Grass and lawn substitutes

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David Bracey

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #45 on: July 08, 2012, 08:58:04 PM »
Do you know what variety your Cynodon is??  Was it bought locally?  The only Cynodon I know in Europe is "Santana" which        O. Fillippi sells.  It is a very weak competitor.  Suggest you give your lawn a good fertilise this autumn with an (NPK) strong phosphate based fertiliser and again in the spring with a strong nitrogen based NPK fertiilser in the spring.  This should stop the weeds.

There are several Cynodon clones available from the Univ of Georgia under the "Tifway" brand but I never seen these here.
MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.

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ritamax

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #46 on: July 08, 2012, 09:05:24 PM »
Thanks for the advice, I did put some regular lawn fertilizer in last September, but that was all. It is amazing how fast it starts growing as soon as it gets warm enough, say about +25. The Cynodon lawn came with the house (Spanish owners) and is surely bought locally, all the neighbours have the same kind. We took most of it out and left it only on the sides. The sunnier side is always more lush.
Hobbygardener (MGS member) with a rooftop garden in Basel and a garden on heavy clay with sand 600m from seaside in Costa Blanca South (precipitation 300mm), learning to garden waterwise

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jmw

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #47 on: July 09, 2012, 09:44:00 AM »
An interesting piece in a New Zealand farming paper about the behaviour of Phyla nodiflora and Phyla canescens in Australia:

http://straightfurrow.farmonline.co.nz/news/australianruralnews/agribusiness-and-general/general/noxious-weed-sold-as-waterwise/1413365.aspx
Jo Wakelin
Gardens in Central Otago, New Zealand, with  -12C to  37C, and 250 - 400mm annual rainfall. Mad keen on cold hardy, drought tolerant plants.Member RHS, lecturer Horticulture.

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ritamax

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #48 on: July 09, 2012, 02:24:29 PM »
There are many invasives, which are everywhere invasive, and there are obviously invasive native plants, which are ok in their native area and there are plants which are invasive in tropics, but not so in the med climate. I think it is essential to know, what plants are invasive in your area, and avoid them. Some people say, that they have nothing invasive in their garden, but that is not the point. The point is, that these plants selfseed, the seeds are carried out by animals, or the prunings get in the nature. There is a reason, if scientists tell us to avoid some plants.
But about the lawn substitutes. To put a piece of lawn is easy, but to dig it out is hard work... I have left a bit of Cynodon in our garden, as it was there before, is hard to dig out, is quite easy to control and it is nice to walk on barefoot, no bees or other biting insects in it. If you mow it even once in 3 weeks, it won't flower and the rhizomes are easy to rip off or cut on the sides. Cynodon is forbidden now in Canary Islands, but in Spain mainland it stops growing completely in winter, therefore should not get out of control.
Hobbygardener (MGS member) with a rooftop garden in Basel and a garden on heavy clay with sand 600m from seaside in Costa Blanca South (precipitation 300mm), learning to garden waterwise

David Bracey

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #49 on: February 09, 2013, 11:31:07 AM »
Here are two pics taken in the Cape, South Africa showing two "lawns", one of thyme and the other camomile.
MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.

Trevor Australis

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #50 on: February 10, 2013, 12:07:13 AM »
Yesterday we went to the Daisy Patch Nursery in Coonalpyn, a very small town between Adelaide and Melbourne (to locate it crudely). The nursery specialises in Australian natives of the more unusual kind. They have a large native garden that features masses of annual paper daisies but also have many really interesting plants I hadn't seen before inc. prostrate Grevilleas with leaves that resemble those of 'blue' Cycads. One plant that really stood out was a very prostrate wattle with very dense cover that was a rich, deep green and very fine leaves. I will ask the owner what it is. I recall he did say it was rare in the wild. He uses it as a low groundcover and it looks great but I doubt it would take much traffic. tn
M Land. Arch., B. Sp. Ed. Teacher, traveller and usually climate compatible.

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John

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #51 on: February 11, 2013, 10:06:16 AM »
Davids picture of the thyme and camomile shows a very striking "lawn" but perhaps it is more a ground cover feature as I presume it cannot be walked on, other than for maintenance and it does have a fence around it. Still it is rather nice.
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

David Bracey

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #52 on: February 11, 2013, 11:02:31 AM »
John to my mind there is nothing that will substitute for a grass lawn..........to walk on.  I do not have any details about the pics.
MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.

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greengrass

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #53 on: June 19, 2013, 04:07:04 PM »
Hi,
There is a lot of rubbish spoken about growing real grass lawns in the Med.
I grow 12 different types of grasses all drought resistant, and all grow in the med.
The amount of water required is quite manageable for a wonderful green lawn (not English).
You can find more useful information on www.lawnsinspain.com

If you want a real grass lawn - just choose the right type of grass.

Regards
Greengrass

David Bracey

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Re: Grass and lawn substitutes
« Reply #54 on: June 19, 2013, 07:06:26 PM »
Greengrass, perhaps you would be kind enough to share the Latin names of your grass species with us. I have read your website and can find no reference to their names.  Also i wonder what product you recommend for the control of Oxalis and your pre -emergence herbicide.  Thanks .
MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.