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California Buffalograss is a Runner!

July 13, 2011 by ltakao

We had an email come our way from a customer who was concerned about the “barbed shaped extensions” coming out of the California Buffalograss plugs he had installed 4 weeks prior. He thought they were most likely weeds, but wanted to double check before he yanked them out. So, just in case the same thought may have crossed your mind – worry not! These are actually runners that the grass sends out in order to spread itself. The runners root into the ground as they go and from that more grass will grow!

Check out this old sample flat we used for a demonstration that’s been sitting in the greenhouse – it’s runners are trying to find a place to root!

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California Buffalograss Facebook Awesomeness, Get on the Bandwagon!

July 5, 2011 by ltakao

Are you a fan yet on our Facebook page? If not, you’re totally missing out! Gary just posted a bunch of pics from his recent California Buffalograss installation on our FB page! So now, Gary accompanies Mike in our Awesome Book 🙂

Here are some highlights in case you missed out!

It took Gary and his garden crew of 3, a little over 2 hours to drill the holes and install the California Buffalograss plugs into his 950 sq ft lawn. Gary got creative and made a jig to help him with the spacing layout!

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We usually recommend 12″ center spacing which comes out to a plug per square foot -which means 8 trays for Gary, since there are 128 plugs per tray.

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As Gary drilled the holes his crew followed behind installing the plugs.

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And ta-da!!!

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And Gary was kind enough to do a bit of free shameless promoting for us! Thanks Gary!

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Now go and become a Facebook fan and check out the other California Buffalograss pics our fans have posted! 🙂

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California Buffalograss at the Chin Residence

July 1, 2011 by ltakao

Check out a new installation here in Fresno!

Three weeks after installation (the weather has been oddly cool and abnormal so the growth has been slower than usual):

Eleven weeks after installation:

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Take a Walk With Me at Takao Nursery!

June 28, 2011 by ltakao

You may have visited our website, or checked out our blog, or maybe you’ve stopped by our facebook page or chatted with us on the phone…either way you probably haven’t had a chance to see us in person! So come with me and I’ll give you a quick tour of our humble little abode…

The office, you’ll find me and my noisy dog in here…

The greenhouse

The “breezeway” – it connects the two halves of the greenhouse and is where packing and planting take place

Our dirt mixer – yes, we make our own dirt mix! – Goes in at the top on the far right, then trays are feed on the conveyor belt to be filled

Our planting station – finished trays move down the conveyor belt in the center of the table to be racked and moved into the greenhouse

Trays are labeled and barcoded for tracking

Then they’re moved into Greenhouse 4 where the conditions are carefully monitored so as not to stress the newly planted cuttings

Once trays have rooted, they’re moved across the way into Greenhouse 5 to harden up

Greenhouse 5

Automatic retracting shade nets and roofs allow the trays to be exposed to the elements so that they are ready for outside conditions when they move on to our customers

Automatic watering booms run across each bay of the greenhouse, watering the trays

Once the trays are ready to be shipped, they’re fixed (trays are checked for bad or missing plugs and replaced with quality ones) and packed

And then OnTrac comes and picks everything up to be delivered!

Posted in Tours | 22 Comments »

Update from our Contest Winner Corey!

June 27, 2011 by ltakao

Okay, so remember our contest awhile back? Well, Contest-Winner-Corey has sent us a new update from his lawn diary! 🙂 Check it out:

“…The first couple of weeks were still the strange cooler weather pattern with even some rain, so not much happened growth-wise. The past two weeks have finally been very nice, sunny, warm and the plugs responded. I would say most of the growth seen in today’s 4 week pics have been from the last couple of weeks…I am only watering once per day in the early morning because my sprinkler timer is lame and once per day is all I can set it up for. I’ve been supplementing by hand in the afternoon/evening if I get home before the sun goes down. I have to get a better timer hooked up…

Weeds are not absolutely horrible, but definitely need to keep up with them or they would certainly take over. Sigh. I have a smaller plot so I have been hand weeding. Tough on the back and knees… I cannot imaging what people with larger plots do!…Ok, that’s the update. My plan is to take more pictures in 2-4 weeks…”

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California Buffalograss down the street!

May 17, 2011 by ltakao

Just thought you might like to see a recent install just down the street from my parents’ house! And I’ll be sure to keep you posted on its status since I drive by it weekly on my way to the parentals 😉

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Our Contest Winner Update!

May 6, 2011 by ltakao

Our contest winner Corey Liu recently sent us an update on his prize! He’s yet to install it, but he’s prepping his plot and will hopefully keep us posted on how it all goes!

“Attached is a photo of the trays of grass with my three reasons for wanting to plant the lawn, and behind them is the plot that the grass will be planted onto (hopefully this weekend)”, Corey said.

Look at those cuties! Can’t wait to see!!!

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Septic Leach Field, huh???

April 20, 2011 by ltakao

The other day we had some contact us asking if California Buffalograss would work well in a septic leach field and to be honest I had to google what the heck a septic leach field even was – I’m still not quite sure I understand… So I forwarded this question on to Wayne at Todd Valley Farms – the ‘OG’ on California Buffalograss – and he replied that it was a-ok! He responded that septic systems would not be a problem and he’s in fact done several similar installations. He said that California Buffalograss’s roots are very fine, not like a tree root, and when they get to the saturated area they will grow quickly.

So just in case any of you were wondering about septic leach fields, you’re good to go!

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The Green Underbelly!

April 8, 2011 by ltakao

Is your California Buffalograss lawn coming out of dormancy and looking a bit shabby? Maybe a quick mowing is in order to knock off the old and bring out the new!

Posted in Lawn Pics!, Tips & Advice | 3 Comments »

The Word on Dog Pee-Pee

April 5, 2011 by ltakao

Niko sunbathing at work – our California Buffalograss is coming out of dormancy woo hoo!

Remember when I posted awhile back wondering about the effects of dog pee on California Buffalograss (hey, just because we grow it doesn’t mean we run dog urine trials on it!)? Well I got a response from Will – a California Buffalograss and dog owner:

“We have California Buffalograss in our backyard with a full time dog and dog pee will definitely kill/make the pee areas yellow. We water it 2x a day so it waters it down pretty well but there are two spots in my yard that were definitely killed by the dog’s pee. It might be water wise but it doesn’t know what to do with pee.”

So there it is folks…the dirty low down on dog pee. Just like most grasses, California Buffalograss isn’t feeling it either.

Oh well, I guess you can’t win them all…

***Update y’all! We recently had someone inform us on our facebook page that she really doesn’t have an issue with burn spots from her dog – who happens to be 75lbs – so I imagine it has a decent amount of pee! Maybe it all depends on the size of your lawn and the number of dogs you have…perhaps smaller yards get “hit” more often in the same spot than larger yards do? Well, it looks like the results are back to being inconclusive for now!***