I planted some dwarf buffalograss (sod) in a less used area a few
years ago, and it ended up getting hosed by bermuda grass. Completely
taken over. Suggestions from this group were to stop watering, which
I hadn't done since getting the buffalograss established, which would
supposedly hammer the bermuda, but which the buffalograss would come
back from. Even after some scrochingly hot, dry summers, the bermuda
took it over, I am convinced you just can't kill that stuff.
Buffalograss just doesn't seem to be able to stand up to weeds and
beating from what I have seen and read.

On my main lawn I have El Toro Zoysia grass. It stays very thick and
keeps the weeds at bay, although there are a couple of spots where the
bermuda has been trying to get established over the past couple of
years, gonna have to deal with that soon. I usually pull weeds in the
spring, they pop up in the winter and spring, and then very little
during the growing season. I can do my yard, 7000-8000 sq ft I think,
in a few hours, so the number of weeds is well below herbicide level,
whcih I would hesitate to use regardless.

However, it is very thick grass, and if watered a lot it will require
mowing weekly. It is a very nice grass though. If you don't water,
it goes dormant, or so it appears.

I recommend sod. I am not sure if anything you'll put down will
coexist with buffalograss. It also gets thin in the shade, but still
grows, just not as thick as in the sun. It isn't as noticeable at a
distance, but when you are walking in the shady areas you'll see it is
thinner. It has, in the past, run about $150/pallet, so it isn't
cheap.

I like the look of the zoysia much more as well. To me the St. Aug.
is less "native" looking, if that is the term I am looking for, it is
fine in many settings, especially in polished, in-town type yards,
especially shady ones where it is probably the best choice, but out of
town I don't like the look as much. The zoysia is great stuff,
thinner leaved, a different green than the St. Aug. Sends roots down
two feet, so it is very drought-resistant.

andyd

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 02:54:40 +0000, Newt
wrote:


Pete Wrote:
I moved to Austin 9 years ago and at the advice of this group had my
back yard (about 4000 sq.ft.) sodded with 609 Buffalo grass. I
fertilize it on May 1st and Oct 1st with a ratio of 3/1/2 (15/5/10).
I
put Amaze pre-emergent on it on Feb 1st and Sep 1st. Each spring I
get
a bumper crop of weeds and have to hose them down with herbicide - and
I
get plenty of weeds the rest of the year. The areas along the fences
and house and under my small trees have all died off since Buffalo
grass
needs so much sun. On the other hand I have had no weed or disease
problems with my St. Augustine grass in the front yard. And I don't
water it very often - ranging from every 10 days in the spring/fall,
every 7 during the Summer, and every 6 for a few weeks at the peak of
Summer, so the water bill is not that bad especially compared to the
weed headaches of the Buffalo grass. (However, the St. Augustine does
need to be cut every weekend when it growing.)

I suspect the primary issue is that Buffalo grass may need very deep
soil like that found in the plains - not often the case in the Austin
area.

So moving forward, what would you recommend? If replacement is the
recommendation I'd like to try something that does not need to be cut
every week during the growing season. If over seeding is recommended
I'd like something that does not have much of a different look
compared
to the 609 since the two grasses would co-exist. I'd consider
completely replacing the original 609 if needed but would like to keep
the cost of the project down if that is possible.

Thanks, Pete



Hi Pete,

See if these sites help with understanding what buffalograss needs.

http://tinyurl.com/3bzjm
http://tinyurl.com/5ed3x

Newt