Home & Garden Tips
Making the Best Choices for Lawn Grass
By Roosevelt McWilliams County Extension Agent

Coaches say that the best offense is a good defense. That pretty much applies to your lawn too. What I mean is the best herbicide for a lawn is a healthy lawn. A thick, healthy lawn does not allow weeds to get started.

If a healthy lawn gets dead spots, then crabgrass, dandelions or some other weed will fill the void before the desired grass begins to grow back. The first step to having a healthy lawn is getting the right grass for the site.

Warm season grass suited to Burke County include Bermudagrass, Centipedegrass, Zoysiagrass and St. Augustine. Bermuda thrives in hot weather and performs poorly in shade. This quality makes it ideal for golf courses.

Common Bermuda can be established by seeding, but hybrid Bermuda should be sodded. Hybrid Bermuda grasses have more disease and weed resistance, greater turf density and a finer texture than common bermuda. Common Bermuda does best when mowed to a height of 1 to 2 inches. Hybrid Bermuda should be mowed at .5 inch to 1.5 inches.

Zoysia has done well in Georgia. It makes an excellent turf when managed properly. Zoysia is fairly shade tolerant and grows well in full sun.

St. Augustine has large, flat stems and broad, coarse leaves. The broad leaves absorb more light than the narrow leaves of other grass. This gives St. Augustine an advantage when growing in the shade. St. Augustine is the most shade tolerant of any of our warm season grasses. It is susceptible to winter injury and should be planted with caution as far north as Atlanta.

St. Augustine should be mowed at a height of 2-3 inches. This is higher than the optimum height for any other of the featured grasses. Therefore when St. Augustine is intermingled with any of these other grasses, one or the other will not be cut at the best height.

Centipede is our most common grass. Centipede is slowgrowing, but aggressive. This grass can tolerate a slightly acidic pH, but it still does best at a pH of 6 to 6.5. Centipede is suited well for this area. It does best when mowed at 1 to 1.5 inches.

When a grass is becoming established, about a quarter inch of water per day is needed. As roots develop, watering should be less often and in greater amounts. Established lawns can be maintained with one inch of water per week. The object is to soak the soil 5-7 inches deep and then let it dry completely out for a period of time. At this rate, grass will show signs of drought stress between watering, but periods of slight stress are important to force roots deeper into the soil. A lawn with a deep root system withstands drought, heat and cold much better than a lawn with a shallow root system.