Question
we have a lawn in the backyard when we moved in was compleatly weed infused. we now are in the procces of killing the weeds pulling them and making the dirt soft in areas it was like rock. we are in surprise and want to grow some grass from seed hopefully by the middle of October. I'm not sure what kind of grass we should use. i have a 2 year old and want it to be low maintenance but durable. so what should we do to get the lawn ready and what should we do in order to have the grass we want in the  time frame? thank you

Answer
On matters of seed and sod I consult Seedland.com.  My experience has found them to be informed and direct.  I'm a person who likes to study every facet of a subject before making a decision, down to the finest minutiae.  While I plead inexperience with growing Grass in Arizona, I do know a lot about grass and I happen to agree with them that if you have the water needed, Bermudagrass is the Grass for you.

Bermudagrass is THE most popular Lawn in the state of Arizona.  Statistically, 98 percent of the world's Bermudagrass is growing in Lawns in Southern California and Arizona.  Seedland.com explains why:

'While parts of Northern Arizona lies in a transitional zone, the Cool Season Grasses (Fescue, Ryegrass, Bluegrass) will struggle to survive the hot Summer temperatures when planted... Because of the high Summer heat stress, Warm Season Grasses are the primary Grasses planted in Arizona.'

You can read the full paragraph at the Seedland.com website:

www.lawngrass.com/states/arizona.html

Bermudagrass LOVES scorching, blood-boiling HEAT.  If you go outside in the morning and you can fry an egg on the steps outside, you're in business.

There's just one thing you need to know about Bermuda.  That is, Bermudagrass MUST HAVE FULL SUN.

This is no Shade-tolerant rug.  If you have Trees, if your house casts shadows over the property, a tall fence or wall, this stuff will vanish overnight.

Because Bermuda CANNOT survive without a full Sun blazing overheat to bake it.

So there are some very new breeds of Bermuda available, just like there are some terrific new types of Kentucky Bluegrass and other grasses, that are better than anything you could buy even 10 years ago.  One that is getting a lot of press is Princess Bermudagrass.

Princess is notable for its finer blades and deeper Green coloring.  There are some other very popular Bermudagrass 'inventions' that are now available and they CANNOT produce Seed because they are STERILE.  These are ONLY available as sprigs, sod, plugs, etc.

No, my friend, it is beginning to look like you're not in Kansas anymore.

Want to check the numbers?  Walk over to the National Turfgrass Evaluation rogram website:

ntep.org/data/bg97/bg97_00-4/bg9700t01b.txt

and look down the Arizona column for Bermudagrass.  'Princess' took that cake in their trials.

Note please you do not plant Bermuda until NEXT MARCH.  This is determined by experts and written pretty much in stone so DO NOT go out and buy first rate Grass and then plant it now.

You can also obtain a lot of guidance from your local Arizona extension service:

www.ag.arizona.edu/extension/counties/

Your tax dollars at work.  Nice for a change, don't you think?

Finally, you should obtain Soil samples and have them professionally analyzed, which they will ALSO do for you - some states charge a modest fee for this, easily worth its weight in gold.  These tests often come back with a lot of technical gobbledygook; if you do get one of these write to me and we'll translate together.

Any questions?

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER