Couch Turf – Your Guide

Couch grass is revered for its fine leaf that’s soft to touch, its outstanding green colour and its ability to be maintained at a variety of heights.

 The Australian turf market boasts a wide range of Couch variants, and new trademarks are constantly being tested for their suitability in both commercial and residential applications including our own distant relative of the common Couch, Iron Cutter Elite Hybrid Bermudagrass. 

 It’s a common misconception that, because of its fine leaf, Couch isn’t as hardy as turf with a larger, broader leaf, but the fact is that Couch is both incredibly hard wearing and boasts outstanding drought tolerance, cementing its place as a much-loved Aussie lawn.

High Drought Tolerance

Couch’s voracious growth above the surface is perhaps only matched by the rate at which it plunges deep, dense roots down into the soil. This helps the lawn establish quickly but also making it more resilient to the elements including drought, which is an appealing attribute in the Australian market.

Couch’s deep-seating route system seeks out water far below the surface meaning it’s less reliant on above ground water, which is handy for prolonged periods of little to no rainfall, such as those Australia experiences during El Nino. 

Learn more about other drought tolerant turf types here. 

High Wear Tolerance

Couch grass does have a high tolerance stemming from its rapid growth during the warmer months, which does make it applicable for public spaces and sporting fields. The above ground stolons will quickly push into areas that might have been damaged from excessive foot traffic or the divot mark on a golf course for example, simply by dressing the area with a soft medium like topsoil or sand.

This high tolerance and its various commercial applications help to drive the price of common Couch varieties down and make it a really cost-effective option for residential applications, too.

Learn more about other high tolerance turf types here. 

Fine Leaf Texture

One of Couch’s most appealing attributes is its fine leaf texture which is both soft to the touch but also gives it a very unique aesthetic appeal texture. This makes Couch grass very different to broadleaf grasses like Kikuyu and Buffalo and means that it can be cultivated into a flatter, carpet-like lawn akin to professional sports grounds like putting greens or bowling greens.

This is incredibly picturesque in large open areas like sprawling home lawns, or heavily curated public spaces like Botanic Gardens.

Dark Green Colour

Couch grass is blessed with a deep green colour in the leaf that may very well stem from its love of the sunshine and warm weather, as darker lawns will absorb and hold more heat from the sun’s rays.

This vibrant green colour can be further enhanced with products containing Iron such as Lawn Pride’s Greenxtra, and a dark green Couch lawn is a key indicator of the health of the lawn.

However, it’s also one of the first attributes the lawn relinquishes as it goes into winter dormancy, which is a natural process of the plant protecting itself through the cold or winter months, especially in the southern states where frosty mornings aren’t uncommon.

It must be stressed, this is a natural process that the grass will come out of once the ground temperatures begin to rise in Spring, and that desirable, dark green colour will return to its leaf once more.

Salt Tolerance 

Perhaps harking back to its origins in Africa, Couch has one of the highest tolerance to saline soils (those with higher than average salt content), which makes it perfect for lawns bordering Australia’s stunning coastline, and around backyard swimming pools.

 Soil salinity can affect a plant’s ability to absorb nitrogen from the soil, which is a naturally occurring stimulant that encourages plant growth and is the key ingredient in granular fertilisers, improving overall plant vitality. Soil salinity can also lead to osmotic stress, which Couch offsets by its lower water requirements compared to other turf varieties.

The fact that Couch can survive in soils where nitrogen isn’t as bioavailable opens up a range of domestic and commercial applications – there’s a good chance that the lawn in front of your local Surf Club is a Couch lawn for this reason!

Thrives in Full Sun 

A warm season grass, Couch loves the heat which makes it a very appealing grass for the Australian climate.

Common Couch is not a very shade tolerant grass and can easily be affected by shading from trees, building shade lines or even the eaves of the house. It’s important when planning your Couch Lawn that you look for upwards of 80% full sunshine to achieve the best out of your Couch Lawn.

Best Planting Time

Because Couch goes dormant in the Winter, it can be harder to establish the lawn in the colder months depending on your location in Australia.

We recommend laying your lawn in Spring or Summer when the turf can be sourced from a farm where the grass is actively growing, which will speed up the establishment process.

Laying a new Couch lawn in Winter or Autumn is also viable, however the establishment process will take longer.

myhomeTURF recommends two Australian grown Couch varieties.

