How to Choose Grass Seed for Your Lawn 2022

how to choose grass seed – Buying the right grass is the difference between, Struggle to keep the grass green, and a grass that provides all-season beauty and pleasure.

The grass has a totally different character and preferences.
Even among the same kind of grass variations.

 

 how to choose grass seed

Does where I live is important??

The key to an excellent lawn is to figure out which lawn is suitable for the local climate where you live.

Most house owners tend to buy grass at a low price.

Without realizing that low quality of grass means low-quality performance.

Consumers beware: as low prices varieties usually have the poorest performers,
risk of, diseases, weather stresses, and short life.

It’s necessary to look at your lawn as a long investment.
Whether you’re filling in spots on an existing lawn, or seeding a brand new lawn—it’s necessary to decide wisely.

Many shoppers will choose a grass seed that is a Sun and Shade combination, or quick Grow.
The challenge is to understand what grass seed, will grow well in your region.

 

How to Narrow my Choices

Where you live is the most important factor affecting how your grass will perform.

Northern Zone
In the Northern United States and in Canada, where summers are moderate and winters are cold, cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and tall fescue are the primary choices.

Southern Zone
The Southern Zone, with hot summers and moderate winters, provides a climate where warm-season grasses thrive.
St. Augustine grass, Bermuda grass, centipede grass, and zoysiagrass are the most common varieties.

Transition Zone
this region has hot summers as well as cold winters, making it the most challenging region for lawns: Cool-season grasses struggle in the summer heat, while warm-season types can remain brown half of the year and maybe will not recover.
Tall fescue is a popular choice in the Transition Zone because it exhibits good tolerance of both cold and heat, and it stays green most of the year.
Bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, and Kentucky bluegrass also are grown in the Transition Zone.

 

 

Do I have to consider the yard structure when I plant grass

Next, think about the conditions in your yard.
If there are no special challenges, then you should get good results from any of the primary grasses for your region.
For difficult backyard — those that have deep shade, a lack of water, or salty soils — other species will adapt better to the specific conditions.

Low-Input Areas:

For an out-of-the-way area that’s hard to supply with water or fertilizer, buffalo grass — hardy throughout much of North America — is an excellent choice.

Fine-leaf fescues also are good for low-input sites.

Centipede grass is a good choice for low-maintenance yards in the Southeast.

 

Shaded Sites:

Fine-leaf fescues are the most tolerant of shady sites.
In the South, most varieties of St. Augustine are fairly shade-tolerant (with the exception of the Flora team variety).

 

yards with high activity:

In the North, blends of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass work well for high activity backyards.
In the South, Bermuda grass is preferred for its ability to recover rapidly from wear.

Seed companies often package mixes containing several species or varieties selected for a particular type of site – sunny, shady, dry, or high activity.
for example, they do the homework of devising the best mixes in the right ratios, and the resulting lawn will perform better than if you’d planted a single species

Salty-Sites or Sites Using Effluent Water:

Seashore paspalum is extremely salt-tolerant, making it excellent for sandy coastal sites affected by salt sprays, or where effluent water with high salt levels is used for irritation.

 

Does the Variety of Grass Really Matter?

In a word, yes. Each grass species is available in several (sometimes a great many) varieties, offering variations in texture, color, and growth rate.
Visually, the differences may be subtle, but newer varieties often have unseen advantages.
For example, they might better tolerate diseases, pests, or harsh weather.
No-name or generic seed, though cheaper, is usually not worth the savings because you might end up with an older variety tend to make problems.

To get the best performance from species, such as tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, and Kentucky bluegrass, uses a mix of varieties.

Though you can create your own mix, it’s more convenient to use prepackaged mixes, which are formulated for specific regions.

Generally, you can’t go wrong if you stick to recognized brands and buy seeds from reputable garden centers, which have the current varieties.

 

how much sun will your grass need?

In addition to wherever you live, one amongst the primary concerns when selecting the proper turfgrass is how much daylight your lawn can get.
Of course, regardless of the variety, the healthiest grass needs a minimum of a couple of hours of sun on a daily basis.
Some varieties have superior shade tolerance (cool season) whereas others thrive in full sun (warm season).

