Florida Lawns

What is the perfect lawn?  To some it is  manicured grass mown in visible patterns. To others it's not grass at all but ground covers and other plantings.  To some it's whatever grows in your yard that you mow to keep the neighbors from complaining. 

As Master Gardners we need to know how to help people achieve the lawn they want.  The first concern will be what type of grass or ground cover to plant.  Things to consider when selecting turf grass are 1) amount of sun or shade, 2) soil type: sand, muck or clay, 3) soil PH, 4) water requirements, 5) Maintenance required.

Turf choices for Florida lawns include Bahia Grass, St. Augustine Grass, Zoysia Grass, Bermuda Grass, and Centipede Grass.  Bahia Grass is the most drought tolerant, can be developed by seeding, and it has  few diseases.  It's negatives include tall unsightly seed heads, stems are tough and difficult to mow, and it does not tolerate shade, high traffice or salt water.

Common St. Augustine cultivars used in Florida are Floratam, Classic, Seville and Palmetto.  Since these are hybrids they must be installed by sprigs, plugs or squares.  It is well adapted to most soil types, some kinds will tolerate shade, and it has good salt tolerance.  Negatives include low drought tolerance, thatch build-up, poor traffic tolerance, can be heavily damaged by Southern Chinch Bug, and coarse leaf texture.  It's creeping habit and tough stems can make it difficult to keep out of flower beds.

Newer Zoysia Grass cultivars used in Florida lawns include Empire, Ultimate, Flora and El Toro.  It has nice color and density, soft leaf texture, drought tolerate, fast growing, thrives in hot humid conditions, and is somewhat traffic and shade tolerant.  It's disadvantages include long time required to develop tap root system during which time it is not drought tolerant.   It is susceptible to disease and nematodes and can be severly damaged by Hunting Billbug and Mole Crickets.

Bermuda Grass is most often used for sports and athletic fields.  Commom cultivars are Common, Tifway 419, Cheyenne, and FloraTex.  It is available by plugs or sod and Commom is available in seed.  It's advantages include vigorous growth, excellent traffic and wear resistance, drought and salt tolerance, establishes quickly and outcompetes weeds.  It's negatives include high maintenance, poor tolerance to insects and disease, thatch build-up and poor cold, and shade tolerance.

A new cultivar of Centipede Grass called Hammock was introduced by Environmental Turf of Avon Park.  Older cultivars include Common and Centennial.  It's advantages include low maintenance, does well in acidic soils, produces good coverage, and is drought tolerant.  Disadvantages include poor traffic wear, disease susceptibliliy, nematode and ground pearls damage, not cold tolerant, slow to recover if damaged and will die of over-fertilized.  Here is a very good web site that discusses in depth the types of Florida grasses, their pests, diseases, and maintenance:  Florida Lawns 

 As for this Florida lawn owner less is more, and I'm working towards that goal.

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