January has sure been cold and rainy. I hope there is a little more sun in February, I am getting tired of dim and damp.

Let's talk about grass (about have to, I don't know much else). There are warm season grasses and cool season grasses. Warm season grasses are bermudas, zoysia, kikuyu, and buffalo grass. (There are others but these are the ones most talked about.) This group looks good when temps are above 65 and, in hot climates, are the only ones to survive the extended heat. In the south, they look good for about 6-7 months. In the north they are okay for about 4 months. The rest of the time they are dormant (brown).

Cool season grasses are blues, ryes, and fescues. These are grown mostly in the north where they survive the cold winters and the short blasts of heat in the summers. They have an 8-10 month season and go dormant (brown) after a long, hard freeze.

Some people think warm season grasses as more water efficient choices. They are assuming that dormant (brown) grass doesn't need any water and that is not correct. Warm season grasses are watered when they are dormant and so are cool season grasses. Cool season grasses, because they go dormant in the winter, get their moisture from Mother Nature. If they were dormant in May and September, like warm season grasses would be, then they would need water. Not as much as if they were green but they would still have to be watered.

There are claims that bluegrass needs 40" or more of water every year and I have been trying to figure out how to use that much on my own yard. I water 1 or 2 times in March and October so 1"x2=2". Then twice a week in April, May, and September for 4"x3=12". June, July, and August are 3 times/week for 6"x3=18". Hundred degree days can suck a little more so let's add 4 more waterings for those months for another 2". Add 2+12+18+2 for a total of 34". That is all for an place in the desert with constant wind and sandy soils. To use 40", one would have to water 12 more times. If you could skip the wind and 100 degree days, the water need could be 30" or less.

Watering to please the eye brings us to one of the reasons rye and fescue are mixed with bluegrass. Bluegrass is slow coming out of dormancy and goes in quicker than fescue. When the temps reach a 100, bluegrass will turn blue-gray (guess where it got its name), but rye will not. So the fescue and rye mask the color changes in the bluegrass and the turf stays more uniform to the eye. All this occurs without extra water or fertilizer. In fact, my experience says that pure bluegrass leads people to over water and over fertilize just because they are trying to please their eyes.

Sure, bluegrass is easier to grow. To make a good mix, it takes a lot of time to pick species that compliment each other. The timing has to be better at planting and the grower has to pay more attention. But, you know, good things always take more effort and customers recognize good things (at least I hope they aren't all playing LOTTO for their pension plans).

Proper water usage is so important for a nice landscape to live in. Grass, trees, and shrubs make our oxygen, filter the water, and add such beauty (along with another 100 or so pluses) that I can't imagine being without them. I worry that snake oil salesman and people who don't care will create so many problems that governments will regulate landscaping. (Those boys like paper and plastic and nothing good can come from that.) I doubt if one sod farm can educate enough people to help but I am stubborn and will keep trying. Later.