More popular grass substitutes in FL are perennial peanut or sunshine mimosa.

In very shady areas, Asiatic jasmine can be used. But if you are in a HOA, you are probably required not only to have grass, but a particular type of grass. Check your documents.

We aren't in an HOA. Well, there is a loosely formed voluntary one but they don't dictate to anyone.

I thought about Perrenial peanut and researched it but read that it dies down part of the year. Also, whatever we have must be OK for at least some foot traffic, clover mixed with grass seemed heartier.

I thought about toying with petenisl peanut the hell strip. Mimosa sounds a little too invasive.

I also looked at asiatic Jasmine. It's too woody though. Our property is bordered on the back by a creek so I don't want to create a snake haven that the kids will go tromping through. low growing or easily mowed is a must.

If it would live I would love creeping thyme, but I hear that's a bust down here.

Wedelia trilobata - which can be a major pest, is one of the best substitutes for grass that I've used. It blooms like dandelions, but the flowers are close to the leaves and the ground. It spreads like wildfire, but if you run a lawnmower over it on a regular basis, you'll get a nice thick mat that you can walk on and lets pets run over. It will grow in concrete cracks, needs little water, if any, and blooms in full sun most of the year. (Photo is a random image from a Yahoo search.)

I think we have that growing in our back dirt, I mean yard. :)

There are some really nice dwarf grass out there do a Google search. At my last house i got a dwarf grass seed for a shaded area it did great. I don't remember it what it was called but it was a thin bladed grass that was very soft to walk on and never grew to tall about 3"

Clover is a nitrogen fixer & may be used in large turf areas to help feed the grass. There is a lot of white clover growing in the fields @ the park where I work. Another legume is Black Medic. I'm not sure you could grow an entire lawn of those, but they could certainly be part of a mix.

Wedelia can be a PITA. it can take over beds & shrubbery & is difficult to eradicate, IMPE, since the stems break off & re-root easily.

I like the mimosa & have some areas of it, but it also can be very tough to keep out of beds & forms very deep, wiry roots. It also dies back in the winter, but I overseed it w/ winter rye. The pretty flowers attract bees, so if your kids like to run around barefoot, that might be a concern. Wedelia attracts bees as well...

There is also dwarf clover seed available. I overseeded it into my zoysia/St. Augustine lawn and am quite pleased. It hasn't taken over but it doesn't stick out either.

I Was looking st the microclover -mostly because it doesn't flower as much. It looks promising. I am glad you are having good results Junco. That's encouraging. We have a little sparse St. Augustine grass. I was just going to overseed. I wouldn't mind if it was only clover but I don't know how much traffic it can take.

Glenn : Do you think it might have been dwarf mondo grass?

I'll look at Black Medic. I haven't heard of that Carol.

Sun coast,it could be

I don't know about where you are, but up here, clover dies back in the winter. It seems to me it didn't do too well in the heat down in Sarasota Co., if I remember correctly.

In the drought of this winter ithe lawn/weeds are mostly dead.

Now we are looking at Bahia grass (seed). You can over seed it with rye in the winter to keep it green.

Anyway, that's where we are now...

Yeah, I think I had seen online it dies in the winter and just thought I would reseed each spring and seed rye grass each winter. Not worth it?

I’m in a different climate but seeded Dutch white clover a few years ago mixed with our front lawn. It does die back in winter but re-emerges in spring. Handles foot traffic well and has filled in very well. A little too much so in some spots. In hindsight I would have used microclover. I like clover in lawns.