Cover grass in Florida panhandle

rokhunter

Member

Equipment
BX23S TLB
Dec 28, 2018
90
2
6
Baker, Florida, United States
I’ve got two acres in the Florida panhandle that was wooded and has been cleared. What’s a good grass seed I can put down that will give me a fairly low-maintenance, drought tolerant grass cover? I’m planning on Bahia grass but don’t know how fast it grows/how often I’ll have to cut it.


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D2Cat

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
12,901
4,269
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
Contact your local county extension office and inquire there. They will be most familiar with your conditions.
 

Captain13

Active member

Equipment
M7040 4WD ROPS, ZD28, Woods (84” box blade, 72” harrow, 48” pallet forks)
Feb 27, 2019
516
168
43
Kathleen, GA
I’ve got two acres in the Florida panhandle that was wooded and has been cleared. What’s a good grass seed I can put down that will give me a fairly low-maintenance, drought tolerant grass cover? I’m planning on Bahia grass but don’t know how fast it grows/how often I’ll have to cut it.


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I'm in central Georgia. Believe me....Bahia grows very fast. The "frons" grow up about 12 inches in a week. The grass is nice but the thickness of the frons leaves a lot of cut grass on your property and the next time you mow, you are having to deal with the piles of already cut grass. I cut mine weekly.

I started some Bermuda in my field (five acres) and it covers good, is very drought resistant. The Bermuda I have stays short (not coastal Bermuda) and is easy to mow. Even in the drought periods we've had over the past five years, the Bermuda stays green. When the drought was severe two years ago, some of the Bermuda went dormant but was back green within two or three days after it rained. With the Bermuda areas, I can go for two to three weeks without mowing and it still looks good. Bahia has to be mowed weekly and sometimes twice a week if we are getting rain here or the blades won't make a clean cut on those tall frons. And yes, I keep my blades sharp.

Checking with the county extension agent as mentioned above is a good idea.