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FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $50

  • Australian Owned
  • Fast dispatch
  • 30 Day Return Policy
  • Industry Leading Support

 

  • Australian Owned
  • Fast dispatch
  • 30 Day Return Policy
  • Fast dispatch
  • 30 Day Return Policy

Kikuyu Grass Seed

Key Features: Drought Tolerant | Hardy | Acreage

Kikuyu is highly drought tolerant and thrives in sunny areas. It’s also very hardy making it a great option for high traffic areas, or people with dogs. An exceptional choice for many location across Australia.

Kikuyu is perfect for: Residential lawns, paddocks, coastal areas, acreage, sporting fields, playgrounds, airports, pastures, and caravan parks.

Contains: 100% PURE KIKUYU SEED

 

Blade

Broad

Colour

Medium

Growth

Runner

Growth Rate

Fast


 

Description

Kikuyu is a runner variety of grass that can spread rapidly via its Rhizomes and Stolons. It may appear that the leaves of the grass are attached to a thick cord, which is more visible than the cords of other warm season runner variety grasses. It is native to East Africa.

Seeding rates:

  • New Lawns: 10 grams per square meter (1kg/100m2).
  • Overseeding: 5 grams per square meter (1kg/200m2).

 

Optimal pH: Kikuyu performs best in soils with moderate acidity (pH 5.5-7.0), but tolerates a pH as low as 4.5

Sowing Tips: Kikuyu prefers fertile, moderately drained, light to medium textured soils. Broadcast the seed at, or very near, the soil surface and incorporate lightly with raking. To ensure best coverage and avoid seed wastage we recommend using an appropriate seed spreader for the size of your area.

Optimal Planting Time: The best time for sowing Kikuyu is late Spring to late Summer. As long as the temperature is within the optimum temperatures of 18-29°C you can expect germination.

For cooler areas of Australia allow enough time after sowing for seedlings to establish to enable them to withstand the first cold days of Winter and frost. A guide for this is approximately 6 weeks post germination. Therefore, sowing early Autumn is usually the latest timeframe recommended for these areas, with Spring to late Summer being preferred.

Grows best between 15 and 25oC but will tolerate up to 40o C.  Growth ceases when exposed to regular heavy frosts.

Germination: Within 10–21 days fine Kikuyu hairs should appear, however this is condition and climate dependent.

Water: With the seed so close to the surface, it should be watered quite frequently with light water applications to maintain soil moisture consistently until germination is complete. This will keep the seedlings from drying out as they sprout. Once established it tolerates low water and drought conditions well. It can tolerate some waterlogging as well as moderate salinity levels.

Fertilising: Kikuyu is particularly demanding for Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P). The McKays Slow Release Fertiliser is the perfect fertiliser for the needs of Kikuyu. This can also be used in combination with the seed when sowing.

First Mowing: First mowing should occur when the runners are approximately 20cm long (not high) and have taken root.

Mowing Frequency: Kikuyu should be kept to around 5cm in height to reduce thatching of the grass. It is one of the fastest growing warm season grasses and will have increased mowing requirements through the active growth phase in the warmer months. During dormancy in the winter months the growth of Kikuyu will slow significantly and reduce the mowing requirements.

Disadvantages of Kikuyu:

  • Pasture dominated by Kikuyu is unsuitable for horses to graze
  • More mowing requirement than some other warm season varieties
  • Can be susceptible to diseases such as Kikuyu Yellows
  • Easily spreads into other vegetation and areas where it is not required to grow, grass clippings should not be used in compost as this can cause seeds collected via mowing to germinate

Seed & package details: 100% Kikuyu Seed

Independently Tested: 85% Min Germination, 98% purity. A seed testing certificate is available upon request.

Ideal Usage: Residential lawns, paddocks, coastal areas, acreages, sporting fields, playgrounds, airports, pastures, caravan parks.

Where can I sow this grass in Australia? Areas: AUSTRALIA WIDE

Shade tolerance: Fine

Daily Sunlight Required: 6+ hours

Drought tolerance:  Excellent

Frost Resistance: Moderate

Traffic Tolerance: Excellent

 

Locations

Map Grass Image

Season

  • Warm
  • Cool

Warm season grasses thrive during the warmer months in Spring and Summer and may go dormant in cooler climates through winter.

Cool season grasses thrive during the cooler months in Winter

Seed information

Shade tolerance (Weather)

  • Full Sun
  • Part Shade
  • Heavy Shade
  • Full Shade

Drought tolerance (Weather)

  • Moderate
  • Good
  • Excellent

Traffic tolerance (Weather)

  • Moderate
  • Good
  • Excellent

Frost tolerance

  • Poor
  • Moderate
  • Good
  • Excellent

Average days to germination

  • 2-3 Weeks
  • 2-4 Weeks
  • 3-4 Weeks

Free Shipping On All Orders Over $50

We provide free standard delivery shipping for all orders where the total cart value exceeds $50.00 AUD

Standard Delivery

Australia Wide (except Western Australia)

Flat rate of $9 (for orders under $50).
Orders are dispatched within 24 hours via regular Australia post (3-5 Business days).

Express Post

In a hurry? Express shipping is available at checkout.

WA Customers

Due to quarantine restrictions, we have a different product range available for Western Australia.
If you are shopping for delivery to WA, please view our WA site here

Pick-up Not Available

Sorry, we are not able to offer local pick-up.

International

Unfortunately we are not able to ship internationally.

Customer Reviews

Based on 47 reviews
91%
(43)
4%
(2)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
4%
(2)
L
Lisa Hewitt

I bought the pure kikuyu seeds from a recommendation off lawn fanatics NSW. I have used them to fill in large gaps in my lawn, really impressed it appears the majority sprouted after 7 days. Filling in beautifully. Highly recommend

D
Danie Scholtz
Kikuyu is the best

I love Kikuyu, but I have not yet sowed the seeds, decided to kill my existing lawn first, might only plant in spring. Will need more seed though.

M
Max K.
Seeds

Was excellent to spread got great coverage,only down for a few days waiting to see how well it germinates.

C
Cassandra B.
This is the good stuff!

After doing a LOT of research I landed on McKays grass seeds, specifically the kikuyu seeds. Our backyard was a giant mud patch following construction works and I despaired of having a green backyard again. We followed the instructions meticulously and within weeks have been rewarded with the most lush, amazing lawn you could hope for. It’s growing so fast we almost can’t keep up with it (photo shows the lawn due for a mow, two months after planting!). Super happy that we went with mckays, the quality really is exceptional and I also really appreciated how helpful their wonderful customer service team was when I was working out what grass to get and how to sow it. We also used the mckays slow release fertiliser and wetting agent which I also really rate.

C
Christine Snell
Great germination - faster than we expected!

McKay's were very helpful in getting a bag of Kikuyu seed to me at very short notice (I only had a small window of opportunity to get it spread). The seed sprouted much sooner than I anticipated with a nice green tinge to our 1,000 square metres after just 7 days! We have had the perfect weather and I couldn't be happier with the progress so far.

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