Shadow Turf, Turffalo – For Lawn
Q: Do you know anything about Turffalo Shadow Grass? We have a lot of shade trees and limited success with centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass. What is your opinion of this grass?
A: Shadow Turf is a named variety of one species of zoysiagrass, Zoysia matrella. It may do well in full sunshine but I would not expect it to spread quickly or out-compete weeds in the shade.
Turffalo was the original name of a grass now marketed as Tech Turf. It is a named variety of buffalo grass, Bouteloua dactyloides.
“Tough as Bufflo, Green As…Grass?”
Buffalo grass has not done well when planted in Georgia. It requires full sunshine and does not compete well with weeds. The seedheads may be objectionable too. I would not plant either grass here, but you are welcome to try it and let me know what happens.
All grasses require 5 – 6 hours of full sunshine to thrive. If you don’t have that, better to plant other shade-tolerant plants like mondo grass or monkey grass.