Grass landings
I have now operated off two different grass strips and had no problems whatsoever. And I have wheel pants on my RV-12.
Now, having said this, both are very high quality strips that are well maintained, quite smooth and long (3000+ft). I also did the majority of my flight training off grass strips which helps (all in a Cessna 150/172).
I would agree that the RV-12 is not a plane I would want to take into a rough strip with long grass. However, it is very capable on decent strips. I found it much better from a performance perspective than a 150 and on par with my 172. Key is technique- keep the weight off the nose wheel as much as possible and on the takeoff roll, get the nose wheel off the turf as quickly as possible.
As an aside- the RV-12 does not float any worse than a 172 if the final approach speed is as recommended. The only times I have had problems with floating is when I have been too fast. In fact, I find it floats less than my 172 did.
Jeff