Type of Grass to plant..

[MPrewitt]

My first thread..

I know that if I do enough surfing on this site I may be able to locate what I am looking for but I thought it might be quicker to just ask and let the experts answer.

I live in East Texas and am in the process of building a house,very early stages I might add because the rain has slowed process and we just finished pouring concrete last week. (Started land clearing in January)

My question(s)
What type of grass to plant, do I seed it in or buy the turf, should I wait until house is done or do it now to get it started then re do what the contractors destroy?

Soil conditions that will be around the house is CLAY...
Do I need to disk in some other material into the clay to help grass and trees get started?

 

[4720 OWNER]

How about deciding where all the gardens are going to go and may not need grass at all. It is the new fad of edible landscaping.

 

[kossetx]

In my opinion, common bermuda will grow in any soil, requires less water that st augustine and can be seeded or sodded. It grows just fine on the pure red clay I dug from my pond.

That said, st augustine looks better, but requires more water and can only be sodded.

There is hardly any land in texas that doesn't need the soil amended. Grasses however are not that particular about soil and will help improve the soil themselves.

For the trees, I till into the soil lots of leaves and I do it for a 6' X 12" deep hole to give the roots plenty of loose soil to set in. Add some bone meal and cover with more leaves or mulch.

 

[shorton]

I'm NE of Dallas. For me, Common Bermuda sodded around the house. Common Bermuda seeded in the pasture (now is not too late to seed if we get more rain, but you want to seed just after it rains while the dirt is still wet--get better adhesion that way). Bermuda won't grow in shady areas, so for summer in shady areas around trees, I go with a shady fescue blend or perennial rye. For Winter, I let my lawn go dormant with Bermuda brown, and in the pasture, Wheat and Oats.

 

[jkelley8]

Centipede grass has worked well for our yard in Wood County.
I like the low maintanince in that it is very low growing and spreads
very well. Only mowed once this season. It is started from seed and
we did no major soil preperation for it to get started. As for water
requirment; seems about same as other lawn grasses.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

MPrewitt ,

I'd say it kind of depends on what you want....do you want a yard of the month candidate or maybe something with minimal maintenance?

If after the former, St. Augustine sprigged or in mats will make a great looking lawn with lots of care.

If the latter, centipede is low maintenance.

Wish you would send some of that rain my way!!

 

[MPrewitt]

Thanks Everyone:

I don't think I want anything high maintence, been there done that and have the t-shirt. With all the project I already have and the ones that I havent even started I need low low maintenance.

We will probably go with centipede and or Bermuda.

 

[MPrewitt]

Ok..

Now that I am going to seed in about three acres of land what steps do in order to have a succesful planting.

a. Till it all up plant & recover??
b. Broadcast and leave on top??
c. Broadcast and cover with dirt using rake of some sort..
d. Other..

 

[TCBoomer]

Till it and then broadcast. You can use a drag after to cover the seed or if you fertilize after the seed...in my experience mind you...the tractor tires did a great job of packing the seed into the dirt. A roller will also work.

You should also consider covering it all with straw. 2 reasons...1) it will help hold the moisture in the ground and 2) it will keep the birds from chowing your seeds.

Isn't it kinda late to be doing this now? It's tough to keep the hot summer sun from burning the new grass. Maybe wait til fall if you can?

 

[MPrewitt]

I can wait until the fall to plant, because all I have now is the slab for the house. Satterwhite is to start putting the logs up on Tuesday so I have about 3 to 4 months before I move in to the new place.

If I plant in the fall do I need to plant some sort of winter grass then come back in the spring and do it all over again with the perminant grass??