sandra, Sir Walter plant can seed but it’s not viable, which means the seed has a very low percentage of success, it’s lower than 1%, therefore it’s not used for seeding, however other buffalo’s have much higher seed strike rate and therefore are used in packets of seed of which you may have purchased 20 years ago.
These days, we have DNA Certified Sir Walter to make sure its Sir Walter as it’s the best performer out of all the buffalo’s currently on the market.
I hope that explains it a litte
Terry
Hi do I get Sir Walter to grow in the bare patches when it dies. Do Inhave to plant runners? Can I cross sow with a couch? Is fertiliser and wat enough
Thanks
Greg