re: The biggest lie ever told about lawns is that Centipede is good and easy

Centipede only does good in my flower beds. I don't have the best drainage, so it sucks. I did a few test patches of zyosia that my neighbor had remnants of from a sod job and they are doing quite well. I'll probably move to that. I think its Palisades or Empire (if that's a strand?).

quote:

---

Ronk, the zoysia has issues with full sun? I have 1/3 shade, 2/3 full sun

---

I have Empire Zoysia in full sun and it grows great! It's been slowly coming around this spring but I waited until last week to fertilize and it's greening up nicely.

quote:

---

but it just doesn’t look great.

---

Some of the best lawns I have ever seen were Centipede.

quote:

---

Checkout the board as of late. Everyone is letting their common Bermuda take over because nothing else is as sturdy.

---

Spring of 2023 my centipede yard, and my neighbors, all looked terrible when everything was turning green. My centipede had maybe .01% hybrid Bermuda in it. Noticed there was a tiny bit 7 years ago when we moved in and it came that way from the sod farm. I left it alone. Well, when the centipede struggled last year I’m glad I let that Bermuda be because it took off and has aggressively taken over the entire back yard and by the end of this summer it will have taken over the rest of the front. My experience with Bermuda has been a good one in the past because that’s the kind of grass everyone has in Little Rock. 9.5 out of 10 yards in that Little Rock area had some strain of hybrid or common Bermuda. It takes more fertilizer and needs to be cut more often, but at least it doesn’t die like my yard did in 2023. Bermuda is one of the fastest growing and most aggressive turf grasses out there. It grew well in Little Rock and it’s doing well here in the Mobile area.

I do have Palisades zoysia on one side of the house. This is probably one of the best cultivars I’ve ever seen if you want a grass blade that looks similar to centipede. Last summer was unusually hot for this area. Nor did it rain that much. The Palisades zoysia required less water and no matter how hot it got the stuff stayed healthy looking. It also stayed predominantly green all winter except for when it froze over around here. But that stuff still came out of dormancy within a few weeks after the frost. A decade ago I sodded my parents yard with Empire zoysia. That’s a little like Palisades zoysia, but the blade looks a little smaller than the blade of centipede. Those two zoysia cultivars I just named I have firsthand experience with and will endorse. Far as I’m concerned a well taken care of Bermuda or zoysia yard is far superior and more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

quote:

---

The biggest lie ever told about lawns is that Centipede is good and easy

---

I had it at my last house and it is trash. It's not very green. A little bit of dog piss left a brown spot. Anyone walking in the yard left foot prints for days. I had to mow from different directions every week so the tires from my push mower weren't permanently worn in the grass. It really is a shitty grass.

quote:

---

I wish Bermuda would take over my yard. It refuses to do so

---

Too shady?

the guy that sold and installed my Emerald Zoysia lives 2 doors down. His large yard is all Centipede. Why? Because the last thing he wants to do is come home and baby his lawn like it was Augusta National, every day of the week. I should have taken the hint. Besides, the only people that ever see our yard are FedEx drivers and 2-3 others.

I lived in OKC area 30 years ago and everyone had Bermuda, which made alot of sense. It could be as beautiful as the amount of work you put into it.
BUT in this part of the country, trees are larger and more plentiful in lawns, so Bermuda is not always practical. Perhaps the newer, shade tolerant varieties such as Tiftuf and Celebration have overcome this.

For Bermuda I prefer sod because you can get hybrids but if seeding is the way you want to go Royal TXD, laprima, or laprima xd.

quote:

---

I love st Aug but chinch bugs will wreck that arse if you don’t prepare.

---

Can confirm. Just spent 7k to lay down Zoysia in my yard where St Aug was destroyed by them.