Whats up with all the dead grass? (Austin, Round Rock: homes, live in)

[Stormgod]

I have been looking at homes for a while now in the Cedar Park/Round Rock/Pflugerville area and cant help but notice that in the pictures that everyones grass is brown and dead. Whats up with that? Is there some sort of water restriction to prevent watering your lawn?

I live in Southern California and during the summer its blistering and well over 100 many days during the months of July/Aug/Sept, so I realize that heat is an issue as we have it here as well, but peoples grass here is green as they water it every day when its that hot, sometimes twice a day.

Can anyone explain whats with all the dead grass?

--==StormGod==--

[Canine*Castle]

It's winter.

[byebyegreyskies]

I think green grass is a California state of mind. (And I say that as a California native.) I noticed the same thing when we visited Austin, and I was told that it's a grass that 'dies' in the winter. But really, green grass in the middle of a desert (LA) is what we should be questioning.

[Driftwood1]

Originally Posted by byebyegreyskies

I think green grass is a California state of mind. (And I say that as a California native.) I noticed the same thing when we visited Austin, and I was told that it's a grass that 'dies' in the winter. But really, green grass in the middle of a desert (LA) is what we should be questioning.

Could it be that this is one area where Austin is "Greener" than Cali?
Water is such a critical resourse, that watering it just to have a green lawn
is so terribly wasteful, un-natural, as to be almost shameful IMHO!
I forsee a day in the not too distant future where watering lawns with anything but rain will be illegal! True , it is winter here and the grass goes dormant, but I still see people out there dumping hundreds of gallons of water trying to keep it green... WHY?

We really love the scenery when it's brown with the green of the live oaks contrasting with it..
Native plants and native grasses, keep Texas real.
Cheers

[Chris2000]

Yikes!!
In Phoenix when the winter comes and the grass(Bermuda) goes dormant. We just over-seed with Rye grass and *poof green lawn again
It only takes like 10 minutes to spread the seed and the Rye seed doesn't even need to be covered to grow. Its an annual grass so it wont come back like the Bermuda but its super cheap and grows great in the winter.
I figured it would be the same down in TX. Does Rye grass not grow in the winter down there?? I love a nice green lawn to roll around in heheh
Chris2000

[Trainwreck20]

Hmm..the grass isn't dead, it is dormant. At least the St. Augustine is. The nice effect is you don't have to water. Most yards are actually a very pale, dusky green mixed in with the straw colored grass. Anyway, you can overseed with Rye, but not really worth the bother, since you then have to water and then mow .

In my last house, I let the yard go 'native', and it did quite well with one or two waterings a year (or none on some of the wetter years). No HOA, of course, but it was green most of the time anyway.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by Driftwood1

Could it be that this is one area where Austin is "Greener" than Cali?
Water is such a critical resourse, that watering it just to have a green lawn
is so terribly wasteful, un-natural, as to be almost shameful IMHO!
I forsee a day in the not too distant future where watering lawns with anything but rain will be illegal! True , it is winter here and the grass goes dormant, but I still see people out there dumping hundreds of gallons of water trying to keep it green... WHY?

We really love the scenery when it's brown with the green of the live oaks contrasting with it..
Native plants and native grasses, keep Texas real.
Cheers

Ditto. It's not dead it's dormant and that's the way mother nature intended. And yes, you can sow winter rye if you feel like you must have a green lawn in the winter. Besides, it makes spring all that much more exciting when all the trees, bushes and lawns come back to life!

[jwb123]

Mine's already starting to come back!!

Rye is a waste of time and resources. Conserve the water.... embrace not having to mow.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I used to plant a Rye lawn when I lived in Texas, it also adds nutrients to the ground so over the long term its a helpful AND pretty alternative to the dead brown look.

One thing to remember with Rye is that its one seed, to one blade of grass. Its a good idea to do a combined planting of both Annual and Perenial because the Annual gives a better stand until your Perenial takes hold. I would do this 2-3 years running until you see your Perenial is well established.

[texastea]

My dh enjoys the break from mowing and our yard looks like the rest of the street. We've planted rye before but the yard stays damp and the grass stains my kids clothes. Besides, its only dormant for a couple of months--ours is already greening up, too.