Currently we have tall fescue, it great when we have rain, or in the spring and fall, very green, but summers like this year I cannot afford to water it. 200 dollar water bills a month. Cannot afford to put in irrigation system right now. Thinking in the fall to kill it all off and put something in that more drought tolerant. What do all of you suggest or have now. I would like something that stays green at least in the summer. Thanks
zoysia, bermuda, centipede.. fescue goes dormant in summer heat and generally requires a little more care, but you do get more green over the course of the year than others. Fescue feels its pain jun-aug, early sept. otherwise green and healthy the rest of the time. The others thrive from late may-early sep.
Oh and fall isn't the good time to kill off fescue and start a warm grass, do it at spring time if you go that route.
We have centipede at our house. Our lawn stays very green with minimal watering, mow it every two or three weeks and seems pretty low maintenance. When our house was built, they put in centipede sod. I know my DH is careful about applying any additives, such as fertilizer or nutrients. The NC State Ag over on Blue Ridge has been the best source of info. They PH test our lawn, and advise what is needed. Hope this helps!
We've been in our home 10 years. Family built it. So, my husband had it seeded with centerpede. Took for ever because the first year centerpede sleeps, second year it creeps and third year it leaps. Ever heard that? We have almost two acreas and it's about covered. Not for the impatient person but we could not afford sod. All though it has been very dry our yard has been green most of the summer. It was turning brown this week but we just had a good rain. So, it will green up now and will need mowing by monday or tuesday. This week is the only week that we have not mowed. But, my husband never cuts it very close. Pat
Bermuda rocks. In this heat without any rain it just goes back into the dormant stage. Once we get rain it will come back out of dormancy and green up again. The only problem I have with Bermuda is that is requires a lot of fertilizing starting late Apr all the way through Sept. "The really neat thing is that it goes totally dormant starting about mid Oct and I don't have to mow it again until March! Now that is cool. We had fescue for 17 years and I never saw it go dormant! I saw it die off every summer bit by bit and it had to be over/re seeded every September. Requires way more water than Bermuda. One of the other really great things about the Bermuda is that since it's a creeping grass, it will basically heal itself over time. If you end up with a patch that just burns out or dies it will eventually be grown over with the way the grass creeps. Another thing that a lot of people don't understand is that fescue needs to be maintained at about the 3" stage and Bermuda needs to be cut low in order for it to creep. I maintain mine at about 3/4" and the neighbors tell me it looks like a putting green.
