Turfgrass choice for Gainesville, FL

GatorProf – posted 12 October 2003 13:07

I am trying to decide on a turfgrass to re-sod my lawn in Gainesville, FL (north central Florida) and would welcome suggestions from this newsgroup. Below is a summary of the situation:

LAWN GOALS:

1) Reasonable shade tolerance2) Tolerant of lower PH soils (5.0 to 5.5)3) Finer texture4) Patchable using seed rather than plugging/re-sodding5) Pleasant appearence as well as pleasant for playing on with children6) Reasonable cold tolerance7) Good bug tolerance8) Low maintenance apart from watering and weekly mowing

GRASS TYPES UNDER CONSIDERATION:

1) St. AugustineThis is what we currently have (though I don’t know which variety).Pros:* This is the only thing everyone else in our neighborhood has, so seems well suited for this area.* Good cold tolerance.* Reasonable shade tolerance.Cons:* Can only repair via plugging or re-sodding.* Poor bug tolerance (especially chinch bugs).* Requires limestone application to keep soil PH level up.* Coarse texture.* Seems to require a lot of maintenance to get a nice looking lawn!Question:* If we stick with St. Augustine, is there a variety that will meet most of our goals (I realize that there is no St. Augustine seed available)?

2) CentipedePros:* Reasonable shade tolerance.* Can patch using seed, plugs, or sod.* Low maintenance for a nice looking lawn.* Tolerant of lower PH soils, so no limestone applications necessary.Cons:* Possible bug problems from nematodes, which I don’t think can be controlled by a pest service.* No one else in our neighborhood has it, so our lawn will look different.* Texture and appearance not as nice as St. Augustine (not sure about that one).Questions:* How cold tolerant is Centipede compared to St. Augustine?* If we go with Centipede, which variety should we use to meet most of our goals?

3) Something else I haven’t thought of???

LAWN HISTORY:

When we moved to Gainesville four years ago, we had a St. Augustine lawn full of weeds and especially crabgrass. We have tried two lawn services to control the weeds, and neither was able to do anything for the crabgrass problem. I am tired of having to weed out crabgrass by hand and plug the holes to try to produce a nice looking lawn. We have a good in-ground sprinkler system, so watering is not the problem, and we also have a weekly lawn mowing service that also fertilizes twice per year. I tested the soil PH recently and it was around 5 to 5.5. The previous owners used to put down limestone periodically to keep the soil PH level up (which I don’t want to have to do repeatedly).

Since I am about to remove all the patchy St. Augustine and weeds currently in my lawn and start fresh, I thought I should spend some time selecting the best grass variety so that hopefully we can get a better looking, healthier lawn the next time around.

Thanks for any suggestions/comments anyone might have.

B.J.

ted – posted 12 October 2003 13:31

don’t know that much about centipede, but no grass is going to thrive in a 5 ph situation. how did you test the ph? it’s important to verify the accuracy of that test- sounds awfully low. if it’s true, you’ll have to apply 2 or so applications of 40 pounds of pelletized limestone per 1000 sq. ft. if there’s st. aug in your neighborhood, there’s a reason for it. it must be working! st. aug is really easy to deal with, just follow normal maintenance practices- soudns like you’re fertilizing too little, and not on top of the insect issue.