# Need ground cover advice/ suggestions



## Eddinberry (Dec 3, 2006)

Am building a new house on ground that is mostly sandy loam.

Grass dosn't grow well even when pushed in the area.

Which is fine by me, I don't much care for mowing and the grade of the lawn is gonna be kinda steep.

Still have the issue of all the sand, and foot(Paws as well) traffic bringing the stuff into the house unless there is some sort of ground cover.

Any suggestions??

PH is acidic at 4-9 to 5.3 and it's supposed ta be zone 5 on the temperate map.

I have looked and am striking out.

Tried Creeping Myrtle before, and the stuff is a pain in the butt even if it does grow well.

It dosn't cover enough ground, and it sneaks up on the ornamentals while trying to get under the siding.
 

Any ideas????

Thanks!

Merry Christmas!!
Eddinberry


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## Archdean (Jul 15, 2004)

Have you tried planting BlueBerrys?  

I'm supposed to know something about this stuff (admittedly not much)
But the Colorado State University has some good info on grasses tolerant to your kind of soil!!

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TR...olostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/drylandgrasssand.html

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/drylandgrasssand.html]HERE[/URL]


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I had somewhat of a similar situation at my last home. After trying seeding of various species of grass seed, I tried ordering some Z-52 Zoysia Grass. It comes in 1' x 2' strips of sod that are pre-cut into 1 inch squares. Kinda like a cookie cutter does. The wife and I tried following the instructions and breaking the strips into 1 inch squares and plugging them into our lawn. The result was that they all dried up and blew away. I called and complained, they sent me another case and this when the replacements arrived I transplanted each 1' x 2' sod whole into prepared beds of soil that I had loosened up and fertilized. I kept them well watered and they gradually took hold and the next season each of these sod strips started to engulf all the grass and plants around it, gradually spreading out more each season. The grass in like indoor outdoor carpet and is real nice to walk or lay on. The dogs loved it because it was nice and soft and warm during the winter. It does not grow tall but slowly spreads out and thickens. You cut it about 1/4 as much as the regular grass depending upon how fast it grows and how much water it gets. The only draw back is that during the winter the grass goes domant and turns white but turns a lush green again in the spring and goes dormant again in early winter. It worked particularly well on steep rocky areas that no other grass or plants would grow on because it just could not take root whereas the zoysia just spread out over top of the bad areas and gradually took root over a large area. 

I purchased the largest box they offer which will eventually cover a yard over an extended period of time but if you want faster results you will have buy larger amounts to sod areas of your yard with. 

Here is what it looked like right before we moved to the ranch which was about 8 years growth. Your results may vary. 

<img src="http://www.tractorforum.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=41121">

Prior to the zoysia grass taking over the hill, this area was covered with rocky dirt patches and in some areas very large boulders in the ground. In fact you can see in the middle left side of this picture and dark area where the zoysia is in the process of carpeting over a large boulder that was too big for me to remove. Looks like a dark line in the grass. 

This picture is in the My Place section in this thread

My Place 

These are the guy I purchase mine from but you may be able to find someone closer in your area who can deliver a truck load of zoysia sod much cheaper.

Zoysia Farms Nurseries 

Some folks like it and some don't. Take a look and see if it may be a good option for your application.


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## Eddinberry (Dec 3, 2006)

Chief,

Thanks for the link!

Looks like it worked out for you, Ya gotta good looking lawn there.

I did the cyphering to figure out ph Correction from 4.6 to 6.5, and then figured how many plugs I'd need, and punched the total button.:argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: 

That's some mighty spendy Grass!!!

I'm gonna look into some other options as well, but I like the fact the stuff dosn't need mowing all the dadgum time.

Thanks much again!
Eddinberry


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## Eddinberry (Dec 3, 2006)

Dean,

Naw, I ain't considered planting Blueberrys for ground cover around the house. They grow too tall, and ya gotta prune the things.

I am thinking of Just digging a moat all the way around the place all of a sudden though. 

The ph and low organic content of the sand here, negates the use of the Prarie grass. It's running 4.0-5.9 overall on the place.

Interesting reading on the CSU site though!!!

Thanks!!
Eddinberry


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Eddinberry _
> *Chief,
> 
> Thanks for the link!
> ...


The grass cover you see in the picture and other place throughout the yard was done with ONE box which cost me well under $100. DO NOT break up the sod strips into little plugs. They are so small to sustain moisture and die. As I recall, there were about a dozen or two 1 ft. 2 ft. sod stripes in the box and I just made a nice bed of soil for each sod stripe and planted them equally around the yard in whole sod strips. The sod stripe has enough soil and plant mass to sustain moisture and grew well. When eash sod strip grew into a big patch; I started transplanting pie plate sized patches of grass throughout the yard. Eventually the grass took over and beat out everything else including the weeds. If you are going to sod the entire yard; you bet it IS expensive. Check around your state and local area to see if there are any sod farms you can buy direct from. It is much cheaper that way.


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## Eddinberry (Dec 3, 2006)

Chief,

Thanks!!!!

The details from the website didn't include such nuances!!

Merry Christmas!
Eddinberry


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