Riviera Look and Feel

aiannar974 – posted 29 January 2012 21:36

Hello – I recently moved to Dallas and going to be putting in a lawn soon. I really wanted Zoysia but most of the local people don’t seem to recommend it. I 1.5 acres to deal with. I know what plugged Zoysia looks like that grew in my yard in southern PA, I am also familiar with St Augustine and Centipede and common bermuda (which i do not like).

Can anyone describe what Riviera is like based on some common ground of other grasses I know.

Thank you,

Anthony

aiannar974 – posted 29 January 2012 21:46

PS – I like st augustine – amy bermudas close?

tommy – posted 30 January 2012 00:29

Its an attractive low growing turf….kind of a dwarf version of common…..meaning it will get seed heads like common, but its better in all the other categories- color, density, texture, etc.

aiannar974 – posted 30 January 2012 08:20

Thank you for the information. Would I need a reel mower for it? Because it is low growing would it need cut more frequently than common?

tommy – posted 30 January 2012 13:03

For your purposes -a rotary is ok. Once a week mowing at 1 1/2 inch is good. The same grass has different maint. requirements – depending on what its being used for. A golf course fairway using ‘Riviera’, would be cut 3 times a week at 1/2 inch. Just off the fairway (in the rough) the same grass would be cut higher – very similar to what a homeowner would cut at.

tommy – posted 30 January 2012 20:34

‘Riviera’ is not an “ultra dwarf”, so it will grow tall enough to where a rotary can be used. It would be a similar situation to Tifway 419….which looks good cut short with a reel, but has more of an upright grow habit compared to some of the other hybrids – so can be mowed with a rotary also.