Lawns and Grass

Lawns in Florida are weird. Everyone has this weird grass that looks suspiciously close to what we called "crabgrass' back home. It has these fat 'vine' runners which will cover your driveway of you don't have a bladed edger. See the ads for weed whips which can pivot and edge your lawn? Not against this 'grass.'

Grasses grown in Florida are maintained in a totally different way from those grown in the northern regions of the United States. Northern-grown grasses (e.g., fescue, bluegrass, ryegrass) will grow in Florida only during fall, winter, and early spring months, and will not survive year-round.

Most southern lawn grasses have a coarser leaf texture than those grown further north, especially Florida's three most-used lawn grasses: bahiagrass, St. Augustine grass, and centipede grass. I think I have centipede grass, though it seems even St. Augustine grass has the vine-y runners.

From a lawn & garden maintenance company:'Improved Bermudagrass is a high maintenance turf, due to the requirements and amount of care needed for it be at its best. When used as a home lawngrass, it is recommended having a professional lawn care company to maintain it properly. When maintained correctly it is a beautiful turfgrass, homeowners use it for that “golf course look”.'

You don't want to lie down on this grass - not only are there fire ants and other nasties, but the grass is rough and sometimes even sharp. Not fun. The only 'plus' is that while up north folks don't need to mow since the grass is under snow, you also don't mow in the 'winter' in north Florida because that's the 'dry' season and the grass goes dormant. In the summer, sometimes mowing weekly does not keep up with some of the weeds. Especially in spring, they pop up and send flowers shooting up knee-high even while the grass is just waking up.

Oh well, at least we 'do' have a dormant season, unlike the lawns in south Florida.