No Mow Grass or walkable groundcover for Dallas TX Area

[FloriTexan]

We have a pathway and a small area where a mower can't reach that we are hoping to fill in with some kind of ground cover that you can walk on that is dog friendly and no mow. Any ideas? We want to seed or plant it in the next month. Thanks in advance for your ideas.

[beac]

1. Have you heard about "Stepables"? I saw them at our local garden center last year.

Ground cover designed to be stepped on (bet you couldn't guess that from the name! ;) )

http://www.stepables.com/

The ones I saw definitely felt soft and comfy to the touch.

[FloriTexan]

6. I like the idea...

Couldn't get their website to pull up anything for Zone 8 though, it may just not have been working well. I'll check with my local nursery. Thanks!

[hippywife]

8. This might be the answer

for the path between the boxes in our square foot veggie garden. There is a swail that runs thru the yard and funnels water into the garden...lots of water when it rains. I put inches of mulch in there the first year and the water pushed ALL of the mulch to the back corner and piled it up against the fence. When the paths aren't incredibly muddy, they sprout bermuda grass that seeds into the boxes somewhat.

Have to share this idea with the hubband since he does most of the work in the garden.

Thanx! :hi:

[XemaSab]

2. How tall do you want it to get?

Is the area shady?

And do you want it to be clumpy or non-clumpy?

There are creeping grasses and sedges that will work. Yarrow and thyme are other choices.

[RedEarth]

3. I've used both mondo and monkey grass for areas like that

I just mow it or use a string trimmer once a year. It's shade and drought tolerate and will spread over a period of years to cover the bare spots(I just use mulch to cover the bare spots the first few years).

You can buy it at almost any nursery, but here's a link to a site that explains both mondo and monkey grass....

http://www.mondograss.com/

[FloriTexan]

5. I like the dwarf mondo grass....

that might be perfect, except its pretty sunny back there. Thanks for the links.

[RedEarth]

7. I have some mondo grass growing adjacent to a sidewalk

and it gets full sun from noon to dusk and it does fine. It performs better in a shadier areas, but after it's established in a sunny area it seems to grow just fine provided it's got sufficient water.

[FloriTexan]

4. 4-5 inches tall max...

just because I want to see the dog piles before I step in them ;) and its for a walk-way around an above ground pool - with flower beds on the other side. Half sun, half shade on all areas, but depending on which side of the pool you're on the shade and/or sun is in the morning. We're replacing the deck and want to get back some of the yard mostly because the dog really likes grassy areas and he has none in the back yard now--its all deck and stepping stones over gravel now. Buffalo grass was recommended by a local nursery, but it gets too tall. I've been thinking about "no mow grass" it sounds perfect even if it takes a couple of years to really establish.

[kurtzapril4]

9. Try Prairie Moon Nursery

I believe they sell a native no-mow mix.

www.prairiemoonnursery.com

They sell a cultivar of buffalo grass that maxes out @ 5", and the also sell something called eco-lawn.