St. Augustine grass has been propagated for nearly 200 years, so there isnt much of a variety. Because of its propagation, there have never been grass breeding programs developed for it either. The most common strain has a white stigma, and is native to the Gulf, Caribbean, and West Africa regions. There is another common strain, one that may have been crossed with another specias, that has a purple stigma, and has been reported in Australia, New Zealand, and The Pacific Isles. It has been a hallmark of Florida and California since the early 1900’s.

Severl Florida strains were available before 1960 - The purple stigma’d Floratine was released in 1959. It was released for its finer texture and darker color than other strains found in Florida at the time. It remains green into the fall and also is more resistant to shorter mowing than othe St. Augustine strains.

Two other strains, Bitter Blue and Floratam were also released by Florida. Bitter Blue was used for its less coarse texture than other Florida grass, and Floratam was released as a Chinch bug resistant selection in 1972. Like other Florida St Augustine types, it is a coarse textured variety, and has a purple stigma and is also sterile. The stolons are purplish red and have internodes that are roughly 3 inches. The leaf blades are wider than other Augustine grasses, and the morphological characteristics are similar to the Roselawn grass used in pastures.

Foratam is also not cold tolerant, and shuld only be used in the warmer regions of the U.S. It also is not as shade tolerant as other strains.

The Seville type was released in 1980 as a SAD and chinch bug resistant strain. It is finer textured than Floratam, but it lacks the cold tolerance of other stains as well.

The Raleigh grass type was released in 1980 as a cold tolerant, SAD resistant strain. It develops a denser turf like grass than Floratam, but it is not all that resistant to chinch bugs.

The Texas Common strain is a commercially produced strain in Texas made in the 1920s. It is similar to the white stigma type native to the Gulf/Caribbean region. Since it has been propagated for so long, very few variations in this type have been produced, however, natural varients have been produced.

Dwarf and variegated types of St. Augustine grass have also been selected from seed produced by Texas Common. However, these strains are more ornamental and novelty grasses than turfgrasses. One of the dwarf types (patented in the U.S. as Garretts 141) has been evaluated for its seed production potential. However, Garrets 141 and its progeny lacks the cold tolerance necessary to extend its area of adaptation beyond Southern Florida and South Texas in the United States.

Sources: http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/turf/publications/staug.html

Centipede Grass

If you’re looking for a grass that doesn’t require a lot of maintenance and still looks great, centipede grass might be a good option for you. It grows slower than other grasses, requiring less mowing, and it is also easily controllable for around your garden and sidewalk areas. It is also a warm season grass, which makes it a great alternative to Bermuda and St. Autustine grasses.

It is ideally suited for a sunny yard, but it can handle some shade. It doesn’t require a high nutrient soil, but is not well suited for soil with high salinity. It can be planted using either seeds or sprigs, further making its case for a lawn maintenance grass. It takes longer to fully cover a lawn however, due to its slow growing nature.

Centipede grass is ideally suited for the southern hemisphere. It does not go totally dormant in the winter, so the colder weather of the north can kill off your lawn if you decide to grow centipede grass. It is most popularly used as an alternative to the higher maintenance Bermuda and St. Augustine grasses.

Grass Care

Like any other grass, centipede grass does require some maintenance. The good news is that the only maintenance it really requires is general upkeep of your lawn. Make sure you mow regularly (which would still be less regularly than Bermuda and St. Augustine), keep it watered, and apply fertilizer to keep your soil at the appropriate nitrogen level. Like any other grass, problems will occur if you let weeds start to creep in and get a foothold. But with regular maintenance, you should have no problems keeping a green, healthy lawn with centipede grass.

Bermuda grass

Bermuda grass is another warm weather grass that is suited for the southern hemisphere. It has the advantage over another popular warm weather grass, St. Augustine, in that Bermuda can be planted using seed instead of sod. This makes it easier to get started with Bermuda grass. It also has a high heat tolerance and can live through droughts. It does not, however, live for long in heavily shaded areas.

Bermuda grass, as mentioned, can be planted through seeding, or sprigging. It can also tolerate a high soil salinity level, and can survive periods of flooding. The grass can lie dormant for up to 6 months in cases of drought, but requires a moderate amount of water to grow full and lush. It has a deep root system that can cause problems if it gets a hold in a lawn that doesn’t contain Bermuda grass. The grass should be kept short to keep the grass healthy and growing.

Unfortunately Bermuda grass is highly susceptible to pests and disease, so it requires constant maintenance. It needs a good treatment of fertilizer as well. Because of its aggressive growth, it spreads very quickly, which means it can invade any close flower or garden areas. Care should be taken to either weed out any invading Bermuda grass, or putting brick or wood in the ground as a barrier around any areas you don’t want the grass to expand to.

Bermuda grass can make a lawn appear full and lush, but it requires more maintenance and care than other varieties of grass. If you really want to have a Bermuda grass yard, you may want to consider consulting a professional lawn care provider.

Is artificial turf right for me?

A viable alternative to planting, growing and maintaining a lawn is to invest in artificial turf. There are some very obvious benefits to installing artificial turf, but it is not a decision to be made lightly. The most obvious reason for deciding against installing turf is the large expense associated with it. Having one square foot of artificial turf installed can cost up to , meaning you will spend well into 6 figures for it. But if you approach the decision thoughtfully, you may find out that it is the right decision for you.

Benefits

Before expanding on the negatives of an artificial lawn, let’s look at the positives. First, you will never have to mow your lawn again. No more lawn mower maintenance, gas, or time spent mowing. Over the course of a natural lawns life these can add up, not to mention emissions from the mower polluting the air.

You will also save money on fertilizers and herbicides. Nothing is growing, so you won’t need to be concerned with soil nutrients, grass disease, or pests eating your lawn. This can also benefit your surrounding environment, since you won’t have any chemicals running off your lawn.

There is no need to water an artificial lawn either, so you needn’t be concerned over a drought or water restrictions being placed on you. You’ll also save some more money on energy and water utilities since you won’t be using as much.

Disadvantages

While it is certainly tempting to sign up to get your new artificial lawn installed, there are some disadvantages as well. First and foremost, is expense. An artificial lawn should be treated like an investment in your home. With a full install costing into 6 figures, not everyone can afford it. While you will be saving money as time goes by because you will have less maintenance to do, these up front costs are still significant.

Another con of turf is it is not quite the same to play and run on. If you have ever played a sport on artificial grass, you know how painful a rug burn can be. There won’t be as much playing with the family dog, or playing soccer with the kids.

Weigh your options

Only you can decide if artificial turf is a good investment. It can be helpful to approximate the yearly cost of lawn maintenance (new mowers, gas, herbicides and pesticides, and be sure to factor in your time), and multiply it by the time you expect to be living in your house. Then compare it to the cost of installing artificial turf and you will have good empirical data to base your decision on.