I live in MB and the house we now own has a mix of weeds and various grasses for a front lawn. My wife and I both stink at keeoing things alive, so easier the upkeep/resistance to bugs too, the better.

1.) What type of lawn grass do you recommend? Has to deal with typical beachside conditions. Lawn is mostly in full sunlight.

2.) How would I go about introducing a new type of lawn and at the same time getting rid of the old stuff?

Edited: 09/24/2016 at 07:27 AM by larenyon

I would look into conditioning the soil first. Maybe get some better top soil. Level the yard the best you can. Get the sprinkler system working. I use to maintain a beachside lawn. not anymore though, live M.I. and don't have grass (all shade). You gotta be mindful of the lagoon also. Whatever you put on your lawn ends up in the lagoon. So, if you buffer your soil so it isn't such quick draining beach sand it will help hold nutrients in it and in turn have a healthier lawn. Once you got good soil, then look at neighbors and see what works and what don't. For grass, the higher you keep it cut, the better root system will form and more drought tolerant it will be. Keep the mower blades sharp before each cut so less stress on the Leaf-blades. Good Luck!

     All the pseudo-environmental types on here will scream "NO GRASS".  It's just the flavor of the day here in Brevard County. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. But I have to question the sincerity of some, maybe most when it comes to actually putting their words into action. There are a half a dozen "Save Our Lagoon" signs just on my little street. Gives me the warm fuzzies. Today, two of those yards have pest control treatment signs stuck right next to their "lagoon" sign. Got pictures to prove it. I'm all for doing my part, but don't be a hipocrite about it. Not cool.

Done with rant.

    There are many benefits to a properly maintained turf areas, but please keep the fertilizing and bug treatment to a minimum. I personally think Bahia grass is by far the easiest to maintain, followed by empire zoyzia, then of course, St. Augustine.  Good luck.     

I narrowed it down to bahia or zoysia grass. I heard that zoysia is very susceptible to pests though, so i'm leaning towards bahia. Any thoughts?

 

On a side note, those who don't plant grass: what do you use for yard coverage?

I had bahia before my yard grew up and shaded. Bahia is good choice as it is drought tolerant. it isn't he prettiest, but is easy to maintain other than cutting in the deep summer.

I don't have any grass now, mostly just weeds that are kept cut. My yard is practically 100 percent shade. I do Rye grass in the winter and that works great.

consider http://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/mimosa-strigillosa

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An almost entirely native no-irrigation yard on the St. Sebastian river has Zoysia in an area with really bad soil--alkaline stuff from construction.  Survived this summer's drought just fine.  Mimosa's fine, also like non-native perennial peanut.  

To drive a homeowner association to retaliatory violence, plant a field of daisies.  I'll post a photo.

Unless you have a HOA or city requirements, there's usually no harm in mixing lawn plants.  For short term cover, annual rye grass in winter, or "green manure" crops.  Some seed companies are good, or plant some Phlox drummondii or other annuals from Florida Wildflower Seed Coop.  

 

Edited: 09/25/2016 at 03:48 PM by ww

I planted Empire Zoysia. It is very difficult to kill once established. I planted all of my beds with asiatic jasmine which is also dufficult to kill once established. Dave suggestion to amend the soil is a good solution. You can get compost from the Sarno facility to accomplish that. The one thing that Zoysia is susceptible to is fungus from being too wet. You can use 5mil black visqueen to cover the existing lawn for a least a couple of weeks to kill it or roundup. 

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