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From: jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos)
Newsgroups: net.garden,net.consumers
Subject: Re: Grass
Message-ID: <1296@peora.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 08:47:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: peora.1296
Posted: Mon Jul 15 08:47:41 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 04:10:11 EDT
References: <11461@brl-tgr.ARPA> <10559@rochester.UUCP>
Organization: Perkin-Elmer SDC, Orlando, Fl.
Lines: 33
Xref: watmath net.garden:620 net.consumers:2637

> I must agree that I consider it extremely stupid that most folks try to
> maintain a grass lawn in Florida.  And the most common alternative I've
> seen there is a *pebble* "lawn".  Yuch!  Talk about hot!  I personally plan
> to make jungle....

Well, you have to consider that the ground here is made entirely of sand,
except for some organic matter from dead plants in some places (or a lot of
organic matter in the swamps); and that if you don't plant something here,
depending on whether your plot of ground is in a swamp or on dry (or dried)
land, you will either get a lot of "natural" grass mixed with ordinary
weeds, or a mess of palmettos (both of which are very common in currently
idle plots of land around where I live).

Actually there is a kind of grass, "St Augustine" grass (my house-owning
officemate tells me that is its name), which grows VERY well here; while I
live in an apartment, I have observed that the groundskeepers of our
apartment complex have to do very little work to keep this grass growing
well.  It is not particularly soft grass, compared to what we used to have
in Georgia when I was growing up (although it is much softer than zoysia
(or however you spell that)), but it is very thick and durable.

If you make a jungle, as you suggested, you will have some amazing forms
of wildlife in there... alligators, poisonous snakes, "palmetto bugs" 3 or
4 inches long, spiny caterpillars... and of course, these infernal fire
ants (which also appear on lawns, however, and which are the worst insects
I have ever encountered anywhere).
-- 
Shyy-Anzr:  J. Eric Roskos
UUCP:       ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer
US Mail:    MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC;
	    2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642

	    [But, at the time you are reading this, probably in New Jersey]