IN THE GARDEN THESE GRASSES NOT GREENER.

Byline: JOSHUA SISKIN

Spring is for planting.

No matter how many horticultural hopes of past springs have been dashed - usually in the throes of the Valley's endless summer - it is impossible in the midst of balmy April days to escape the optimism that adheres to all things, including to the planting of a garden, and even ... to the planting of a lawn.

Here are three exaggerated horticultural claims regarding lawns that should give us pause:

Zoysia Grass. This is not the trouble-free lawn it is portrayed to be. First of all, zoysia is ill-suited to the alkaline soil of Southern California since it grows best - in the Southeast, for example - where the soil pH is somewhat acidic. Second, it has a winter dormancy period, during which time it turns yellow. Third, and this is its major detraction, zoysia grass establishes slowly. The advertisements claim it grows so dense that crabgrass and other weeds cannot find a foothold. The problem is, you will be pulling weeds for years until the zoysia establishes itself, if such a day should ever come. Besides, neither I nor anyone I know has ever seen an established zoysia lawn in our part of the country and, if it was such a great lawn, it should be grown in local sod farms, which it is not.

Canada Green. This is promoted as a grass for all temperatures since Canada has both deep freezes and bristling heat. Canada Green is actually a mixture of three grasses: Kentucky blue grass, which needs lots of water and is not meant for our climate; annual rye grass, used as a winter cover for lawns such as Bermuda that go dormant during cold weather but not meant to survive the return of hot weather; red fescue, an important ingredient of shade grass mixes but not at all durable in Valley sun and requiring lots of summer water.

Buffalo Grass. Native to the high plains, buffalo grass is extremely drought tolerant, requires little fertilization and only occasional mowing. However, it turns brown in the cold and will turn brown in the summer, too, unless it is well-watered in hot weather. There is another problem: Buffalo grass consists of both male and female plants, the latter producing burs close to the ground; walking barefoot or lying down on Buffalo grass is a prickly proposition.

There is a new grass being talked about this year called Grande that is worthy of serious consideration both for planting new lawns and for repairing old ones. Grande is a rhizomatous tall fescue, which means that it has underground rhizomes, those horizontal, fast-growing stems found on Bermuda and Kikuyu grasses. Rhizomes mean that even if a lawn dies in spots from heat stress, it will regrow without reseeding once cooler weather returns. Tall fescue has long been the lawn of choice in California, and if this new rhizomatous variety were commercially grown as sod, it would probably become quite popular. For now, you can order Grande seeds through Stoker Seed Co. at [phone].

MOSQUITOES VS. GERANIUMS: Each year, the mosquito scare, thanks to West Nile virus, seems to reach increasingly hysterical proportions. A plant known as lemon-scented geranium is advertised as a mosquito repellent with no proof that it works in this way. Do not get me wrong; lemon-scented geraniums are wonderful plants, and everyone should have one or two of them around the house, but they will not keep the mosquitoes away just growing in the ground or in flower pots.

It is true that these geraniums contain citronella oil, which does repel mosquitoes. However, the oil is only released when the leaves are crushed, so you might achieve some mosquito deterrence by rubbing these leaves on your skin. Warning: rub the leaves over a small patch of skin as an experiment to see if you have an allergic reaction before being more aggressive in use of this plant as a mosquito repellent.