Brown Lawns in Austin? (Houston: house, neighborhood, bankrupt)

[eddieconcarne]

I am moving to Austin soon and have a question about lawn maintenance.

When I was out in Austin a few months ago, all the lawns were green. But looking at photos and Google Maps, I often see where all the lawns are brown. Out here in California, a brown lawn is a dead lawn. Is that the case in Texas, too?

Is it possible to keep your lawn green in the summer or will you simply bankrupt yourself with constant watering? Does everyone let their lawn go brown? Do the lawns revive themselves once the summer is over? Do you water the lawns and they still turn brown or do you stop watering them and that's what makes them turn brown?

[TexasHorseLady]

Many of the grasses here go dormant, either in winter or in the heat of August. They're not dead, usually (unless it's a SERIOUS drought). Watering is regulated in many municipalities during the summer because water conservation is taken seriously here, but most grasses here will survive quite nicely with the amount of watering allowed.

One thing to keep in mind - if all of your neighbors' lawns are brown and you're watering a lot and keeping yours a nice, stand out from the crowd green, you're likely getting a bad rep in the neighborhood as a water hog.

[XLadylawX]

The predominant grass used here is St. Augustine and Bermuda grass, it turns an ugly shade of brown in the winter which is it's dormant stage color. I've seen some lawns that are green year round but I've yet to find out what grass that is.

So to answer your question, other than December-April, the grass around here is a lush green. In fact, unlike California, there is a lot of lush green color in the hottest part's of summer.

[eddieconcarne]

How does the water regulation work? Do they give you a watering schedule? Or simply boost the price of water when you go over a certain limit?

[TexasHorseLady]

St. Augustine (and we have some) is a water hog, more suited for the coastal regions of Texas, but developers love it. And some people love it, and are willing to pay the water bills (and hog water) in order to keep it green. I loved it as a child in East Texas (the blades are great for chewing on and carefully separating into two).

But while a lot of lawns here do have it, it's not the best choice of lawn for this area, where watering limits can be mandatory and strict at times. (We just came out of a two year drought that was the worst in either 50 years or 100 years, depending on who you talk to, so memories are clear.) There are many lovely grasses that do well in our hot, usually dry summers - zoysia is awesome, buffalo grass is another possibility, bermuda, yes, though it's not my favorite. (When we lived in Austin, we experimented with our lawn when it needed to be resodded, putting down three or four different kinds of grass and deciding on which to do the entire lawn in based on which did best - zoysia won out, that was 20 years ago, and in spite of 14 years of tenant care (or lack thereof), and a couple of droughts including the recent major one, it's still strong. Does turn a light tan in winter and when not watered, but it seems nothing will kill it! Soft to walk on, too.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by eddieconcarne

How does the water regulation work? Do they give you a watering schedule? Or simply boost the price of water when you go over a certain limit?

They give you a schedule, based on whether your house number ends with an odd or even number. Only watering on certain days (right now it's two days a week), and only before a certain hour and after a certain hour on those days. That's for automatic sprinkling - hand held can be done any time on those days. As things get worse, it gets more stringent, with stricter regulations. And, yes, there are fines for violations.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by eddieconcarne

How does the water regulation work? Do they give you a watering schedule? Or simply boost the price of water when you go over a certain limit?

Both, the price is higher the more you use and when the lake level gets low they restrict what days you can water on, also no watering allowed during the hottest part of the day. And you can be ticketed for allowing your water to run down the street.

[achtungpv]

Regarding Google Maps...aerial photography is almost always flown in DEC - JAN to maximize "leaf off" so you can see the infrastructure...which is generally the purpose of the photography. So, most lawns are dormant.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by XLadylawX

The predominant grass used here is St. Augustine and Bermuda grass, it turns an ugly shade of brown in the winter which is it's dormant stage color. I've seen some lawns that are green year round but I've yet to find out what grass that is.

Usually that means they've overseeded with rye grass. You can seed it in Oct/Nov, and it will stay green until about mid April, when it will die off and the St Augustine (or whatever) will come back. Doesn't seem to harm the lawn at all, and after the initial seeding phase it doesn't require much water at all. You have to mow it maybe 2-3 times during the fall/winter, maybe a little more if it rains a lot.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

St. Augustine (and we have some) is a water hog, more suited for the coastal regions of Texas, but developers love it. And some people love it, and are willing to pay the water bills (and hog water) in order to keep it green. I loved it as a child in East Texas (the blades are great for chewing on and carefully separating into two).

But while a lot of lawns here do have it, it's not the best choice of lawn for this area, where watering limits can be mandatory and strict at times. (We just came out of a two year drought that was the worst in either 50 years or 100 years, depending on who you talk to, so memories are clear.) There are many lovely grasses that do well in our hot, usually dry summers - zoysia is awesome, buffalo grass is another possibility, bermuda, yes, though it's not my favorite. (When we lived in Austin, we experimented with our lawn when it needed to be resodded, putting down three or four different kinds of grass and deciding on which to do the entire lawn in based on which did best - zoysia won out, that was 20 years ago, and in spite of 14 years of tenant care (or lack thereof), and a couple of droughts including the recent major one, it's still strong. Does turn a light tan in winter and when not watered, but it seems nothing will kill it! Soft to walk on, too.

Very accurate post. St. Augustine is used far too much in Austin. It is really better for areas like Houston. When it has enough water it is very good, and grows relatively well in shade. But it needs a lot of water to stay healthy.

I recently planted Zoysia Pallisades in my small patch of lawn and am very pleased with it. Very nice color and blade size. Can't really compare water usage requirement yet because we have had plenty of rain this year. But I expect to water less than when I had St. A.