lakngulf
Veteran Member
"Going Green" is a hot topic these days, but I am writing just about the work involved to get more green grass. When I purchased my place in 1996 I had a strip of centipede grass about 20-25 feet deep. I could mow it in five minutes. The rest of my yard I decided to leave natural, and let the pine trees give it a good cover of mulch. Well, centipede gives out fast growing runners, and the grass has crept up the yard over the years.
Last year I decided that one larger area would look a lot better if it was green, so I planted some plugs in that area to see if the centipede would take hold. There were a couple of long strips, but most of the plugs were with hole diggers. I would dig a plug in the dirt area, get a plug of centipede to put in the hole, then dig another hole, put that dirt in the most recent centipede plug hole, and do that over and over again. Well, it worked. Here is an area that was all dirt and pine straw last summer:
That worked so well that I decided to give a try in another area. This area, however, had lots of roots showing, which meant there were many just beneath the surface. I used the box blade diggers to grab and loosen the roots, so the centipede grass will not have so much competition. During that process the area looked like a war zone:
I loaded the roots in the FEL bucket and hauled them off, then smoothed the area with the box blade.
The plugs for this area will come from along the seawall. We have decided to plant a row of iris' there, for a good look and for a barrier to keep four grandchildren ( and more on the way) from getting too close to the edge.
Last year I decided that one larger area would look a lot better if it was green, so I planted some plugs in that area to see if the centipede would take hold. There were a couple of long strips, but most of the plugs were with hole diggers. I would dig a plug in the dirt area, get a plug of centipede to put in the hole, then dig another hole, put that dirt in the most recent centipede plug hole, and do that over and over again. Well, it worked. Here is an area that was all dirt and pine straw last summer:
That worked so well that I decided to give a try in another area. This area, however, had lots of roots showing, which meant there were many just beneath the surface. I used the box blade diggers to grab and loosen the roots, so the centipede grass will not have so much competition. During that process the area looked like a war zone:
I loaded the roots in the FEL bucket and hauled them off, then smoothed the area with the box blade.
The plugs for this area will come from along the seawall. We have decided to plant a row of iris' there, for a good look and for a barrier to keep four grandchildren ( and more on the way) from getting too close to the edge.
Last edited:
off.
