Your Ultimate Lawn Care Guide – Growing Different Types Of Grasses In St. Louis, Missouri

A beautiful lawn full of greenery is a feast for the eyes and certainly a dream of many homeowners. But while experimenting with different types of grasses is fun, it can also be highly time-consuming, especially if something goes wrong. If you are planning to fill your lawn with a plethora of green, this guide is for you. Whether you live in Oakville, MO, Mehlville, MO, or any place in St. Louis, this guide will equip you to accomplish your goal of getting a lush lawn with ease.

In our years of operations as a leading lawn care service provider in Saint Louis, we know the ins and outs of the area and thus, we decided to share our knowledge about different types of grasses through this guide. After reading it, you’ll surely be able to become the proud owner of the most beautiful lawn in your block soon.

So, let’s get started.

A Few Words on the Climate

Before you delve deeper into grass selection and growth, it’s important to understand the climate of St. Louis. Typically, common grasses are distributed into two categories based on the climate of the environment – warm season and cool season. The climate conditions are further labeled by the USDA based on other conditions such as aridity and humidity that can influence grass growth. These include warm/humid, warm/arid, cool/humid, and cool/arid. All four of these conditions are experienced by various parts of the U.S. and thus, a “transition zone” is designated by the USDA. For cool-season grasses, this zone is typically too hot in the summer and for warm-season grasses, it’s too cold in the winter.

Different Types of Grasses

Here is a quick look at what do we mean by saying “cool-season grasses”, “warm-season grasses”, and “transition-zone grasses” in the world of lawn care.

Cool-Season Grasses

Grasses that experience outstanding growth in the cool weather are referred to as cool-season grasses. These versatile grass types comfortably live in frigid cold winters, as well as, moderate summers. These grasses grow best when the thermometer stays between 65 and 800F, and provide you with a green, lush lawn.

Warm-Season Grasses

These grasses grow best in the scorching sun and in temperatures between 80 and 950F. Increase heat tolerance and salt tolerance together with low-water requirements make these grasses a great option for many homeowners looking to get a low-maintenance lawn.

Transition-Zone Grasses

Either cool-season grasses or warm-season grasses can be referred to as transition-zone grasses. Additionally, for lawns in the transition zone, no single type of grass does well in every weather condition. This creates a difficult situation for lawn owners when it comes to deciding whether to go with cool-season grasses or warm-season grasses.

What Types of Grasses Would Be the Best in St. Louis, Missouri?

St. Louis, being located in the center of the Midwest, is considered a transition zone that divides the Northern region and the Southern region. Though the hot and humid summers of the area direct to warm-season grasses, cool-season grasses survive the chilly winters relatively better. Missouri, being a transition zone, includes areas where hot summers become detrimental for cool-season grasses and frigid winters harm warm-season grasses. Here, we’ve outlined the most common types of grasses that would be ideal for lawn care in St. Louis.

Tall Fescue

If having a green lawn for a significant part of the year is your goal, Tall Fescue would be a prudent decision. With its wide, dark green blades, Tall Fescue stands out from other varieties. Since it’s a cool-season grass, you should plant it during high growth periods in the fall, as well as, spring. Though it comes with high durability and disease resistance, Tall Fescue may suffer from the hot and humid summers of St. Louis. Since it tends to bunch, periodic overseeding could be beneficial for it in terms of maintaining the density while avoiding a clumpy appearance. Notably, it’s drought-tolerant and doesn’t require lots of fertilization. This is the reason Tall Fescue doesn’t need regular watering and considered eco-friendly grass.

Zoysia

Well known for its ability to withstand heavy foot traffic, heat, drought together with a diverse range of other challenges, Zoysia is one of the top choices among lawn care enthusiasts in St. Louis. It can provide you with a dense, beautiful lawn without requiring much input from you. Though this warm-season takes more time to establish compared to some other varieties of grasses, it delivers a highly dense carpet of grass having a deep root structure. Zoysia effectively resists drought and conserves moisture. During short episodes of drought, it remains green. And it goes dormant if heat and drought persist. However, it greens up quickly with watering. It’s important to note that Zoysia comes with a dense growth habit, which may lead to developing thatch. Thatch is the thick layer of organic matter that can be found at the soil level. Therefore, aeration and dethatching should be done in early spring when it comes to the Zoysia lawns

Perennial Ryegrass

With its dark green blades, Perennial Ryegrass is a wonderful addition to almost any backyard. Though you can always use it as a standalone variety, it actually stands out when used together with other varieties. Despite being known as a relatively high maintenance variety, it continues to be one of the popular choices for people associated with lawn care. The biggest reason behind this is that it comes with a very uncommon quality – outstanding tolerance to the shade. Where other varieties will develop browned-off patches, Perennial Ryegrass will continue to grow effortlessly. Additionally, this cool-season grass greatly deals with harsh winter conditions while surviving heavy frosts with ease. If you’re looking for a grass that quickly germinates and establishes and provides you with a beautiful lawn without thatching, Perennial Ryegrass could be the variety you can check out.

