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Re-sodding in March. Floratam or ProVista?

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17K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  david.rose159  
#1 ·
I'm in East Central Florida 9b. My yard is currently Floratam approx 7,500 SF. A large portion of my backyard, about 1,200 SF, has been completely overtaken by wild Bermuda. Next month my plan is to nuke the area and re-sod. Should I stick with Floratam or try ProVista St. Augustine? I'm tempted to try ProVista because my neighbor's back yard is completely Bermuda and I'm worried about it coming back. The area gets full sun.
 
#6 ·
I was in a similar situation about one year ago when I was resodding my backyard and went with ProVista for the same reason, as I knew the wild Bermuda would eventually back. I have no regrets with my decision and love the ProVista. Anytime I notice some Bermuda popping up I just spot spray it with some glyphosate and the ProVista remains unharmed.
 
#7 ·
MosJeff said:
I was in a similar situation about one year ago when I was resodding my backyard and went with ProVista for the same reason, as I knew the wild Bermuda would eventually back. I have no regrets with my decision and love the ProVista. Anytime I notice some Bermuda popping up I just spot spray it with some glyphosate and the ProVista remains unharmed.
How long did it take to establish and what prep did you to before laying the sod? Do you mow the ProVista the same time as the rest of your yard?
 
#8 ·
GPO Man said:
MosJeff said:
I was in a similar situation about one year ago when I was resodding my backyard and went with ProVista for the same reason, as I knew the wild Bermuda would eventually back. I have no regrets with my decision and love the ProVista. Anytime I notice some Bermuda popping up I just spot spray it with some glyphosate and the ProVista remains unharmed.
How long did it take to establish and what prep did you to before laying the sod? Do you mow the ProVista the same time as the rest of your yard?
I didn't have the time to do the prep myself so I hired a landscaper who has done work for me in the past to remove the old turf and pick up/install the sod. The leveling isn't perfect so lesson learned, but I'm fine with it. I don't feel like it took any longer to establish and it is so thick that I rarely had to deal with weeds (I did not put down my normal prodiamine). I'm in South Florida so I mow year round. In the Spring/Summer I would mow it once per week even though I would mow my Floratam 2 x per week. You could definitely get by mowing less frequently, but I just did it anyways. In the Fall/Winter I've been mowing every 2-3 weeks, but honestly you could go even longer.
 
#9 ·
I am in the same predicament now, looking to resod with Saint Augustine (removing Zoysia) and debating which variety to use.........

I have been debating between Floritam, Provista, and Citra blue. I thought for sure I was going with Citra blue, then I was sure I was going with provista......, now I'm thinking I'm just going back with Floritam. My concern with either of the other two types is that they are so incredibly slow compared to Floritam that any damage that eventually occurs takes forever and a day to recover. I was lucky to find a patch of Provista growing immediately adjacent to Floritam so I could see them side-by-side (they are actually growing next to each other), and the Floritam seems like it's on steroids compared to provista. I think the growth rate is like 3X. Since there isn't a barrier between this particular patch, I would guess in a few years the Floritam will completely take the area over.

Another person who has both of them
in their yard who I talked to also said the Provista was more cold sensitive as well, but thats only a sample size of 1.
 
#12 ·
I'm one month into my ProVista installation and I am extremely happy with it. I love the darker green/bluish tint it has and it is very dense. In fact, I may eventually use ProVista in my entire yard. I can attest to the fact that it's a slow grower. One month in and I still don't have to mow it yet. It is also very thirsty. It starts to turn grayish when it's stressed so I've been watering every other day since week 3 unless we get rain.