Selecting Lawn Grasses

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Selecting Lawn Grasses

• By Matthew Flanders Dr. Keith KarnokDr. Frank
  Flanders

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Importance of a Lawn

• The lawn and other landscape components should
  complement the house and provide a pleasant area
  for family activities.

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Importance of a Lawn

• Sound establishment and maintenance practices
  will improve the appearance of your lawn.

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Importance of a Lawn

• Unkept Lawns reflect the people who live there
  and are unappealing to the neighborhood.

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Selecting Turfgrasses

• The first and most important step is to choose
  the proper grass species.

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Building a Good Lawn

• The characteristics of your site should be
  considered when selecting a turfgrass.
• Grasses will not grow in incorrect conditions
  without any regard to your effort.

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Selecting Turfgrasses

• Do not make the assumption that all grasses are
  alike. There are several grasses to choose from
  and they require various conditions and treatment
  for good growth. They also differ in appearance.
  Color variation is easily seen here.

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Selecting Turfgrasses

• A homeowner should become familiar with the
  turfgrasses adapted to his/her area and then
  select a species based his/her personal
  preference and the environmental requirements of
  the species.

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Warm Season vs. Cool Season

• Turfgrasses for Georgia can be divided into two
  categories, warm season and cool season.
• If you live south of Atlanta and Athens you
  should not consider a cool season grass because
  of stress from summer heat and drought.
• The warm season grasses generally can be grown
  all over the state, but with the exception of the
  North Georgia mountain areas.

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Types of Grasses

• Warm Season Grasses
• Common Bermuda
• Hybrid Bermuda
• Centipede
• St. Augustine
• Zoysia
• Bahia
• Seashore Paspalum

• Cool Season Grasses
• Tall Fescue
• Fine Fescue
• Rye Grass
• Kentucky Bluegrass

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Cool Season Grass Characteristics

• Cool season grasses as the name implies, grows
  best during the cool part of the year fall,
  winter and early spring.
• They are recommended only north of Atlanta and
  Athens area.
• If properly managed the grasses will remain green
  all year.
• The major problem of cool season grasses is the
  lack of heat tolerance.

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Types of Cool Season Grasses

• Tall Fescue
• Fine Fescue
• Rye Grass
• Kentucky Bluegrass

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Tall Fescue

• Most heat tolerant cool season grass
• Easily established from seed
• Very economical

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Tall Fescue

• The biggest problem of fescue is that it doesnt
  spread and becomes clumpy and spotty. It lacks
  rhizomes and stolons to fill in bare ground in
  the landscape.

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Tall Fescue

• Reseeding is recommended each fall to reduces the
  gaps between clumps.

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Tall Fescue

• Should be mowed to about 3 inches.
• Shorter mowing will stress the grass especially
  during summer.

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Tall Fescue

• Very Coarse Texture
• Wide Leaf Blade
• Unappealing to some

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Tall Fescue

• Poorly managed fescue lawns quickly become
  unattractive.

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Fine Fescue

• Not widely used in Georgia
• Less heat tolerance than tall fescue

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Fine Fescue Tall Fescue
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Fescue

• Varieties of fine fescue are being researched and
  there is promise of heat and drought tolerant
  varieties for the south.

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Kentucky Bluegrass

• Most popular lawngrass in the Northern United
  States
• Limited to only the northern part of Georgia due
  to poor hear tolerance

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Kentucky Bluegrass

• Medium Textured Grass
• Found commonly in mixed stands with fescue

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Kentucky Bluegrass

• The boat shaped leaf tips readily distinguish
  Kentucky Bluegrass.

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Ryegrass

• Two types Annual and Perennial
• Not usually grown in Georgia as a single grass
  lawns.
• Used mostly to overseed dormant warm season
  grasses for winter color.

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Cool Season Grass Mixes

• Sold commonly in Georgia.
• Suitable for Georgia in or north of Athens or
  Atlanta or if your lawn has a variety of
  conditions such as sun and shade or dry and wet
• Usually more expensive than single grass seed
• There may not be any advantages over a single
  grass lawn.