 

When to Use Sod, Seed, or Sprigs?

Homeowners can establish new lawns by sod or seed (or springs or plugs, if the seed is not an option). Sod is the quickest way to establish your lawn, but it’s also more expensive than the alternatives. Further, you are limited to the varieties that local sod growers have chosen to plant.
One situation may demand sod: steep slopes. Slopes are prone to erosion, and heavy rains can wash away the seed; sod will stay put, especially when pinned.

Seed saves you money upfront, and you may find a wider selection of varieties in garden centers. However, lawn planted from seed may take a year to develop a thick strand, and you may find yourself reseeding areas that didn’t establish well. Also, weeds may be problematic until the young grass thickens.

Many warm-season varieties aren’t available from seed, so they are sold as sprigs (stolons) or plugs. These are planted in the soil and gradually spread until they’ve filled in to form a solid lawn. Sprigs are sold by the bushel from garden centers; plugs are sold by the tray.

 

What’s the intended use of the grass?

When selecting the correct grass, be certain to take into consideration the intended use and performance.
Some varieties, such as Bluegrass and Bermuda, are designed for more active areas, and others, such as St. Augustine and Ryegrass, look beautiful but only have moderate traffic tolerance.

How important is eco-friendly grass to you?

Some sod needs less maintenance and provides a lot of ecological benefits than alternative types of turfgrass.
There are varieties that area unit drought tolerant, use fewer herbicides and are a lot of sustainable these eco-friendly grasses include, but are not limited to: ryegrass, Tall Festuca elatior, and grass sod varieties.

 

How important is eco-friendly grass to you?

Some sod needs less maintenance and provides a lot of ecological benefits than alternative types of turfgrass.
There are varieties that area unit drought tolerant, use fewer herbicides and are a lot of sustainable these eco-friendly grasses include, but are not limited to: ryegrass, Tall Festuca elatior, and grass sod varieties.

Choose the grass according to the climate you live in

The next step to choose the best grass type depends on your climate.

Lawn grasses come in two main categories: Warm-season grasses are ones that perform best in hot summers with mild winters (i.e. the South, Southwest, and lower West Coast), while cool-season grasses are ones that perform best in more moderate summers and colder winters (i.e. the North, Midwest and most of the Mid-Atlantic).

Some grasses in either group will grow in the transition zone between North and South.

It’s necessary to ensure the seed label detail on the packages that identify the grass kind or types—as several kinds of grass bags are available in mixed of more than one species.

Kick-start your investigation by learning a little bit more about the characteristics of several common species.

 

 

COOL SEASON GRASS:

Cool-Season grass is the best fit, you guessed it, in the northern half of the United States.
These grass-types grow best in spring and fall when temperatures average between 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bluegrass :

This heavily dense turf is very popular colder-weather grass for everything from home lawns, golf courses, and athletic fields.

Has nice dark-green color and beautiful texture; fast to fill in and get over damage; very good cold tolerance; good tolerance to foot traffic.

High Points:

Fills in bare spots on its own; creates an extremely nice lawn; tolerates harsh winters.

Low Points:
Intolerant of shade; languish in the heat; is a favorite food of worms.

 

Perennial ryegrass:

Is very fast to germinate; tolerant of foot traffic; has a shiny sheen and nice texture.

Tall fescue: Has excellent tolerance to foot traffic; tolerates some shade; good drought tolerance in cool climates; tolerates high heat better than other cool-season grasses, making it useful in transition zones and even warm-season areas.

Tall fescue exhibits good heat and drought tolerance, so it’s used a great deal in the Transition Zone and even in the South. Its coarser texture is deemed unattractive by some, but new varieties are quite nice.

High Points:
tolerant of drought and heat; good pest tolerance

Low Points:
It doesn’t spread into bare areas (except a few new varieties that spread modestly).

Fine fescue:

Has good shade tolerance; attractive fine texture; low fertilizer needs; good drought tolerance.

