piety@hplabs.UUCP (Bob Piety ) (06/06/85)
I am thinking about planting a lawn in a sunny, dry area which I don't want to water very much. Reading various pieces of literature has helped me narrow my choice to Zoysia (Japonica, Meyer, or Z-52) or Tifgreen Bermuda. I am especially interested in the Zoysia, but it is not popular around here and I have only seen pictures of it in magazines and books. Anyone out there with any experience with it? I hate to mow lawns and plan to only do so once or twice a year. Any suggestions as to which grass will be a better choice under those conditions? How long do each get if unmowed? Any other suggestions for a drought-resistant ground cover that can be walked on? By the way, I don't care about how the lawn looks since it is going in the back yard & will replace dirt, rocks, weeds and sand. I just don't want to wind up wading through knee-high grass if it isn't regularly mowed. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Bob
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (06/07/85)
> I am thinking about planting a lawn in a sunny, dry area which I don't want > to water very much. Reading various pieces of literature has helped me > narrow my choice to Zoysia (Japonica, Meyer, or Z-52) or Tifgreen Bermuda. > I don't know what kind of bermuda we had (Tifgreen may be a special kind ...) but it was a royal pain to deal with. The stuff grows without care. It grows under concrete, it grows into flower beds. It grows under the house and up the walls. Left to it's self, it goes to seed producing a forest of 6 inch tassels that make many folks sneeze. Should you decide to remove it, be prepared for a year or two of work. And it does seem to creep back in from somewhere from time to time thereafter. In the winter (in the Central Valley of California) it becomes an interesting manila brown dormant mat. Don't know what the Zoysia is, but it can't be much worse. -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)
unixcorn@dcc1.UUCP (math.c) (06/09/85)
In article <> piety@hplabs.UUCP (Bob Piety ) writes: >I am thinking about planting a lawn in a sunny, dry area which I don't want >to water very much. Reading various pieces of literature has helped me >narrow my choice to Zoysia (Japonica, Meyer, or Z-52) or Tifgreen Bermuda. >there with any experience with it? >I hate to mow lawns and plan to only do so once or twice a year. Any >How long do each get if unmowed? Any other suggestions for a I am afraid that you are going to have to choose some different lawn material neither Zoysia nor Bermuda will meet the requirements you stated. Both require weekly cutting, both brown out in winter and Zoysia is a VERY fine leaf (like sitting/walking on a bed of needles! ) May I suggest that you read either the TIME-LIFE "Lawns and Ground covers" or one of the SUNSET Lawn and Ground Cover books. They have suggestions for non-grass ground covers which do not require mowing, don't brown out, and don't need a lot of water. In fact the SUNSET offices are close to you in Menlo Park, they have a nice tour and give good advice. (Ps. Do you know Craig and/or Sandy James? If so say hi y'all from MAD in Hotlanta! ) -- unixcorn (alias m. gould) "there's a unicorn in the garden and he's eating a lily" gatech!dcc1!unixcorn
rws@gypsy.UUCP (06/10/85)
Almost all grass is drought resistant, as long as you don't do a half-hearted job of watering. That is, either don't water it at all, or water it for a full hour once and only once a week. Now, the grass WILL turn brown in the summer, but it will come right back in the fall. Alternatives: - Meadow: you can buy boxes of "meadow seeds", which are a mixture of wild plant seeds similar to what you would find in a natural meadow. If I had more land I would try this. - "ground covers": get a good nursery catalog and you'll find dozens of low-growing plants that you can put where you don't want to mow. Pay attention to what they say about how fast it spreads, and whether or not it can be kept in check with a lawn mower. Good luck Bob Schwanke Siemens Research Princeton, NJ 08540-6668 seismo!princeton!siemens!rws
gail@calmasd.UUCP (Gail B. Hanrahan) (06/12/85)
In article <> piety@hplabs.UUCP (Bob Piety ) writes: >I am thinking about planting a lawn in a sunny, dry area which I don't want >to water very much. Reading various pieces of literature has helped me >narrow my choice to Zoysia (Japonica, Meyer, or Z-52) or Tifgreen Bermuda. I have zoysia in my front yard (sorry, don't remember which kind, it's listed in the Sunset New Western Garden book (which I highly recommend) with the common name Korean Grass). Zoysia is typically bought in flats, and you put plugs in your yard at intervals. The plugs will spread and grow together in a year or less depending on how closely they are placed. It did get a little brown in spots during the winter. Spring came, I started fertilizing it, and it's now a pretty emerald green, with bumps where the plugs went in. Much more interesting-looking than your typical grass lawn. -- Gail Bayley Hanrahan Calma Company, San Diego {ihnp4,decvax,ucbvax}!sdcsvax!calmasd!gail