Five Best Grass Types for Texas Weather
When you’re ready to landscape your Texas property, it’s imperative that you select a hardy grass that can tolerate our notoriously temperamental climate. Drought- and heat-tolerant grasses tend to perform best in Texas weather, and fortunately, there are several grass species that have adapted to thrive in those conditions.
To ensure your lawn looks great and feels lush beneath your feet year round, it’s in your best interest to choose one of the following grass types for your Texas property.
Bermudagrass
Bermudagrass does well throughout Texas, but it’s primarily suited to the warmer areas of the state. This grass type requires full sun, is highly drought tolerant, and can handle significant traffic. As such, it’s well suited to lawns, athletic fields, and golf courses.
This perennial, warm-season, medium-fine grass is available in several different varieties, including:
- Blackjack
- Blue-muda
- Contessa
- Jackpot
- LaPaloma
- Majestic
- Panama
- Riviera
- Sunbird
The above list is just a small sampling of the types of Bermudagrass you may be able to get your hands on in Texas. However, local suppliers tend to carry only a few varieties that are well adapted to the area. The pros can help you determine whether Bermudagrass offers the appearance and barefoot feel you’re looking for and can also recommend the appropriate type to achieve your desired aesthetic.
Buffalograss
Drought-tolerant Buffalograss can be an excellent choice for properties in arid areas of Texas. It performs best in locations with a maximum annual rainfall of 25 inches, and in wetter climates, weed invasion is common. Overwatering Buffalograss can also encourage weed invasion and intrusion by other grass species.
Generally speaking, Buffalograss is low maintenance, but it does not tolerate shade well, so full daily sun exposure is required for best performance and appearance. This grass variety does well in most soil types and is also highly tolerant of warmer temperatures.
Centipedegrass
Centipedegrass thrives in Eastern Texas and grows well in full sun to partial shade. This slow-growing grass variety can be an excellent, low-maintenance option for low-traffic lawns since it does not tolerate heavy footfall or prolonged periods of drought.
All species of this grass variety are medium to coarse in texture and tolerate heat quite well. They also have low nutrient requirements but feature relatively shallow root systems that are sensitive to alkaline soil. Although it’s sensitive to cold weather, when grown in warmer areas of Texas, Centipede grass can withstand years of winter weather.
St. Augustine
Coarse-textured St. Augustine grass is an excellent choice for warmer areas of Texas. This drought-tolerant, hardy grass thrives in temperatures from 75 to 90 degrees and is one of the easiest grass varieties to care for.
St. Augustine grass maintains its deep-green hue in arid conditions since it doesn’t go dormant as quickly as other grasses like Bermuda and Zoysia. And while it does feature a more coarse texture than some other varieties, that texture does an excellent job of camouflaging weeds and other minor turf issues.
For properties with large shaded areas, certain cultivars of St. Augustine grass can be a great choice since they tend to do well even in heavy shade. However, soil pH needs to stay between 5.0 and 8.5 for this grass variety to thrive.
Zoysia Grass
Zoysia grass is incredibly popular in arid, warm areas of Texas because it’s highly drought tolerant, weed resistant, and moderately shade tolerant. It’s available in several varieties, including Zeon Zoysia and Palisade Zoysia, just to name a couple.
All varieties of Zoysia grass deliver a lush barefoot feel and a full, vibrant green appearance. Since this grass type tends to grow rather slowly and fills in quite densely, it doesn’t allow weeds to intrude and requires less frequent mowing than many other types of grass.
Overall, Zoysia grass is quite hardy, so it can tolerate heavy footfall even in dry, hot conditions. It’s important to note, however, that this grass requires intensive watering immediately after planting to ensure the seeds or sod plugs become well established.
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