OZTUFF® Couch

OZTUFF Couch has a variety of applications, and you’re likely to find this low maintenance lawn on local sporting fields, outside your local surf club or adjoining a pool area thanks to its unbeatable salt tolerance.

 OZTUFF is easy on the eye thanks to its lush, green colour and is beloved for its low maintenance and nutritional requirements.

Where it grows: OZTUFF is suitable for all growing environments along the eastern seaboard from Brisbane down to Melbourne. 

Expect to pay: Between $8-14 per square metre.

Stadium Sports Couch

Stadium Sports Couch is bred as a hard wearing, low maintenance option for sports fields and playing surfaces, but that’s not to say it doesn’t have a long list of redeeming attributes for the home lawn owner, too!

 Like most Couch grasses, it loves warmer climates and will reward you with a vibrant green colour and a very low thatch profile.

Where it grows: This tough Couch variety grows well in areas from Sydney through to mid-north Queensland.

Expect to pay: Between $8-14 per square metre.

IronCutter® Elite Hybrid Bermudagrass

IronCutter Elite Hybrid Bermudagrass is the latest generation of Couch/Bermudagrass hybrids, and has been bred with a range of appealing qualities that will make it popular amongst homeowners and commercial applications alike.

IronCutter is renowned for its dark green colour – a colour that it’s able to maintain for longer thanks to its early Spring green-up. It boasts a fine, vertical leaf and will perform well in cooler regions than other Couch varieties, making it suitable for the Victorian and South Australian markets, too.

Expect to pay: Between $12-18 per square metre. 

For expert advice on the right grass selection for your home, speak to your local turf farmer or supplier. Use Find a Turf Supplier to locate a supplier in your area.

Nathan Tovey is myhomeTURF’s resident expert. Decades of experience in the industry has culminated in a role which sees him work alongside turf growers all around the country to provide better quality grass to home lawn owners. Put simply, he’s the man to ask about getting the best out of your lawn.

 Here are his top tips for Couch grass:

A healthy lawn starts with healthy soil. For established lawns, bio-stimulants like Rootmaxx or Kelp-ER are like a probiotic for your lawn and keep your soil full of the microorganisms and healthy bacteria that keep your soil full of the nutrients that your lawn needs.

If you’re laying a new lawn and notice that your soil isn’t a healthy, dark brown, if it’s full of clay or debris or if it’s rock-hard and difficult to dig through, consider bringing in 5-10cm of quality turf underlay and planting on that instead.

Water the right way. Too little water too often will encourage the plant’s roots to prioritise water at the soil layer, instead of plunging deeper into the earth. Longer roots accessing water deeper in the soil will lead to a healthier plant – one that’s more resilient to temperature extremes, and one that will recover more quickly from bug attacks or other stress.

Give your lawn long, deep watering, less frequently for the best results.

Have a maintenance plan. As well as scheduling your watering and mowing, a good lawn maintenance program should include the ongoing use of quality slow release fertilisers, a pre-emergent herbicide and pest protection like Acelepryn, at the very least! The difference between a good lawn and a great lawn is always the extra work the owner is willing to do, and modern lawn care products are cheap and easy to apply.

Be more proactive than reactive with your maintenance – you’ll save money in the long run and have a consistently better lawn as a result.

Installing Couch Turf

Before you lay your new Couch lawn, start by checking the viability of the soil which should be a deep, dark brown colour and show signs of bioactivity, which may include the presence of worms in the soil.

If the soil doesn’t show the signs of basic soil health then it might be worth removing 50-100mm of material and bringing in a more active turf underlay to assist with turf establishment.

Because of Couch’s fine leaf structure, it’s important to try and get the soil as level as possible before laying your lawn, which can be achieved using a Lawn Level sold online through various vendors and through most large hardware chains.

Apply a good quality starter fertiliser like Lawn Pride Starter before you lay the turf, then begin to lay the lawn slowly and methodically, ensuring no air gaps underneath the rolls of turf, maximising turf-to-soil contact to help with the establishment of roots.

Lay the turf in a brickwork like fashion to avoid lining up turf roll joints, then water for 10 to 15 minutes three times a day while the turf establishes.

Mowing Couch Grass

Couch can be maintained at a variety of heights from a 20-30mm home lawn cut with a rotary lawn mower, through to 2mm putting greens maintained expertly by a professional with a cylinder mower.

