St.Augustine vs Bermuda (Happy: HOA, house, suite)

[josh_austin]

Hi,
We bought our first house in cedar park and have no experiance of the sod. Both our neighbours have Bermuda. I was planning to go for St.Augustine. I am not sure how the front yard is going to look with neighbours having Bermuda and we having St.Augustine. Could anyone please give me the feedback on these sods and which of them is considered good for austin climate. Thanks in advance.

[Trainwreck20]

AFAIK, both do quite well. I think that St. Augustine is the historical sod of choice, but Bermuda has become more popular. I don't know which is more or less water intensive, but I would find out and consider it first. I do know that St. Augustine does great in full Texas sun and can do okay into moderate shade. In more serious shade, it might have some issues. It is also not very traffic resistant, so it is easy to walk paths into it. Again, I have never really dealt with Bermuda first hand, so someone else will have to help you with that one .

[Moonlady]

The advantage of Bermuda over St Augustine is that you can let it go dormant in the hottest summer months - that is, if your neighbors or HOA won't freak out over you having a brown lawn. St. Augustine requires a LOT more water and it will die if you don't give it proper care in the summer. We actually have both in our yard - St Augustine in the shadier areas and Bermuda out in the back that gets the full sun. I think the St Augustine is prettier and more "carpet like", but the Bermuda is drought tolerant and doesn't require as much care. As far as your neighbors having one and you the other, I don't think you'll notice much difference.

[HappyTexan]

If both of your neighbors have Bermuda and you get St. Augustine..you will see Bermuda creep onto your property.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

If both of your neighbors have Bermuda and you get St. Augustine..you will see Bermuda creep onto your property.

That's true if it's sunny...the Bermuda dominates the open areas and the St Augustine dominates the shaded areas in our yard. I didn't think about that. If your yard is mostly in the sun, the Bermuda will try to take over the St Augustine.

[josh_austin]

Thanks everyone for the reply. Does having a barrier in between the lots help to prevent bermuda taking over st.augustine?

[jwb123]

Some, but it digs itself pretty deep. We have a mix of both and I like that. St. Augustine is more attractive, and Bermuda is softer - so we have the best aspects of both. Talk to your neighbors though - it can be a big bone of contention if they don't want St. Augustine creeping into theirs... and it will...

[Trainwreck20]

St. Augustine will take over Bermuda if you leave the St. Augustine cut it higher, and Bermuda will take over if you cut your grass short. At least, that is what the yard people told me when I was trying to get rid of encroaching Bermuda. So I cut it a little longer and it pretty much wiped out the patches of Bermuda within a year.....

[Mike78613]

St. Augustine - Water sucker and will go over anything. Very, very thick. Feels great walking on barefooted. Love the dark green look it has

Bermuda - Reminds me of golf course grass, thin and when you walk in it, feels like it is thin carpet and artificial.

Just my humble opinion

[jread]

I have St. Augustine and I HATE it! I think it's a very poor choice for this climate unless you have mature trees and shade in your yard. It is very demanding in the water category and it shrivels up quickly during the hot months. St. Augustine is a coastal grass and is really suited for more humid, wetter climates. I think Bermuda is a better choice because it thrives during our hot, dry summers. It doesn't need nearly as much water as St. Augustine.

I would really like to get some Zoysia one of these days. It handles shade like St. Augustine and sun like Bermuda. It also grows horizontally so you only have to mow it half as often.