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Warm Season Grass Characteristics

• A major disadvantage is that they become dormant
  and turn brown in the winter.
• They can be overseeded with ryegrass to provide
  green color in the winter.
• Grow during late spring, summer and fall.

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Types of Warm Season Grass

• Common Bermuda
• Hybrid Bermuda
• Centipede
• St. Augustine
• Zoysia
• Bahia

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Warm Season Grasses- Vegetative Reproduction

• Most of the finest grasses are hybrids and must
  be reproduced vegetatively. This can be slow if
  sprigged or plugged and expensive if completely
  sodded.

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Bermudagrasses

• Most popular warm season grass
• Most adapted grass to Georgia
• Can be mowed at short desirable lengths

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Bermudagrass

• Selecting and breeding of bermudagrass has been
  present since 1950.
• The University of Georgia Coastal Experiment
  Station in Tifton has been a leading producer of
  successful cultivars.

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Bermudagrass Seed Heads

• Seeds are most abundant on common bermuda.
• A very unattractive characteristic.
• Hybrid breeds have been selected for their lower
  number of seed heads.

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Four Groups of Bermudagrass

• Common (Arizona Common)
• Improved Common or Seeded- have better color,
  density, or traffic tolerance than common
  bermuda, depending on the type.
• Hybrid- produces sterile seed and can only be
  propagated vegetatively. Has a finer leaf blade
  than common.
• Ultradwarf- relatively new, they are selected
  for their low mowing height. Used mostly for golf
  greens.

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Common Bermudagrass

• Distinguished by its coarse texture and open
  habit of growth.
• Most widely used lawngrass in Georgia
• Grows very easily
• Can be reproduced by seeds

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Bermudagrass

• The difference in texture of the finer hybrid
  bermuda and the more course common Bermuda can be
  seen here.

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Bermudagrass Hybrids

• Hybrid bermuda grasses can be very beautiful if
  given the extra care that is required.

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Bermudagrass Hybrids
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Bermudagrass Hybrids

• Tifgreen 328 is best used on golf greens, but can
  be used on lawns.

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Bermudagrasses for Lawns

• Tifway 419 is the most popular hybrid bermuda
  used for lawns. It is also well suited for golf
  fairways and football fields.

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Bermudagrass- Ultradwarf

• Used only for golf greens
• Selected for their close mowing ability
• Have a high maintenance requirement

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Bermudagrass Characteristics

• Bermuda is commonly confused with Zoysia
• The leave angles are different for the two
  species. Bermuda leaves are at 45º angles, while
  Zoysia leaves are at 80 º angles.
• Zoysia is also much stiffer and spindly to the
  touch than Bermuda.

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Zoysiagrass

• Provides a neat and clean appearance.
• A slow grower
• Cannot be grown from seed
• Zoysia sod is expensive and the sprigs grow
  slow.

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Zoysiagrass

• Zoysia can spread by stolons and rhizomes, shown
  here, as does bermuda.

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Zoysiagrass vs. Bermudagrass

• Zoysia and bermuda are difficult to tell apart.
  Bermuda leaves, on the right, stand at 45º angles
  to its stems. Zoysia, on the left, has leaves
  that stand at about 80º to its stems.

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Zoysiagrass Hybrid Bermuda
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Zoysiagrass

• Zoysia makes a beautiful lawn but grow slowly and
  requires a lot of extra care. It can be grown in
  light shade, unlike bermuda.

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Zoysiagrass

• These plots were planted at the same time, ten
  months ago. The zoysia has not spread as well as
  the bermuda.

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Meyer Zoysia

• The most widely used cultivar. Is known for its
  improved growing rate.

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El Toro Zoysia

• The El Toro variety is a high quality hybrid.
  This fine textured grass has a low growth habit,
  attractive color and high density. However, its
  cold tolerance is less than other varieties of
  Zoysia.

