Best lawn species for front range? (HOA, home, landscaping)

[EscapeCalifornia]

I've read lots of complaints from natives about people moving to the semi-arid Front Range and planting Kentucky Bluegrass lawns that requires lot of water. Are people planting bluegrass just being lazy (planting what they know) or are there good alternatives that use a lot less water yet can survive in Colorado's four seasons?

[GraniteStater]

Buffalo grass is native to the Great Plains and requires less water than bluegrass or fescue. It is highly adaptable to the commonly dry conditions found in the high plains, and grows the strongest between June through August. It does, however, go dormant in the fall.
For more information about Buffalo grass: http://www.allaboutlawns.com/grass-t...-and-lawns.php

[GraniteStater]

Also, buffalo grass requires less irrigation compared with bluegrass and fescue lawns because it is better adapted to the dry plains environment.

[Katarina Witt]

I have read articles discussing the pros and cons of different grasses. Most yards are planted with bluegrass. It doesn't really require that much water, not as much as some people put on it. Some of the other grasses, I have read, turn brown earlier than Ky bluegrass.

[vegaspilgrim]

People plant bluegrass because it is required by their Home Owners Association, which is a legally binding authority. In many neighborhoods, you couldn't plant buffalo grass even if you wanted to.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

People plant bluegrass because it is required by their Home Owners Association, which is a legally binding authority. In many neighborhoods, you couldn't plant buffalo grass even if you wanted to.

I thought about that after I posted. Do regulations like that apply usually to just the front yard or the back too?

I wonder if some day HOAs will be forced (either by law or by their members) to allow more Colorado friendly grasses as water becomes more scarce.

[Nadine]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

I have read articles discussing the pros and cons of different grasses. Most yards are planted with bluegrass. It doesn't really require that much water, not as much as some people put on it. Some of the other grasses, I have read, turn brown earlier than Ky bluegrass.

As I have stated on other threads. I have Ky bluegrass. I do not water like some people do. When you water all the time and never enough at one time. The roots are weak and do not go deep. We do have irrigation water but we only water once a wk and put down about 1 inch water. Winter we do not water at all. It does go dormant about Oct when we stop watering unless we get rain or snow. Turns brown etc. But so do other grasses. Some turn brown even when they are watered, like that Zorba grass. Takes forever to green in the spring. Our lawn greened early this yr because of the snow and rain we got. I know I do not use the water many others do on my grass. And they are watering from city water. must cost a fortune, some will water all winter and keep it green. Some have yds larger than my hay field. Buffalo grass is clumpy prairie grass. I know some think it nice. I don't. But it will stay alive without water for--------eons, I guess.

[GraniteStater]

I do not think any HOA should require lawns to be bluegrass. It just seems like some of these HOA's want to regulate everything you can and can not do to your home. Sorry, but Kentucky Bluegrass is definitely not native to Colorado. More native grass species should be required to be planted in suburban areas considering the extremely fast growth rate in those areas.

[tfox]

I have been one of those people complaining about bluegrass. While there are certain native species like buffalo grass that do fine, the "default" option is bluegrass -- kentucky bluegrass specifically with no landscaping around. While this is probably the easiest way to go, it is does not look particularly good and it uses a massive amount of water. It's also a real pain -- in bad drought years with twice-weekly watering in some municipalities, that's not really enough to keep kentucky bluegrass alive, so that leads to massive cheating.

Nowadays, landscaping guys will plant your lawn with native, drought tolerant grasses if you request; they deal with this enough that they know how to do this. I've noticed that CDOT is now doing highway landscaping with native grass -- it seems that this is catching on thankfully.

In addition to using a better species of grass, a better option is probably to landscape your yard so that the grass doesn't go from end to end, which actually doesn't look all that good anyway. Limit your grass to a defined area of your yard, perhaps the very center of it, and then have a sharp edge around it. On the edges, you lay down landscape fabric, mulch, and plant some ornamental grasses, small shrubs, and perennial flowers, you'll have a much nicer looking yard that will require much less water.

A lot of the newer neighborhoods have few to no trees, particularly in the back yards, because builders rarely do back-yard landscaping. Even though trees use water, the shade they provide actually will reduce water considerably over the long run because in the drought summers you'll have to water your bluegrass nearly constantly to keep it alive if it's in direct sunlight, and you won't be allowed to do that legally anyway due to restrictions -- so, best to have all your grass in the shade of a tree.

There are also hybrid varieties of bluegrass to look at that are engineered to be drought-tolerant. I have not tried these up to this point, but I will consider it the next time I re-do landscaping. One brand-name is Reveille. I doubt that HOA's are specific enough to disallow hybrid bluegrass; if they do, well shame on them.

[rebagirl]

Is Marathon Grass an option out there, or is it just a California trend?