Kurapia as a Turfgrass Replacement

 Q. Have you ever heard of kurapia as a ground cover? I wonder if it would succeed here in Las Vegas. I know that this recommendation is from a landscaper in California’s Central Valley, so they have a similar climate.

Kurapia is a lawn weed that is marketed as a replacement for a lawn.  Photo from Valley Sod Farms, Sandy Valley, Nevada.

A. I had not heard of it until now. From a marketing perspective it is supposed to be a lawn replacement for grass. It may be a visual lawn replacement but will not withstand traffic or play. Kurapia was started from the native plant, Lippia nodiflora (a synonym for it is Phyla nodiflora for those into its botany), that marketing people say was found in the coastal regions of Japan. But Lippia is native to the tropical and subtropical areas of South America and the United States. This calls into question its tolerance to extreme desert temperatures and low humidity. Growing in our desert soils should not be a problem for it.

Read about Lippia here

Lippia can be a common weed in most of the US. The Central Valley in California is arid but not an intense desert climate like ours so how it will perform during  the cold winter temperatures of Las Vegas is unknown. For example, fruit trees grow great there but you have to be a bit more careful with them in our desert climate. Because it is subtropical, like hybrid bermudagrass, I am guessing it will turn brown when fall and winter temperatures reach into the low 40’s.

Read discussions about Kurapia here

I also read about it at the UC trials in the subtropical and Mediterranean climate of the UC Riverside campus. It is a Lippia, which can be a common weed in some lawns. Ornamentally it is considered a groundcover, so it is not meant to withstand heavy traffic and, at 3 inches tall, it does not need to be mowed. It is primarily a visual lawn replacement during warm and hot months. So, in my opinion it is not a turfgrass replacement where lots of walking or anything heavier is expected. You can also mow it if you want it shorter than 3 inches tall. I suspect it might have difficulty growing in the hot and dry Western and Southern exposures of a landscape.

Read about the UC irrigation trials here trials done in Davis, California

Read about UC recommendations here

It spreads about 3 feet in diameter so, like hybrid bermudagrass, planting it 12 inches apart in a triangular pattern will cause it to cover the area in about 2 months during warm weather if watered regularly and fertilized monthly during establishment.

It will perform best if the soil is amended at the time of planting, and not grown in extremely hot locations. They claim it uses less water than tall fescue lawns, about the same as a bermudagrass lawn. The water use for it has not been established in southern Nevada. It has been established for other locations but ET (water use) varies between locations.

Update: Valley Sod Farms in Sandy Valley, Nevada, contacted me and gave me more information regarding their trials with it there. For more information contact Mike@Valleysod.com