Varieties of Grasses

Bermudagrass

• Bermudagrass is a warm season grass that only takes about 6 weeks to establish. It is heat and drought tolerant, but has poor tolerance for cold or shade. Cold winters can damage or kill it. Bermudagrass can also withstand a lot of wear. (see reference #4) Like most warm season grasses, Bermudagrass turns brown when it grows cold. (see reference #2)

Buffalograss

• Buffalograss is a low maintenance, warm season grass that doesn’t require much mowing. In addition, it needs little water or fertilizer. In fact, too much water or fertilizer will cause it to thin out and grow weedy, as will too much shade. It grows well in clay soil, but doesn’t tolerate a lot of foot traffic. In the fall and winter, it turns a pleasing straw color. (see reference #1)

Kentucky Bluegrass

• According to Anthony J. Koski, Entension Turf Specialist for Colorado State University Extension, Kentucky bluegrass is the most widely planted lawn grass planted in the US. (see reference #6) Kentucky bluegrass is a beautiful, cool season blue-green grass with medium to fine textured leaf blades. It’s cold hardy, but needs frequent watering and fertilizing. Kentucky bluegrass is used for lawns, golf greens and athletic fields. Most Kentucky bluegrass cultivars aren’t tolerant to shade and drought. However, one cultivar, “Adelphi” is shade tolerant, as well as resistant to disease. (see reference #3)

Red Fescue

• Red Fescue is a fine-textured cool season grass with dark green blades. Because it’s tolerant of shade and drought, it’s often mixed with bluegrass. Red fescue is more heat tolerant than chewings fescue and looks lush when it isn’t mowed. (see reference #3)

Perennial Ryegrass

• Perennial ryegrass is the most tolerant to wear of any cool season grass. However, it doesn’t do well in extreme heat, cold or drought. It prefers growing in full sun but tolerates some shade. Perennial ryegrass has deep green leaf blades and a finer texture than annual ryegrass. (see reference #3)

Tall Fescue

• Tall fescue has very few insect or disease problems, and it’s tolerant to shade and salty soil. It doesn’t need a lot of fertilizer and it can withstand a fair amount of wear. However, when bare spots do appear, this grass takes a long time to recover. Tall fescue also needs to be mowed a lot. It develops a deep root system in rich soils, which makes it somewhat drought resistant. (see reference #1)

Zoysiagrass

• Zoysiagrass is a dense, high quality, warm season grass that has good tolerance to drought, salty soils and heat. However, it produces a lot of thatch, which is a layer of dead and living organic matter found between the grass and the soil. Too much thatch encourages insect pests and disease, so dethatching has to be done periodically. It takes 1 to 3 years to establish a zoysiagrass lawn. (see reference #5)