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Choosing the Right Variety of Grass for Your Lawn

Azmin Taraporewala
When you strive to have a lawn worth vying for, the choice of grass commands rich significance. A healthy lawn is a mark of choosing the right grass. Read ahead to know more about how to select the right variety of grass for your lawn.
"All grass is not created equal" - a bon mot that stands true when gardeners or plant lovers are deciding on the type of grass that would suit their garden's health. However, there are a majority who have an oblique perception of considering a variety of grass, as one.
This leads to erroneous conclusions, resulting in the lawn bearing the brunt of brown! For a lawn to look prim and exude freshness, your turf must be suitable, for your landscape. If you want your lawn to thrive and not just survive, you must invest the effort in choosing the right grass for your lawn.
As you keep reading ahead, you will receive in-depth information about what are the types of grass used as lawn covers, and what are the various factors to bear in mind while selecting one from the variety. It is very important that you choose a lawn grass type, compatible with the climate and the soil.
There are specifically two broad varieties of grass. They are cool-season grasses and warm season grasses. Warm season grasses are species that thrive better when the temperatures are soaring, and winter being mild in nature. In this section, you will read the varieties that fill the aforementioned two species.

Cool Climate Grass Varieties

Perennial Ryegrass

A predominantly coarse textured grass, perennial ryegrass is apt for cool climates and is best suited for your lawn when you sow the seeds at the wake of fall.
The growth rate is remarkable with it being a solid conductor of high traffic. A downside of this grass type is its low tolerance for extreme conditions.

Fescues

Fine-textured could be the term used to describe the feel of this grass type.
Red, chewing and fine; are the terms prefixed with fescues. Each blade is thin, has credible shade tolerance and flaunts the ability to stick through drought-like conditions. It can thrive during frost and has an equally enviable quality to withstand the wrath of hot summers.

Kentucky Bluegrass

Kentucky bluegrass is a common choice of the Northern regions due to its resistance to frost.
Kentucky bluegrass has an excellent ability to retain color with a dense and uniform spread throughout. The growth halts during summers, however, a primary condition to be kept in mind is that when you adorn your lawn with this form of grass, maintenance is a must.

Warm Climate Grass Varieties

Bermuda Grass

This type of grass, meant for the warmer climates, is preferred in the South. It is fine textured and not resilient to shade.
Bermuda grass conducts itself with resistance to traffic, also exhibiting drought resistance par excellence. Another condition that proves its suitability for high traffic zones is its prevalence on golf courses. It is highly suitable for lawns that receive heat in considerable amounts.

Zoysia Grass

The zoysia grass is a type that exhibits consistent growth rate with dense and fine textured blades. It has an inherent quality to resist drought conditions.
It survives heat and is suitable for lawns that receive a good amount of sunlight. It is not amicable with cool weather conditions, the effect of which will be noticed through the grass heads turning brown. Ideal for lawns that have children and pets playing and stomping around; it performs well in high traffic areas.

Centipede Grass

The centipede grass with its coarse texture and showcasing light green colored blades, makes for a good grass feature for lawn spread in warm regions.
Being an excellent conductor of heat, it shares a contrarily poor rapport with high traffic. It is a low-maintenance, no-fuss grass that thrives even in soils, not suitably fertile.

St. Augustine Grass

Grass with a speedy growth rate, St. Augustine displays a high tolerance to sun and does well in moderately alkaline soil. It is suitable for southern climates, however has to be protected from insect infestations, which can thus damage the texture of the grass.

Buffalo Grass
Fine bladed by nature, buffalo grass is medium coarse textured, is compatible with high traffic lawns and results in healthy growth when planted in moderately alkaline soil. It thrives in scarce water conditions, however loses its green hue as summer approaches.

Choosing the Right Grass Variety
The cool and the warm season grass varieties display certain characteristics that deem them suitable for a particular survival condition. With regards to temperature associated with the cool season varieties, the grass types are able to handle pleasantly cool to frost conditions, however are intolerant when the temperature rises.
A signature look of grass affected by extreme heat is brown turf heads. The same applies to warm climate grass types when faced with contrary weather conditions. Another factor that plays a vital role is the amount of sunrays your sod garners. You have to decide accordingly, as to what type of grass your lawn may cater to.
If your lawn does not receive the sun's rays in abundance, a grass variety that fights the summer heat without damage, should be employed in the lawn. The opposite condition applies if your lawn invites a full-fledged summer sun. How far you could look after your lawn is also a prerequisite that needs your attention.
Before zeroing down on the type of grass that would be suitable for your lawn, ponder upon the traffic that the lawn would have to submit to. What about the erratic mowing activities that you surrender to? A low maintenance grass type would suit best in accordance with these conditions.
However, if the lawn is meant for the sole purpose of beautification, a high-end grass type that demands focused lawn care is a requirement.
*Chew Over! - Maintain consistency and combine two or more grass types instead of planting just one. It has been observed that lawns that contain more than two varieties, thrive better and rank high on all scales thereby also improving the longevity of your lawn greens, than those sporting a single type of grass spread.
It now depends on how you want to adorn your lawn and have it green for most part of the year. This write-up, hopefully, will help you choose the right grass variety for your garden. After all, homeowners would love to see their garden bloom green and not bore gloom!