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Emerald Zoysia

• Very fine leaf texture
• Poor cold tolerance

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Centipedegrass

• Low Maintenance Required
• Easily and economically established from seeds.
• Less mowing and fertilizer needed than other
  grasses

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Centipedegrass

• Ability to grow in the sun or shade
• Poor cold tolerance
• Yellow-green color is unattractive to some
  homeowners

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Centipedegrass

• Coarse Texture
• Opposite leaf arrangement
• Single stem seed head

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Centipedegrass- Tifblair

• Tifblair is a more cold tolerant variety of
  centipede, making it more suitable for North
  Georgia.

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St. Augustinegrass

• Very popular in the Coastal Plains Region of
  Georgia
• but also grown successfully in the Athens-Atlanta
  area.

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St. Augustinegrass

• Has large flat stems and wide coarse leaves.
  Lacks seeds, so must be propagated vegetatively.
  A very aggressive grass that spreads rapidly.

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Centipede St. Augustine

• St. Augustine is sometimes confused with
  centipede. Centipede (right) which has a
  narrower leaf and whose leaves are opposite on
  the stem. St. Augustine's leaves (left) are
  alternate on the stem and are much taller.

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Bahiagrass

• Not usually recommended as a lawn grass, with the
  rapid production of unattractive seed heads being
  the most objectionable trait. Bahia is used
  mostly where quality is not important, such as
  roadsides and ditches.

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Seashore Paspalum

• Recently developed in Florida
• Tolerates poor soils
• High salt tolerance (Can even be irrigated with
  ocean salt water!)
• Highly suitable for coastal regions

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Seashore Paspalum

• Used mostly on golf courses near the coast
• Can be mowed to an 1/8 inch height but ½ to 1 ½
  is recommended.

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Seashore Paspalum

• Seed heads grow quickly, however not enough
  viable seed is produced to be effective.
• Vegetative propagation is used with stolons,
  rhizomes, and sprigs

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Selecting a Grass

• Matching the proper grass to a site can be
  confusing.
• Remembering all the characteristics of each grass
  is difficult for a beginner.
• Find a grass that best suits your situation

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Shade Tolerance
Rating Grass
Excellent St Augustine
Good Zoysia Tall Fescue
Fair Centipede
Poor Kentucky Bluegrass Bermuda
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Shade Tolerance

• If the area is in deep shade, you should consider
  using a suitable ground cover or mulch.

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Wear Tolerance

• Wear tolerance refers to the traffic or use of
  the grass. Areas that receive a lot of hard use,
  such as playgrounds and lawns where children play
  need a high wear tolerant grass like bermuda.

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Drought Tolerance

• Drought can be a real problem during the summer
  in Georgia unless an irrigation system is
  installed. Assuming no irrigation bermuda and
  zoysia would be the best choice.

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Low Temperature Hardiness

• A more critical factor in North Georgia. The
  colder winter temperatures can severely harm or
  even kill some warm season grasses.

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High Temperature Hardiness

• A bigger factor in Central and South Georgia.
  Cool season grasses will suffer greatly in the
  summer.

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Adaptation to Georgia
Grass Region(s)
Bahia Central and South
Bermuda All
Centipede Central and South
Kentucky Bluegrass North
Seashore Paspalum Central and South (Coastal)
St. Augustine Central and South
Tall Fescue North
Zoysia All
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Maintenance

• Generally, the higher quality lawn grasses,
  require the most hours of maintenance.
• Low maintenance grasses, such as centipede,
  reduce time working on the lawn.
• Grasses are best cut with a reel mower as seen
  here, although they may be too expensive to be
  practical for homeowners.

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Choosing a Lawngrass

• With a little study of the characteristics and
  requirements of various turfgrasses and a
  decision about what you really want in a lawn,
  the puzzle of Choosing a Lawngrass can be
  solved quite easily.

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References

• Emmons, Robert. Turfgrass Science and Management.
  3rd Ed. Albany, NY Delmar. 2000.
• University of Georgia College of Agriculture and
  Environmental Sciences Turfgrass." Georgia
  Commodities. 2001. http//www.griffin.peachnet.edu
  /caes/turf (11 Nov 2002).