Lawns Can Be Part of Las Vegas Desert Landscaping
If you would like to include a drought-resistant lawn with green grass in your desert landscaping in Las Vegas, you can. Lawns that contain drought-resistant grasses require very little water to maintain them. The most work you will need to do may go into preparing your ground before planting.
Choosing Grasses for the Arid, Desert Environment
The most common choice for grasses in drought-resistant landscaping are warm season grasses such as varieties of Bermuda grass, buffalo grass, Zoysia, and Tuffalo or Tech Grass, a type of grass created by the University of Texas. Cool season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and Fine Fescue also are used.
How to Prepare Your Ground for Planting
Whether your soil is hard caliche, sand, or clay, it likely has a high pH and few nutrients. Before sowing your grass seed, have your soil level tested at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Service. Your results will include recommendations on what amendments your soil needs and how to apply them. To encourage your chosen grass seed to develop the deep root system that will enhance its ability to tolerate the arid conditions of Las Vegas desert landscaping, work the recommended amendments into the soil down to a depth of 4 to 6 inches.
The next thing you should do is to give your lawn a completely fresh start so that the grass doesn’t have to compete for limited nutrients with weeds that may have taken root. Treat the area where you plan to sow your grass seed with an herbicide, avoiding the plants that you want to retain, water the area, and then see what, if anything, sprouts. Repeating this process three to four times should remove everything except a previously planted lawn of hardy Bermuda grass. If you want a lawn of Bermuda grass, then you don’t have a problem. If you want something other than Bermuda grass, then you have two alternatives.
You can eliminate Bermuda grass by watering the area and then covering it with a sheet of black polyethylene for six to eight weeks in the summer. If that doesn’t rid the area of this hardy grass, you may have to resort to soil solarization.
Finally, you’re ready to lay your turf, plant your grass plugs, or sow your seed. If you are using grass seed, cover it with 1/4 inch layer of seeding soil to protect it from the wind and hungry birds.
Maintaining a Lawn in Drought-Resistant Landscaping
Warm season grasses require less water than cool season grasses, and buffalo grass requires the least mowing of any of these grasses. However, warm season grasses go dormant when temperatures cool. On the other hand, cool season grasses go dormant in the heat of summer. One solution for Las Vegas desert landscaping is to plant a lawn of a warm season grass and then overseed it with a cool season grass such as fast-growing ryegrass for the fall.
Call Wet-Tec for Your Las Vegas Landscape
When it comes to landscaping in Las Vegas, no company can offer the same level of quality service at an affordable price like the professionals at Wet-Tec.
With over 30 years of experience providing Southern Nevada with the top landscaping and sprinkler repair services available, we are proud to help you solve the problems you are having with your yard in a timely manner.
Contact Wet-Tec in Las Vegas for a free estimate.