How best to seed Tifblair Centipede lawn?

13 years ago

Hi all - I'm a homeowner fixing to plant a new lawn, of Tifblair Centipede (fell in love with it when I went down to the NC State University Turfgrass Research Station down on Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh and walked around on it for a while), and would like to know to do it best.

I am located just south of Centerville, NC - in the northeastern part of the state near the fall line from the piedmont onto the coastal plain, USDA hardiness zone 7B, about 44-46 inches of rain per year. Soil type is sandy loam, very acidic, and considered much more fertile than the red clay soil in surrounding towns. Generally level with some very slight sloping. Good drainage. No shade.

I am going to be using the Pennington seed they sell at Lowe's, which is Certified Tifblair Centipede, 99.9% weed-free, Penn-Coated, and with BIO-170 mulch mixed in.

I've heard that the biggest mistake I can make is to overfertilize. So should I not lime the soil, not put compost or peat moss down, and not use starter fertilizer?

Also- in the past several summers, we've been having record droughts combined with record heat waves...i.e. no rain for weeks at a time, plus temperatures in the 90s and above. Will Tifblair Centipede survive this? I don't have an irrigation system, and will not be putting one in...so this needs to survive on nature alone or not at all.

Also, can I use a dethatcher on this grass, or will that tear it up?

Thanks!

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Comments (2)

sebastonz
13 years ago
Ill try to answer your questions that i know. I myself have a centipede/St. Augustine mix lawn with some tifblair seed i laid down myself.

The fertilizing of centipede warnings are once established, so yes you are going to need to lay down a starter fertilizer. Its just a booster for the new seedlings. Your bag of seed should even say that you should lay down a starter fertilizer. During initial seeding, you will need to water it daily 3 times for 2 weeks or so then start to cut back progressively. Its the same as any other grass getting started from seed, it needs the seed to remain moist to germinate.

Im in east texas where we get those same heat waves except temps get up above 100. So surviving the 90's should be cake. Will it start to look stressed? Yes it will, if you could provide a good watering once a week to it during heat wave weeks, it would ease that immensely.

Once established it will Knit itself together by stolon. Mow it once a week and your good to go. It wont really even need it, but keeping it well kept at little more than 1.5" is good. If you dethatch centipeed, yes you will tear it up. If your maintaining it correctly you Wont need to dethatch.
john_in_sc
13 years ago
Centipede does well up in our neck of the woods -- provided you have our typical Acid red clay full of rocks and deficient of any and all nutrients.....

It needs acid soil... Certainly, add no lime...

My friends tell me that Centipede can be a bear to initially get sprouted... I have a few friends who started it from seed... 2 gave up and some of it started growing 3 months later.. 1 watered 3x every day... He said it took about 30 days to sprout for him.

Then, I know 2 other people who plugged it -- and they said it worked *VERY* well.

In the end, all of them recommended Sod if you really want a Centipede yard now...

The literature on Centipede I have read says it is wonderfully suited to our area *except* drought tolerance... that it isn't particularly drought tolerant... especially vs Bermuda (Which is the KING of drought resistance)..

But... I do think Centipede is a great choice -- especially if you are looking for more or less 100% green something that likes being mowed short that you can feed a giant quantity of benign neglect.... Because... Benign Neglect = Healthy Centipede grass!

I don't know anyone who has succeeded at keeping a 100% pure Centipede lawn -- Partially because it doesn't like shade, but mainly because it is slower growing and the weeds invade and other grasses invade and Bermuda invades... On the up side -- all that stuff is green and looks nice and tidy when you mow it short..

Thanks

John
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How best to seed Tifblair Centipede lawn?

Comments (2)

sebastonz

john_in_sc

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