What Type of lawn grass is most common in the Triangle?

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

My Lawn is a disaster!

It gets so much direct sunlight it is like trying to gorw grass directly on the surface of the sun. On top of that I have the worst soil media ever. I could deal with it if it were just clay, but it is compacted hardpan clay with tons of fill material (rocks). It seems all but impossible to grow grass on it. I have a tiny yard (.10 acres) and I plan on minimizing the grassy areas by introducing flowerbeds and shrubs into my Landscape along with some added shade from a few new trees this fall, but I still need to devise a plan to introduce some soil ammendments and Organic material before I overseed in the Fall. Anybody have any suggestions?

I think Aerating and then putting down2-3 inches of a topsoil/compost mix might help, but with the hardpan I don't think the aerator get much penetration and really do much good. Likewise, I have heard it is a bad idea to till a yard since it can make the rsulting lawn very bumpy. In addition to that I really think tilling my yard with a rental tiller would be very much like trying to till a concrete sidewalk. I can just see the tiller bouncing across my yard now instead of turning up the soil!

Aside from getting a few sticks of dynamite and blasting multiple craters into my lawn and filling that up with new soil what can I do?

[jkmeca11]

Should I aerate, lime, and fertilize now in advance of seeding in mid Sept?

Or, do I Aerate, lime, seed and use a starter fertilizer all at the same time in mid Sept?

[tee-tee]

Originally Posted by North_Raleigh_Guy

Likewise, I have heard it is a bad idea to till a yard since it can make the rsulting lawn very bumpy. In addition to that I really think tilling my yard with a rental tiller would be very much like trying to till a concrete sidewalk.

I tilled the front yard of a home we used to own (not in the Raleigh area). It was roughly 40x40, there were 4 oak trees and one hickory tree, and the entire yard was covered with ivy.

First, I had two trees taken out and the stumps ground down.

Then I killed the ivy with several gallons of RoundUp and hours of manual labor.

I waited a few weeks to make sure no more ivy would come back, then I tilled it. Hitting tree roots was no fun, but the tiller did in fact do a great job at tearing up the yard. And as odd as it may seem, there were broken chunks of sidewalk concrete in the yard.

I pulled out every rock, stone, chunk, and ivy root I could find, which was a huge help in eliminating bare spots. I seeded and applied starter fertilizer, then tamped it down flat. I had a few yards of topsoil delivered, which I applied and leveled.

Then my wife and I used a plumb line to ID any dips or humps, and leveled it more.

Then I seeded again.

The lawn turned out incredibly well, esp considering the shade and tree roots. We would up with one depression which I filled + reseeded with 2 bags of topsoil.

This was some work, but for ~$300 (not including tree/stump work) and some labor we wound up with a fantastic front yard, and IMHO tilling it was key.

[auteck]

There's some much wrong information here...

Tall Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass are the best adapted to the Triangle area, hence the dominate the landscape.

Of the warm season grasses, Zoysia has the best cold tolerance, but it is also the one that stays dormant the longest and also the first one to to turn brown in the Fall. It grows here during the summer months, but if overferlized and over watered, it will produce THATCH like there's no tomorrow. Thatch will cause disease problems like Fairy Ring and other.

Bermuda grows here as well during the summer months, its cold tolerance for the Triangle area is marginal at best. It's green from May to about mid October, then dormant. That's 6 months of brown grass. It also invades your flower beds and requires monthly applications of fertilizer, close and frequent mowing (as much as 3 times per week) to keep a nice dense canopy. This grass is better left to sport field and Golf courses, not home lawns in the Triangle.

Centipedegrass, is not cold tolerant for the Triangle area. Not drought tolerant like bermudagrass. Requires special fertilizers (very low on nitrogen) which are hard to find because all the fertilizers found on the shelves at the big box stores are for Cool Season Grasses. It's slow to grow, therefore, repair from damage is painfully slow; not to mention its optimal summer growth is 2 to 3 months at best.

St. Augustinegrass, is even less tolerant of cold than Centipede. It's VERY wide bladed, and resembles Crabgrass quite well. Not drought tolerant like Bermuda. St. Augustine is better left to shady areas of the South East part of NC.

Kentucky Bluegrass dominites the landscape on the Western part of the state, from Asheville to Sparta and north. It's also used in the Triangle area as a companion to Tall Fescue.

Perennial Ryegrass can be grown here, but its long term survival without irrigation is short. However, it produces an outstanding turf.

[Poggly Woggly]

I like good'ol native common bermuda grass or "wire grass" for my sunny yard. It's drought resistant and easy to care for....well except for the fact that it likes to run

[auteck]

Common Bermuda is not native to NC or any US state for that matter. Its origens are from Africa.

The only native grass in the US is Buffalograss, a warm season grass, grows here as well. It is just not popular like bermuda or zoysia. To most people, it never comes to mind.

Click on the link for more information:


Prestige Buffalograss

[Poggly Woggly]

Almost native anyway...it's been around a few hundred years or so. Thanks for the correction

[TuborgP]

The best source of general information about Bermuda Grass
Bermudagrass - Bermuda grass seed for growing fine lawns and pastures.|Bermudagrass.com

One of the best sources on lawn types and how to grow.
Seedland.com - Lawn & Garden

I am growing Bermuda as that is the hand my builder dealt me. My son lives in a neighborhood of mostly disaster lawns.

[auteck]

Where does your brother live? I own a turf management company, I can help him and his neighbors.