Turfgrass industry sees increasing demand for warm-season grasses throughout California
Cecilia Brown contributed to this article.
The California turfgrass industry has seen a major transition from cool-season grasses to warm-season grasses in recent years, leading many sod farms across the state to begin encouraging buyers to consider warm-season grasses for a number of important factors, such as their water-saving characteristics and the fact they grow better in the state’s hot climate.
“Whether you’re in California, Texas, or the Sun Belt, if water issues are not there now, they’re coming to a town near you soon,” Larry LeMay, President and seed buyer of A-G Sod Farms recently said. With farm locations in Moreno Valley, Palmdale, Fresno, and Stockton, LeMay explained he has witnessed the change steadily over time, with demand for Bermudagrasses in A-G’s markets growing steadily in recent years.
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“Twenty years ago, at our Fresno farm, which is in Central California on the transition zone, we used to sell 80% fescue and 20% warm-season grasses. Now it’s probably 75% warm season and 25% cool season,” LeMay explained.
Over the past 12 years, the area around A-G Sod Farm has faced many periodic severe droughts which has resulted in limiting homeowners to only watering lawns once a week. Despite that, LeMay said Southern California hasn’t made the transition to warm-season grasses as much as he’d expect.
“It looks like we are headed for another drought and when they limit homeowner watering to one to two times a week, fescue won’t survive here,” he cautioned. “That’s not enough water for it. It’s too hot and too dry. Where at least with bermuda, although it may not be perfectly green, it will survive and you’ll have something when it’s all over with.”
A-G’s Fresno farm Manager, Curtis Blasingame agreed, saying that established bermuda lawns have the ability to be revived even if water is turned off for prolonged periods of time.
“If nothing else, I would encourage people to take a harder look at warm-season grasses because they use less water and they survive better through the tough weather conditions,” explained LeMay.
CitraBlue® St. Augustine Grass appears to grow in faster, chokes out weeds, and uses fewer fertilizer and herbicides, according to Larry LeMay, President and seed buyer of A-G Sod Farms.
For years now, A-G Sod Farm has observed a growing demand for Bermudagrasses in its market and currently grows several Sod Solutions varieties, including Celebration Bermudagrass®, CitraBlue®, and NorthBridge® Bermudagrass.
Although A-G has just one acre of CitraBlue® St. Augustine Grass planted, LeMay said it already appears that this variety grows in faster, chokes out weeds, and uses fewer fertilizer and herbicides, and is showing great results.
“We’re taking the acre of CitraBlue and turning it into 12 acres and once that’s ready we’ll go to the market with it,” he said.
“And the color of CitraBlue is outstanding. It’s just a beautiful color,” he continued; adding that he has yet to determine if CitraBlue® provides better water savings than other St. Augustines.
Pictured above is Celebration Bermudagrass on a field from A-G Sod Farms.
LeMay explained that as it continues to grow in, they will continue to observe its blade texture and other qualities compared to the other varieties.
Depending on how the farm’s current acre of NorthBridge performs this spring, they will expand that variety as well.
“I just saw a guy harvesting dormant NorthBridge on our international sod site and it looked like it harvested really well so we’re excited about that one,” he said.
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“We just don’t get as many callbacks with bermudas,” LeMay explained. “They are typically a one-time deal for both the grower and the landscaper who installs it.”
With approximately 145 acres of Celebration at its Fresno location, LeMay said he was impressed with the Celebration’s performance when he recently traveled to the University of Arizona to observe the test plots of bermuda for a drought study.
“I got out of the car probably 25 yards from the plots and as we walked to them, it turned out the three greenest plots in the whole thing, where everything else was pretty much dirt brown, were the Celebration plots,” LeMay said. “It has a tremendous rooting system and tolerance to drought.”
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” LeMay continued; adding that as the market continues to see a trend in warm-season grasses, A-G Sod Farm will continue to expand its acreage in those varieties.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.