Kentucky Bluegrass

A cool-season grass, Kentucky Bluegrass is one of the shallow-rooted grasses that delivers a dense, durable, and lush lawn. One major advantage of Kentucky Bluegrass over other cool-season varieties is that it spreads easily through rhizomes which help it recuperate from wear injury well. This characteristic also makes this grass an ideal choice for lawns where kids and pets keep on walking constantly. Even if the blades are pulled out, it can grow back because of the underground rhizomes. Notably, Kentucky Bluegrass comes with an outstanding cold tolerance which means it can withstand long episodes of chilly weather. Though it needs more maintenance than other varieties and may suffer from heat and drought, it can provide you with an exceptionally beautiful lawn – the reason that makes Kentucky Bluegrass one of the favorites for lots of homeowners in St. Louis. In addition, it’s a disease-resistant type of grass. So, as long as you properly maintain and water the lawn, you shouldn’t encounter any grass disease.

Bermuda Grass

If your lawn receives full sun, Bermuda Grass with its outstanding drought and heat tolerance would be an excellent choice. This warm-season grass also comes with a high ability to withstand heavy use and quick recuperation, which make it an ideal option for busy lawns. Notably, Bermuda Grass has an incredibly fast growth rate among all other warm-season grasses and it spreads by both stolons (above-ground stems) and rhizomes (below-ground stems). While this exceptional growth rate can make it hard to contain, it’s the main reason behind the high endurance of Bermuda Grass. Though it remains green throughout the winter in frost-free regions, most of its growing region turns brown and goes dormant. Ideally, you should plant Bermuda Grass in the spring when temperatures become consistently warm. It’s important to note that because of its exceptional growth rate, Bermuda Grass may require more maintenance compared to other varieties. When your objective is to get a durable, tough, and wear-resistant lawn, Bermuda Grass could be the ideal solution.

Fine Fescue

If you’ve got a shady backyard, Fine Fescue with its fine-textured would be an excellent option. This cool-season grass appears in a dark to medium green color and comes with the highest level of shade tolerance and the lowest requirements for fertilizer and moisture. And because of its shade tolerance, you can effortlessly add Fine Rescue to your Tall Rescue lawn. It’s also available in popular varieties such as Hard Fescue, Sheep Fescue, Creeping Red Fescue, and Chewings Fescue. Though Fine Fescue germinates and establishes quickly, it’s not recommended for busy lawns because of a slow recuperative rate. Notably, this eco-friendly grass can hold its green color when maintained properly. And the best part about Fine Fescue is that it can serve well both as a frequently mowed lawn and an un-mowed, low-maintenance lawn.

Lawn Care Tips – Taking Care of the Grasses

Now that you’ve got a good understanding of different types of grasses that can be grown in St. Louis, let’s take a look at some invaluable lawn care tips, especially for the grasses. While a truly green lawn can surely bring a precious touch into your home’s landscape, it takes time and effort to have the greenest lawn in the area. Here, we’ve compiled some simple yet highly effective tips that would help you accomplish this goal.

Adequate Watering

Though generally cool-season grasses require more watering than warm-season grasses, you’ll have to water the lawn with a garden hose occasionally. And remember that you should water it heavily when it’s actually needed instead of watering lightly regularly. Regardless of the type of grass you use for your lawn, simply follow the color. If you find that it has become less vibrant, it means it has started drying out and needs watering. Another important thing to keep in mind is that whenever you water the lawn, give the grasses an adequate amount of water so that the roots can grow properly and become deep, healthy ones.

Lawn Fertilizing

Fertilization is a must to keep your lawn lush, healthy, and attractive. Though how many times in a year you should fertilize the lawn will depend on its actual condition, in general, you should fertilize well-established lawns twice per year. Some lawn service providers also suggest that you should fertilize once in a year, especially if you’re applying other techniques of providing the lawn with required nutrients like leaving clippings for decomposing naturally. However, if you’ve got a newly established lawn, you may have to fertilize more frequently and when it gets to the desired look, following your regular fertilization schedule would be fine.

Lawn Mowing

For any type of lawn care, mowing plays a crucial role. While you need to give a higher amount of nutrients and more water to help the grasses grow reliably and remain healthy, lawn mowing encourages most varieties of grasses to grow thicker and get better coverage. Unlike what many people think that it’s best to keep the lawn short, short trimming may cause more harm than good. Ideally, you should mow as high as the mower you’re using will allow. It’ll allow the lawn to be more resilient to sun exposure, weeds, and pests. And you must stay away from lawn mowing when the ground is soaked by watering or rain as this mostly tend to trigger scalping or unwanted soil compaction. If the soil gets compacted, be sure to mow it before aeration.

Wrapping Up

In addition to the above varieties of grasses, you can utilize blends of various types of grasses based on your lawn care goals. However, it’s important to understand that not all grasses mix well with other seeds, so if you want to balance the benefits of a couple of different types of grasses, you should first talk to a professional lawn service provider before creating the blend. Finally, lawns aren’t just green patches of grass. Instead, every lawn comes with its own unique qualities and features and offers a plethora of benefits to the owners. Therefore, apart from doing your own research, you should contact a professional lawn care service with questions you may have to get the most out of your time and effort.