Are those your only choices? My limited knowledge of Zoysia is that it doesn't really thrive here. My neighbor had a small patch he was babying in his back yard--it is a very slow grower. I personally wouldn't go with bermuda of any ilk, but I'm somewhat allergic to it. The key may be if you have shade or not. Another consideration is whether your yard will flow into your neighbor's. If you have a real choice and a lot of sun you might want to opt for a mix of buffalo grass and other native grasses. Here is a link to a mix promoted by the Wildflower Center.

Habiturf

Carla in Leander

Thanks for the answers trussin and Carla. Yes those are the only 2 choices. I guess they don't want St Augustine lawns which are my favorite. I know it is considered a water hog, but our lawn in Leander is not. We water it once a week and it survived the drought fine. Everyone in the subdivision has bermuda because that is what the builder plants and what the HOA allows so spreading into other yards isn't a problem and the trees aren't going to be big enough to cause a shade problem. We aren't having the backyard sodded or a sprinkler system put in yet (there will be one in the front and on the sides). I want to plan my rose beds and put a sprinkler system in accordingly. I guess I'll have to resign myself to endless yard work to keep the bermuda out of my flower beds and garden.

Carla (hello, fellow Leanderthal) brings up a good point - Bermuda will not grow well in shade.

Are your HOA rules as heavily enforced for your backyard? The grass linked above, or one of the mixes from Native American Seed, are low maintenance with low irrigation requirements.

Edit: make that LeanderthalS

Seems all 3 of us are Leanderthals...LOL Yes, they enforce pretty heavily as this is a small infill subdivision and there are only 60 houses. We would stay where we are in Leander if our house was big enough to move my Mom in with us but it isn't. So we are building a bigger house with an inlaw suite to accommodate her. At this point the HOA is still managed by the builder, but with houses going as fast as they are now, it will probably be turned over to the homeowners in a year or two. I just hate the thought of keeping the bermuda out of everything. I still fight it here after 8 years.

Some of the newer varieties of St. Augustine are supposed to be more drought tolerant. You might check those before going with bermuda. I would do almost anything to avoid it. My parents had a great patch of St. Augustine at their house for years until there was a really dry winter one year and it died. Bermuda has filled in (of course) and now the flowerbeds are a total mess with bermuda all over everything. The Texas A&M website has a lot of info in turf grasses although they are pretty high ho on bermuda varieties--especially commercial applications.

Carla

When we bought this house 8 years ago the yard was a mess. It had gone through a foreclosure due to a divorce and sat empty for 2 years. We sodded part of the front yard with whatever St. Augustine the Grass Patch was selling and plugged the rest with whatever Lowe's was selling. We watered by hand everyday for the first 3 months and then twice a week watering for the rest of the growing season. Now 7 years later, it has done fine with the drought and once a week watering. I just wish there was some way around the bermuda but apparently there isn't. I guess I was hoping the Tiff 419 was a non invasive bermuda, but it isn't so I'll just have to deal. I understand wanting the yards to look the same but man oh man I wish it was a different grass.

Well apparently Tiff 419 is regular bermuda grass that we all know. Personally, I think if you put nothing there, you would have bermuda eventually. Which zoysia are they offering? Any one of these:

zoysia link

I think I would go with one of those if at all possible over bermuda.

Right now the lots on either side of us are empty, but I'm sure that won't last long. My brother in law put zoysia in his back yard and the bermuda is taking it over. I have no experience at all with zoysia so I guess I will go do a bunch of research and see what it takes. They don't specify what type of zoysia. Thanks for all your help. I'm sure I'll be back when we start putting in landscape in the backyard. I know what I want for roses but may want to try some other natives too. I'm a native Texan, but usually just let hubby do his thing. This house may be different though.

Ask them if they will allow Celebration Bermuda. Best grass for Texas and the only Bermuda that will tolerate some shade. If they won't allow this grass, they are absolute idiots.

LOL Roman. The HOA bylaws specify Tiff 419. When you have builders, even native Texas builders deciding on landscape, well, absolute idiots probably fits. I don't know if they would know the difference. How much difference is there in the blade look and will it take over the Tiff that will be in the front yard?

Save me from the almighty HOA! Twice a week mowing, you must be kidding!!!!

I know, wantonamara. I really want to spend my little free time mowing the yard. I'm retired, but have my Mom to take care of and hubby is still working for another 3 years or so. I would rather not mow twice a week when it's over 100 degrees.

I would put the yard on a starvation diet. I really should shut my mouth because I don't have a lawn. I don't believe in them.

Charintx, the Celebration Bermuda looks similar to the 419. It may have just a slightly "bluer" look to it and may invade a little bit, but very slowly. See video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZGkKOg3UY

Thank you Roman. I googled the Celebration and like the look of it compared to the Tif. From what I could find out without calling around, the price range is comparable to Tif. Zoysia is way expensive for something that can't compete with the wild bermuda.

