What type Grass do I need for desert?

Sanctuary Ranch – posted 13 November 2001 22:25

I am a new (first time) homeowner and have a mini horse ranch in AZ. I have 2.25 acres fenced for pasture and arena and the house yard is about 1/4 acre, maybe more. I need to know what type grass to plant for lawn and what type will grow well here for pasture. I was reading about bermuda over seeded with winter Rye but what if I am starting in the winter and there is no grass at all? The soil is really dusty but turns into a mire when wet (clay?) I have ample water as we have a deep well but the water contains high iron and salts. We plan on installing a sprinkler system in the pasture but we will use a hose sprinkler for the yard. Any suggestions? I am totally new at this and have to do this myself as new ranch, no money!

seed – posted 17 November 2001 09:31

Sanctuary Ranch, how far north or south are you? What’s your elevation? In southern Arizona you could probably very well with bermudagrass or even buffalograss or blue grama, depending on how rough you want the lawn to look, and those warm-season grasses should be planted in March or April, with a very light covering of ryegrass now just to get you through the winter. If you’re farther north or in the mountains, however, you’re better off going with a cool-season grass such as tall fescue.

Phil

Sanctuary Ranch – posted 17 November 2001 10:10

Seed, Thank you for your reply. I am in the Tri-State area, Nev, Cal, AZ, and the nights here can get pretty cold in the winter (10 miles away where I lived in Needles, CA the temps are as much as 20 deg higher!). I want to avoid Fescue as I keep horses and fescue can cause abortions in mares. But I have planted what you suggested, a light covering of rye to see how it goes for the winter. Thanks, I am definately going to like this site! We are very excited about our new home!

TextronSaudi – posted 28 January 2002 03:44

I’m going to book mark this site! Interesting question for me as Saudi Arabia has also quite a desert climate ( )

The Tiffs are very popular here for golf, soccer etc, but I’ve gotten interested in Paspalum, as my location has very high salt content in the water, and Paspalum appeas to have a better tolerance of what cold winter times that we have here.

I planted a trial of Paspalum (Sea-Shore) last November, with sprigs. Okay – I know it was the wrong time of year but I didn’t want to cover with Rye and tehn have to “convert”. Night temperatures have been as low as 38 recently but the paspalum growth is still looking quite healthy. I’m looking forward to the next couple of months when the temperature is higher and the grow-in is faster.

At the moment, I have another area of the garden in Common Bermuda, and that looks really bad due to Winter Dormancy.

I’ll be interested in any comments from Paspalum owners or prospective ones