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