Cool vs Warm Season Grasses (2024)

FAQs

Cool vs Warm Season Grasses? ›

Warm-season grasses are plants that grow mostly from June through early September. They are well adapted to hot, dry weather, and will stay green in July and August, unlike the cool-season grasses that grow best in the spring and fall when soil and air tem- peratures are cooler.

For homeowners who live in the lower latitudes of the US where summers are hot to very hot, warm season grasses are the best option. Cool season varieties will need a lot of water to keep them in active growth.

If your lawn turns brown, you have a warm-season grass like Bermuda grass or zoysia grass. If your lawn remains somewhat green, you have a cool-season grass like fescue, bluegrass, ryegrass or most commonly, a mixture.

Cool-season grasses include Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescues, Bentgrass and Ryegrasses. They are often referred to as "northern grasses" because they are hardy and well adapted to cold winter climates. Cool-season grasses grow vigorously in the cool months of fall and spring. Growth slows in the heat of the summer.

On the other hand, mixing cool-season grasses with warm-season grasses is a great idea for some pastures. Doing so ensures continuous forage production for livestock and other grazing animals. Despite its humble appearance, grass is actually a very complex and fascinating plant.

Kentucky bluegrass is what's known as a perennial, cool-season lawn grass. This means it comes back year after year and grows most vigorously during the cool seasons of fall and spring. KBG has the greatest cold hardiness of all the common cool-season U.S. lawn grasses.

The most common types of cool-season grasses are Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue, and tall fescue. You'll often find the seeds of these grass types mixed together for different needs and uses, such ashigh traffic,sunny, ordense shadeconditions.

Bermudagrass is a perennial warm-season grass, meaning it comes back every year in the proper climate and grows most actively from late spring through hot summer months. Bermudagrass is more sensitive to cold temperatures than warm-season Zoysia grass or cool-season grasses such as turf-type tall fescue.

Warm Season Grasses Defined

The major grasses in this category are bahia grass, bermuda grass, centipede grass, St. Augustine grass, and zoysia grass. Bahia grass and St. Augustine grass are found primarily in the Gulf States where the soil is sandy and the air is salty.

Another place to start is by examining the texture and blade type. Grasses generally fall into one of three texture types: fine, medium and broad. Bermuda grass and Kentucky bluegrass usually have blades with a fine to medium texture. Grasses like Saint Augustine and tall fescue typically have broader blades.

Can I just throw down grass seed? ›

When you just sprinkle grass seed on an existing lawn, it ends up just sitting atop of the soil and a lot of it may never germinate. Then homeowners end up asking the question, why can't I get my grass to grow? In reality, the best practice is to have lawn aeration performed followed by overseeding the lawn.

Mixing different grass types in your lawn can lead to various challenges, including uneven growth, pest problems, and aesthetic inconsistencies. Instead, carefully consider the compatibility of grass types and choose those that work well together to create a harmonious and beautiful lawn.

Cool-season grasses stay green until temperatures drop below 32 degrees for extended periods and can survive subfreezing temperatures. Warm-season grasses prefer the heat of southern climates. They grow the fastest during the summer, preferring temperatures between 80–95 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bermudagrass is extremely heat tolerant — daytime temperatures of 95 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit are optimal. Pennington Bermudagrass yields dense, resilient, heat-tolerant lawns. Zoysia grass, Centipede grass and Bahiagrass also tolerate high heat very well.

A mowing height between 2.5 to 3 inches is best for most of the season, except during summer stresses when the lawn mowing height should be raised one-half inch to mow at 3 to 3.5 inches. Raising the mowing height provides more insulation from summer heat and reduces water loss from your soil.

One of the most common questions we hear is, “How often should you mow your lawn in the summer?” Over the summer you'll generally mow your lawn every 4 to 6 days. If there is a lot of rain or if you fertilize heavily, you'll want to mow every 4 days to keep your grass from getting too long.

Growth of cool-season grass slows as summer weather becomes hot and dry. Lawns not watered during extended dry conditions will go into a dormant state and grass becomes brown. Dormancy is a protective mechanism allowing a lawn to survive during unfavorably dry conditions.

In the middle of Summer, grass will have less growth due to the excessive heat but as fall begins you'll see it begin to grow again. Then, in late fall and through all of the winter grass stays dormant as the key components needed for continuous growth become less scarce.