DOG TUFF™ Grass is:
• VERY drought tolerant
• VERY resistant to dog urine
• LOVES full, hot sun
• GROWS happily on dry slopes
• DOESN’T wear thin in the winter like buffalo grass
• RECOVERS from excessive foot traffic quickly
• HONEYBEES love the pollen
But it still needs some love when you first plant it.
When to Plant
DOG TUFF™ is a warm season grass. This means it is active and green when the night time temperatures are above 50 Degrees Fahrenheit. If you plant more than a week or 2 before peak season time, the grass may be shocked if a cold spell hits.
It is recommended to prepare your area a couple weeks before you plant so plan accordingly.
Planting by Zone & City
- Zone 4: June 1st - August 15th
Cheyenne
- Zone 5: May 15th - September 1st
Denver / Fort Collins / Flagstaff
- Zone 6: May 5th - September 10th
Salt Lake City / Sante Fe
- Zone 7: April 20th - September 20th
Las Vegas / Albuquerque / Amarillo
- Zone 8: April 1st - October 10th
Palm Springs / Dallas / Austin
- Zone 9: March 15th - November 1st
Los Angeles / Phoenix / San Diego / Houston
Requires 6 Hours of Direct Sun
DOG TUFF™ Grass requires at least 6 hours of full sun to thrive in the area selected so keep this in mind.
It will thin and decline in partial shade and stop growing once it reaches its limits. Even though the grass goes dormant in the winter months, having full sun will help it green up faster and it seems to do better when it's not shaded.
Begin 2 Weeks Before Receiving Plugs
The most important thing is to have clear ground before you plant. Weed seeds may germinate so this gives you time to remove them before you plant.
Water for 2 weeks before planting and scrape any weeds that come up with a hoe.
Although easy to skip, we very highly recommend this step. After any ground is exposed and water is introduced, seeds or left over roots will begin to sprout. It is way easier to kill any weeds or other seeds before you plant your DOG TUFF™ Grass. For small sprouts you can easily scrape them with a hoe. If the ground has been left open for a long time, there may be many seeds that will germinate over an extended period.
Prepping Your Site For Planting
Remove All Existing Grass
The first and potentially most important step is to clear the planting ground from competing weeds and/or other grasses.
This is recommended for two reasons: aesthetics and maintenance.
Because DOG TUFF™ is a warm season grass it will be at its peak during the opposite season of water thirsty cool season grasses like bluegrass or fescues. This means that if any bluegrass is left it will poke out and look very odd among the tight, dense, and low growing patch of DOG TUFF™ Grass.
We have seen some gardeners that opt for this because of its ease and they don't mid a wild patchy mosaic of grasses. Just be aware the main issue is if you experiment with this, it is very difficult to remove the other grass later.
Many cities are offering rebates for removing traditional sod. See our rebates page for more information.
Remove All Weeds
Some annual type weeds will eventually be smothered by DOG TUFF™ Grass, but other deeper rooted or pernicious and perennial weeds may sprout back after the tops have been cut off. Do your best to remove the weeds entirely from the root--potentially with a shovel.
Sod Cutter
One of the best ways to remove a solid lawn is with a Sod Cutter. You can rent them from places like Home Depot. Try to go as deep as you can to cut as much of the roots out as possible. The lawn will be cut into strips that you can roll up and remove.
Smothering
Another option is to smother the grass or weeds with cardboard, and or deep layers of soil/compost. This can work well during the winter months to help prepare for spring planting.
Herbicide
We try to avoid using herbicides as much as possible, they stay in the soil, get into water supplies, and harm wildlife.
Glyphosate is effective at killing all plants but is outlawed in some countries and there are movements in some states to do the same. After a week or two, Glyphosate will bind with the soil so it will be safe to plant into as it is targeted at growing leaves. Make sure to spray the plants when they are active and growing. This means you may need to water the grass or weeds to wake them up again especially if heat dormant. Make sure to not overspray or do it when it is windy as it will kill other nearby plants. After the grass is dead, removing it will help with soil preparation. Make sure to wait about 2 weeks to plant after you spray. You may even need to follow up spray any areas that are still alive the following week.
