# florida grass



## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

My wife wanted me to post this but I tried to tell her I already know. Does anyone else live in Florida? If so, do you have a lawn with your dogs? As far as I know there are two types of grass in Florida - bahaia (sp) and St. Augustine grass. Our lawn was very lush St. Augustine in the back then the girls began their potty training. In 10 months it went from lush green grass to dirt. I hate our back yard now. I hate to walk in it, hate to take the girls out side and hate to look at it. If they are not doing their business killing the grass they are digging or pulling up runners with their teeth. We have several shoe cleaner carpets for us before we come back in but after they go out they just track in the dirt.:doh: I am hoping that sometime in the future they calm down and I can either seed or sod. Anyone have any suggestions? I know that their pee can be neutralized by pouring water after they pee but who could keep that up>


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

I just googled to see if the type of grass I planted in my yard (tall fescue) would grow out there.. and found "In general, _fescue_ should not be planted in Florida" so I guess not LOL Hopefully one of our FL members sees this.


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## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

I used to use a hose to water the spots where my dogs peed. It did help avoid brown spots and wasn't a big deal to do. Of course, now that we're about to be forced to endure water rationing, that's not such a good idea.

Alternatively, could you section off a part of the yard for the dogs? Some people train their dogs to use only a certain area for their potty breaks, or actually put in gravel or some other non-growing medium for the dog area. Or even set up a fence so the dogs use that area rather than the entire lawn.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Well as someone who has seen her nice beautiful St Augustine grass go to hell, I know exactly what you are going thru. We did put some Rye grass seed out for the winter and it will grow until it gets really hot around May or June. Once that happens, I dont know what we will do. The reason our grass went bad was because when Bama plays ball he doesnt run and grab the ball he puts on the brakes and just slides digging in the feet. Hubby says we are going to go with Bahia since it is tougher than St augustine. But I really love the St Augustine grass because it is so thick and soft. I do have to say that the grass also took alot of damage from all the rain we got this summer and out yard was under water for a week or more. That really did a number on it and then Bama trampling it didnt help. But until hubby gets a job, no grass will be put down and we will have to wash the feet down whn he comes in.


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## FranH (May 8, 2005)

We have St. Augustine grass. It's not too bad. My husband does the weed and feed twice a year and we do have a sprinkler system. You may want to give your yard a break from the girls for a couple of weeks. Good luck!


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Florida grass and dirt suck. People who don't live here will never know why we have to bathe or dogs almost every day! That gray crap sand grinds into their coats like chalk and turns your hands black!!

Our front yard is St Augustine- that's the only kind worth a darn for keeping them clean. I don't let them do anything out there but hang out supervised.

Back is no grass. Mulched over entirely... no sand exposed. Still, the Golden is too dirty to come inside if she's been out there long enough to have sat or laid down. It sucks!


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## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

Sectioning off an area is a good idea but they eat the rocks and mulch (eat the mulch and play with the rocks) but maybe I could find something to put down in one area. I know what you mean when you say they don't just run, they put on the brakes and dig in when they run. Karma has started this thing where she scratches off with all four legs after she pees digging up a divit. Then they smell a rock under the dirt and dig so fast you can't get to them fast enough to at least prevent a small patch dug out. My God why do they have to dig. I am thinking bahaia would be a heartier breed of grass. My neighbour has it and his grass always looks ok, not great like st. augustine but ok. At least it's grass and the nothing kills it. My wife told me a few days ago "let's call and get a couple of pallets of St. Aug. and lay it down...ha ha...lol. I told her they would have that in smaller pieces within a few days. I do believe the sprinkler may be a good idea after resodding because it would neutralize the pee. I pick up the poop and throw it over the fence in a ditch. FPL property, no biggie. I'll just have to deal with dirt until they get over the digging stage.....thanks all


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

I,also,live in Florida!.
St Augustine is the best grass,for Florida!.
My only advice is to take yr dogs,out,for a walk before letting them,in the backyard!.
You can,also,mix vinagar with water and spray it,once a week,which will help the grass or replace the grass with pea pebbles!.


