Which grass for Texas hill country?

by Legacy post · 2016-05-11

Hathor – posted 29 August 2003 13:50

I am trying to decide on a grass for our new home in the Hill Country of Texas (Pipe Creek). We are landscaping with primarily native plants and will only have a small (approx 2000sqft) grass area for our small dog to use as his “business” area. he only goes out to do that and come back…so not a lot of traffic. It will be full sun.I have been looking at seeding with buffalograss(Sharp Shooter) and zoysia (Zenith). I plan to prepare and maintain with “organic” methods as I use for all my landscaping.

What would you all recommend? Would seeding or sod be your method for the grass you recommend?

Thank you.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 30 August 2003 23:54

I’m wondering why you picked two grasses at opposite ends of the scale for density?? Buffalo will be thin and full of weeds while zoysia will be dense and no weeds at all.

Why did you eliminate St Augustine and bermuda grass from consideration? I’m thinking you might want a grass that can recover from damage quickly. The organic program will really help get rid of the poop quickly, but dog urine will still be a concern.

St Augustine will dominate easily if you set your mower at the highest setting. If you set it at the lowest setting, the bermuda will tend to dominate, but any St Augustine you get in there will look awful due to the differences in the coarseness of the two grasses.

Hathor – posted 02 September 2003 06:56

Honestly…those were the two recommended by others. I know much more about perrenials and shrubs/trees…than I do about grass in Texas.

I am certainly open to suggestion. I had thought about St.Augustine…but wondered if it could handle the sun exposure. It will be flanked on the north by trees and the south by our home…but the sun will pass east west across the area. I really do not like bermuda grass…it is nearly impossible to keep out of flower beds due to the way it spreads under the surface. That is a big concern for me. I like how easy it is to keep the St.Augustine “in it’s place”

Is there a variety of St.Augustine that would handle the sun better? I will be able to water easily…since it won’t be a large area.I appreciate the advice. And as for the dog waste…we generaly keep that picked up ourselves. It’s a dirty job but……

redbird – posted 02 September 2003 08:00

You should check out a buffalograss lawn – butt ugly if you ask me. St. Augustine does recover quickly – but not to continued abuse (dog pee) in a small area. It doesn’t wear well (IMHO). I have zoysia, and although it is tough regarding wear, dog pee might as well be battery acid. My advice – bermuda with edging (I buried metal edging around my flowerbeds w/bermuda in Texas and kept the grass weed-wacked to the nubs against it – it worked well. The new concrete curbing will do the same thing and look nicer.) Another alternative – pea gravel or mulch. Pea gravel isn’t hard on the feet & drains great. You can just hose the gravel off daily to wash the urine away AND you can dissolve the droppings and wash them away with the hose also.

Mike

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 05 September 2003 00:45

St Aug will do great in full sun in Pipe Creek. As to variety, I can’t help you. Some people can keep all those different varieties straight, but I can’t. Ask me how to build an airplane and I can help you.

Check out this site for more info on varieties.

http://www.turfgrassamerica.com/

Texrat – posted 02 May 2004 16:38

I think buffalo grass is beautiful. It helps to mix it with blue grama to increase density.

I’m amazed at how antagonistic some people are to this wonderful grass.