Top Ground Cover - The lawn replacement everyone is talking about

Summer is rolling in and even with a decent rainy season so far we know the inevitable is coming closer and closer, just like every year. Heat waves followed by a drought season that make the battle for a green lawn almost impossible. I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that native grass is a great lawn alternative. Today I am going to fill you in on another few alternative that do not require any mowing at all (yay to that).

KURAPIA is a new drought tolerant and low maintenance turf alternative natural ground cover sod used in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. It needs about 50% less water than turf grasses which makes it an excellent choice for the environment and your pocket as well. It will take you about 3 weeks to a month to establish kurapia on your property, first with regular irrigation before you can cut it down to weekly or even bi-weekly irrigation. Kurapia maintains green year round and blooms from May to October with beautiful dainty white flowers. It works well to cover highway and freeway shoulders, rooftops, public utility areas, commercial properties and solar farm landscapes. This plant is ok with light foot traffic but not ideal on busy areas like playgrounds and sports fields.

KURAPIA

DYAMONDIA is native to South Africa (now we know this plant is for sure a great dry season survivor). This variation consists of low-growing mats of narrow, greyish-green leaves with fuzzy white undersides that give the plants a silvery appearance. This ground cover will truly give your outdoor space an enchanted look in s silver accent color. Dymondia produces yellow beautiful looking flowers that tend to attract bees during the blossom season.

DYAMONDIA

NATIVE CALIFORNIA BENT GRASS (Agrostis pallens) is a bright green cool-season grass that withstands foot traffic and requires half the water of traditional turf and have the maintenance. Left unmowed to flop, it creates the look of a natural, informal meadow. It is one of the most popular alternatives. Mowing height is very important with bent grass. The desired mowing height should be decided and remain consistent upon installation. When the lawn is allowed to grow over 2 inches beyond the desired mow height the bentgrass will produce a false crown. This means that the stem of the plant can rise several inches above the soil level and the leaf blade becomes raised. The result can be that when mowing occurs the green leaf is completely removed and all that remains is the straw colored stem of the plant. Recovery must begin from a new shoot of the plant in order for the green leaf to replace the stem. Depending on the season this process can take 4 to 8 weeks.

BENT GRASS

Remember, no matter which alternative you chose, any ground cover only looks as good as the care you put into it.