Cold Tolerant Zone 4 Lawn Grass Species

Kentucky Bluegrass

• Kentucky bluegrass produces a fine-textured, high-quality lawn when properly maintained, but it can require much work. It’s adapted to cool, humid areas and needs moist, well-draining soil and regular fertilizing. It needs plentiful sun and doesn’t tolerate shade or soils that are overly acidic or alkaline. Since its growing rate is slow, weeds are a problem. It can survive severe drought but, if you don’t want it to go dormant, you’ll need to provide it with water during dry periods.

Perennial Ryegrass

• Perennial ryegrass germinates faster than any other turfgrass species, so it’s a good choice for those who want to quickly establish a lawn. It produces a fine-textured, dark-green lawn that does well in cool, humid areas with well-draining, moist soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Since it’s very tolerant of wear, it’s a common choice for golf course fairways. It can be hard to mow, and while it’s a cool-season grass, it’s less tolerant of extreme cold than is Kentucky bluegrass. Provide it with full sunlight.

Fine Fescues

• Fine fescues are a good choice for dry, shady areas. When properly maintained, these grasses produce lawns of fair-to-good quality. Fine fescues are often mixed with Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass instead of being seeded alone. Fine fescues include red fescue, hard fescue and chewings fescue. These grasses are adapted to cool, humid areas and require well-draining, slightly dry, acidic soil. They’re not tolerant of heavy traffic and are disease prone, especially when given too much water and fertilizer.

Creeping Bentgrass

• Creeping bentgrass forms a fine-textured, dense turf when properly maintained, but it requires a lot of time and money, so it’s primarily used on golf courses and tennis courts. Creeping bentgrass does well in cool humid or semiarid areas. Provide it with well-draining, moist soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5 and full sun. Bentgrass is very aggressive and should never be mixed with other lawn seeds, especially bluegrass. This grass is prone to many diseases and insect pests.