This is only true if you cut St. Aug low. If cut at the proper height, Bermuda needs more. St. Aug can shield the ground and prevent loss from evaporation.
St. aug is like a weed and very hard to mess up. Bermuda is much more maintenance intensive. you need to cut it often and LOW. Otherwise it gets ugly .
Your condescending attitude in this thread is what makes you the ahole. I have been a home owner in league city/friendswood for 20 years (i'm old, i know)and have had St Augustine the whole time. I cut with my mower at the highest setting, I only water in the evenings and I try to let it go without water as much as possible, but if you wait too long it burns and won't return until the runners come back. I'm not trying to be a hard head and if you have more information that can help I am willing to listen. I have been using the Randy Lemmon fertilization schedule which works great, but he too says that in the dog days of summer this grass needs between 1 to 1.5 inches of water(he says every 4 to 5 days). http://www.randylemmon.com/lawns/gardenline-watering.html
That is because he is compensating for entirely too much chemical fertilizer. With the amount of salt and N he is putting down the water is needed to keep of chemical burn and salt buildup. If you build the soil instead of feed the grass you don't have that problem. The reason your grass dies if you wait too long is because you have shallow roots. It is spoiled and has never been asked to dig deeper for water. This also makes it fragile as the top few inches of soil can dry out fast. Watering deeper and more infrequently, along with building your soil with organics builds a lawn. I have irrigated 4 times so far this year.
If water wasn't basically free in this country people would have much different way of thinking. Wasting such a precious and vital public resource kills me.
FWIW we used to have the San Aug/ Bermuda argument in Landscape Architecture school. The Houston area hasn't had a rain shortage like this in 50 years and shade is usually more of a concern than water, hence all the San Augustine. Golf course bermuda's, 419 and 328 will get pretty gnarly if it isn't kept low. If you Austinites want the most drought resistant grass go with buffalo grass. It's pretty thin and dosen't take wear but it also is compatible with wild flower seedings. If you can get away with it, it's best to not mow the flower areas between May and September. You can get it from King Seed company in SA.
LCRA is a joke and you are exactly right. I don't know why people in the town...who love to have a cause...don't shout louder about this.
It's highly amusing and yet quite infuriating to hear city people b**** about not being able to water their precious little yards. DD, you told me a couple of years ago when I suggested it that rainwater collection is silly because the rainwater will just soak in and/or evaporate and then create rain again. And who the hell sods a yard in the middle of summer?
Most of the DFW area is some form of "Tif" with Tifway 419 being used a lot lately. I've seen some people use St. Augustine. Bermuda does terrible in the shade, but I decided to re-sod a side of my house that only gets about 2-4 hours of sunlight with Celebration Bermuda and it's done really great as opposed to the 419 it replaced. I'm thinking about doing my entire front lawn with Celebration now. I love the dark bluish-green color (well, when it's not 100 degrees and a drought going on...). My town up here in the North Dallas area has mandatory water conservation every summer. From July to the end of September, we can water on our trash day and one other day during the week. Most of the Bermuda lawns have held up pretty well around here despite 40+ days of 100-109 degree temps and watering restrictions. We can use soaker hoses or handwater though. We can use Tree Gators for trees, so it really hasn't been a problem for me.
It won't be free much longer in many places. I can't even put a rain barrel out here because the water coming from the sky belongs to the city.
Heat related question: Do any of you guys know of a reputable a/c repair man? I am needing my evaporator coil (near the air handler in the attic) "removed" and cleaned. It's filthy dirty and I can barely stick my hand inside to do a through cleaning let alone on both sides and inside the V area. Also how much does that type of service cost?
Houston has fines ready for those who flout water conservation http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7700287.html
Casey, I for one am interested in your newsletter. How do I subscribe? No in all honestly, I really do want to get your full suggestion on how to take care of grass. Can you make one post with your full system or send me an email through the board? I do not have a knack for yards so please be specific and write as if the person reading it has never cared for a lawn before. Thanks in advance! Rep if you come through. My yard goes through fits and my neighbors (prior to this) watered ALL THE TIME. I don't want to me those guys.
