Kikuyu lawn in S. CA?

Interesting_Lawn – posted 05 August 2002 11:31

Does anyone have experience with Kikuyu (AZ-1) in southern CA? It sounds like it might be perfect for my lawn – on which I also let my horse graze a little each day. Kikuyu is supposed to be traffic-tolerant, a good forage grass, hard to kill, etc.

Right now we have bermuda (probably a 30-40 y/o variety, planted from seed) and a whole assortment of other grasses, weeds, and dirt. I’m not looking for “the perfect lawn”, just green, thriving, and easy to care for – a mix of grasses would be fine.

Is Kikuyu any more invasive than Bermuda, or about the same?

I’d be interested to hear of any experiences, good/bad, with Kikuyu. Thanks!

p.s. We’re in an inland valley, 750′ elev. – highs in the 100s, frost a few nights each year, very little rain (3″ in the past 12 months!), sunny most days. Clay soil ammened with years of compost – historically rich ag land.

[This message has been edited by Interesting_Lawn (edited 05 August 2002).]

Vic – posted 24 July 2005 07:06

Just recently, I was able to identify this grass in my yard. It took me a long time, because I live in Northwest Georgia. Kikuya grass is filling in like carpet. Weeds are not able to grow through and so far, it’s the only grass to be able to take in our sandy soil. I work with someone from Monterey and she has advised me to get rid of it. We are both horticulturist so we’re actually curious of how it made it to my lawn to begin with and why it’s doing so well here. Golf courses use this grass in the rough. This might be a grass to consider, but get more info if it’s considered invasive in your area. Hope this helps!!!

tommy – posted 25 July 2005 21:36

Kikuyu is an excellent turf for high wear situations…..its fairly trouble free, and doesn’t need much water or fertilizer. It does however have a very rapid lateral spread, and will quickly take over shrub beds etc. It may turn brown in hard freezes, but recovers more quickly than Bermuda.

byugolfer – posted 27 August 2005 22:31

I live in the Los Angeles area and have a lot of kikuya mixed in my lawn. Technically kikuya is considered a noxious weed by the State of California and can not be planted. However, you can maintain it if you already have, and it will take over. It gets yellow in the winter, and is very invasive. It can go underground for 10 feet an pop up again. As such, it is very hardy, but beware, it will escape. I just used Roundup on my entire lawn in an effort to rid myself of it. After 12 hours is was brown and crunchy, while the fescue is still green 2 days later. I’ve heard from my neighbor that it will be back, but we’ll see.