Prime planting time for warm-season lawn grasses is mid-spring through the summer. Which grass would be best? There is a lot of personal choice involved in lawn grass selection. What appeals to one person may seem weedy to another, so visual appearance must be a consideration. However, there are practical issues to consider as well.
Common Bermuda:
(Assets) Drought-hardy; very tolerant of pedestrian traffic (humans and pets); inexpensive to plant; fine-textured; adapted to a variety of soil types.
(Liabilities) Invasive into gardens and beds; high levels of fungus spores, so quite likely to cause allergies; intolerant of shade.
Hybrid Bermudas:
(Assets) Extremely short for the ultimate in a manicured-lawn look; very fine-textured; fairly tolerant of foot traffic.
(Liabilities) Expensive to plant; very high maintenance due to frequent mowing; expensive equipment required; fungus spores likely to cause allergies; intolerant of shade; frequently invaded by Common Bermuda.
St. Augustine:
(Assets) Our most shade-tolerant turf grass; maintains bright green color all season; crowds out other grasses and most weeds (except nutsedge and dallis grass).
(Liabilities) Intolerant of foot traffic because it has only stolons (above-ground runners); not as winter-hardy as other grasses in northern parts of Texas; requires more water than bermuda; subject to a few more insect, disease problems than other grasses.
Zoysias:
(Assets) Intermediate to Bermuda and St. Augustine in respect to texture and shade tolerance; growing in popularity and a good choice in many parts of Texas if you find a variety well suited to your area. We will be seeing much more of the zoysias in the future.
(Liabilities) Expensive to plant (sod) and slow to cover; comparatively long “brown” season in winter.
Buffalograss:
(Assets) Drought-tolerant (but turns brown when dry, almost a fire hazard); native to Great Plains, so suited to many Texas soils, climate.
(Liabilities) Easily invaded by bermuda if a seed source is nearby. This is a huge downside, as most buffalograss lawns have evolved into bermuda turf within just a few years. There is no way to stop it from happening.
Tall Fescue:
(Assets) Cool-season grass that is green all winter, and where summers are mild in Panhandle and mountains of West Texas; about as tolerant of shade as St. Augustine.
(Liabilities) Difficult to keep through a hot Texas summer, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the state; must be seeded in September; will be out of sequence with warm-season grasses (green when they aren’t, and relatively brown when they’re green); must be mowed much higher than warm-season grasses.
– Source: Neil Sperry’s Weekly E-Garden Newsletter
