By Tom Harris
Out of about 500 species of grass that grow in Texas, only 4 stand out as good turf or lawn grasses for our area. They are the “warm season” grasses, and do very well here if the right kind is put in the right place. They are: Bermuda grass, Zoysia grass, Buffalo grass and St. Augustine grass. Each has its good points and bad points.
Bermuda grass, a native to Africa, is a vigorous grower (it’ll grow up your leg if you stand still long enough) and doesn’t die in the winter — just goes dormant (turns brown) when the rain stops, but will “green-up” if/when it rains again. It can be established from seeds (least expensive), survives on little water and fertilizer, looks best if cut frequently at 1 1/2 inches high, does not produce thatch, will take a lot of traffic from people and pets, and is used on athletic fields because of its hardiness. Many hybrids are available.
The bad things about Bermuda are that it cannot tolerate shade, goes dormant and turns brown when the rain stops, requires constant edging in the lawn, is more of a nuisance because it sends out so many runners, and doesn’t start growing well until the soil temperature reaches at least 60 degrees in the spring.
Zoysia grass is native to the Orient. Like Bermuda, it is wear-resistant. It’s more cold-tolerant than Bermuda, is a fine-bladed grass and comes in several varieties. Zoysia is not as shade-tolerant as St. Augustine. It’s slow to spread, takes a little more water than Bermuda, and requires mowing as often as Bermuda to maintain a uniform, attractive appearance.
St. Augustine grass is native to the West Indies and the Texas Gulf Coast, and is the most common grass around here. It is the most shade-tolerant of the grasses listed here. It is established by sod or plugs, spreads quickly, and has wider leaf blades than the others here.
The bad side of St. Augustine is that it has low wear-tolerance, is susceptible to St. Augustine Decline (SAD) and brown patch, is susceptible to iron chlorosis (yellowing), is attacked by insects (chinch bugs and grubs), needs more water than any of the others just to survive, has little cold-tolerance and will die in exceptionally cold winters.
Buffalo grass is native to the North American Great Plains from Canada to Texas. It spreads by above-ground stolons, but doesn’t get as thick as Bermuda. It has fine leaf blades with a bluish-green color, needs only about 15-18 inches of rain per year … we get about 29 inches normally … and if left unmowed will only grow to about 4-5 inches in height and then just stop growing. It can survive extreme drought conditions, has no particular disease or insect problems (its biggest enemy is over-watering and over-fertilizing), and likes our full, hot sun.
The other side of Buffalo is that it is the most expensive to put in and it will not tolerate any shade. Common Bermuda is a serious weed problem in Buffalo grass and will choke it out. Buffalo grass is known for being kind of thin, which allows weeds to take over, too.
You need to know, however, that no grass will grow in full shade — they all need sunshine to do well. Yes, you can keep it alive under those trees over there, but it WILL become kinda straggly and thin in a couple of years.
If you have spots that are shady all day long, why not go with some kind of ground cover instead, and quit fighting the grass situation?
Just FYI, I’m gonna be teaching six classes in June in San Antonio … four for Northside ISD and two for Northeast ISD. Two of the classes for Northside will be at O’Connor High School on Leslie Road (off Bandera Road) in Room J112, and two classes will be at the Northside Learning Center on Bandera Road. The classes at O’Connor High School will be the very popular Square Foot Gardening on June 10 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and Building Your Own Drip Irrigation System on June 17 also from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The classes at the Learning Center are Pruning to Protect Your Investment on June 14 from 1-3 p.m. in room B 104 and Getting Ready for Fall Gardening on June 21, 1-3 p.m. in room B104.
The classes for Northeast ISD are both on Saturday at the Botanical Garden and start at 9:30 and go to 11:30. On June 14, we’ll cover Texas Lawn Grasses, and on June 21 the topic is Square Foot Gardening (in case you missed the other one). If you’d like to see descriptions of these classes, go to my Web site: www.thehillcountrygardener.com and look on page 5. You can also sign up for the classes there.
By the way, Molly Keck from the Extension Office in Bexar County will be teaching 4-5 bug classes at O’Connor High School, too. She really knows her bugs … PLUS she invites you to bring bugs with you for identification. In addition, Ed Bradley from the San Antonio Rose Society will be teaching a class on roses.
We’ll put this notice in the blog a few more times as a reminder.
If you want an earlier, shortened version of the class on Texas Lawn Grasses, I’ll be teaching a 1-hour version of it for the GVST Essentials of Gardening class on Monday, May 19 at 12:30 p.m. Bring your lunch. Drinks are provided. The second speaker that day will be speaking on Vines.