Lawn Grass

Lawn is a small area in a garden, which is planted with grass or similar plants, which are maintained at a small and even height. Now days this is maintained by the lawn mover for an impressive look and if the lawn is small it can be maintained without a lawn mover also. Maintaining a small lawn in the house if not a garden is everybody’s dream. A well-kept lawn makes the owner happy and makes the interaction with nature pleasurable and also adds to the beauty of the house.

[hana-code-insert name=’large rectangle’ /]The lawn grass is the backbone of the lawn. Selection of lawn grass depends upon the climatic conditions in that area, its usage and its season of plantation. In spite of putting efforts, patience and care, in maintaining the lawn the final results always depends upon the quality of lawn grass.

So much research and attention is required in selection of the proper type of lawn grass suitable for your garden to maintain the garden always very beautiful and soothing.

Types Of Lawn Grass

Lawn grass can be broadly categorized into two types. One, which requires warm and humid temperature, and the other, which requires cool and dry weather. The other categorization is according to their season of foliage. The type also depends on the usage of the lawn like it may be used as turf, pitch, field or just a green sitout.

Hot and humid Season Lawn Grass

Warm season grasses only start growth at temperatures above 10 °C, and grow fastest when temperatures are between 20 °C and 40 °C and go dormant in cooler months, turning brown.

Bahia grass

Bahia grass is a perennial grass variety that lasts indefinitely. Bahia grasses are warm season lawn grasses and its resistance to diseases and pests has made it popular in this segment than some of the other warm season grasses. Bahia Grass is basically a pasture grass that can survive hot weather and even a draught like condition. This grass requires very little maintenance in terms of mowing and irrigation. So if you are looking for a grass that requires least maintenance, Bahia would be the right choice for you.

About the only visual disruption about this grass is the fact that it is a prolific grower and thus can require mowing every week during summer growth months and the other is its course look.

Bahia Grass advantages

• Easy to start from seed.
• High disease and insect resistance.
• It can survive in a variety of soils from sandy to clays.
• Bahia grows well on infertile, dry soils.
• It can withstand traffic wear and high foot press.
• Bahia grass grows thick enough to compete with weeds.

Disadvantages

• Prolific seed head production during growing season can be annoying to eyes.
• Coarse texture.
• Not suitable for high PH soils.
• Not suitable for high shade areas – performs best under direct sunlight
• Susceptible to lack of iron, causing yellow color in spring & fall.

Tip

Do not over water your bahiagrass; this grass is drought tolerant, and too much water can encourage weed growth

Bermuda grass

Bermuda grass seed produces a widely adapted warm season grass that is used for lawns, sports fields, golf courses etc. This Bermuda grass basically thrives on sunlight, which is a must like Bahia grass and require as little maintenance as Bahia grass but these lawn grasses are more prone to insects’ infections and weeds.

Carpet grass: for shady areas

One of the advantages of carpet grass is that it grows well in unfertilized soil where other grass fails to grow. Carpet grass grows well on wet soil and can even grow in shady areas where most other grasses won’t grow. Carpet grass grows best in damp, sandy soils and it is also very dense.

This kind of grass is very sturdy and can withstand heavy foot traffic and pets. Carpet Grass is shallow rooted and therefore is not drought tolerant.

Centipede grass

Centipede lawn grasses are also very low maintenance grasses suited to sandy and acidic soils that have very low fertility. Centipede grass takes a little longer to establish as compared to Bermuda grass but the advantage is it produces a dense, attractive, weed free turf.

Centipede grass is a slow-growing, creeping grass and has short stems growing upward. Centipede grass forms a thick sod and has a uniform growth pattern. Centipede grass can easily be rated best in warm season grasses, needing less watering and mowing.

Centipede goes into dormancy during winter months and due to its slow growing nature it takes longer to green up in the hot months.  It is not suitable for high foot

Cool Season Lawn Grass

Creeping Bent grass

Bent grasses are one of the most beautiful cold season grasses. Bent grass produces a good fine textured, silky soft, dense, carpet-like lawn, but needs to be carefully maintained otherwise it can quickly lose its attractiveness. It requires frequent watering and low mowing

Bluegrass

Bluegrasses are another kind of lawn grasses that is well adapted to cool season and is the standard for appearance against which other cold season grass varieties are measured. They require less maintenance. Blue grass has a dense growth and requires comparatively less maintenance. As the name suggests this grass is deep bluish or bright blue green in appearance. This grass goes dormant during hot, dry, summer weather.

Fescues Grass

Creeping fescues grass has hair like leaves and is the most shade tolerant lawn grass in the cold grass category but requires some sunlight during the day.

Fescues Grass germinates rapidly in a week or so and establishes quickly. The grass is medium green in color and spread by short creeping rhizomes. During long hot and dry season, fine fescues may lose their color rapidly.