Best Grass Seed for Texas

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Best Lawn Grass Seeds For Texas

Grasses used in Texas for lawns are dependent on largely where in this large state they will be planted. Growing season ranges from 185 days in Northern cooler areas to over 300 days in the Southeast. Rainfall is also a factor in lawns with a wide range from over 50+ inches in the East to less than 10 in the western areas. Due to these factors, cool season and warm season grasses are used.

Cool-season grasses:
Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Tall fescue will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, but like most turfgrasses grows best with a soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Turf-type tall fescues are used extensively in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and Northern Texas, but generally will require irrigation to survive heat/drought. Fescue can be used in any part of the state in shady areas.

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Ryegrass is suited for overseeding warm season grasses throughout Texas. They can be used as a temporary winter cover on new lawns that have not been permanently established. Ryegrasses are also used for overseeding, that is, to provide a green cover on a warm-season grass during the winter.

Kentucky bluegrass - Kentucky bluegrass is a persistent and attractive species that is used in many home lawns, institutional grounds, parks, and athletic fields. This species has a medium to fine leaf texture and a medium- to dark-green color when properly fertilized. It produces extensive underground stems, called rhizomes, which provide good sod-forming characteristics and superior recuperative potential when compared to most other cool-season turfgrasses. Kentucky bluegrass is cold tolerant, wear tolerant, and moderately heat and drought tolerant. It makes optimum growth during the spring and fall and becomes semi-dormant under prolonged periods of heat and drought. It usually recovers quickly from dormancy with the advent of cooler temperatures and adequate soil moisture. Kentucky bluegrass is limited in use to mainly panhandle areas of Texas.

Warm-season grasses:
Bermudagrasses (Cynodon Spp). All bermudas thrive in hot weather but perform poorly in shade. Bermudas spread so rapidly by both above-and-below-ground runners that they are difficult to control around flower beds, walks and borders. If fertilized adequately, they require frequent mowing. The bermudagrasses are adapted to the entire state and tolerate a wide soil pH.

Centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides). This is a low, medium textured, slow growing but aggressive grass that can produce a dense, attractive, weed-free turf. It is more shade tolerant than bermudagrass but less shade tolerant than St. Augustine and zoysiagrass. Since centipede produces only surface runners, it is easily controlled around borders of flower beds and walks. It is well adapted as far north as Atlanta and Athens.

Centipede is the ideal grass for the homeowner who wants a fairly attractive lawn that needs little care. Centipede does not require much fertilizer or mowing, and compared to other lawn grasses, is generally resistant to most insects and diseases. It will, however, respond to good management and provide a very attractive turf. Centipede can be established from either seeds or sprigs. Since it is slow growing, it takes longer than bermuda and St. Augustine to completely cover. Centipede is used in North Texas and Panhandle areas.

Centipede is subject to "decline" problems that can be prevented by proper management. This includes care not to overfertilize, prevention of thatch accumulation, irrigation during drought stress, particularly in the fall, and maintaining a mowing height of 1-1 1/2 inches. Centipede is well adapted to soils of low fertility with a pH of 5.0 to 6.0 but grows best, like most grasses, at a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5.

Buffalograss - These warm season stoloniferous grasses, due to their drought resistance, are becoming popular in the dryer areas where rainfall is limited to less than 20 inches annually. Buffalograsses are resistant to heat and drought. They are well adapted to a wide range of soils, but especially to alkaline conditions and soils of low fertility. Buffalograsses are slow to establish and they require infrequent mowing.

Click Name To View Grass Seed Choice   Type Applications
Bermuda Grass - Oasis Warm Season Lawns - Full Sun - Fast Growing
Bermuda Grass - Blackjack Warm Season Lawns - Full Sun - Fast Growing
Bermuda Grass - Yukon Warm Season Lawns - Golf Course - Fast Growing
Full Sun - High End - Best Cold Tolerance
Bermuda Grass - Arden 15 Warm Season Lawns - Golf Course - Fast Growing
Full Sun - High End
Buffalo Grass - Buffalo Supreme Warm Season Lawns - High Drought Tolerance - Full Sun
Centipede Grass Warm Season Lawns - Mostly Sunny to Full Sun - Low Maintenance
Seashore Paspalum - Seaspray Warm Season Lawns - Mostly Sunny to Full Sun - Best Salt Tolerance
Fescue/Hybrid Bluegrass Mix - Combat Extreme South Cool Season Lawns - Wear Tolerant - Extra Heat Tolerance
Shade Only in USDA Zones 9 - 10
Fescue Blend - Combat Extreme Transition Cool Season Lawns - Wear Tolerant - Shade Only in
USDA Zones 9 - 10
OSP Ryegrass Cool Season Lawns - Golf Courses - Southern Winter Overseed
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Blackjack Bermudagrass