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## AmbersDad (Dec 25, 2007)

Do you fertilize the lawn at all? I found that most of Ambers urine burns come after I have applied fertilizer. Since it contains high levels of nitrogen when the urine that contains ammonia combines with it, it ends up burning the grass. I found that its best not to apply any type of fertilizer at all in areas where Amber typically urinates. Other then that, I too have dealt with having a wonderfully beautiful lawn until my little ball of fur arrived. Now I am starting to get it back since shes now 19 months old and not digging and trying to kill every inch of grass on her own without the urine! I had to plant sod, grass seed(5, 25lb bags in one summer) and those grass patch kits just to keep up on it. Constant watering seems to help the grass as well on a daily basis during the summer. Just getting the lawn very healthy with good roots is about all you can do that way the grass is at least able to recover when its able. Otherwise, do alot of playing at parks and forests lol. I wish you luck, I really do and if you find a solution please let us know.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I wanted to let everyone know that we have put some empire sod in a section of our backyard to see how it handled Bama and his ball playing. It is very slow growing so less mowing, nice and green and soft. It takes less water and that is good with the water restrictions we are having. 
The only minus is with it being new from Home Depot anytime the dogs pee on it, it makes a brown spot but that should disappear as all the nutriants level out. And it doesnt kill that spot and is bouncing back already from the pee. If it keeps lasting, when hubby gets his job, we are going to do the rest of the backyard. The front yard is St Augustine is in the front yard and after it dies, we will put the empire in the front yard. 
Here are some pluses over St Augustine. And the websites for more info:
http://www.laymanstraining.com/lawn.html
http://www.sodsolutions.com


*EMPIRE Zoysia*

*1. Low maintenance *lawn - nicknamed "EZ" lawn. It grows slower, needing only to be cut every 7-14 days. Maintain between 1-2" (1" is optimal). Heights above 2" will reduce quality. Cut with a sharp blade standard rotary mower. Never cut more than 1/3 of the total length of the blade. EMPIRE Zoysia prefers a mower that bags the clippings.
*2. *Due to its deep massive root system EMPIRE Zoysia can survive on *one third of the water *that St. Augustine does, which is a major plus, because Tampa municipality has frequently restricted watering - è currently it's once a week.
*3. *EMPIRE Zoysia has *rapid injury recovery *after drought.
*4. *EMPIRE Zoysia was discovered in hot humid Brazil. It does well in heat and humidity.
*5. *EMPIRE Zoysia *is weed resistant *due to it's tight mat and strong, thick, deep root structure that has a reputation to stand up to invading grasses and weeds. It's called EMPIRE because of its dominance.
*6. *EMPIRE Zoysia is ideal for kids to romp and play ball on. It's planted in parks for its excellent wear tolerance, eye catching dark green color and soft-to-the-touch feel.
*7. *EMPIRE Zoysia looks like a beautiful lush soft inviting carpet that will greatly enhance the beauty of one's home.
*8.* EMPIRE Zoysia is susceptible to billbugs which are easy to detect and treat with Sevin from Wal-Mart.

*St. Augustine*​ 
*1. *è High maintenance - grows to ±7" by the seventh day and only looks really good for a day or two after it's been cut, because it can't be mowed lower than 3".
*2. *Unless it is regularly well watered St. Augustine develops dead patches and is quickly overrun by weeds, other grasses, horrible Crabgrass - it struggles in our Florida heat under severe watering restrictions.
*3. *St. Augustine recovers poorly after drought.
*4. *St. Augustine does not do as well in the heat, unless daily well watered.
*5. *On my past daily walks in S. Valrico, I noticed 8 out of 10 St. Augustine lawns were overrun by Bermuda, Bahai, ghastly Crabgrass, and a multitude of weeds. I saw home owners with one year old lawns that were already needing to replant because of a Bermuda takeover - then have to do it a second time because of a Crabgrass takeover.
*6. *I had to stop the kids playing ball on my old St. Augustine lawn, because it quickly wore thin and bared under traffic. Come to think of it, you seldom see kids playing on St. Augustine lawn - maybe because of it's uncomfortable feel.
*7. *St. Augustine is a coarse lawn, often with a scraggy appearance.
*8.* St. Augustine is susceptible to chinch bugs, webworms & mole crickets, which are more difficult to detect and treat.​ 
NB. Please don't confuse EMPIRE Zoysia with *negative reports *you may read about the many other types of Zoysia grasses that do well up North, but should never have been planted in Florida. EMPIRE Zoysia is a specialized species that has been thoroughly tested and proven to thrive in the Southern U.S.A. EMPIRE Zoysia also has good shade tolerance; performs well in sandy and clay soils, has good cold tolerance and excellent salt tolerance - causing it to thrive near coastal conditions.​


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## bb'smom (Jan 3, 2009)

*Florida Grass*

We are lucky to have homes in Martin County, Fl and Stamford, CT--so we know about the difference in grass...the first thing my guys always do when we get back to CT is roll around on our nice, soft, green lawn for what seems like 30 minutes!!!

Big difference! And the best part-no sand, and no "straw" in the house!

But-there's no snow in FL so our North-South treks continue!


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