Queensland Blue - Blue Couch
Scientific name:
Digitaria didactyla.
Other names/Common names:
Queensland blue couch, blue couchgrass.
Cultivar names:
No recognised cultivars have been developed from the blue couch germplasm originally introduced into Australia.
Origin:
Naturalised in Queensland from a heterogenous stock introduced from the Mascarene Islands in the early 1800s.
Global growing areas:
Australia and Malaysia (as serangoon grass) for lawns and sporting facilities. Also used as a forage species in northern Australia, tropical Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Mauritius and South America.
Availability:
Available in Australia from specialist turf growers in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.
IP protection:
None.
Details
- Texture: Fine
- Description: Long stolons. Blue-green leaves. Leaf sheath length 11.3-14.7 mm, width 1.2-2.2 mm (4th node from tip of stolon). (Data from ´Aussiblue´ PBR growing trial.)
- Use: Domestic, industrial and commercial lawns, low maintenance sportsfields, parkland
- Mowing height: 25 mm
- Method of propagation: Vegetative sod, seed (available from specialist suppliers)
- Preferred soil types: Grows well on a wide range of neutral to acid soils; tolerant of very acid soils (pH 5.5 and lower)
Further comments:
Seeds prolifically from late spring to early autumn. In South East Queensland, blue couch will invade most other warm-season turfgrasses forming mixed swards and can eventually become the dominant species, particularly under low fertility conditions. Copes with lower levels of fertiliser and insecticide/fungicide inputs than green couch.
Tolerances:
- Heat: Excellent
- Cold: Sensitive to low temperatures
- Shade: Poor. Grows best in full sun
- Drought: Good
- Wear: Fair to good. Generally hard wearing, but can be slow to recover (by stolon growth) from traffic damage
- Herbicide sensitivity: Does not tolerate MSMA or DSMA
- Pests and diseases: Lawn grubs (army worm, sod webworm), Dollar spot (particularly in late winter-early spring under low fertility conditions).
Photos used on this page are not necessarily photos from DEEDI
For more information and updates on warm season turfgrasses, their production and management please go to http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/turf
For updates on Queensland Blue please go to http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/26_4189.htm
