San Antonio Ordinance Requires Builders to Install More Drought Tolerant Turfgrasses

Two Sod Solutions Varieties Included on SAWS Approved List

Beginning January 1 of this year, developers have been limited to planting grass from an approved list of drought-tolerant varieties when they build homes or shopping centers in San Antonio. Two varieties developed by Sod Solutions, Inc. are included on the list.

The list has evolved through joint efforts between the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), Texas A&M University and The Turfgrass Producers of Texas (TPT) to identify turf varieties that will better tolerate longer drought periods while maintaining acceptable quality and recovery after water stress.

These entities have evaluated more than two dozen turf varieties in a study conducted just south of San Antonio. The study consisted of 25 turfgrass varieties planted in a block with eight repetitions of each. All varieties were planted last fall, using sod pieces. A rain shelter prevented rainfall at the plots during a specified drought period. Four repetitions were planted in a native soil without depth restrictions, and 4 repetitions were planted in a 4” top soil with plastic barrio underneath it. Initially, all plots received water and nutrients in order to get established properly; then a 60-day drought period, beginning in July, was implemented. Read a summary of the study, as well as a complete report for Year 1 of the study, here.

Researchers had two measures for how well each grass fared after the drought: percentage of the area with living grass (live cover) and its uniformity, after 60 days of recovery time. Using these criteria, 12 individual varieties and all of the Buffalo Grasses were selected for inclusion in the SAWS Drought-Tolerant Grass list (see list here.)

Sod Solutions’ Celebration Bermudagrass and EMPIRE Zoysia are included on the SAWS list, as are buffalograsses and 10 other turf varieties.

Following the drought period, Celebration Bermudagrass was the best looking variety among the 25 in the study. Celebration maintained good green color, and exhibited excellent ground coverage and density. Celebration outperformed all zoysias and St. Augustines, and had the best performance among all bermudagrasses. (This result is consistent with other university studies, including one from Clemson University, where Celebration demonstrated superior best drought tolerance among bermudagrasses.)

It was observed that the bermudagrasses performed better, to include recovery after the drought period, than other types of grass. One St. Augustine, Floratam, also performed well.

Other highlights:

  • EMPIRE ranked in first place, with Palisades, among the zoysias, for % recovery after the drought period.
  • EMPIRE sustained competitive, and at times superior, color the drought period, as compared to other zoysiagrasses.

Celebration Bermudagrass and EMPIRE Turf are improved warm season turfgrasses that have been developed by Sod Solutions, Inc. of Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Visit sodsolutions.com for comprehensive info., including Where to Buy, about these varieties.

The study will be repeated this summer, and it is possible that some of the evaluation parameters may change. Visit saws.org or sodsolutions.com for periodic updates.