Now That Grass is Growing in Thailand...

You would think tender loving watering would be easy~

However, simple watering wasn't the issue because new grass in Thailand needs watering every morning and every night. This routine takes up to 30 minutes each time, so you can well imagine what your water bill would be like! The following is what one responder wrote:

Posted August 19, 2019 

I had a front garden lawn (Nor Noi) laid at the beginning of June this year, some 162 sq m.
Guy who laid it said not to cut for the first 5 /6 weeks.
Having now cut it twice with a new petrol mower, the appearance is what might be called 'a disaster'.
It has many patches of dead grass, probably as many as there are green.
I'm told this is because the grass was too long and the sun could not penetrate to the roots.   It's certainly has not lacked water because morning and evening every day (No rain) it has been watered.
I have now started to lightly rake the grass to help the sun get through and will fertilise this week.  I now cut once a week.
Is patience the order of the day or is there more I could do?   Or do I wait until later this year and lift it all and replace?
Advice would be much appreciated. 

These are the exact words I would have typed myself.  It is unbelievable what happened when I mowed (or weed whacked) the first time. The length was looking good, so I went ahead and began weed whacking.  Buying a mower was not feasible, but it took a very long time to whack the whole lawn.  By the time I actually put grass in on the left side of the house, I just might have to get a mower... or hire someone to weed whack!

 Nor Noi Garden Grass grows as a spreader.  the sprouts move outward, and as you can see, soft spikes grow upward.  I tried not to cut it too short, but there were multiple brown spots. The right side of the front brown spot has not been cut while the left side has. This was EXACTLY what the posting person above said about his grass.  It has taken multiple waterings, day after day, to get it to grow again. 





I bought the only grass rake I could find, and this is what happened to it the first time I tried to use it. 

This was the very first time I tried to use it!  So ends the trouble of raking out the dried parts of the grass so sunlight can get to it!

Since I  weed whacked the first time, I've hired a neighbor and friend to do it for me.  This move gives me time to write this blog!

Happy grassing in Thailand! 

Growing Grass in Thailand

Grass in Thailand has unusual features:

There are three main kinds of grass that actually grow: Malaysian, Japanese and Nor Noi Garden grass.  The Malay (Malaysian) grass, has large blades of grass but grows by spreading, not upwards, is the hardiest of the three.  


Malay grass is course, so it's not soft to the touch, but spreads easily and is common to the local environment.

You don't have to mow Malay grass, unless you've allowed weeds to take over and they're sprouting above the grass blades.

Malay grass is not "pretty," so you wouldn't stand over the lawn and say, "Oh, that's a nice yard!" 

However, it is cheaper to plant, spreads quickly and most of all, it is low maintenance. 

The one thing to remember is it takes lots of watering because the roots spread out, not down which makes it vital to plant trees around it for shading.

 
Japanese grass is fine but tough.  Because of the brittle nature of the blades, it makes for a nice garden area to look at but not sit on.
 

Third, the Manilla, or garden grass type, is for softer grass, so you and your guests are able to enjoy the soft texture while walking through, sitting on or touching it with your fingers.  
  This is the type I planted because I definitely wanted to walk on it with bare feet. 

The most difficult thing about growing grass in Thailand is the never ending watering that is required to get it going.  The second most unusual thing we don't normally think about is mowing it.  The lawns are usually small here in Thailand.  In fact, many neighborhoods are houses next to houses next to houses and no grass or yard is to be seen.  So the fact of the matter is, no one needs mowers... and now I do!
 

https://teakdoor.com/north-east-thailand-the-isaan-forum/110703-malay-grass.html
https://www.thaigardendesign.com/tropical-grass-types/