'The Lazy Man's Grass'!

Centipede is the lowest maintenance of warm season grasses. It is a slow-growing, apple-green, coarse-leaved turfgrass that is adapted for use as a low maintenance, general purpose turf. It requires little fertilizer, infrequent mowing, and grows well in full sun to moderate shade. Centipede grass tolerates dry spells rather well and greens up rapidly after brief drought with irrigation or rainfall. It does not tolerate traffic as well as Bermuda grass. A Centipede lawn can be established from seeds or sod.

Culture

Centipede grass prefers full sun but will tolerate a fair amount of shade - much more shade than Bermuda or Meyers Zoysia. It prefers sandy, well-drained clay soil for best performance.

If you're looking for a dense, low-maintenance, cold-tolerant turf, which can be established by either seed or sod, you'll want to specify TifBlair Centipede. This new certified centipede, developed by renowned USDA/ARS genteicist Dr. Wayne Hanna, was bred to give landscape professionals, highway departments and home owners a superior centipede variety with a patented pedigree. TifBlair is a product of the internationally recognized turfgrass breeding program at Tifton, Georgia.

Mowing

Centipede is easy to mow and requires less mowing than any other grass. Under typical conditions and management, Centipede may require two cutting per month during the peak growing season. Ulike Bermuda grass, Centipede will not show brown scalping marks when cutting is delayed too long and excessive growth is removed during mowing.

Centipede grass needs to be mowed to a height of 2.5 to 3.5 inches for best results. In the hottest part of summer, raise the mowing height and don't mow at all during severe drought.

Maintenance will depend on the temperature of the soil, water levels, and your mowing and fertilization schedule. If temperatures are cool, the grass will grow slower and less mowing is required. If it does go dormant due to lack of water or rain, it will green right up again as soon as it receives the moisture it needs. The root-growing season starts in April and goes through October.

Fertilization

Begin fertilization for a Centipede lawn in spring after the new green growth has fully emerged. At this time apply a good Centipede fertilzer such as 18-0-18 or 15-0-15. Make sure the fertilzer contains iron, preferably 2 to 3%. Centipede can be fertilized again in mid-summer with 18-0-18 or 15-0-15. Follow instructions on the package for proper apllication methods and rates.

If the color of your Centipede grass fades to light green an application of Iron Plus will usually turn it back to a maximum green color.

Pests

Centipede grass will knit itself into a tight turf that naturally resists weeds if you fertilize properly. It actually smothers weeds, as the grass grows so thick. The grass has aggressive above-ground runners called stolons. A healthy Centipede lawn is usually weed free.

It is seldom that we hear of a pest problem with Centipede. When we do it's usually spittlebug or grubs. Spittlebugs are small, triangular-shaped black insects with two red stripes across the sides. White grubs live underground and can be identified when patches of grass begin to die, and the patches grow in size. Chemical treatments are available that control these pests.