Yes, you can lay Sir Walter Buffalo yourself, and it’s one of the more forgiving lawns to do it with. Most of the work happens before the turf arrives. Have the ground prepped and level the day before, lay every roll the day it’s delivered, soak it straight away, then keep the water up and the feet off for 2 to 3 weeks.
The worry most people have is spending good money on turf and watching it yellow on the driveway. That only happens when the ground isn’t ready. Get the order of jobs right and the laying itself is the easy bit.
Why Sir Walter is a good first lawn to lay yourself
Sir Walter Buffalo spreads sideways at a steady pace rather than racing off. That makes it the easier of our two lawns to keep out of garden beds, so a small slip with the edging isn’t a summer of pulling runners.
It also copes with shade down to about 3 hours of direct sun a day. The side strip and the patch under the tree don’t need a separate plan. And if you scuff a few rolls while you’re working, its runners knit the damage back together.
What needs doing before the truck turns up
We cut your turf at the farm within 12 hours of delivery, and it starts heating up the moment it’s rolled. So the ground has to be finished before the turf lands, not while the pallet sits in the sun. Our full guide to preparing your yard goes step by step.
Here’s the short version for Sir Walter:
- Old lawn and weeds out, roots and all.
- Around 100mm of good turf underlay or well-worked soil, especially in shaded spots.
- Raked level and firmed, with the soil sitting about 20 to 30mm below paths, driveways and edging, so the finished lawn sits flush.
- A gentle fall away from the house, so water doesn’t pool against it.
- Soil lightly damp when you start, not dry and not muddy.
One warning if you’re replacing an old Kikuyu or couch lawn. Get every bit of it out, runners included. Those grasses regrow through new turf, and a buffalo lawn with Kikuyu creeping through it is hard to fix later.
Sort the order and the tools
Measure the area using our measuring guide, with a small allowance for cuts around curves. Book delivery for a day you can lay the whole lot, and tell us where you’d like the rolls dropped so they’re close to the job.
Have these ready: a sharp knife (an old bread knife works well), a rake, a wheelbarrow, a hose and sprinkler, a wide plank to kneel on, and a lawn roller from the hire shop.
Laying day, roll by roll
1. Start along your longest straight edge, like the driveway, a path or a fence line. Everything else lines up off that first row.
2. Butt each roll tight against the last. No gaps, no overlaps, and don’t stretch it to fit. Stretched turf shrinks back as it dries and leaves a gap.
3. Stagger the joins like brickwork, so the ends never line up from one row to the next.
4. Kneel on your plank on the turf you’ve already laid, not on the soil in front of you. That stops you leaving knee-sized dents to lay over.
5. Keep full rolls along the outside edges and put small cut pieces in the middle. Little offcuts on an edge dry out first.
6. On a slope, lay across the slope rather than down it.
7. If it’s hot or windy, give finished sections a sprinkle as you go rather than waiting until the end.
8. Trim around beds, curves and taps with your knife once each run is down.
9. When the last roll is down, roll the whole lawn to press the roots onto the soil. Then give it a long, deep soak.
To check you’ve watered enough, lift a corner. The soil underneath should be wet, not just the grass on top.
The first 3 weeks
Water daily for the first week or two, deep enough to reach the soil underneath. Early morning is best. On a hot westerly day it may need a second drink in the afternoon.
After about 2 weeks in warm weather, tug a corner. If it holds, the roots are down. In cooler months it takes longer, so keep checking rather than counting days. Our post on how long new turf takes to establish covers what to expect through the seasons.
Once it’s rooted, give it a light first mow with the mower set high, and never take off more than a third of the leaf. Sir Walter is generally kept between 30 and 50mm, at the higher end in shade. From there, cut back to a deep soak whenever it looks dry. Our Sir Walter care tips pick it up from there.
Hold off on backyard cricket and dog zoomies for 2 to 3 weeks while the roots knit into the soil.
When it’s worth handing the job over
DIY suits a fairly flat yard with easy access and a delivery day you can clear. It’s worth getting our team in when:
- the old lawn is Kikuyu or couch and needs properly removing
- the site is steep, heavy clay, or holds water after rain
- there’s no easy way to get rolls from the truck to the yard
- you can’t commit the whole delivery day to laying
With supply and lay, we handle the ground prep, levelling and laying, and you come home to a finished lawn.
Doing it yourself? Call 0409 912 824 with your square metres and suburb, pick a delivery day you can keep free, and your Sir Walter Buffalo will be cut at Peats Ridge within 12 hours of reaching your driveway.