Best type of Grass to Plant in NC (Surf City: HOA, homes)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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As far as the money that people have to keep dolling out for the upkeep of their lawn in NC, is it a conspiracy or what? Most of the homes have Fescue and that type of grass as I understand it is a cool weather grass, yet about 70% - 80% of the time the weather here is pretty warm than not (correct me if I am wrong). Nevertheless, the builders here seem to push Fescue on you which is all jacked up during the summer months, and requires annual aerating and seeding not to mention gallons and gallons of water. What is a guy suppose to do? Whatever happen to the grass when all you had to do was mow it every couple of weeks without having to break the bank on water bills. Fescue requires more time than my kids, wife and car combined - Enough with this grass!
My question to you guys and gals is, what is the best type of grass to get for this area, and what are the Pros and Cons of Fescue, Bermuda, and Zoysia? Do you think any HOA would have objections to me changing the type of grass that I have for another, because that is what the builder left here? I am just tired of pumping my hard earned cash into something that should be growing with as much resistance to the elements as nature intended.
You should change the title of the thread to Best type of Grass to Plant in the Triangle. Reason being is that the best grass to grow here is different than the best grass in western NC.
That said, here is my take. Fescue is more designed for cooler climates. Bermuda is the most used grass here. Zoysia is a great in between.
1) Zoysia would be my top choice. It thrives in full sun and does a fine job in areas with some shade. It grows so thick and spreads that it chokes out most weeds. It's a lighter green color. Zoysia must be sodded, except for one type of very very expensive seed.
2) Bermuda would be my second choice. It loves full sun and spreads like crazy. It is a heavy feeder to look its best, so you will mow more than Zoysia. It's a medium to dark green color depending on type and how well it's fed. Bermuda can be seeded or sodded.
3) Fescue is something I would only consider using where there is a too much shade for bermuda. Really, if I wanted fescue that bad I'd move to western NC. Fescue can be seeded or sodded.
There is no perfect type of grass for NC as this state is a "transition zone". It gets too hot to be perfect for fescue and too cold to be perfect for bermuda and Zoysia.
In the end you need to select your type of grass BASED ON THE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS OF YOUR YARD. Does your yard have big trees and a lot of shade? If the answer is yes than fescue can do great. Do you have 12 hours of full blown sun exposure baking your grass all day long? If the answer is yes than Bermuda and Zoysia would likely be better options.
Much like picking a grass based on the specific conditions, whether or not and HOA would have anything to say about your grass depends on the HOA so just ask them. I know in my neighborhood and nearby bedford I see lawns with fescue, bermuda, and zoysia so clearly those HOAs don't stand in the way of people chosing what works best for them. Good Luck!
Zoysia Sod, one week later (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikejaquish/5957741862/ - broken link) by mikejaquish (http://www.flickr.com/people/mikejaquish/ - broken link), on Flickr
That is my Empire Zoysia a week after the sod was installed.
It was 99 degrees when it was laid and I watered the heck out of it.
Fully rooted now, mowed a few times, and you cannot begin to see the lines where the slabs met. It is lush and I think it is a great lawn.
The surface roots of the tree are bothering it in a couple of places and I am concerned about a couple of other areas where it may be too shady.
I would do Zoysia in full sun to light shade.
I have a neighbor around the corner who plugged his Zoysia at about 25% of the surface area and it looks great. Took about 2 years for it to fill in, but there is no indication at all now that it was plugged.
If your covenants are based on uniformity in appearance of properties, you may not be able to get approval from the HOA for a warm season grass like Zoysia or bermuda.
Get some people in to give you estimates. We talked to a couple of installers, and both recommended Bermuda. We also talked to our neighbor, who has a beautiful backyard - he told us it was Bermuda and he recommended his guy and told us no one could beat his price. He did come in $1K less than the others, and he was out there working himself, etc etc. Basically this guy's life is sod, LOL. He said we could do Zoysia but it would a lot more money with really no different return on investment. We had it put in a little over 2 weeks ago and it looks great.
FWIW, The builders on the coast (we're near Surf City) use Centipede grass. It only needs mowing every two weeks, and it seems pretty tough.
I had centipede when I lived in South Carolina. If I had to chose over again up here, I'd have gone for it instead of fescue. It is much more heat tolerant.
The only reason you might have HOA problems with Zoysia is that, being a warm-season grass, it goes dormant in the winter and turns a buff color. If everyone else in the neighborhood has fescue, yours will stick out. Personally, I kind of like the color of dormant Zoysia. But YMMV.
All have pros and cons. Generally, Bermuda (seeded and vegetative) is the only kind that can be overseeded in the fall w/ rye for a green lawn in the winter.
IMO Zoysia sod looks the best, there are a few varieties, I do not recall the specific one I saw/felt @ SuperSod but it was perfect. Great for full sun, summer day lawns.
Centipede is the "lazy mans grass", very little (if any) fertilizing, no need to water, etc. It looks the worst IMO, but can still look "OK" compared to a dead fescue lawn. Color is candy apple green.
I have seeded Bermuda down in my lawn now, just put it down Saturday, of the Blackjack variety. I got it at Home Depot.
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