Several plots of grass suitable for Hawaii lawns can be seen
and walked through at Quality Turfgrass in Waimanalo, above.
Photo by Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin

"For about eight to 12 months it looks real good," said Mark Takemoto, a horticulturalist with the Urban Garden Center in Pearl City, operated by the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. "Then about 18 to 24 months later, almost right on the nose, it starts to decline. Then we get people calling and complaining about that grass."

Keeping your paspalum happy means taking its needs into account. This includes a full day of sunshine, good-to-fair drainage and a medium dousing of water. Anything less would be uncivil.

Such are the considerations for anyone considering installing or improving a lawn. And anyone who's sought the perfect grass already knows the experts can be annoyingly objective in running down plus and minus features of grasses that don't always compute in human terms. Most people will still prefer plush to practical.

The reason is obvious to Tom Staton, of Quality Turfgrass in Waimanalo. The botanist-turned landscaper-turned grass farmer, has a philosophy for humans' affinity with grass.

"We are animals," he said. "Human beings were born and raised on savannahs, grassy plains with trees. That is what Africa looks like. I've been there. I know.

"So our natural instinct, where we feel comfortable, is in grassy spaces with trees. It's very primal. That's why we like parks. We can walk on grass, we can play on it and enjoy it. It's nice for children and animals."

With increased urbanization, he said there will be a greater need for grass in the future.

At his demonstration area in Waimanalo, people are welcome to take their shoes off and walk through 250-square-foot plots of various grasses suitable for Hawaii's lawns.

But the barefoot test is not enough to make an investment in a particular grass. Sunlight is the biggest predictor of how well a grass will do. Other factors are fixable, such as bad soil, which can be enhanced with nutrients and amendments such as peat, mulch or sand.

Still, the first question Staton asks of visitors is "Where do you live?"

"The number of micro-environments in Hawaii are amazing," he said. "From Waikiki to Manoa, there are several different climatic zones that are unique. There's more variation in Hawaii than any other area."

Centipede grass that does well in Haiku and Kaneohe won't do well in the salty environment of Kailua. To see what grows well in your area, he says, is often a matter of driving around and seeing what's doing well and what isn't.

"That's the surest way to tell," he said, "It's very localized."

On his farm he raises samples of several grasses for study, including 20 kinds of St. Augustine and 40 types of zoysias, but he actively sells only 12 varieties, including Z-3 Zoysia grass, which he patented in 1994. The hybrid of Emerald and El Toro Zoysia grasses has a medium fine texture and apple green color, and is often used by professional landscapers.

In developing new grasses, Staton says one looks for texture, color, vigor and low fertility requirements, but he says with most strains, "A lot of it is repetitive. If you have one or two good ones, there's no use having 20 if they're similar."

At the Urban Garden Center, they keep 20 varieties of grasses to show visitors. Tomorrow, they will host a free lawn installation workshop, for summertime planters.

Takemoto said that home owners "equate summer with planting."

Planting in summer requires more water, but grass tends to grow and fill in faster.

And in spite of grasses' reputation as a greedy, water-guzzling and fertilizer-chomping monster, grass is simply misunderstood, say those who work with it closely.

"People make the mistake of treating their grass like people. They think they're feeding it and watering it and that they're doing it a favor, but they're not," Staton said. "They think they're gonna make their grass greener faster and it's pleasant for them, but not for the grass."

Staton's "cookbook" approach to watering is two to three irrigations in summer and one per week in the winter, each lasting 20 to 30 minutes. The exception is sandy soils, which require lighter, more frequent irrigation since water can quickly sink below the root zone.

To determine true water needs of a lawn, he suggests stop watering and wait for the lawn to begin wilting. At first sign of wilting, irrigate deeply for 20 to 30 minutes, then turn off the sprinklers and observe again.

"You'll be surprised at how long the lawn can go between waterings," he said.

What: Lawn installation workshop
When: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. tomorrow
Where: Urban Garden Center, 962 Second St., Pearl City
Call: 453-6050