In Florida the damp part is not an issue other than a fungus that can appear when it cools down if not treated . It thrives in the sun .

Thank you DChall. Extremely helpful advice. My experience here in Samo is that for a majority of the year, the grass will dry out by mid to late afternoon. If I understand you, it sounds like maybe you seem favorable to a Bermuda hybrid. Any particular variant? Also, how does watering time compare with St. Augustine? Sorry to be a pest, but trying to make as informed a decision as possible. My initial thought was St. Augustine because of lower maintenance. But you can give me food for thought.

Samo? Is that acceptable speech in Santa Monica? I'm kind of cringing. I also cringe at PV (Palos Verdes), and a little at Frisco, Sacto, San Berdoo, and Vegas. Cali. I really cringe at that.

Assuming the grass is suited to the location, all grasses need the same amount of water per week mostly depending on temperature. This is why Marathon is not good in the desert; it's not suited to the location. In the desert Marathon needs water every other day or so in the heat of summer. But in Samo you often have trouble getting out of the 70s in the summer, so watering would be a rare event. We talk about deep and infrequent watering for lawns. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. If your soil cannot absorb an inch in one sitting, we have ways of fixing that. One inch can be measured with tuna or cat food cans placed around the yard. Time how long it takes to fill all the cans. That will be your permanent watering time from now on. Always water a full inch (more or less - use this as a start point). As for frequency, this is the key. With temps lower than 70 degrees F, deep water once per month to keep the soil microbes healthy. For temps between 70 and 80, deep water once every 3 weeks. Between 80 and 90 water once every 2 weeks. Between 90 and 100, water once per week. Yes, I realize that every single lawn sprinkler guy in SoCal and FL, for that matter, highly recommends watering every day. That is complete BS. Your parents probably did it. Your neighbors do it. It's wrong. Deep and infrequent wins every time.

Tif 419 is the go-to bermuda hybrid all across the county. It used to be extremely expensive, but now days it is the cheap one due to supply and demand. It comes in rolls of sod. You flatten the soil surface, place it down, roll over it with a water filled roller (rented), and start watering. At first you won't do deep and infrequent. You'll do the hyper opposite by watering 3x per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) very lightly (5 to 10 minutes). You only need to moisten the roots and the surface of the underlying soil. If it gets squishy, that's waaaaaay too much water. Bermuda should knit to the soil in 2 weeks. Then you can back off on the frequency and ease your way up on the duration.

Bermuda is not a low maintenance lawn IF you want it to look really nice. If you want it to look that good, then it needs to be mowed 2-3x per week and fertilized heavily every 6 to 8 weeks. If you want that look and feel, I would investigate UC Verde. Call some local nurseries and ask if they sell it. If you find one that does, ask if you can see some installations. Come to think of it, you might visit the Getty Museum and see what grass they have. I'm guessing Marathon, but don't know. St Augustine is the lowest maintenance UNLESS it gets diseased from the humidity and dew.

Again, thank you DChall. I will definitely strongly consider your advice. I am indeed laughing at my cringe-worthy local dialect! I don't think anyone would use "Samo" except for someone who was born and raised here, like me. I have never heard my father use the term, and he has lived here for 50 years, but did not grow up here.

Which is contrary to the useage of Frisco, Sacto, and Vegas. Their locals are offended by the nicknames. I grew up in Riverside, and we all seemed to use San Berdoo, but I never met anyone who actually lived there. Rumor is the Fontana branch of the Hell's Angels coined the Berdoo handle. My sister ran with a rough crowd just outside the fringe of the fringe of the 1950s biker gangs.

San Berdoo! Don't hear that one much these days. I'm trying to imagine fringe of the fringe of 1950s biker gangs. Like hanging out with Fonzie?

Samo is common local usage maybe because Santa Monica High School refers to itself as Samohi. So the cheers were always some variant of "Let's go, Sa-Mo"

Her first husband was a fiberglass worker who did custom body work and repair on cars and motorcycles.

When I saw SAMO, my first thought was the high school, lol. This is from someone born and raised in Los Angeles!