Couch Grass

About Couch Varieties

Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon, AKA Indian doab, or Bermuda grass) is arguably the most drought tolerant warm season grass available in NZ.

It isn’t successful in colder parts of the country; it really needs a frost-free climate to thrive. It’s an aggressive ‘running’ grass with slender above-ground stolons (runners) and underground rhizomes, which form a dense mat of hard-wearing turf. It’s very deep roots enable it to tolerate dry weather and resist heat better than most grasses.

Like kikuyu, couch isn’t popular with everyone due to its habit of spreading through other grass types and taking over, although regular mowing can help to slow its spread (mowing low and often also encourages a thicker turf). Ironically, this vigorous nature is also a key benefit for a couch lawn: it will elbow out and suppress broadleaf weeds.

Confusingly, the visually similar species Elytrigia repens is also known as couch or twitch in NZ. This aggressive weed, known as quackgrass or witchgrass overseas, is a real pest in NZ. This probably accounts for why a mention of 'couch' can be so polarising for gardeners!

Couch prefers free-draining soils. It responds dramatically to high nitrogen fertilisers, so we recommend the use of slow-release fertilisers like Yates Lawn Fertiliser Twice a Year, or the gentle Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food. Couch needs full sunlight and won’t grow in shade. In cooler areas it will become dormant and brown off in winter.

A couch lawn can be grown from seed, or laid as turf. Sow seed in late spring or early summer at 1kg per 100m². Couch seed needs warm temperatures of at least 20°C to germinate.

Seedlings emerge in seven to twelve days in warm weather. Couch turf can be laid in late winter or early spring.

In NZ, couch seed or turf is available from specialist lawn suppliers.