Please let us know if someone actually comes knocking asking for proof or if you get a warning or citation in the mail. I saw on tv where some community will be having 24 hour patrols just for water violations.

In light of what you said, I may post a sign in my yard stating "professional landscraping company overseeded lawn...LEGAL to water for 30 days"...ha.

I thought it was awful in the paper this weekend that some official from Sandy Springs commented that she was tired of neighbors calling in violations. She pretty much said they weren't going to do anything about neighbors turning in other neighbors.

So you folks in Sandy Springs, I guess you can do whatever you want!

Sharon, good for you on being able to water. Hopefully 3 days of watering will get you into weather that will be cool enough to withstand less than usual rain. At least, that's what I'm hoping for on my other plants!!

I thought the landscape company, not the homeowner, was who could water during the 30 day period following planting.

So did I. (under level 4)

"In light of what you said, I may post a sign in my yard stating "professional landscraping company overseeded lawn...LEGAL to water for 30 days"...ha."

That's great except then code enforcement would write you a ticket for having a sign without a permit. :-) And your hoa would write you a letter.

Persoanlly I would skip it because it just invites people to ask for proof. On the other hand it doesn't make you look like you're blatantly violating the rules though.

According to the AJC, the homeowner gets to water. What I never understood was if, in those 30 days, you have to adhere to the odd/even rules and the 12 am to 10 am timeframes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Oct 3 article

IMHO, no one in the metro area should be permitted Fescue, as it demands watering all summer; it's just irresponsible.

As for the 30-day permit, it won't matter much if we get rain only once in 6 weeks afterwards. The lawn will likely die.

All grasses require water to stay green.
One could also say planting turf that's on the GA eppc's list of invasive species is irresponsible too.

Fescue is ok if it's in shade where bermuda will not grow.

I've been doing ok with lugging my shower overflow water down to the yard daily. I'm concerned about the 3 cryptomeria and little gem magnolias that we planted 3 years ago. They just started taking off this year. The ground is hard around them, so I've been using the past few pails of water there.

We had some rain today, so at least the lawn got some water. But the dead spots are getting bigger and bigger.

I've not put a drop of water to my Bermuda or Zoysia this year (never do). They're both moderately green and the Bermuda actually ran and filled in the bare spots.

I would like to have a green lawn all year, but I recognize that it's a tremendouse waste of water here to plant Fescue, when rain is unreliable the last few summers.

See know I guess "tremendous waste" is subjective since I think having to fertilize once a month and mow 2-3 times a week is a waste to have to do with bermuda which is why I have taken out the high maintenance bermuda in lieu of a cool season blend since our climate here, which it may be in a dry cycle is not best suited to bermuda which goes dormant when soil temps reach about 55. So with what is ordinarily such a short period of glory in N. GA Bermuda is a waste of time and money.
Compared with Tall FEscue, tall fescue can be a lot of work too but it can stay green through the heat and drought in the right planting situation and established lawns perform much better against heat and drought. Or in drought situations it may go dormant but the period of dormancy is nowhere near as long as it is for bermuda. And in a shady place tall fescue will look and perform excellent where bermuda will thin out and barely grow.

Bermuda is also on the exotic pest list and should not be cultivated. It is only so popular on account of frugal home builders needing cheap sod. And interesting side note about bermuda sod farms that you may not have known. They can cut sod from a field of bermudagrass a couple of times a year and never have to replant the grass. It just keeps coming back because established bermuda cannot be killed.

Not everyone's landscape plan calls for brown grass 6 or more months of the year. Overseeding with rye is taking one step forward and two steps back and not a viable option in my experience. So for the rest of us that can't stand the appearance of those tropical grasses that are intended for florida and coastal climates then tall fescue is definitely a possibility.

Who mows 3 times a week? We haven't mowed ours in weeks because of the drought. I like the brown in winter grass and not having to mow year round.

Sorry you feel that way about fescue. We had Bermuda grass, but it died out because of too much shade. I guess my other option is to have a dirt yard. Sorry, but not everyone has full sun on their lawns.

