BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Brent Redman first developed Sir Walter in the mid 1990’s in the Hunter Valley, NSW. Brent Redman was also responsible for the development of a popular early variety known as Shademaster (common soft leaf) in the late 1980’s, but found it had some shortcomings, some of which included purpling in winter, susceptibility to fungus attack and poor performance in high traffic areas.

Because of these shortcomings Brent set out to develop a grass with the following qualities:
• The ability to maintain its winter colour.
• Fungus resistance.
• Provide good wear tolerance in high traffic areas (playgrounds, backyards with dogs etc.,)
• Perform well in the shade.
• Quick recovery from wear and damage.
• Low water use.
• A low chemical and mowing requirement making it environmentally responsible.
• A lawn grass that was able to offer a high quality appearance without needing to be a Green Keeper.
After many years of testing and trialling different strains in a variety of locations around Australia, Brent developed Sir Walter because it displayed all of the above features and several other unique qualities compared with other buffalo varieties.
Due to its uniqueness, Sir Walter was granted PBR (Plant Breeder Rights) protection in 1998. The PBR Licence number for Sir Walter is 96/226.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

The name Sir Walter is an acronym for some of its desirable traits, i.e.:
Winter Active Low Thatch Environmentally Responsible

Background and Characteristics;

Sir Walter Softleaf Buffalo was born and bred in Australia, under Australian conditions so it has excellent Drought Tolerance compared to other Buffalo Lawns.

Because it is Winter Active it maintains its colour longer than other Buffalo grasses and does not go purple in winter.

The Low Thatch growth habit makes it a Low Maintenance lawn arriving in turf rolls that are strong and easy to lay. The softer leaf means an ideal surface for children to play on.

Sir Walters’s drought tolerance, herbicide tolerance and fungus resistance means that this is one of the most environmentally responsible turf grasses available requiring Less Watering and Less Spraying.
The crisp green colour of Sir Walter makes this a most attractive lawn in Summer and Winter.

Other advantages over other lawn turfs include:
• Less invasive into gardens than Kikuyu or Couch.
• Less mowing than Kikuyu (approx. 50% in summer).
• Grows well in both full sun and most shade situations.

REASONS TO CHOOSE SIR WALTER

Sir Walter Softleaf Buffalo offers the absolute best variety of lawn grass ever available for most home lawns right throughout Australia where the desire is to match the following criteria:

• Excellent Drought Tolerance
• Being prepared to spend the extra to have the best.
• You may be surprised to know cheaper grasses have a greater requirement for soil to perform well. Sir Walter has a lesser soil requirement to achieve a top result. By comparing your total cost including soil, Sir Walter is very competitive.
• To have the best lawn achievable with the least ongoing work and cost.
• To achieve the highest appearance level with the least water use, its natural dense layer actually reduces water loss through evaporation as does happen particularly with couches and short mown Kikuyu.
• To have a lawn that is permanent in both full sun and shade.
• Does not require a motorized cylinder mower to achieve a professional appearance, as does certainly couch and to a lesser extent, kikuyu.
• Is capable of producing a natural weed control mat, which is capable of preventing invasion of other grasses.
• Is capable of self-repairing even from substantial damage.
• A buffalo that can be used in areas as cold as Bowral, Goulburn and Canberra or the hot dry areas of Sydney suburbs.
• To have the most environmentally friendly of all lawn grasses, its minimum water chemical and fertilizer usage are some of the main factors that contribute to this claim.

As the market demand for Softleaf Buffalo has gathered momentum so also has the number of varieties. Some are genuine Softleaf Buffaloes, Others tend to give the impression that they are really common hard buffaloes that underwent a name change overnight. Sir Walter is the only Australian born and bred Soft Leaf Buffalo lawn.

The PBR number of Sir Walter is 96/226 and each purchaser is also issued with a Certificate of Authenticity so that you can be assured that you will receive the high quality product you are paying for.

In short, Sir Walter is a bulletproof lawn, which the novice gardener can easily maintain or the avid green keeper can develop into the best lawn on the block.

COMPARISON PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW OF TURF VARIETIES

The following table includes observations of the performance of various buffalo types throughout Australia. At present Sir Walter management is funding University based trials on the entire range of buffalo grasses available in Australia, which is the first of their kind. This data will be made public as soon as testing is complete.