is it impossible to have a nice green lawn in Tampa? (St. Augustine: 2015, how much)

[chi_tino]

I was about to post this exact thing. If you don't have access to extremely cheap reclaimed water you are facing a long, uphill battle.

I moved into a foreclosed house that had a completely wiped out St. Augustine lawn. A spreader from Craigslist ($10), a bag of weed and feed ($15) and bug killer granules ($15), a few waterings a week and some select patches of sod ($1.50 a piece), and I was back to a green lawn by the end of the month.

[tjax1000]

We have a shallow irrigation well, so the water is "free"... But the water is so high in iron we have to treat it with a "rid o rust" type system. Still cheaper than city water in the end though.

[h3a343]

i have heard that getting reclaimed water (at least in tampa) is a mistake. first u have to pay someone to hook it up, that can cost mega bucks. then you have to pay a monthly fee to have the account (maybe it's 2-3 monthly fees). then u end up using more water, which ends up costing the same (or more) as using less regular water (hypothetically, say 10 gallons of reclaimed water costs what 5 gallons of regular water costs; when you have reclaimed, you end up using 20 or 30 gallons b/c u water more, which actually costs more than the 5 gallons u wud have used if u had regular water)

consequently, due to the monthly fees and increased watering, reclaimed water is only "extremely cheap" if u watch your usage

which, if that is the case, WHATS THE POINT

[tjax1000]

Originally Posted by h3a343

i have heard that getting reclaimed water (at least in tampa) is a mistake. first u have to pay someone to hook it up, that can cost mega bucks. then you have to pay a monthly fee to have the account (maybe it's 2-3 monthly fees). then u end up using more water, which ends up costing the same (or more) as using less regular water (hypothetically, say 10 gallons of reclaimed water costs what 5 gallons of regular water costs; when you have reclaimed, you end up using 20 or 30 gallons b/c u water more, which actually costs more than the 5 gallons u wud have used if u had regular water)

consequently, due to the monthly fees and increased watering, reclaimed water is only "extremely cheap" if u watch your usage

which, if that is the case, WHATS THE POINT

I know you said you're talking about Tampa, but for comparison, St. Pete offers metered and unmetered service, although I suspect it may not be up to the resident (who wouldn't take the 16.79 flat fee when metered service has a minimum 16.79 charge?)
Reclaimed Water

Your normal city water bill can go sky high though if you irrigate regularly. If you've only got one meter they get you for water usage AND sewage even though you're not utilizing sewage when you water your lawn. If you are going to live somewhere for any amount of time it is worth it IMHO to do whatever you can to avoid paying for normal city water, even if it means just having an irrigation meter installed so you won't get charged sewage.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by tjax1000

I know you said you're talking about Tampa, but for comparison, St. Pete offers metered and unmetered service, although I suspect it may not be up to the resident (who wouldn't take the 16.79 flat fee when metered service has a minimum 16.79 charge?)
Reclaimed Water

Your normal city water bill can go sky high though if you irrigate regularly. If you've only got one meter they get you for water usage AND sewage even though you're not utilizing sewage when you water your lawn. If you are going to live somewhere for any amount of time it is worth it IMHO to do whatever you can to avoid paying for normal city water, even if it means just having an irrigation meter installed so you won't get charged sewage.

totally agree - those sewage fees can eat you alive. If I had reclaimed water available to me here you can bet I would get an account for it!

[Kevin from Tampa]

It is possible to have a green lawn. It is hard in the winter....you just have to accept that you'll have brownish-green grass for about 4-5 months...but once it warms up, just water appropriately and you'll be ok.

[1coolcustomer]

I don't if it's still there or not but several years ago there was a guy on 30th Ave N. in St. Petersburg between 9th St. N and 16th St N. that dug up his yard and installed green indoor/outdoor carpet over his whole yard. he even cut out the holes for palm trees and scrubs....... there, problem solved.

[num1baby]

Originally Posted by 1coolcustomer

I don't if it's still there or not but several years ago there was a guy on 30th Ave N. in St. Petersburg between 9th St. N and 16th St N. that dug up his yard and installed green indoor/outdoor carpet over his whole yard. he even cut out the holes for palm trees and scrubs....... there, problem solved.

There are also the companies that will spray paint your lawn to be green. I don't know if they are still around, but they were really big a couple of years ago when banks were hiring them to make lawns prettier on foreclosures they were trying to sell.

I personally think that is ridiculous. I want my lawn to feel nice too. AND, it will give a whole new meaning to grass stains on your kids clothes.

[Davachka]

Our lawn has been green year round since we
a. had it resodded
b. hired a professional lawn service that takes care of fertilizing, pesticides, etc
c. fixed the sprinkler heads, a few were broken so water wasn't getting to those areas,
now spinklers cover the entire lawn

[Innertuber]

Grass in Florida has to be able to withstand heat, sun, shade, drought and excessive rain. Then for the sake of simplicity, "bugs". Then freeze or frost.

I don't think such a grass exists. You can kind of choose what you want to withstand, but the reaction to what you leave out is browning or death. During a frost depending upon wind your yard may do fine. Next door can be trashed.

Elevation, soil and proximity to large bodies of water can alter the risk.