Pat our yard was Bermuda grass which did well until our mango trees started to provide shady. Any grass that didn't get a lot of sun eventually died. We installed Frog grass which needed a lot of water until it took root (about a year). The frog grass does well in the shade. It doesn't tolerate a lot of foot traffic. We now have large areas of paving stones. A coat of acrylic emulsion stops algea from growing. If I were wealthy I'd be thinking Astroturf.
There are two types of emulsion. The solvent based stuff is absorbed into the paving stones. The latex based emulsion sits proud on the pavers and seems okay so far (6 months). I prefer the solvent based. We have cheap paving stones that were getting badly eroded from water dripping from the roof. After painting the pavers with "red cement (dye)" and a coat of the latex based emulsion, the pavers look good again and the erosion has stopped.
In Valencia there are lots of people that grow grass for sale, I have a newly acquired lot at the tale end of Smith St the north end, next door to me they grow 2 types of grass, Frog and Blue grass, they tell me the Blue is best and supersedes Bermuda but looks very similar, they seem to take a bare patch, plant it and 3 weeks later it is ready for sale, they feed regularly with Urea and always it is nice and green, the Lady gardener is nice to speak with and I believe they charge P100 per sq yard?
