See the advantages, disadvantages of different turfgrass species

acts can help you make up your mind about the best turfgrass for you. They all have advantages, disadvantages and different characteristics. Here are some facts to help you with the mind-boggling decision of what grass.

There are warm season and cool-season grasses. Warm-season lawns grow best in the hot months of the year while cool grow best in the cooler months of the year. Examples of warm include: Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia and Buffalo. Since cool-season
turfgrass species don't fair well in our hot summers, tall turf-type fescue is the only noteworthy cool season grass, though there is a hybrid blue grass called ‘Reveille' that may have potential.

Since shade is such a major problem for many mature landscapes you need to know which species are shade tolerant and which are not. From the highest-shade to no-shade tolerance look at these: St. Augustine, Zoysia, tall fescue, Bermuda and Buffalo. Of these, St. Augustine and Zoysia matrella have the best shade tolerance but even these must have four hours of direct sunlight.
Drought tolerance is always an important issue with turf.

Here's a rating of the best to the worst; Buffalo, Zoysia, Bermuda, St. Augustine and tall fescue. Heat tolerance is excellent with all the warm-season grasses because they have a C4 metabolism which thrive in hot temperatures. When it comes to cold tolerance, St. Augustine can have some problems in difficult winters.

Turfgrass management and care is another important consideration. Hybrid Bermuda grass and some Zoysia species need a higher level of management to look their best. Both will do better with frequent mowing (every three days in the heat of summer) and may require a reel-type mower. Bermuda is by far the most useful turfgrass we can grow. Here are some quick facts about Bermuda grass: Bermuda has good heat and cold tolerance, good drought tolerance, good wear tolerance and poor shade tolerance.

Bermuda grass can be started from sod, sprigs, plugs and seed (one to two pounds per 1,000 square feet). Common Bermuda grass varieties include: Arizona common, Princess 77, Yukon, Riviera, Sultan, Southern Star, Tex-Turf 10, Mirage, Triangle (blend) NuMex Sahara and several others.

Hybrid Bermuda grass can only be started by vegetative means, like sod, sprigs and plugs. These are most useful on sports fields and golf courses because they need to be mowed low and about every three days during rapid growth. They include; Tifway 419, TifSport, GN-1, Celebration, Baby, Patriot, Quickstand and Premier.

St. Augustine is a common and popular grass. Here are the facts: it has good shade tolerance, fair to good drought tolerance, fair cold tolerance and fair to poor wear tolerance. St. Augustine is propagated by vegetative means and rarely by seed. Types of St. Augustine include: Texas Common, Floratam*, Seville*, AmeriShade*, Raleigh*, Delmar*, Palmetto and Sapphire. Those names marked with an asterisk are St. Augustine Decline virus resistant. 

Several Zoysia grasses are propagated in Texas and are suitable for use in lawns. Zoysia japonica Japanese lawn grass performs well in our area. Zoysia has good drought tolerance, good cold tolerance, good shade tolerance and good wear tolerance. Sounds perfect, huh? Keep reading, they establish slowly, the leaf blade is tough requiring a strong mower with a sharp blade and they cost one-and-a-half to two times more than Bermuda. Varieties to consider include; Palisades (can be mowed with a rotary mower), Crowne, JaMur (rotary mower), El Toro, Zenith (can be started from seed).

Zoysia matrella, Manila grass, is fine bladed, has the best shade tolerance, can be very difficult for home gardeners to maintain and is not a cold hardy as Japanese lawn zoysia.  Varieties include; Diamond, Cavalier, Zeon, Zorro, Royal, Emerald (develop thatch if over watered and fertilized).

Buffalo grass is native to West Texas. It has excellent drought tolerance, poor shade tolerance, fair wear tolerance and separate male and female plants. It is best adapted to clay and alkaline soils, and it doesn't do as well in sandy soils or in lawns that were previously in Bermuda grass. It will survive on low rainfall, 15-20 inches a year. It can be started by seed, sod or plugs. Varieties to consider; ‘Nebraska 609' (start vegetatively), ‘Prairie' found in plugs, ‘Density' good, thick, looks good, and ‘Turffalo.' Seed varieties require two to three pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet of lawn. "Topgun," "Texoka," "Cody," "Sharps Improved," "Plains," "Bison" and "Tahoka" as well as "Imperial" (blend) are available.

Lawns are an important part of the landscape, so try to pick the best one for your landscape.

Compost Class  
>> When: 6 p.m. June 12 and 14.
>> Where: Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission, 2910 La Force Blvd (corner of La Force Blvd and Windecker) near Midland International Airport.  
>> To register, call 498-4071.