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Grass replacement types?


 
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psimitry



Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 75
Location: maricopa

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2012 1:01 pm    Post subject: Grass replacement types? Reply with quote

I'm BACK..terminator style.

So my grass this year....man did I make a mess of things. I think I over de-thatched last fall, didn't properly maintenance my winter grass, and haven't been doing the greatest job on yard maintenance this spring. Consequently, my yard looks TERRIBLE.

In the meantime, I'm also going to be making some changes to my backyard landscaping. This presents with an interesting possibility.

My girlfriend is horribly allergic to bermuda grass. If I mow it, I have to shower and change clothes immediately before even being in the same room with her, as well as the clothes that I wear whilst mowing have to be seperate from her clothes. She can't go outside for a while after I've mowed as well. She just breaks out in tons of hives.

So I was looking into grass varieties to which she would be more tolerant. Pretty much most forms of bermuda are out, so as far as I know that leaves me three possibilies:

1. Tiff - I don't know if she could tolerate this or not. I don't relish the thought of going to a tiff grass again because it is so high maintenance (visions of my childhood where I had an acre of tiff grass to mow multiple times a week gives me the chills), but if it would solve or reduce the allergen problem, I'd consider it. Additionally I know it's more prone to disease (pearl scale and whatnot), so I'm....hesitant.

2. Palmetto St. Augustine - much more water demanding than tiff and bermuda, but I don't know that I'd have a problem with this. Supposedly the closest breed of grass you can find that is hypoallergenic and supposedly grows well in Phoenix.

3. Fake grass (least desirable) - this would obviously solve the concern of allergies as well as the water. But at the same time I've got a dog that would probably tear the hell out of it, and I don't like the idea of walking on my lawn and finding that my feet are on fire in the middle of summer.

Any thoughts on my predicament?
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phoenixtropicals
Site Admin


Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 1207
Location: Mesa Arizona

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Isn't Tiff a type of bermuda?
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psimitry



Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 75
Location: maricopa

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2012 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Turns out it IS a bermuda hybrid. I don't know if the hybrid aspect would be less allergy aggravating or not. I also just found out about something called Centipede grass yesterday, but as I read about it, I noticed that it's not really salt tolerant during watering. So that's kind of out.

It looks like Palmetto St. Augustine might be the one. Bummer is I'm not sure how much I like the concept of a broadleaf grass. I kind of like the carpet looks of a nice bermuda, really.
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phoenixtropicals
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Joined: 06 May 2008
Posts: 1207
Location: Mesa Arizona

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2012 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, not a whole lot of things can take the summer heat here. You might want to consider just doing winter rye grass. The really hot weather is only for about 4 months of the year here, and by not watering grass in the summer you'll save lots of water.
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ArizonaPalms



Joined: 07 Jun 2012
Posts: 15
Location: Chandler, AZ

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been undertaking the replacement of our bermuda grass lawn and considering turf options.

Have you researched or considered the use of paspalum sod? Paspalum has many advantages over hybrid bermuda. It's a fairly new product in the Phoenix area and available only from WesternSod.

Paspalum is a warm season turf. It's dormancy season is less than bermuda, uses far less nitrogen than bermuda, tolerates shade better than most bermuda, thrives on alkaline soils, is fine bladed and dark green.

The only disadvantage is that if accidentally scalped during mowing, it takes a while to grow out.

Curious about others feedback on this less known Phoenix appropriate turf option.
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ajbcirc



Joined: 13 Apr 2011
Posts: 97

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had Bobsod for a while. Didn't have any allergy issues as it's sterile. However, if you don't routinely water, it won't come back as reliabily as regular common bermuda. I stopped watering last August and didn't bother oversewing with Rye -- my lawn is essentially dead and will need to be resodded.
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