 
This vigorous, fine-bladed cultivar adds color and density to any warm-season blend. Blackjack lawn seed produces a sun-loving turf that performs throughout the hottest summer months, and in addition, Blackjack shows remarkable cold tolerance even in cold winter areas. If planting sprigs or plugs makes your back sore, consider Blackjack seeded Bermudagrass. You'll get a dense green lawn all summer long. Bermudagrass is the species most adapted to and most frequently used throughtout the state. Many new and improved seeded varieties have been developed and released during the last 10 years.
  • Cost Effective
  • Warm Season
  • Deep green color
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Combat Extreme Southern

 
Combat Southern is a 3-way mixture of turf type fescue and Hybrid Bluegrass which is heat and drought tolerant enough to be used in USDA Zones 8 - 10 (partial shade recommend for USDA Zone 9 and 10). This mixture is approximately 90% turf type fescue grass seed and 10% hybrid bluegrass seed by weight. By seed count, this makes almost a 50/50 blend of fescue and hybrid drought tolerant bluegrass.
  • Wear Tolerant
  • Cost Efficient
  • Lawns

Below is the USDA Zone Map for Texas so you can determine which zone you reside in. Below that are our picks for your state which will do best in your area. Next on this page are tables which list various grasses and their characteristics so you can compare before you decide on your purchase. Click on the product name (ie. La Prima) for more information about that grass and to make your purchase.

USDA Zone Map For Texas
Texas Grass Seed Texas Zones

Compare Various Grasses For Their Characteristics
Cool Season
Grasses
Leaf
Texture
Establish
Rate
Nitrogen
Use
Water
Use
Drought
Tolerance
Salinity
Tolerance
Shade
Tolerance
Fescue - Hard Fine Slow to
Moderate
Low to
Very Low
Moderate Excellent Low to
Moderate
Excellent
Fescue - Creeping Fine Moderate Low to
Moderate
Moderate Good Low Excellent
Fescue - Turf Type Moderate
to Coarse
Moderate Moderate
to High
Low to
Moderate
Excellent Low Good to
Excellent
Ryegrass - Perennial Fine to
Moderate
Very Fast Moderate
to High
Moderate
to High
Good Poor to
Moderate
Poor to
Moderate
Warm Season
Grasses
Leaf
Texture
Establish
Rate
Nitrogen
Use
Water
Use
Drought
Tolerance
Salinity
Tolerance
Shade
Tolerance
Bahiagrass Coarse
toVery Coarse
Slow to
Moderate
Low Low Excellent Excellent Moderate
to Good
Bermudagrass Fine
to Moderate
Moderate
to Fast
Moderate Moderate
to High
Excellent Very Good Poor
Centipedegrass Moderate
to Coarse
Slow Low Low Good Moderate Moderate
to Good
Seashore Paspalum Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate Excellent Excellent Good
Compare Various Grasses For Their Characteristics - Continued
Cool Season
Grasses
Fertility
Needs
Wear
Resistance
Mowing
Height
Cold
Tolerance
Acid Soil
Tolerance
Thatching
Tendency
Heat
Tolerance
Fescue - Hard Low Low Medium Medium
to High
Medium
to High
Low to
Medium
Low to
Medium
Fescue - Creeping Low Low Medium High Medium
to High
Low to
Medium
Low to
Medium
Fescue - Turf Type Low to
Medium
Medium
to High
Medium
to High
Medium High Low High
Ryegrass - Perennial Medium High Low to
Medium
Medium Medium Low Medium
to High
Warm Season
Grasses
Fertility
Needs
Wear
Resistance
Mowing
Height
Cold
Tolerance
Acid Soil
Tolerance
Thatching
Tendency
Heat
Tolerance
Bermudagrass Medium High Low to
Medium
Low to
Medium
Medium Medium High
Blue Grama Low Low High High Low Low High
Buffalograss Low Low High High Low Low High
Centipedegrass Low Low Medium
to High
Medium
to High
High Medium High
Seashore Paspalum Medium
to High
Medium
to High
Low Medium Low Medium
to High
High

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