Heather
You need to post your plight to the thread Homeowners Assn Nasty Letter.
As you can see by the many responses there are a lot of us who don't want putting greens. Florida Yards and Gardens program at your extension service may be of help for your specific plant mix.
I think your 'landscaper' just wants to scrape everything and lay sod. Quick, cheap, and ugly - pay me!
Hang in there,
ron

you are in charge, not the landscaper. You pay him to do what you want. If he doesnt want to do what you are wanting, find someone else.

That being said, do be careful planting things that may attract bees that can easily be stepped on while walking barefoot.

I have never heard of the animals picking an area clean of grass seeds. I dont think they are even interested in those types of seeds, but cant say for sure.

best of luck to you.

Tony

hmp2z, in reference to your tortoise named Plastron, the plastron is the underside of the shell, the belly area. :) The top is a carapace.

Love your home! I am envious!

I agree with Ron - it's your yard and your lawn - don't let the landscaper bully you. I have to admit that I've not seen anyone mix the plants you mentioned in with their grass. I would be concerned that something would choke something else out. And if you had to spray the grass for some other broadleaf invader, like dollar weed, then you'll kill the flowers you've planted in with it too. As an alternative, why not consider having a limited amount of sod bordering large areas of your groundcovers? Your landscaper's dire warning about squirrels is just plain foolish, I think. I'm not a squirrel fan but I haven't seen them strip a garden or a lawn bare.

Your landscaper sounds like a real maroon. I wonder if he works for my home owners association???

Be tough. Decide exactly what you want and don't back down.

Kate

Your landscaper can't buy the mixture of lawn you're looking for.
You'll have to go with the bahaia grass and overseed the low growing greens you want. It'll be fine as long as you don't use "weed and feed" product.
Actually it sounds really nice. And much more tolerant of native growing conditions.
"If it's green and mowable, it's lawn" is my feeling about lawn areas.
Obviously you'll have to keep the seeded area moist throughout germination and early growth. Maybe toss some straw or grass clippings on top of the seeds to hide them from birds if necessary. After a few mowings your lawn should be established.
Much more ecologically nice IMO.
I think you know what you're doing.
Follow your instinct.

We have a "mixed lawn" in the back yard. We didn't plant it that way but it is nice. All sorts of little clover/type plants growing, but weeds too:) We have some native wildflowers that show up every summer and that is nice to add in an area although you can't mow there for a few months:). I like your idea but maybe as solstice says, not everywhere? Grass gets so many weeds and it you have to use something for weeds isn't it going to kill/damage all your nice clovers?

Pat

My guess is your parents lawn evolved over time, and wasn't planted that way. Certain seeds blew in and survived because your parents didn't use a weed control. The landscaper says it won't work becasue he can't do it and wants the money for sod. The birds and squirels do eat seeds but enough survived to make your parents lawn over time. Maybe you can tell him you don't want the sod and plant seed yourself and mix in the plants you want and they'll reseed themselves. You'll have to find the plants in other yards. But clover seeds you should be able to buy.
BTW, your house is lovely, best of luck with it. :)

Unless you live in north or at most north central florida clover won't grow well for you anyway. The clover like plant commonly seen here is Oxalis.

If you landscaper is planting bahia, you'll probablly have a mixed lawn anyway soon, whether you want it or not.

Around here, old bahia lawns develop nice mix on their own. Spanish needles, phlox, sunshine mimosa, spiderwort, some primroses, a species of wild morning glory, wild purslane, wild petunias, elephant's foot, tickseeds, and many many others all get mixed up into bahia grass lawns.

If you water, fertilize and mow on schedule, it becomes more lawn like. If you don't do any of that regularly, it becomes more meadow like--at least in our sand. So if you're feeling meadowy, you can let it get meadowy. If the meadow gets to looking weedy, mow it down.

Bill

What you want sounds lovely. I'm betting your landscaper simply does not know where to get the seeds to create what you want. And, of course, he's afraid he will be blamed if it doesn't turn out well, but he has never done it, so he doesn't know it will work.

I agree, it's your yard, your money, your choice. Don't let the landscaper bully you since what he cares about is the easiest way to get to the end of the job and the paycheck. Your county extension agent really is a good resource for you to use.

