The Grass Looks Greener

By GLENN GARELIK

For a suburbanite, few experiences are more wrenching than watching a lush green lawn turn brown and scraggly. All across the increasingly arid U.S. Sunbelt, homeowners are facing that disheartening prospect. Because of persistent droughts and rapid population growth, there is not nearly enough water to keep every plot of grass green. Los Angeles, in the fourth year of a dry spell, recently imposed water rationing, and South Florida, which absorbs as many as 1,000 newcomers a day, has been needing more rain for two years.

But Sunbelters should not buy Astroturf just yet. Help may be on the way. Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a strain of grass so resistant to drought that in some locales, it may not need to be watered at all. The university's test patch, at a research center near Fort Lauderdale, is thick and green, even though it has received no water, except for an occasional rainfall, since March 1988.

This new grass, called FX-10, is a variety of St. Augustine, the sod that is commonly used on the lawns of South and central Florida, the Gulf States and Southern California. But in contrast to the standard St. Augustine, which needs to be watered regularly, FX-10 (a cross of four African varieties) has an unusually deep root system -- deep enough to tap into subsurface moisture in some areas. That makes it perfect for places like Florida, where the water table typically lies no deeper than about 5 ft. Moreover, FX-10 seems to use the water it gets more efficiently than other St. Augustine varieties do. In the drought-parched university plots where more than 60% of the standard St. Augustine has died, the patch of FX-10 has expanded in size by 8%.

The project is funded in part by a $90,000 grant from the South Florida water management district, which is eager for a drought-resistant grass to be developed. Reason: officials estimate that half of the 800 million gallons of water delivered last year to the residents of the district's 16 counties was used to sprinkle lawns.

Though FX-10 shows enormous promise, it will not solve watering problems everywhere. Because part of its advantage depends on a reasonably shallow water table, even enthusiasts acknowledge that in certain locations -- on hillsides, for instance, or in parts of the desert Southwest -- the grass may require irrigation. Another limiting factor is temperature: as with other St. Augustine grasses, even a day below freezing proves deadly. Any place north of, say, Houston will not be hospitable.

In South Florida, though, sod growers are confident of the new grass's potential. A total of 22 major growers, representing 85% of the state's St. Augustine grass-supply industry, have formed a cooperative venture that has obtained a license to begin cultivating FX-10. Since the grass does not proliferate rapidly, it will take a few years before growers can build up a big supply. But once FX-10 is in place on suburban lawns, the slow growth rate will offer several advantages to homeowners. They can skimp on fertilizer and will have to mow the grass no more than twice a month. And they may be able to throw away the sprinkler.