Ornamental Perennial Peanuts - "Ecoturf"

"The Perfect Southern Turf"

Residential & Commercial Applications

"It sounds too good to be true--a lawn that you don't need to water or fertilizer, and that only needs mowing once a year! . . . This miracle ground cover...makes a much better Southern lawn for low traffic areas than Bermuda, St. Augustine or centipede grass!" November 1996 issue of the Organic Gardening Magazine.

Ornamental Perennial Peanut Groundcover, known as Ecoturf, has become known as "The Perfect Southern Turf". As the name Ecoturf implies, the low-growing perennial peanut groundcover has many of the characteristics viewed as very desirable by environmentalists. Ecoturf has a very high degree of tolerance to the stresses and "headaches" of Florida's environment, which means a reduction of management inputs, such as water, pesticides, and fertilizer, in turn, causing a reduction of overall management time.

Water is the key imput in the establishment and maintenance. In areas where water is becoming a precious commodity and restrictions are in place, ornamental perennial peanut groundcover is becoming more desirous. We have observed and research has indicated that less water is required by this turf than that of St. Augustine grasses. Low levels of applied water resulted in die-back of St. Augustine grass with no such long-term impact on Ecoturf.

Ecoturf grows best in full sun. It persists in a variety of well-drained soil types and does well in deep sands. Irrigation will be necessary as a supplement to natural rainfall to achieve healthy root and top development. Once a root system has developed, irrigation is no longer needed. However, the application of water during hot, dry periods will maintain the ornamental perennial peanut ground cover in an optimal growing condition.

Weed control constitutes the major management practice until full ocverage is achieved. Similar to soil moisture management, the elimination of competitive weeds is important for optimum Ecoturf performance during and following establishment. This can be attained by mowing every two or three weeks. Keeping the ornamental perennial peanut canopy clear for maximum sunlight penetration is critical to proper development. Mow weeds just above the foliage of the developing peanut. For grassy weeds such as crab grass, bermudagrass, and bahia grass, Fusilade herbicides can be applied during establishment.

Benefits

*   Require no nitrogen fertilizer
*   Require little root builder fertilizer
*   No known insect or disease problem
*   If desired, mow once every 2-3 weeks to enhance an even ground cover
*   Have attractive yellow flower blooms frequently in the summer
*   Require no watering after establishment
*   Create dense sold mat of roots for prevention of erosion in high traffic areas

Requirements

*   Well drained soil
*   Plenty of sunlight
*   Small amount of root builder fertilizer
*   Water during establishment is recommended
*   Will not exist in a climate where the ground freezes
*   Weed Control System

*  Turf now available!!

*  Call or email for pricing & availability of bushels (rhizomes) or sod. 
*  Material can be picked up here at the farm or freighted via UPS or company truck.
*  Visa/ Mastercard/Discover Accepted

*  To order or obtain more information, please give our office a call at (386) 963-5438.

This page last updated on 04/26/2007.