Important:
There are plenty of other herbicides that are being mixed with Glyphosate. Some of them will stay active longer in the soil and could harm or kill Dog Tuff Grass. Make sure to avoid these. Always make sure to read labels and follow the instructions, keep kids and pets away from sprayed areas.
If you are only targeting broad leafed plants, another product that works is 2-4 D Amine #4 46. We use 4 teaspoons per gallon of water mixed in a pump sprayer. Hose sprayers are inconsistent with mixing so we recommend to avoid using these. Make sure there is no other Herbicide in the product you buy. Never use the same sprayer that had other chemicals. Some chemicals can't be washed out as they may bind to the plastic leaving a harmful toxic amount that might be sprayed unintentionally.
It may take a few days to a week to be absorbed and show signs of plant decline, don't be alarmed. Some other herbicides add a burn off chemical which burns leaves fast but then the chemicals are not absorbed so the roots just re-sprout in a few weeks. If they are small a very light spray should kill them. Try it when temps are between 60 and 80 and on a day it will not rain. Make sure to avoid spraying any other plants nearby. Try to spray on a calm day so that the wind doesn't carry it to other plants.
This is only a guideline on what we have seen. Make sure to do your own research and read the labels very carefully and use sparingly.
Pre-Watering
Make sure to water the area thoroughly a day or two ahead of planting so it soaks deeply, but has time to dry out and not be muddy. Make sure that the ground is well saturated so that the plugs don’t dry out during installation.
Amending the Soil
If you prepare your site well, it will greatly improve the drought tolerance, health, and longevity of your DOG TUFF™ Grass lawn.
We have found these methods to work for all soil types, but especially important for heavy clay. Other types include gravel or rocky, sandy, and loamy.
Moisten soil deeply, but don't make it muddy.
This is especially important if you have clay soil as it makes rototilling much easier.
Add 1" and a half inches of pea gravel and rototill.*
Rake and spread out the pea gravel across the cleared site. Make sure to use a hydraulic rototiller, which are easy to get at a tool rental location. Smaller machines won't go as deep.
*Not needed for rocky soils.
Add 2" to 3" inches of compost and rototill.
Once done with the pea gravel, rototill in the compost or similar product.
We recommend sheep manure products like sheep and peat, as steer manure has too much salt. Compost will greatly improve soil quality and aide in healthy root development.
After rototilling rake the area smooth.
The reason why clay is so tough is because the particles are very small and shaped like bricks. This is why clay holds water and won't drain, and plants have a tough time getting their roots deep enough.
Rototilling alone will loosen the soil, but it will quickly bind back up becoming hard again.
The best solution is to add pea gravel because with these large particle sizes it helps to prevent the brick shaped clay from locking back up again.
Many bluegrass lawns were done by crews taking short cuts by just scraping the clay smooth and laying the sod right on top. It's as if they planted the grass on top of a shallow pot with the roots staying a few inches near the surface. These lawns require water multiple times a week to thrive.
Weeding Round 2
After prepping the soil, we highly recommend watering the site for 2 weeks to see if any other weeds germinate. Removing these before you plant your plugs is much easier. Utilizing a hoe to scrape the seedlings works well.
Clay Soil
As seen here, clay soil is made up of extremely small brick like particles. This is why plants have such a hard time growing in clay soils. Water cannot drain appropriately and the roots cannot grow deep enough.
Pea gravel is the best solution to break up the dense brick structure and allow roots and water to penetrate.
Planting Your DOG TUFF™ Grass
Keep Plugs Wet After Receiving
Once you have the DOG TUFF™ Grass plug trays, keep them in a shaded area up to a week before you plant. Although drought tolerant once established, the plugs can't dry out before roots are formed.
Spacing
You can plant DOG TUFF™ grass plugs from mid-May through August in USDA Zone 5. You have a longer planting window in Zone 6, and an even longer window in Zone 7. Planted in 10-inch centers, a tray of 70 will cover about 48 square feet. At this spacing, the DOG TUFF™ grass will mostly fill in by August or September.
