Well I just bought a house and I am considering putting in turf type buffalo grass. I live in Austin so I know it is able to do well up here. Anyone have any experience with it and what are your opinions of it? Do I have to do sod or can I just seed it? I have only heard good things so I am looking for something negative if there are any negatives. Thanks for the help.
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It's a "clump" grass so don't expect coverage like Bermuda or St. Augustine. Extremely drought-resistant...which is perfect for Austin. Last year was a near-record year for rain, so expect a few years of dry heat. Good luck.
I have a lawn full of crabgrass, Johnson grass, and vetch. Anybody interested in helping me get rid of it? By that, I mean do you guys have any suggestions on what to use? I tried some kind of professional strength RoundUp or something like that but it worked to no avail.
Count on Aggies for info (even in Austin) When I was in school the 411 for Buffalo Grass was it was the turf grass to use when you wanted establish a wildflower plantings. It provided shelter for wildflower seedlings but didn't choke them out. You have to go without mowing wildflowers from May to September though so they can flower and reseed...not exactly Homeowner Association friendly. Check out the Ladybird Johnson Center down by Circle C for help if a wildflower yard is something you can do. It's a nice place to visit this time of year.
Pun, Roundup kills everything, including your turf grass. You probably denuded your lawn and left it where only weeds could restablish after the chemical killer breaks down. You need to use selective weed controls on grass you want to keep. If you really sprayed your yard with Roundup then you probably are going to have to till it and resod it. Shake a pre-emergent like Preem on it between tilling and resodding..or reseeding, or re sprigging...I don't know what grass ya'll use up there.
Actually I only tested RoundUp in select spots. I took the fabric testing approach and tested where it could not be noticed. But seriously, the weeds popped right back up. I'll have to snap a photograph of it but you're right it did kill all of the underlying "good" grass. I was thinking of using MSMA but don't really know much about it or if there may be something better than it out there.
http://www.tigerexpresslandscape.com/ Disclaimer: leroy420 happens to work for the manufacturer that supplies TigerExpress.
Xeriscape it..... http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/xeriscape/xeriscape.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeriscaping http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_xeriscape.htm
i had seen pictures of newer turf type buffalo grass that looked like this and last night i was walking my dog and noticed one lawn that was mostly buffalo grass (still some st. augustine in there but no noticeable weeds) and it looked pretty good. maybe i will ask them about it. i was also thinking about getting a landscaper to help plan out my yard and obviously they would know but i wanted to try to learn as much on my own first. also, i was doing some more reading and it looks like one of the major problems with buffalo grass is the lack of herbicides that only kill weeds and not the grass.
Don't they use a very shortly cut Bermudagrass? Speaking of grass, I'm about to re-seed my lawn. I'm pissed at the previous owner because he didn't know how to edge. Whereas the grass should meet the curb, it is like 2 inches from the curb. How the hell am I supposed to correct that? Just re-seed the 2 inch gap from the grass to the curb. There's a lot of things you don't notice when you move into a house but, once you get moved in, then you essentially become pissed at the previous owner for being such a r****d and not doing the little things. For example, there is a rock garden around my pool with four sets of four dogwood plants. Dumbasses who put it in didn't use any landscaping fabric underneath...so weeds were everywhere growing out of the rocks. It must have looked good for the first 30 days before it was taken over by weeds. I had to bust my rump to fix it by re-doing the entire thing. I put in landscape lighting while I was at it. I just can't believe how dumb some people are in those situations. I've got it all fixed up now...no thanks to the previous owners...who I would personally like to strangle.
my lawn is bermudagrass but it doesn't appear this gap is going to fill in on its own. i guess i'm just going to seed the gap and forego edging for a while.
It's a cross, ah, Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. Golf greens in Houston are usually dwarf Bermuda strains, Tiffdwarf, Tiffeagle. Some are overseeded with Poa Trivialis for winter color. They are highly maintenance intensive, they need to be mowed every day with a reel bladed mower. In dryer or cooler climates, even in Austin the preferred greens grass is Bentgrass which genrally receives shots softer and rolls putts faster. It's even more maintenance intensive. Golf fairways around Texas are usually 419 Tifway variety Bermuda grass. It mows down to be a pretty smooth surface but will get gnarly if allowed to grow deeper. I used it on the beach side of our beachouse as a playturf for softball and chipping golf balls but the lawn service mows it about about 1 1/2" so it keeps a rougher looking texture than just common Bermuda.
If its a decent sized area I would put sod down over dealing with seeds. Look into a sprinkler system if you don't have one, you will need to water the new grass in a lot. check out the natural gardener in S. Austin for some help. There are other places in N. Austin. - http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/ In the long run its better to go organic, but its some effort upfront. I've been doing it and it is paying off in less weeds (almost zero), less watering and healthy grass. Stay away from weed and feeds, etc. The city has some advice as well.
