Hundreds of grass varieties are commonly used in the United States, but choosing the right grass gives your Metairie lawn a little lagniappe. A little something extra is the ideal way to distinguish your lawn in Metairie's hot, humid climate. It takes balance, the right ground cover, and proper maintenance to develop a lawn that looks good all year.
Choosing the Right Grass Type
Choosing the right type of grass for your Metairie lawn is half the battle of building a vibrant lawn. Metairie enjoys year-round warm weather, lots of rainfall and rich soil. If you get the right grass, ground cover and landscaping features, your work is reduced. The best types of grass for Metairie's subtropical climate include:
Zoysia Grass
Zoysia grass is dark green, has a high tolerance for shade, and grows in direct sunlight. The grass has a deep root system, so it needs less watering in soil that has a high water table. All you need is to control weeds, mow regularly, aerate your soil occasionally and fertilize. Using a vertical mower once a year on Zoysia grass is a good practice to remove thatch, a common weed problem in zoysia lawns.
St. Augustine Grass
This grass is beautiful, durable, and aggressive. It's ideal for humid conditions, but it can survive occasional drought conditions like a champ. The grass has a deep blue-green color and forms a thick layer that resists weeds. You will need to aerate the soil regularly so that necessary nutrients reach the roots.
Bermuda Grass
As the name implies, Bermuda grass grows well in heat and humidity. The grass handles lots of traffic, so it's often used in Metairie sports fields. This grass needs a lot of watering, fertilizing, and mowing to keep it healthy, but the grass soaks up the sun and grows quickly. The color is a light green and hints at spring throughout the year.
Centipede Grass
Centipede grass is commonly used in Metairie because it's one of the lowest maintenance grasses. It adapts well to sandy and acidic soil and spreads by stolons instead of seeds. Centipede Grass has a light-to-medium green color and has short stems that make individual grass blades resemble centipede insects. The grass survives the rare freezing spells in southern Louisiana and requires less mowing and watering than other grasses.
Carpet Grass
Carpet grass grows ideally in warm, wet soil as in the conditions for Metairie lawns. As the name implies, the turf is dense like carpet. The grass is not particularly drought tolerant because the seed-based grass only develops grows shallow roots. However, planting carpet grass is an ideal strategy for erosion control.
This grass is native to gulf-coast states even though it doesn't handle salt well. However, the grass survives in low-fertility areas and is ideal where low maintenance is desirable such as public lands and parks, parking areas, and rest stops.
Know Your Lawn and Roots
The history of Metairie is fascinating, and the most essential fact about Metairie is that it's not a city. It has no city taxes and no mayor. The unincorporated area called Metairie has about 160,000 people in the area and is governed by the Jefferson Parish Council. It's located below sea level on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The world's longest bridge, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, spans 24 miles across the lake to connect to the north shore.
Metairie was briefly a city for 17 years. It was incorporated as a city to qualify for gas service, a successful effort that was spearheaded by its only mayor, C.P. Aicklen, in 1927. Metairie is located between New Orleans and Kenner, but it retains a unique identity even though many businesses use "New Orleans" in their marketing strategies.
Source of the Name "Metairie"
The name Metairie comes from the French word moitoire, which means a particular type of feudal farming. The rich alluvial deposits of the Mississippi Delta near Lake Pontchartrain created an ideal farming environment near New Orleans that was known as "Old Metairie."
These ideal growing conditions for vegetables, flowers, and foliage persist to the present day and knowing the history and science of lawn care can prove beneficial when planning your own lawn, garden, and landscaping features.
Creating Your Own Unique Identity
Your lawn creates a unique identity based on your grass, groundcover, landscaping, and other factors. Lawn Love providers use the latest science and well-maintained equipment to give your lawn excellent care regardless of lawn size, challenging landscape features, and any special needs or unusual growing conditions. Try us today!
