Warm Season Grasses Vs Cool Season Grasses

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Choosing a Grass Species for Your Lawn

While you may be excited about putting down a new lawn, selecting one that will survive the specific conditions on your region may be tricky. Turf species vary in their tolerance of a broad range of factors and on their maintenance, look and establishment methods. Fescues, Zoysia grass, and Bermuda grass are three widely used turf grasses. Let’s take a more in-depth look at their main differences.

Cool Season Grass

These grasses grow well at temperatures between 60 and 75°F (15.5 to 24°C), in the Northeast and much of the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Cool season varieties include fine fescue and tall fescue. The Midwest and Western states present a cool, arid environment that permits these species to thrive if irrigation is available. Unlike warm season grasses, they do not go dormant.

All subspecies need less frequent watering than other types of lawn grasses, and when adequately established, are drought resistant, have excellent shade tolerance, and they are green year-round. The Fine Fescues being colder tolerant than the Tall Fescues. Fescue grasses are suitable for sports turf such as baseball fields, golf fields, play fields, polo fields, and in commercial sites like hospitals.

Warm Season Grass

Warm season grasses are common lawn grasses with favorable growth at temperatures between 80 and 95°F (27 to 35°C). Typically found in the warm arid, and warm humid states of the south and southwest. Both Zoysia and Bermuda grass are warm-season perennial grasses that grow actively during the summer but go dormant and lose their color in winter. Also, they turn brown once soil temperatures drop to below approximately 65°F. That is why during the colder winter months, many cool-season grasses are a preferred choice among garden enthusiasts for over-seeding to deliver a green lawn all year long.

If you have decided which type of grass you would like for your home, contact Secure Lawn. Our turf specialists will help you create the perfect lawn in Middle Tennessee.

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