Regardless of what some other responders have written, the most common grass
in Fl is St. Augustine grass in one of its varieties. St. Augustine grass
does NOT grow from seed and the only way to have a St. Augustine lawn is
with sod. The most common varieties are Floratam and Bitter Blue. Neither
is very shade tolerant.

From seed you can grow Bahia grass, which is not as dense as St.
Augustine.and goes dormant (and brown) in the winter. (By the way, the
requirements for % weed seeds in Bahia grass seed were recently lowered
severely, so a lot of the product had to be taken off the market until the
next crop, and it's very highly pricd right now. Best to wai until the fall
when it's more affordable. This is the wrong time to be putting in a lawn,
anyway.) There are other options, as well, but many eventually take a
different approach -- Fl weather is not conducive to good lawns without a
lot of expense and attention -- and lawn requirements are harmful to the
citrus that many like to grow on their property. Many long-time Fl
residents don't see any particular value in a well-trimmed or manicured lawn
since there is so little payback for such a lot of work. Especially with a
shaded lot you may want to go with more native plants and stay away from the
excessive pesticides, weed-and-feed, and high nitrogen fertilizers, which
are damaging to the Florida canals and water resources.

You'll find big differences between Fl and Pa. If you're serious about
learning about sub-tropical horticulture, suggest you sign up for a Master
Gardener program at your local extension service. You'll learn a lot, and
save yourself a lot of aggravation trying to grow plants that don't fit the
environment. A neighbor tried planting dogwood and a few roses -- the
dogwood didn't survive the first three months, and the roses look pretty
spindly for all the care and chemicals that have been thrown at them to try
and get them to survive. Better to get some of the tropical or subtropical
plants that do so well in the state.

At the very least, get the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods booklet and
follow the FY&N recommendations, which include recommendations for
fertilization and for pest control. The FY&N handbook is available from the
extension service or can be downloaded from www.hort.ufl.edu. (although the
site was down when I tried it to write this response.)

"Harry Everhart" wrote in message
...
I just moved to Florida from Pennsylvania. In PA - we used to till the
ground - rake it out - and plant grass seed. Down here everyone seems to
use sod. When I asked folks about it - they say grass seed does not grow
here. I have lots of land. I have a rototiller. I would like to till the
ground and plant something to prevent erosion. Any advice - the land is
mostly shaded.