Introduction

I live in San Diego and I have a small back yard (230 sq ft). My lawn has been in place since 1996, and over the years the quality of the lawn has gotten worse and worse. I had tried rehabilitating it by reseeding portions of the lawn, but eventually I realized I was fighting a losing battle.

Last October I finally gave up on my lawn and spent an afternoon researching alternate ground coverings. I wanted to have a lawn of some type if possible, and I also wanted something living, so I did not want to go to an artificial lawn. Eventually I stumbled on UC Verde Buffalo Grass, and I quickly realized that this was the best option for me.

Buffalo Grass is a drought-tolerant warm season grass that is native to the North American plains.  UC Verde Buffalo Grass is a variation that was developed by UC Davis and UC Riverside specifically for the California climate. The features that were appealing to me are that it requires significantly less water than other grasses, and that it requires less mowing. Also, it spreads through putting out runners, which should minimize bare patches, and therefore help prevent weed growth, which is one of the problems I have been having with my current lawn.

The downside to UC Verde Buffalo Grass is that it goes dormant in winter, so the lawn will turn partially brown. This is not a big deal to me, since I lawn is only in my back yard, and I don't mind f it turns brown for a couple of months a year.

More information on UC Verde Buffalo Grass can be found at the following sites:

http://ucverdebuffalograss.com/

http://www.ucverde.com/UC_Verde_Buffalograss/Why_UC_Verde_Buffalograss.html

http://ccuh.ucdavis.edu/projects/uc-verde-buffalograss/uc-verde-buffalograss

So, the decision had been made, and the next step was to figure out how to make this happen.