Hey Jake, Im located in Southern California. LA area

I can post pics of the small patches of grass that do grow. The plants above grow naturally throughout even when pulling them from the root.

LA area. Can you be more specific? We're not planning to come over, just need the town. Palos Verdes, Pomona, and the San Fernando Valley are all in the LA area but have different characteristics for a lawn.

Are you going to continue to drive over the area once the grass is in?

Is the area any bigger than what we see in the picture?

Does it go all the way back behind the house and that tree/shrub? Do you want grass up against the house and under the shrub, too?

What are your watering restrictions?

Im in Mission Hills in north San Fernando Valley. I wont be driving over the grass and plan to lay bricks where the car is parked. Most of the yard is in the pics, your typical rectangle shape roughly 30x20 ft including the area I wont be planting grass. There is grass growing around the grapefruit tree pictured but I understand that grass and all the weeds must be completely dead before planting new grass. Im looking at UC verde buffalo, Ive read its ideal for my area and also looks very nice. I am ready for the heavy initial watering and look forward to minimal watering once established. Also open to other grass kind suggestions. Thanks everyone.

Any luck?

That UC Verde gets rave reviews, but apparently some people are very allergic to it, so go roll around in some before you install

I found out I was allergic to buffalo grass when taking pictures of it to show people in this forum.

I've heard many good things about UC Verde but have yet to see it in person or in any photos posted to the lawn forums. It won't grow under the tree at all. It won't grow on the north, east, or west side of anything. Here's a picture of a related buffalo grass on the west side of a mailbox.

That grass is called TechTurf (developed at Texas Tech). It grows very fast and dense, except when it doesn't get enough sunlight. This picture was taken at 11am on the west side of that brick mailbox. As you can see the further away from the mailbox the grass improves considerably. The point is half a day is not enough sunlight. Oh and this lawn is in Lubbock, TX so the horizon has no mountains to limit the sunlight.

There's a recent post from a guy in Altadena. His water restrictions get prohibitive fast. Have you considered using a ground cover instead of grass? Some of them are very drought resistant. You might find something at the Steppables website.

Thanks for that tip I am very allergic to Bermuda and Timothy grass.

My last concern was the dirt and the quality of it. It is very beat up and dry. Once I remove the weeds and other grasses can I keep it? Is there some kind of chemical test that is done to see if it nutrient rich enough for new grass etc? I have heard mixing with clay is good for water retention, what kind of ratios am I looking at if I keep this dirt, if I buy new new and mix? How deep do you dig when you replace dirt or mix with soil? Thanks again everyone.

Logan labs for the soil test. And of course...WRECK 'EM TECH!!!

What do you mean by wreck em tech? About how much does a soil test run? I think I may already know the results...youve got schieet lol. Maybe Ill just go with a diy kit,

I went to Texas Tech in the not-so-beautiful town of Lubbock, TX & that's just what we yell on game day...or in the office..or any time you meet another proud Red Raider. Logan labs is about $25, not bad. If you post up the results here, a couple of the guys will translate all that stuff for you so you don't waste a bunch of money on soil amendments you don't need.

How do the labs recommend the samples be taken, 5 or 6 areas of the lawn and mix them together, that kind of thing?

How do the labs recommend the samples be taken, 5 or 6 areas of the lawn and mix them together, that kind of thing?

Here

Look at the drawings/examples on these links to see suggested sampling patterns and areas:

here

here

hereOne of the better videos

Thanks!