Re: kikuyu, aka? (or St. Augustine Grass?)
Herewith the inherent misunderstandings with common names.......the St
Augustine grass to which Sean refers is called Buffalo Grass in Australia
and a very successful lawn grass in frost free areas, and an easy one to
control compared to the dreaded kikuyu.
But I have to agree with David that used in the right situation the kikuyu
is very valuable, on the farm we use it extensively in lawns and it is never
fertilized and rarely watered. I also agree that it's a much less
destructive grass than what you call Bermuda Grass, Couch Grass to us. Couch
is a truly indestructible weed, freely seeding and allelopathic.
The Kikuyu is a perennial fodder species here and extensively used in swampy
paddocks. Unfortunately along with the kikuyu came it's African companion
the Kikuyu beetle, a totally destructive curculio beetle that wreaks havoc
not just on the Kike [it can't hurt that!] but on all plants especially
young trees and ornamental grases.
Margaret,
Westen Australia.
Cool wet winters, warm dry summers.
----- Original Message -----
From: david feix <davidfeix@yahoo.com>
To: <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 7:45 AM
Subject: Re: kikuyu, aka? (or St. Augustine Grass?)
> I wanted to thank you all for answering my unasked
> question about how to distinguish between Kikykyu
> Grass and St. Augustine Grass, now I know that most of
> the lawns I have been seeing here in the San Francisco
> Bay Area are actually Kikykyu. I know this may sound
> heretical, but this is a useful and very low water
> using lawn grass here, and where it already exists, it
> makes since to conserve it, as it can get by in cooler
> yet mild areas like Berkeley and Oakland with
> virtually no summer irrigation and remain presentable.
> I don't find it nearly as invasive as Bermuda Grass
> as far as seeding itself around, or invading
> nnaighboring planting areas. It is rather easily
> contained by a good 6" by 8" deep concret mowband, and
> is also easily pulled up, as compared to the much
> deeper runners of Bermuda Grass. The other major
> virtue as I see it, is that it can be mown only
> monthly and look presentable as well. It is one of
> the only true drought tolerant subtropical grasses in
> California, and looks much better than Bermuda Grass
> or the Tall Fescue Hybrid lawns with truly minimal
> summer irrigation.
>
> For narrow street medians which are difficult to
> efficiently mow, irrigate and maintain, I think this
> grass has its uses, and is a lot less energy intensive
> than the alternatives. For those people who will be
> outraged by the whole idea, not to worry, as it is not
> commercially available as sod, so is not a real
> alternative to St Augustine or hybrid Bermuda Grass.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- "Sean A. O'Hara" <sean.ohara@groupmail.com> wrote:
> > At 09:44 AM 2/21/01 -0800, Jan Smithen wrote:
> > >P. clandestinum ? ! So ominous! Whoever named that
> > monster was right on. It
> > >rapaciously spreads while you sleep!
> >
> >+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > >Jan Smithen,
> > >Upland, California
> >
> > Here in California, St. Augustine Grass is a common
> > turf grass and often
> > goes under the name of Kikuyu. It is Stenotaphrum
> > secundatum (perhaps not
> > so scary a latin name). One of the big differences
> > between this and tru
> > Kikuyu is that it is stoloniferous rather than
> > rhizominous. St. Augustine
> > stolons are well known locally, where they climb up
> > walls, in between
> > fenceboards or into hollow posts, only to sprout out
> > somewhere high
> > up! You can grasp the stolons and pull them up from
> > the ground, giving you
> > long ropes of the stuff. It make a tolerable turf,
> > though very coarse. It
> > seems to like water, though it will endure some
> > drought. Its virgorous
> > growth will smother everything around it, so it is
> > not a good choice for
> > small home gardens with border beds or areas where
> > less vigorous species
> > are planted. I have not seen it escape into
> > wildlands, but would be
> > interested to hear if it has.
> >
> > Roberto Burle-Marx, the famous Brazilian
> > artist/landscape designer, once
> > planted a huge lawn of the regular green form of
> > this plant along with the
> > white variegated form (sometime grown as a
> > houseplant). The planting areas
> > were defined by some sort of benderboard border and
> > each kept in its
> > respective place. The overall design was an
> > abstract modern design,
> > undulating, and puzzle-like, the two tones of the
> > grass creating the
> > effect. Quite stunning!
> >
> > True Kikuyu (Pennisestum clandestinum) has pointed
> > leaf blades which are
> > more open or flat that St Augustine Grass. They
> > also have slightly hairy
> > stems and leaf sheaths. St Augustine Grass' leaf
> > blades are rounded at
> > their tips, and not finely hairy on the blade,
> > sheath, or stem, but they do
> > have a fringe of stout hairs on the sheath top, just
> > below the leaf
> > blade. The sheath also tends to be compressed.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Sean O.
> >
> >
> > h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden
> > suited to its purpose'
> > Sean A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173
> > sean.ohara@groupmail.com
> > 710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
> >
>
>
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