grass type, which one?

caeselph – posted 23 June 2003 10:35

I live in Jacksonville Fl and I have a large yard, approx. 1 acre. Very sandy soil. When we bought the house the yard had bahia. We couldn’t afford to resod so we put out centipede seed. It took over most of the front and some of the side. Then the back yard was landscaped and we put in Floratam. In the meantime over the years I have plugged with Seville when I could not get centipede. I now have some spots I am going to sod and I’m not sure whether to go with the Seville, which has done well but I don’t have as much of in the yard or the Centipede, which I have more of, but it is harder to find, especially when I just need to plug bare spots. Where I am going to sod will be in with the centipede.Whichever I go with, I am going to try to eventually get the whole yard in that one grass. (with the exception of the back yard) So…….this is a very important decision. I still have a lot of bahia in the yard that needs to be choked out. Help.

certified-in-florida – posted 24 June 2003 20:44

I wold encourage the Seville. It is my opinion that the St. Augustine varieties of grass are stronger than the Centipede. I have Centipede and would love to put in St. Aug., but don’t want to water much.

Will-PCB – posted 24 June 2003 20:53

What is it in this Earth that makes you think you have to water a tremendous amount with St. Augustine?

Watering with St. Augustine is not rocket science, though most hobbists would lead you to believe that it is. You simply water when you begin to see signs of wilt, then dont water again until you see the signs of wilt return.

Now granted, we’ve had alot of rain this year, but I have yet to turn on my sprinklers. You dig down into my yard, and you will find 6″-8″ roots, and I have no fears of fungus or root rot as a result of my over watering.

certified-in-florida – posted 26 June 2003 06:29

Yes, I would be the first to agree that most people overwater their turf, especially St. Aug. In my experience, there are certain types of grass that do better with less water. Bahia for example. This year has been far wetter than the previous few years, and you shouldn’t need extra irrigation. However, most of the last few years, we have been on the recieving end of a hot dry period around April and May (in south Florida, it may be very hot and dry from March till May). During those times, St. Augustine would need water. It is those times I am referring to. You put in a lawn to last years and you can’t look at only what has happened lately, but also what can or will happen next year as well.

ericka – posted 01 August 2005 16:44

Root root is common with seville. Unfortunately, after spending thousands to do our lawn, mother nature decided to give us record numbers in rain during June. Our lawn is almost unsavable. Be wary of st. augustine seville which is commonly prone to fungus, root root, brown patch, web worms and chinch bugs. Seville is difficult to maintain if the environment is putting out too much water without you being able to control it.