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Old 08-18-2012, 02:58 PM
 
Location: At the NC-SC Border
8,159 posts, read 10,918,550 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish View Post
It is indestructible, and a total pestilence to neighbors with other grasses.
There is no selective herbicide to kill bahia when it invades other lawns.
Sounds like the grass for me. I have rental on each side of me, and they don't cut grass anyhow
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Old 08-18-2012, 05:17 PM
 
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Ripping up your fescue is probably the last thing I would do. If you really only have a thin layer of top soil then clay in your yard that is your first problem. Kill your fescue and cut it short then lay the sod on it. You need a loam layer.

If you want a low mx grass Bermuda is not it. 1# of N per 1k sq ft PER MONTH in the summer months is what it needs to look good. Lots of fertilizing. It certainly is heat tolerant but will look like crap if you cut it with a reel mower. Needs cutting every few days to look good. Some people even mow it DAILY.

The best low mx grass is centipede but it also looks like crap IMO.

The better bermuda varities are sodded, Tif 419 is $200 per 500 sq ft from Supersod w/ a $100 delivery fee.

In Sept I'm getting 10 yards of screened top soil and putting that down then seeding. $250.
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Old 08-19-2012, 09:13 PM
 
6,297 posts, read 16,089,036 times
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I like this for shade: Online Plant Guide - Ophiopogon japonicus 'Kyoto Dwarf' / Dwarf Mondo
A few years ago, Southern Living magazine showed a whole front yard of it. Was short. No maintenance. Stayed green year 'round.
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Old 08-19-2012, 10:01 PM
 
31,683 posts, read 41,024,360 times
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As has been mentioned Super Sod is wonderful
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Old 08-20-2012, 04:21 AM
 
Location: Morrisville, NC
9,144 posts, read 14,753,437 times
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If, as you say, they threw seed over clay, before you do anything it will pay to till up your soil and have it amended. Hard packed clay won't really let anything grow.
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Old 08-20-2012, 06:01 AM
 
Location: Apex, NC
789 posts, read 368,420 times
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Subscribing.

Our Bermuda looks bad - big patches of brown with patches of green interspersed...so I'll probably need this info early next spring.
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Old 08-20-2012, 10:59 AM
 
1,886 posts, read 4,813,458 times
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If you have Bermuda or are thinking of converting to it you need to google the words
"Bermuda Bible".
Bermuda is certainly not maintenance free, but IMO it is the best choice for our area if you have
FULL SUN. My house faces due East and the front yard gets blasted by the sun from 6 am until 4 pm all summer. My Bermuda (Tifway 419) looks great. I only water once a week and only if less than 1 inch of rain has fallen in the week prior. I do fertilize monthly during the growing season but that's really not a big hardship.
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Old 08-20-2012, 12:04 PM
 
835 posts, read 2,876,785 times
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We went from a horrible fescue yard with mostly bare spots of clay to having Zenith Zoysia sod put down this past April. The total cost for about 930 sq ft was less than $1300 including tilling and removing the existing grass/weeds plus a 1-in layer of topsoil. It took faithfully watering for the first 3 weeks. Once it took root we were able to back off a bit with watering. We did fight weeds, which the company owner said was "Normal" and could have come from the topsoil, though I think it was due to not killing off the existing grass/weeds first. I was very diligent to keep on top of the weeds by pulling, pulling, and pulling some more. We're hoping, as we are told and have read up on, that the Zoysia will choke out the weeds each year. Hoping that's true. We will do our part with pre-emergents in the fall and winter/spring.

In any event, it all paid off thus far. We have a gorgeous lush thick yard, the nicest in our entire development. We have neighbors stopping us to ask how we keep our yard so green. When we tell them it is not Fescue but rather Zoysia, they are a bit surprised. Now we only water if it's been 3 straight days of hot temps with no rain.
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Old 08-20-2012, 02:10 PM
 
Location: NC
2,905 posts, read 5,919,154 times
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Just switched to Bermuda. After the initial watering period when new (and during 100 degree days) I've not watered it a single time (I have no sprinkler up there anyway), and it looks great. Like a carpet. Was relatively inexpensive. I can refer someone to help you with the work if you need - the guy I hired was amazing.
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Old 08-20-2012, 08:19 PM
 
Location: under the beautiful Carolina blue
22,665 posts, read 36,764,249 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RDUBiker View Post
Just switched to Bermuda. After the initial watering period when new (and during 100 degree days) I've not watered it a single time (I have no sprinkler up there anyway), and it looks great. Like a carpet. Was relatively inexpensive. I can refer someone to help you with the work if you need - the guy I hired was amazing.
Did u end up using Tony?
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