The grass doesn’t need to be planted with exact spacing, but they will look nice if you lay them out evenly. We recommend 10" spacing as this is the optimal fill in time to price.
Spacing the plugs out to 12 inches in between works too--it will just take a little longer to fill in.
For an even guide you may want to mark a nylon string every 10 inches with a pen to use as reference in the installation, or simply create a 10” square cardboard jig to guide you.
Below is a chart to determine how many trays you would need at different spac
Here are some examples of auger bits that can be added to a drill to aid in planting. You can also buy an extended for larger projects.
Planting Tools
A screw gun with an auger type bit that is 1.25" wide can help with planting, but not necessary if you really loosened your soil. Longer bits or extenders will help so that you have to do less bending. A simple trowel will work just fine especially if planting a small area.
Hole Tips
Make sure the hole is just wide enough to put the plug in so the plug soil is at or below the ground surface.
If the hole is too big and not filled in after planting, the plugs will dry out. Squeezing the plugs into smaller holes will slow down their ability to grow new roots and spread.
Planting the Plugs
Planting is best during the cooler morning or evening hours.
Gently remove the plugs from the tray by pushing them up from the bottom. Pulling it from the top may break off the roots. Insert the plug into the hole, gently pressing the soil to close it from the sides.
Have a hose handy and water the plugs thoroughly within a half hour of planting. You may need to plant a section and water it before moving on to the next section.
Fertilizer
Fertilizer can be applied before or after you plant.
Organic Fertilizer (recommended)
Apply a light application over the whole area of organic fertilizer such as an alfalfa meal, dried poultry waste, corn gluten, or sea kelp type of fertilizer.
We recommend a nitrogen analysis no higher than 12 if organic.
Corn gluten granules act as good fertilizer and may also help to prevent weed seed germination after a few years of build up in the soil.
Conventional Fertilizer
If using a non-organic, conventional fertilizer, the Nitrogen rating can be up to 20-28 but you will apply it at half the recommended rate. Although plants can absorb them faster, they also harm the micro organisms in the soil which work with roots to uptake nutrients.
Over extended periods this can lead to a vicious cycle where more and more fertilizer is needed as the soil life begins to decline. Chemical fertilizers are more potent and can leach out of the soil and be more harmful in the local water sheds..
Apply Pre-Emergent
Sprinkle Pre emergent "Preen Garden" (non organic) to kill new weed seeds that might emerge after you plant the grass.
There are multiple pre-emergent herbicides available, but some of them have other chemicals that could harm the DOG TUFF™ Grass. We have used "Preen Garden" in our plantings and are not sure that all other varieties are safe.
After application, watering it in is required for it to take effect. It creates gaseous layer that acts as the barrier to weed seeds that germinate. For this reason, it is advised to do this step very last and not disturb the soil too much to keep that gaseous layer intact.
As with all chemicals make sure to keep kids and pets away and read the label and follow instructions.
Corn Gluten (organic)
Corn Gluten has shown to be effective at killing weed seedlings as well. The main issue is that it may take a few applications over two or three years to be effective.
Watering In
After fertilizing, make sure to water all newly planted plugs thoroughly.
Watering Schedule the First Year
The first few weeks are the most crucial for watering.
Although incredibly drought tolerant once established, the little plugs will have issues if they dry out.
Many thanks to our wonderful customer, Nick Evers, for providing these time lapse photos of DOG TUFF™ Grass as they grow from plugs into a full-fledged lawn!
Pictured here are DOG TUFF™Grass plugs just after they were planted in July.
Pictured here, the DOG TUFF™ Grass plugs in August as they begin to fill-in across the yard.
Here the DOG TUFF™ plugs have really started to fill in across the yard by September.
By late September, the DOG TUFF™ Grass plugs have really started to fill in across the yard.
By October, the DOG TUFF™ Grass plugs have transformed into a thick grassy lawn.