I am a landscape contractor who is specifically interested in sustainable landscaping. For those who can't use bermuda because of too much shade and don't want the hassle of fescue, the 'Zeon' variety of zoysia is just incredible. It's growers state that it requires 4 hours of direct sunlight, which is similar to the stated requirements of fescue and I have found it to be thick enough in dappled shade to choke out most weeds. And in this drought it has been amazingly tough. Because of the ease of maintenance for the homeowner, 90% of our sod installs of recent years have been this variety. It may seem like I am a spokesman for this turf, but I am not, I just like to promote things that are at least marginally better for the earth. Zeon needs FAR FAR less broadleaf herbicide, fertilizer, fungicide, overseeding, etc... than fescue. Also, as with any turf, creating the proper environment by high limbing trees if possible and amending the soil, or amending the turf line where grass just isn't going to grow, is crucial. Not that water isn't too (damn drought).

Who mows 3 times a week? We haven't mowed ours in weeks because of the drought.

Then you aren't maintaining your lawn properly. Sorry to say it and I don't mean to be critical but the appearance of your bermuda isn't going to be too good without regular mowing, feeding, weed control and irrigation. It is very high maintenance grass. Bermuda can have a high quality appearance in summer but it needs the things I just mentioned to look decent.

I don't know about the 'Zeon' variety of zoysia, but we have been happy with our zoysia from a performance point of view. It handled the drought beautifully (installed 6/2004 so it is 3 years old).

I haven't watered it and I let it grow longer than recommended but I think it helps. My only problem is one area has green onions (left over from previous lawn) and it is noticeable in the early spring when the grass is dormant.

I love not having to mow it in the dormant season and not having to overseed it in the fall. I don't fertilize it and I don't use any weed/feed products.

There are quite a few different actual SPECIES of zoysia. Some are very attractive, others are coarse bladed and light in color and actually look a lot like st. Augustine which some people find attractive. Some zoysia can be very prone to disease and thatch if overfertilized. Luckily it doesn't need a lot of fertilizer and can eventually choke out weeds but again you're looking at an enormous cost to put it in and you can expect it to be brown for at least half the year.

And not everyone has to overseed their cool season lawns yearly. Especially if it has been started established in the early fall or very late summer and groing in a protected area with some afternoon shade and soil that has been adequately prepared.

I normally mow once per week but it has been cut way back due to lack of rain. The lawn is moderately green, but doesn't need to be mowed if it hasn't rained in > 2 weeks.

Ideally, the yard should look beautiful and require minimal effort.

This past summer I used a variety of creeping red fescue ( a native species to our area). This was a mono stand. I fertilized it lightly in early spring and it stayed dark green all season and grew fairly vigorously. I did not water it regularly. In fact I stopped watering altogether when the temps got into the 90's and 100's because at that point I feel like it's futile and I don't like to be outside in that even at night so to sum it up at the end of the season the grass looked great still. The color was excellent and there were no bare patches or any significant loss. Even the this side yard does get some shade, what impressed me with it is that it looked beautiful by my standards the entire time. I don't like to have to apply fertilizer. That is one thing I really was trying to get away from because I have pets but also because it's a pain. The low nutritional needs and the fact that fine fescue is pH adaptable makes it a good choice for me. And although I had to mow throughout the summer, it wasn't too bad. It looks quite nice when it's long.

So as you can see I really am not a fan of high maintenance. I detest having to do yard work when weather is miserable. For me it just makes sense to use a cool season grass that is growing most actively when the weather is tolerable. I don't like doing all the soil tests and all that either. Yet I still demand it be beautiful and lush.

Oh and I don't want to pay a fortune for it.

This year I'm experiementing with a blend that can tolerate being sprayed with roundup to see if I can control encroaching bermuda.

You're kidding, right? Toleration of Roundup?

Nope. There's a number of special varieties with glyphosate tolerance. The ones I'm using are valuable in places like orchards and vineyards and agricultural places like that where using glophosate can really simplify killing weeds, even big weeds that can be a problem for agriculture.

Well, looking forward to hearing your conclusions. A means to killing bermuda in established lawn would be fantastic.

You are all just ignoring the fact that GA is being paid back big time for uncontrolled development! If California or Nevada don't have to take these measures...just think about it.

I lived in Marietta for 9 years and glad to be gone!

Believe me, beachlily, no one is ignoring that fact. The paper is full of letters to the editor demanding a moratorium on new construction.

But despite the rampant development, we also happen to be in an "exceptional drought" (beyond extreme drought) and that is a big factor in this situation.

I would not begin to compare our situation to California or Nevada - don't know the first thing about their water situation - and I don't know what you're implying about it and why they don't have to take "these measures". But I doubt it's an apples to apples comparison.