I've re-done my yard at several houses I've lived in over the years. I drank the Kool-Aid and tied zoysia once. For the premium I paid, I was disappointed to say the least. Within a year, I had wild Bermuda popping up. I tried to hand weed for awhile, but finally gave up and just let it do its thing. I was also disappointed in its vigor, or lack thereof. Some spots were thick and full as advertised, but others were thin and spindly. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it as far as light either.

While Bermuda can rebound better from drought that St. Augustine, it'll still look crappy and weeds will take over if not irrigated. One of my wife's friends had a new house built and she got the builder issued 419. After hardly watering in our micro drought last summer, the wild Bermuda popped up and has really taken over in some areas. It's easy to spot since it grows much taller and has a wider blade.

Based on what I've read about it, if a gun was pointed to my head and I had to pick Bermuda grass, I'd try celebration. I don't have any firsthand knowledge to back that up though.

As much as St. Augustine gets vilified, I'm still partial to it overall. Yep, a good watering once a week will get it by. Any other grass needs the same, really. It's not the PC or sexy choice in our neck of the woods, but that's what we're going with in our backyard we're renovating. It helps that our neighborhood's all St. A though. If we were the only one, I'd MAYBE reconsider.

My $.02.

Thanks for your answer. Hubby and I were just discussing the lawn and talking about plugging in St. Augustine unobtrusively in the front...LOL.. and bucking the HOA and doing the back in St.A. I know from experience it will take over bermuda and I much prefer the looks to bermuda. I don't know why it is so vilified. My yard in Leander fared far better with once a week watering during the drought than my neighbors with bermuda and they were watering more.

The hybrid Bermuda is much tidier looking and easier to keep maintained than the regular stuff. Noticeably less shaggy.

Zoysia produces plenty of runners, too. They just don't 'run' as fast. But they will run as far and as deep.

If your neighbors have the Bermuda, I would definitely go with Bermuda. Zoysia goes dormant during the winter even without very low temperatures and any adjacent Bermuda will creep and take over during December-March. With Bermuda neighbors, your zoysia lawn will morph into a Bermuda lawn in a couple years.

Don't get me wrong, I personally love zoysia. It's beautiful and requires a lot less frequent mowing. And it's tough, but it's only tough when it's very healthy and there's adequate water and a proper mowing height and schedule. It's just not as tough as Bermuda. And while your neighbors have green grass in winter, yours will be a dull brown.

How many $.02 is that? Enough for a happy hour beer?

Why yes it is....here's your beer and thanks for the answer. :))

If you're considering 'unobtrusively plugging in' St. Augustine you might want to do some research as to cultivars. In our back yard we plugged in Floratam St. Augustine several years ago. It was recommended as being as drought and sun tolerant as Burmuda grass and as having very vigorous growth as well. It quickly took over the old St. Augustine. For sunny areas I can't recommend it enough. We bought several pallets and cut them up into 4 inch plugs.

There are lots of discussions about Floratam St. Augustine HERE. It's too bad HOAs are not better educated about drought tolerant grass varieties. Maybe your 'unobtrusive plugs' will do just that ... :-)

This post shows our full sun, lush Floratam St. Augustine lawn. It took over the patches of Burmuda grass that was growing in the bare patches of the old St. Augustine. It does great on a 7 to 10 day watering schedule.

Your grass is beautiful, roselee. Exactly the look I prefer. We are seriously considering doing just that and see if they yell. Especially when my yard looks better than everyone else and will less care.

Charintx,

Call John Dromgoole's Saturday gardending program out of Austin about those grasses. They can truly point you in the right direction.

Charintx. There are articles floating around about how to replace/seed-over bermuda grass with native buffalo grass. I think both A&M and NPAT (Native Prairie Association of Texas) have articles on the subject.

With a new planting of bermuda it will take a while but it can certainly be done. I did it to my 7 year old lawn and with way more rain than you get (North-Houston).

The key is treat your new bermuda horribly to get it to thin. Under water (no deep watering) and either mow way too low infrequently (once a month) or leave it too high (2"+) and mow every other week. Absolutely never fertilize. This will keep your lawn from going completely brown.

In spring drop a bunch of buffalo grass or native short grass mix. It will take a while but eventually the buffalo/native will win if you refuse your lawn fert/water/low mowing.

They do look different tho. In a new neighborhood this is more noticeable. Might be easier to pull off down the road when lawns have settled and low growing weeds have dulled the plastic appearance of a new lawn.

Not sure about Cedar Park but I think Austin and some other cities in the area actually provide a hefty rebate on native grass seed which makes it super cheap.

if i wanted "beds" i would chose anything other than bermuda