This group includes several distinct species, all with the thin-blade, wispy appearances.
These grasses are problem-solvers — they’re often added to seed mixes to give lawns more adaptability to shade and drought, and they’re low-maintenance.

High Points:
Needs little maintenance; tolerates drought and shade.

Low Points:
Less attractive than most lawn grasses.

 

warm-season grass types:

Warm-Season grass thrives in temperature between 80 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. and Warm-season grasses love heat and are well-suited to the hot summers of the South and Southwest.
In areas with little summer rain, they will go dormant without the addition of water.
With a few exceptions, warm-season grasses are not very cold-tolerant, and most will “sleep” in winter.
Many varieties are unavailable as seed and must be planted as Grass surfaces.

St. Augustine grass:

The South’s most popular is turfgrass.
While this grass needs a lot of watering, it grows thick and has wonderful shade tolerance.

Has good shade tolerance; tolerates sandy soil and salty conditions; good heat tolerance; forms a dense mat to discourage weeds.

St. Augustine grass forms a coarse-texture lush, thick lawn.
The most commonly used lawn grass in the Gulf States.

High Points:
Requires only moderate maintenance for a nice lawn; reasonably tolerant of shade

Low Points:
Susceptible to chinch bugs; does not survive dry summers without additional watering.

 

 

Zoysia grass:

This top quality and dense grass features excellent heat, drought and wear tolerance.

tolerates partial shade; slow-grower so it doesn’t need as frequent mowing; performs well in the transition zone.

Zoysia grass is thick, with normal texture turf.

High Points:
have thick field effective at strangling out weeds; slightly tolerant of shade; drought-tolerance.

Low Points:
Long dormancy; requires annual dethatching or scalping to reduce thatch; slow to establish and recover from wear; not well-suited to winter overseeding.

 

 

Bermuda grass: 

Great grass for golf courses and areas wherever you need lots of toughness.

Easy to grow from seed; heat- and drought-tough; tolerant of foot traffic; fill in thickly and quickly; tolerates cooler temperatures, superior to most warm-season grasses

Some varieties are hardy as far north as Zone 6. In the South and West, dormant Bermuda grass lawns are often overseeded with ryegrass in the fall for winter color.

High Points:
Vigorous spreader quickly recovers from wear; extremely fine texture

Low Points:
Intolerant of shade.

 

 

 

Centipede grass:

Slow-grower, less mowing; low fertilizer needs; tolerates sandy soil; tolerant of partial shade; performs well in transition zones.

Well-adapted to the Southeast, this “lazy man’s grass” forms a coarse, light to a medium green lawn that looks good with only moderate maintenance. It doesn’t have a true winter dormant state. Common centipede grass is usually used; name varieties are seldom sold.

High Points:
Needs little maintenance; invites few serious pest or disease problems; grows slowly and reduced mowing

Low Points:
Recovers slowly from wear; is easily injured by freezing weather.

 

Buffalo grass:

Buffalo grass: very drought-tough; excellent tolerance of footstep; nice texture; has low plant food needs; good heat tolerance and it has an additional cold-tolerant than most warm-season grasses.

It is best used for low-maintenance yards. It has a gray-green color and fine texture. Though technically a warm-season grass, buffalo grass survives in most of the United States and southern Canada.

High Points:
Tolerates climatic extremes; requires little fertilizer, pest control, or mowing.

Low Points:
It has a relatively unattractive color; it does not tolerate traffic well; slow to establish; goes dormant in winter, as well as summer (if not irrigated), and thus can be brown for much of the year.

 

Bahiagrass:

grow in a Good sandy and acidic soil as well as in a salty condition.

good for heat- and drought-tough; tolerates footstep very well.

good sickness resistance; good for discouraging weeds.

 

 

how to choose grass seed for Your Lawn summary

So, what is going to it be? There’s a lot to think about once selecting the right sod for your required location.

Maybe Bluegrass sod can inspire you to get out and play outside a lot of that usually. As an alternative, St. Saint Augustine sod ensures your lawns are going to be the talk in the neighborhood.

If you’re unsure of specifically what variety fits best for your lawn, there’s nothing safer than selecting the sod nearest to your home.

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