Choosing the Best Lawn Seed for Southern Yards

Choosing the best lawn seed for your landscape depends first and foremost on where you live. When investigating the best lawn seed for your yard, you'll quickly learn that there is grass seed for cool, warm, and transitional climates.

What Lawn Seed will Grow Where I Live?

In the South, you'll most likely be looking for lawn seed that will thrive in a warm climate. However, if you live in the upper South, you could be looking for a lawn seed that does well in a transitional climate; or, if you are in the Appalachian mountains there is a chance that a cool season grass might even be best. To see where your location fits, view a climate map for lawn grasses.

Once you've viewed a climate map, you will be able to immediately eliminate some lawn seed from consideration.

What Special Considerations for Growing a Lawn Do I Have in My Yard?

Is your yard sunny? Do you have many shady areas with trees and large tree roots? Wet areas? Extremely dry areas? You'll want to take all of this into consideration when you choose a grass seed. You may need to consider a grass mixture or you may find that one grass will suit your needs.

How Much Work am I Willing to Do to Maintain My Yard?

Some grasses will take more work than others. Do you want your yard to look like a golf course? Then more frequent mowing and the installation of a irrigation system will be important. Are you happy with a lawn that will get brown in the winter but look wonderful the rest of the year? How often are you willing to fertilize? Some grasses will be fussier than others. Be honest with yourself and decide how much work you are willing to do - or how much you are willing to pay someone else to do. This will eliminate some additional grasses from consideration.

How Do I Plan to Use My Yard?

Finally, looking at the remaining grasses available for your area, decide how you will use your yard. From the lawn seed varieties left, decide which lawn seed should be planted.

Now, by answering those questions, finding the answer to the perfect lawn seed for your lawn wasn't that difficult at all, was it?

Different Lawn Seed for Different Areas of the South

To get you started, here are some lawn seed varieties that have proven to grow well in southern landscapes. The states that most people consider to be the South include many different climates. For that reason, you'll want to consider different lawn seed for different states.

The southern United States requires lawn seed formulated for warm and transition zones. In a small portion of the mountainous Blue Ridge of North Carolina and the Appalachians of Virginia, some cool season grasses may survive. If you live in the mountainous area of the southern states, talk with your county extension agent and local nurseries to find the best lawn seed option for you.

Upper South - The climate map for lawn seed considers the Upper South the place for Transition Grasses. For the Upper South, which includes North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as the northern parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and and a small portion of northeastern Texas, you'll want to consider grass seed that may likely be different than that grown in the Deep South.

For the Upper South consider Bentgrass, Bluegrass, Fescue (Tall, KY-31, and Creeping Red), Rye (Annual and Perennial), and Zoysia as these lawn seeds should do well in this transitional area.

Lower (Deep) South - yards in the Deep South face stress from excessive heat and humidity, as well as from periods of long drought and excessive rain (from hurricanes and tropical storms), not to mention sandy soils. The climate map for lawn seed for the coastal areas of North Carolina, coastal South Carolina up to the midlands, most of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, the east and coastal gulf of Texas, and all of Florida. These areas need warm area grasses.

For the Lower South consider Bahiagrass (Pensacola and Argentine), Bentgrass, Bermuda, Carpetgrass, Centipede, Ryegrass (Annual), St. Augustine, and Zoysia as these lawn seeds should do well in this warm grass area.

When to Plant

Most of the lawn seed suggested for yards in the South (upper or lower) should be planted in the spring and summer months but there are always variations to this guideline. Check the sources listed at the end of this article for information on when to plant the different varieties of lawn seed. For more specific information, check with the local gardening center where you purchase your lawn seed.

Sources:

Climate Map for Lawn Grasses, Lawngrasses.com
Lawn Grass - Helping you choose the right variety of grass for your lawn, Lawngrasses.com