The proliferation of cylinder mowing in the domestic market has made Couch more popular in recent years, and it’s quite common to see home lawns ranging from to 5-15mm with the iconic cylinder mower stripes in suburbs around Australia.

In the growing season, Couch will grow enthusiastically and can need cutting as often as three times a week depending on the length you’re maintaining it at. Remember, the goal for mowing should only ever be to take off a maximum of one third of the leaf at one time.

Couch’s growth will slow down as the weather cools, and in the depths of Winter mowing periods can bump out as much to as much as two weeks depending on the climate in your region.

As well as regular mowing, most Couch lawns will need to be treated at least once a year for thatch build up, usually in Spring as the lawn is coming out of Winter dormancy. Thatch removal can be done through scalping (cutting deliberately lower than your normal height of cut) or by a mechanical process like scarifying, verticutting or dethatching – different names for the same process of cutting down into the canopy of the plant to remove thatch, like running a comb through your hair.

Watering Your Lawn 

Watering your lawn is one of the simplest ways to improve the overall lawn condition, however it’s one of the most misunderstood practices as watering your lawn too much can be just as dangerous as underwatering it.

For new lawns, focus on watering two to three times a day in 10-15 min intervals, however once the lawn is established it’s recommended to reduce the frequency of watering but increase the volume of water. Shallow watering an established lawn will stunt root development and lead to a less resilient lawn.

Your watering schedule should be governed by the climate in your area. In the middle of summer during or periods of extreme heat, your lawn may need watering every day however periods of moderate temperature watering once a week will suffice.

It’s important to note that watering does need to continue throughout autumn and winter even though the grass isn’t actively growing, as cold winds can dry a lawn out just as much as a beating sun.

Fertilising

Couch grass responds incredibly well to fertiliser including high-quality products like Lawn Pride’s granular and liquid fertilisers which can stimulate growth and colour to elevate your Couch lawn from a good lawn to a great lawn.

Thanks to its fast growth profile, Couch does have a high appetite for Nitrogen which is the active ingredient in granular fertilisers, and it’s very worthwhile fertilising every 9 to 12 weeks throughout the growing season with a slow release granular fertiliser like Lawn Pride’s Maintain.

Granular fertilisers can be supported with liquid fertilisers such as Greenxtra, soil wetters

and following up with applications of products like liquid fertilisers, soil wetters like Hydramaxx or kelp-based products like Lawn Pride’s Kelp-ER or Rootmaxx which help bolster root strength.

Weed Control

Weeds are a common problem in all lawn varieties, and prevention is definitely easier than the cure.

If you already have an outbreak of weeds you can apply a selective herbicide like BroadForce or Bow and Arrow which will tackle most broadleaf weeds and bindis in Couch lawns.

Homeowners often prefer to prevent weed breakouts rather than treating them by using a preventative herbicide like OnSet GR or Spartan which will stop weeds germinating before they ever get the chance to sprout.

Preventative herbicides typically give residual protection of up to 6 months and it’s recommended that they’re applied at the start of Spring covering you through Spring and Summer, and then again in Autumn covering you through Autumn and Winter.

Pests & Diseases

Couch Grass is susceptible to common lawn pests including African Black Beetle and Armyworm, both of which have ravaged Australian home lawns in the last few years. The good news is that they’re both very easy to treat.

Lawn pest problems will present as a sudden decrease in lawn vitality and condition which may include a sudden buildup of thatch, areas losing colour or thinning out of the leaf canopy. If you suspect your lawn is affected by pests, fill a bucket with warm water and dishwashing detergent and pour it onto your lawn. Within five minutes, bugs and lawn pests will rise to the surface.

If your lawn doesn’t pass the ‘soapy water test’, you can apply an insecticide like Rumbler, or even better, prevent lawn pests from damaging your lawn by applying a product like Lawn Pride’s Acelepryn or even Echelon Duo which combines a preventative herbicide as well.

Couch can also be affected by Couch Mite, and while it’s not as common as Black Beetle or Armyworm, this devastating lawn pest specific to the Couch grass family must be treated with a specific insecticide known as Malice Duo.

Couch is a beloved staple of the Australia home lawn landscape, and this sun-loving warm season grass is finding its way into more and more new lawns as Aussies renew their love affair with great looking grass!

Try our Find A Turf Supplier tool and enter your postcode to be connected to growers in your area who can assist with pricing.