which grass to (re)plant?

Dan – posted 13 July 2004 14:08

I live on a sunny seawall canal in St Petersburg, FL on the Tampa Bay side. 2 months ago upon returning from a military deployment, I found about 500sq ft of dead lawn from a malfunctioning sprinkler system. What kind of grass should I sod or plug? I want it to be maintenance-free and I dislike the texture of regular St Augustine grass. Is there anything softer? I tried putting in plugs of Delmar which are softer, is this a better choice? The plugs seem to take forever to join, so I will likely just resod the area, but dont want to put in the wrong kind of grass. I want to invest the money once and do it right.Also, my yard has a severe dollar weed problem, is it better to kill it all and resod that region too, or leave it and kill it with something like “Scott Special S” later on?

TClawn – posted 15 July 2004 23:39

look into seashore paspalum. it is very soft and plush when grown in and and is draugt tollerent. good luck.

Alex_in_FL – posted 19 July 2004 20:45

One of the newer zoysia grasses might be a good choice. I don’t know anything about seashore paspalum.

I recommend the following:1. Kill everything with roundup2. Wait a couple of days3. Rake dead grass and then mix in some slow release fertilizer and rake again4. Wet soil with 1/2-3/4 inch of water5. Put out sod (keep it tight)6. If you plug it you need to put down a good pre-emergent too.7. Get a couple of sacks of sand and use to fill in any cracks that develop between the sod pieces.

Alex