Choosing the Right Grass, for the Right Place

Things to Consider When Choosing the Right Grass, for the Right Place

 Four Simple Questions That Will Easily Guide You …

 

1- What will you use your new lawn be for? 

            Pick one of the following main uses for your lawn, consider that the back yard area and the front yard area may each have their own specific purpose. For example you may want a show piece front yard and an area for the dog to run around on in the backyard.

What Lawns are Used for
  • A show piece lawn for the front yard landscape with maximum curb appeal
  • Parking area for social gatherings
  • Full or part time Soccer orFootball field      
  • Family or pet playground
  • Pathway from one area of the landscape to another

2 – What are your landscapes needs? 

  • Do you have Large shade trees where previous attempts at having a lawn have failed?
  • Are weed problems taking over areas in the plant beds and lawn?
  • Is there wet, poorly drained or lower areas where water collects after a rain and the soil remains soggy even after more than 5 days after a rain?
  • Does your lawn consist mostly of sandy soil that does not retain any water even after a good rain? If so, the top two or three inches of the ground will be dry to the touch the day after a moderate rainfall.
  • Is there going to be Heavy traffic from cars, children playing or natural walk through paths from family and pets?
  • Does your landscape get direct or indirect salt spray from winds on the ocean or neighboring marshlands?

3 – What amount of time and money do you have to put into meeting  your goals? 

     Everybody wants a beautifully manicured expanse of green lawn, but of course the scales balance themselves well, and as it should be , the closer you get to a picture perfect lawn that draws the eye of every passerby, the more demanding that variety of sod will be on you, both physically and momentarily.

     For example…rarely is any sod as beautiful as well cared for St. Augustine sod. But to keep a deep green thick lawn such as St Augustine grass healthy it requires more time to mow, money to irrigate, money and time to fertilize and keep pests at bay as well as a bit of knowledge on how and when to do those things.

4 –  What are your likes and dislikes?

     Keep in mind that everything comes as a package deal and sod is no exception to that rule. Everone has their own likes and dislikes and often choosing things we like means having to accept a few flaws or things that we dont like in the package deal.

      Fortunately for all of us perfectly flawed things and people… One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Some of us will like a thick deep green blade of grass and others will veiw that same grass as a weed to be removed from their beautiful lawn.

So now it’s your job to consider which positives you can’t live without and which negatives you can live with.     

Consider the texture and color of your grass. Do you have preconceived notions of how grass should look and feel?

So Now That You Know the Answers to Those Questions…

NOW WHAT?

The Right Grass:

     Now it is time to begin to look at the varieties of sod available to you for the Jacksonville St. Augustine areas. Keep the answers to those four questions in mind while reading to see which grass suits your lawns main use, site specific requirements, and your personal preferences as well as your maintenance abilities. And you will be able to effortlessly choose the sod variety that is the right grass… for you.