Which is the fairest lawn grass?

In the Lawn Types display we planted four different types of grasses. They were planted as small plugs in August this year, and then the race was officially on....

Here is a photo taken on the 20th August:


For the first two months there was hardly any growth above ground, but as the weather warmed up in October the runners started growing and spreading in all directions. Here is how it looks three and a half months later on the 8th December:



From left to right the lawn grasses are:
'Princess' - a Cynodon variety
'Seaspray' - a Paspalum variety
Buffalo 'Sapphire' - a Stenotaphrum variety
Buffalo (regular) - Stenotaphrum secundatum

The clear winner for speed and even growth is 'Seaspray', a Paspalum variety. It is lovely and soft - real barefoot grass.



But of course there are other factors to consider when looking at lawn grass types, such as mowing frequency, how it handles foot traffic, how it looks in winter, and how much fertilisation it requires. It will be interesting to see how they compare over time.