Need a Drought and Heat Resistant Grass (Texas Hill Country)

[BillyBarty]

Hello,

I have some property in South Central Texas (Hill Country). The grass growing there now is some Saint Augustine (which survives and does fine without me watering it at all where it is at least partially shaded), whatever is wild (probably some Bermuda in there, but I don't know for sure - basically the Saint Augustine stops where there is too much sun and then the wild stuff starts), and of course weeds. I am fine with the wild stuff for as far as it provides coverage, but the problem is there are significant areas in full sun where it is pretty much just dirt (and not very nutrient rich dirt as far as I can surmise) with occasional sprigs of wild grass and weeds. It is primarily these "dirt" areas where I would like to get something going. Whatever grass to get going there would need to be very heat and drought tolerant. I am not at this property but maybe once per month and I have no sprinkler system. Given all this, I was thinking about some kind of Bermuda and would lay the seed down as early in the spring as advisable to take advantage of the spring rains. I can water the seed in with a hose sprinkler as necessary, but once summer comes along, I'd like the grass to be largely on its own. Water is a hot commodity in these parts during the summer and like I said, I am usually not there. Winters are short, but since we are about 1000 feet above sea level and far away from any big cities (and accompanying island heat effects) it is not unusual to get ice storms and even a bit of snow. Attached is a picture of the property (taken middle of July). The lush green grass seen in roughly the top half of the picture mostly Saint Augustine. From the top half of the picture down you can sort of see how the grass fades into a good example of one of the "dirt" areas I am aiming to improve. Any advice about what kind of grass seed would work well and how to put it down would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to stick with organic top-dressing and fertilizers as much as possible.

Thanks!


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[bpgreen]

Would buffalo grass be an option? Or maybe a combination of buffalo grass and blue grama? It might be tough to get it started without any irrigation, but it would probably do fine without any input once it started growing.

[Begotten]

centipede would be a better option for crummy soil and low maintenance, but it'd take a good long time to be established.
'

[skippytx]

I'm in San Antonio and everything in the area is either a Bermuda Hybrid, or St. Augustine. Tif 419 is used mostly from what I've seen as it is very heat and drought tolerant, it can't be seeded though. Sodding an area like that would be super expensive. I'm not sure what kind of Bermuda seed would work best in the area though.

[bpgreen]

centipede would be a better option for crummy soil and low maintenance, but it'd take a good long time to be established.
'

Before considering centipede, check the soil pH. Centipede sites well in a low pH lawn. It could be that's why the other grasses aren't doing well, but I think much of Texas has high pH soil, in which case centipede would be a poor choice.

[Alan]

How can you tell that the soil is nutrient deficient? Have you had a soil test done?

If you decide to seed, you are going to be on the watering hook until it germinates. Whether that be some kind of timer rigged up or whatever, but you can't just throw down seed an hope mother nature does her thing. As TW recently mentioned about when to seed, you mention early spring, however make sure your temps meet his 150ºF rule. Daytime temps + night time temps =150ºF or hotter.

Edited to add that, my seeding info. was for Bermuda seed, if that wasn't already assumed.

[Spammage]

Buffalo is probably your best option if you aren't planning on any irrigation during the summer months. However, like stated previously this will require constant soil moisture until established and that may be difficult for you to achieve.

[bpgreen]

One option for buffalo would be plugs. I think I'd recommend that route over seed, anyway, because the seeded varieties will produce seed and the seeds have burrs. Also, the male plants produce pollen, and I've read that it's bad for people with allergies.

The plugged varieties are female and don't produce seeds or pollen.

[texasweed]

Just use pasture grade bermuda grass. The seed is dirt cheap like Arizona common. .

[BfranksATX]

centipede would be a better option for crummy soil and low maintenance, but it'd take a good long time to be established.
'

Before considering centipede, check the soil pH. Centipede sites well in a low pH lawn. It could be that's why the other grasses aren't doing well, but I think much of Texas has high pH soil, in which case centipede would be a poor choice.

Yeah no chance that his soil will have low enough ph for centipede.

If you are willing to pay more for seed up front for a low maintenance lawn check out habiturf from the wildflower center.
http://www.wildflower.org/habiturf/

[BillyBarty]

Thanks everyone for all the posts. I think I will do some experimentation with some pasture grade bermuda grass as suggested by texasweed and habiturf as suggested by BfranksATX. In other words, see how my results compare for low cost seed vs.high cost seed.

Thanks again!

[dfw_pilot]

This thread begged for a shout out from David Hall. Is he not around here much anymore? Anyway, the SodFather has spoken . . .

[Sixohh]

reguardless, gatta have some water!