How To Choose Which Type Of Grass Seed Is Right For Your Lawn

When it comes to successfully sowing grass seeds on top of soil, whether you are covering your entire lawn area or patching bare spots, there are a few things you need to decide. One of the main things is the type of grass you will plant. Although choosing the right type of grass for your lawn may seem overwhelming, there are actually some fairly easy ways to help you pick. You primarily need to be aware of the best types of grasses for your area, soil type, and climate, as well as how you utilize your yard.

As you narrow in on the right strain of grass for your lawn, you also need to keep paying attention to how you will be planting. If you are seeding your lawn, you can eliminate some popular types of grass, such as St. Augustine, which is very difficult to grow from seed and typically needs to be planted from plugs or sod patches. So, finding easy-to-sow seeds is important. It is also critical to have the right equipment, such as a Scotts EdgeGuard Broadcast Spreader, to distribute them at the proper rate across the lawn. But beyond getting the seeds sown in the ground, how the grass that emerges handles your geographic region and traffic in your yard are also essential considerations.

Bermuda grass is a hardy, durable type of warm-weather grass. It is very common throughout the southern states and is often used for golf courses and athletic fields. It can also be a good choice for your lawn, especially if you live in an area that has mild winters and temperatures that remain above the mid-70s throughout summer. Typically, it does best in acidic soil (ideally with a pH of 6 to 7). It does require some regular lawn maintenance, but nothing extraordinary. Although, if you don't have time to mow frequently, it may not be the grass for you. However, given it can be mowed very short, if you aspire to have a golf course looking lawn, Bermuda may be the right choice.

The biggest pros of Bermuda grass is its ability to tolerate high heat, drought, and heavy foot traffic. It also grows and spreads extremely quickly and thrives in bright sunshine. This makes it a popular choice for filling in bare spots. On the flip side, however, it is very intolerant of cold, or even cool weather. It also does not do well in any shady areas. Additionally, in areas that are well-suited for its growth, it can spread rapidly into unwanted areas, such as flowerbeds and cracks in sidewalks and driveways. This adds to the time it takes to maintain a Bermuda grass lawn.

Kentucky bluegrass is a beloved cool-weather grass. In fact, it is widely considered one of the most popular. It derives its name from the blueish-green coloration of its blades. Its appearance, along with several advantages and characteristics, account for its popularity. However, there are also a few cons to consider when deciding whether to seed your lawn with Kentucky bluegrass. You also need to factor in where you live, as this grass tends to do best in the northern half of the United States. However, if you're willing and able to water heavily, it can be successfully grown in southern areas as well. 

The biggest drawbacks to Kentucky bluegrass are its intolerance for heat and drought, along with it being fairly high maintenance grass, requiring frequent mowing, water, and fertilization. Additionally, it does not grow well in shaded areas and is considered invasive in some parts of the U.S. However, given its popularity, there are obviously plenty of pros to Kentucky bluegrass as well. Beside being easily grown from seeds, it holds up extremely well to heavy traffic from both people and pets. It can also sufficiently stand cold weather. Additionally, it is known to self-heal by spreading to cover bare spots and damaged areas.

Although there are several types of fescue, tall fescue is the variety most often used in home lawns. This is partly because it can be grown in such a wide swath of the country, as it is highly adaptable in all but the warmest southern regions of the Lower 48. But, it is also largely due to the fact there are far more pros than cons to growing this hardy cool-weather grass.

When it comes to reasons to seed your lawn with tall fescue (assuming you live in the geographic range it is suited for), there are more than enough to support its candidacy. Like most other popular turf grasses, it has a very high tolerance for high traffic. It is also resistant to heat, drought, and disease. Unlike some other popular turf grasses, it is also very shade tolerant and its extensive root system allows it to grow in a variety of soil types and weather conditions. Tall fescue also requires relatively low maintenance.

While the cons are few, they do exist. For starters, while tall fescue is drought resistant in the sense it will not completely die, it will definitely suffer without ample water. Additionally, if damaged areas arise, you cannot count on tall fescue to repair itself. It also has a coarse texture that some find unpleasant and does not tolerate being mowed to a short height very well. In fact, although it is considered low maintenance overall, it does require fairly frequent mowing.

Perennial ryegrass is beloved for its beautiful green color, which it can maintain throughout a good portion of the cooler seasons. Compared to the other grasses on this list, it has quite an extensive list of cons. However, it is still widely used in a variety of ways throughout a good portion of the country, both as a primary lawn grass and for overseeding. So, although perennial ryegrass has a near 50/50 ratio of pros and cons, there are certainly plenty of reasons to use it in one way or another.

Whether using it to seed a full lawn or for bare patch repair, one of the biggest advantages of perennial ryegrass is its extremely fast germination. For this reason, it is also often mixed in with other, slower germinating grasses, so that the newly emerged perennial rye can provide shade for the slower growing grasses in the blend. Another reason it is often blended with other grasses is it has a tendency to grow in patchy. Perennial ryegrass also has excellent weed suppression abilities, can be mowed short, and holds up well to heavy traffic. 

Perennial ryegrass is best suited for full lawn use in northern climates, although it will go dormant in the winter. However, this is usually when it's time to overseed lawns in the south and perennial rye is often the go-to seed for adding color to southern lawns during the dead of winter. Due to its intolerance of heat, it will typically die back as the temperatures rise and awaken the warm-weather grasses.

As a warm-weather grass, zoysia does particularly well in the Southern U.S., particularly in the humid areas. However, given that it is tolerant to a wide range of temperatures, it has become particularly popular in the latitudinal areas of the U.S., where it becomes too hot for many cool-weather grasses and too cool for most warm-weather varieties. This temperature tolerance along with its drought-resistant qualities and minimal maintenance requirements make it a very popular turf grass for seeding lawns. However, there are some drawbacks as well. 

The biggest drawbacks to seeding with zoysia as opposed to other warm weather grasses, such as Bermuda, are its slow growth, meaning it takes longer to establish, and high initial costs. However, that slow growth is also a benefit once your lawn is established, as zoysia requires less mowing than many other types of grass. Other cons include its aggressive nature, which sometimes leads to it crowding out other plants, and potential for thatch buildup. But, that aggressive nature also means it crowds out weeds and helps control moss in yards. It also grows very densely and holds up well to heavy foot traffic. For many, this makes zoysia worth the wait and investment.