Is there anything better than St Augustine grass? (Houston, Austin: mattress, house)

[behtypa]

St Augustine grass is all over town these days. There is a reason:
- it is very forgiving to Texas sun, no sun, heat and drought
- takes rots fast, spreads by runners
- kills regular weed, doesn't let it spread out
- it is dirt cheap ($120 a pallette on craigslist including installation)

However there is 2 things I don't like about it:
1. It is thick and beefy, not as soft as those carpet grasses (zoysia?)
2. It is a water hog, requires a lot of water to maintain.

Is there any grass that would be soft and economical on water AND as forgiving as St Augustine?

So far I only could think of Z-52 (variation of zoysia) and TechTurf grasses based on Buffalo grass. The latter is very expensive and they sell it by the plug (not by square or pallette).

Do you use any that you would recommend? I need one for a full sun (facing South) and one for partial sun (4-6 hrs of sun).

[studiobtm]

I would be interested in some opinions on this also.

[Texascrude]

I would rephrase the question: Is there anything worse than St. Augustine grass? The answer would be an emphatic "No".

[behtypa]

Originally Posted by Texascrude

I would rephrase the question: Is there anything worse than St. Augustine grass? The answer would be an emphatic "No".

Many are worse, actually. They get brown when too hot and too cold. And take the same amount of water like St Aug. So I understand why St Aug became so popular. However, water is getting more expensive every year. So there will be a point in time when it will be outlawed and replaced with a better alternative.

[behtypa]

Originally Posted by studiobtm

I would be interested in some opinions on this also.

I am planning to visit TechTurf facility in Austin shortly. I will keep you guys posted on results. I am hoping that I will see enough lawns with Tech turf grass and enough evidence it stands well through summer heat and winter. And will check if it is worth investing (what would be an ROI on that).

[HookTheBrotherUp]

There are many myths around, you need to check several sources before you take the word of most garden shops in Houston.

St. Augustine is popular for sure, but why? You need to know. It does well in our climate, but what no one tells you, it does best when just planted. You have to maintain it, dethatch it, aerate it just like any other lawn, but how often do you see people doing that? Probably not often. People with "good" St Agustine lawns fertilize the crap out of it, but they have no concern about the ground water where that fertilizer will eventually enter decades from now. It also sucks to walk on, lay on, play on, and becomes a mush of mud after heavy rains.

There are other nicer looking alternative turf grasses that if the same maintenance is provided as St. Augustine should, would look 100% better than St. Agustine.

I've had a few different lawns in Houston. St Augustine...it was a bust, It is not a good looking grass in my opinion. I planted Emerald Zoysia, it looked awesome, like a fine carpet of green, but was tough to cut and looked best when cut with a reel mower (powered of course). I planted Tiff 419 Bermuda, it was great, soft, carpet like, but did not tolerate shade too well, but looked great in the full sun.

In my current house, I planted Sea Isle Paspalum, the same grass used at Minutemade Park. It has the nice fine look like Zoysia, but the same soft feel as Tiff Bermuda. It grows great, and though not as shade tolerant as Zoysia, it is a very nice lawn.

If you ever notice the nice lawns in the newer neighborhoods, they use Bermuda. If you notice the landscaping in places like Hawaii, or Las Vegas, the use Bermuda. They do great, and have find blades that do better with less water than St. Agustine.

I think Houston landscapers will begin to use more fine blade grasses than St. Augustine, it just looks better. St. Augustine is a Florida grass, not natural around these areas. Other cities in Texas use Bermuda, or other variants, and if you go to places like Austin, or El Paso, you will see Bermuda everywhere. Nicer, just Google 'Bermuda Turf Lawns', and you will see.

Bermuda also does not need to be mowed as often as St. Agustine. Everyone knows what happens after lots of rain, or fertilization with St. Agustine, you don't have that problem with Bermuda because it spreads more than grows upward.

The ultimate for me was Zoysia. It is a VERY slow growing turf grass. I had to plant it via sod, there are no seeds, and sprigs will take one, to two years go fill in. But the good thing was it looked great, and since it grew slow, I only had to mow it every six weeks! It is drought tolerant, pest, and weed tolerant as well. It grows a dense top that chokes out any weeds, and seeds cannot germinate. It is hard on mowers though, and has to be dethatched every other year. St. Augistine needs to be dethatched yearly, but no one does it.

Have you ever wondered why the grass is 2-3 inches above the concrete lines, curbs with St. Augustine? What you see is thatch. Grass grows, roots push up the soil, new runners grow in that, and that is thatch. I used to call it the "Bart Simpson" look. I dont' have that problem with my lawn, my grass is the same level as the concrete for 8 years now.

Anyway, having something else than St. Augustine will set you apart from your neighbors. My house sticks out for sure, everyone knows something is different. My neighbors always joke about coming over and practicing their putting on my lawn because it does look like a putting green.

Anyway, good luck with your choice. St. Augustine properly maintained is great, but will never look as good as Bermuda, or Zoysia.

[texaggie]

If it were allowed by our HOA, I'd happily replace my entire backyard with astroturf instead. I'm tired of watering, weeding and feeding our St. Augustine lawn and hubby is tired of mowing it.

[piyf]

I wished I could remember the grass I got for my last house in El Paso. Didn't need much water (it's a desert) and was like a mattress when you laid on it. It had very thin blades too.

[vwgto]

Emerald Zoysia needs to be cut at least once a week, just like any other grass. I had Zoysia for 13 years, cut it with a powered reel mower. It is so thick, when healthy, that there were times a cut every six days was necessary to be able to handle the clippings. No free ride....

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by vwgto

Emerald Zoysia needs to be cut at least once a week, just like any other grass. I had Zoysia for 13 years, cut it with a powered reel mower. It is so thick, when healthy, that there were times a cut every six days was necessary to be able to handle the clippings. No free ride....

Not my experience, I only had to mow every six weeks. At least that is how long I could let it go without it being too obvious that a mowing was needed, usually three to four weeks was good. I used a Tru-Cut 22 reel mower, which is what I still use today on my Paspalum. I never had to fertilize Zoysia either, the fertilizer may make it grow faster, but does not change the color much of Emerald Zoysia. I will admit, sometimes my reel mower would cease because the stolons of the Zoysia were just too tough. It looks great though, but it was pinchy as compared to the soft narrow blades of Bermuda, or Paspallum, which fold easily... as Danieloneil01 said, like a mattress.

BTW, I grew up in El Paso, perhaps that is what made me biased to narrow blade grasses. Some of my co-workers at the office had Bermuda put in their backyards recently in Seven Meadows based on my advice, and love it. The association rules won't allow them to plant it in the front though.