On the other hand Bahia grass is drought tolerant and a fairly sturdy grass that I agree won't choke out the wildflowers you want. We have some white clover in our yard here in SW Florida, this link is from IFAS about clover.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/scripts/htmlgen.exe?DOCUMENT_AA198

Suzanne

Here is a link that might be useful: Central Florida Yards and Gardens program

Heather, my back yard in central Florida is a fenced area for my dogs. I don't use chemicals on it because of the pooches (they're very low to the ground, and one likes to eat grass). We have St Augustine, but there are bare patches in the yard from dog traffic and a spot that doesn't get watered. I have a few small clover plants that seeded themselves, but only in a shaded area.
I experimented and found that Dichondra repens ("Kidney
Weed") works well for me for filling the bare spots. Some people consider it a ground cover, others consider it a weed. I found some in my yard and I've transplanted it to other areas. It looks nice, and grows thickly. I think that Weed and Feed products would kill it, but I don't use weed killer in the fenced part of my yard.

I'm even starting to use it as a ground cover in some of my flower beds. Good luck and beautiful house.
Lynne

Here is a link that might be useful: Info on dichondra repens

Thank you! It sound like you all are understanding what I'm wanting, and it sounds like I can make it happen. Maybe the best thing to do is just let him lay the bahia down, and then I can mix in my own plants of things like the sunshine mimosa, buttercups, and possibly white clover, if I can get that to grow here. I went to Biosphere today, a local nursery specializing in natives, and they have most of what I've been wanting, which is awesome! I'm glad to hear that bahia isn't the kind of grass that will choke out other plants growing with it. I also have a dog, and we're trying to be very environmentally friendly, so I don't plan on treating weeds with a pesticide. I don't mind some "weeds" mixed in with my lawn grass; it's part of that diverse look that I really like. As long as the area is green, and my dog can roll in it, I'm not complaining! If it weren't for her, we probably wouldn't have any lawn at all in the backyard, but she's a sweet little beagle/lab mix who delights in rolling around on her back in a big patch of grass. The little things in life...

I'm fortunate in that my HOA is very hands-off. You can usually tell by the dues structure how nosy they are, and our dues are only $135/year, which is quite low for this area at least.

Mistiaggie, my husband used to fence, and there's a piece of fencing gear named a "plastron," which is actually named after that piece on a tortoise!

Thank you again for the advice and encouragement. Now I am feeling like we can do this thing!

Heather W

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Home Construction Journal

OOOOOooooo! I love Biosphere.

I never have understood why people get in such a snit about weeds in their lawn - to me if it's green, can be mowed, and not stickery it's "lawn" We also have lawn in our backyard for the dogs but the front is slowly being de-grassed.

Suzanne

I'm trying to mix Bahia in with my st. augustine lawn, hoping the Bahia will take over eventually... I hate the st. augustine grass-- it was here when we bought the house, and it's a pain to take care of. Gets eaten by all kinds of pests and requires too much water to keep it looking nice. I'm not interested in having to dump chemicals on it to keep it looking good. I did some research and it looks like if you have to have a lawn, bahia is the way to go. Good luck getting yours established!

I've heard great things about Biosphere-- might have to drive over there and check it out...

Has anyone here considered Bermuda grass. When I moved here 3 yrs ago the yard was almost all St. Augustine. The previous owner told me he spent lots of time dragging hoses to water it.This is an older, established neighborhood, no HOA, thank goodness. I decided to not waste water on the grass, only water my flowers & shrubs, even tho I have an irrigation well. The Bermuda has moved in & mixed with the St. Augustine & now the lawn is very lush. Yes, it gets brown when there is long periods without rain, but I know it will green up when the rain returns. I make sure the lawn guys don't cut it shorter than 4". No manicured look for me.

Bermuda (mixed with Bahia) is what we have in the backyard - it was an accident because it came in with the St. Aug sod we bought. The St. Augustine died and the Bermuda took over. You're right it makes a nice green lawn and seems to stand up well to the dogs running around on it.

Suzanne

My neighbors pull pull pull out the bermuda from their lawns. Silly! I love it and am glad it's taking over. It's much softer and nicer grass. Like many of you, I don't care if it doesn't thrive all year long.

You know, at Disney's Epcot, there are some large areas where they use dollar weed as a ground cover.