Grass profiles12 released
Grass profiles
One profile per species, four bench numbers and the parameters behind them.
| Colonial bentgrassAgrostis capillariscool | 10–20 mm | 10 | 50–75 mm | 30 mm/wk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid bermudagrass (Tifway 419)Cynodon dactylon x transvaalensiswarm | 15–25 mm | 20 | 50–100 mm | 20 mm/wk | |
| Zoysiagrass (Empire)Zoysia japonicatransition | 15–30 mm | 10 | 50–75 mm | 20 mm/wk | |
| Common bermudagrass (seeded)Cynodon dactylonwarm | 20–35 mm | 15 | 50–100 mm | 15 mm/wk | |
| Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensiscool | 25–40 mm | 15 | 50–75 mm | 30 mm/wk | |
| Perennial ryegrassLolium perennetransition | 30–50 mm | 14 | 75–100 mm | 25 mm/wk | |
| CentipedegrassEremochloa ophiuroideswarm | 30–50 mm | 6 | 50–100 mm | 20 mm/wk | |
| Creeping red fescueFestuca rubra subsp. rubracool | 40–60 mm | 6 | 50–100 mm | 15 mm/wk | |
| Buffalograss (Legacy)Bouteloua dactyloideswarm | 40–70 mm | 3 | 100–150 mm | 10 mm/wk | |
| Hard fescueFestuca brevipilacool | 45–70 mm | 5 | 75–100 mm | 12 mm/wk | |
| Turf-type tall fescueSchedonorus arundinaceustransition | 50–70 mm | 12 | 100–150 mm | 20 mm/wk | |
| St. Augustinegrass (Floratam)Stenotaphrum secundatumwarm | 50–75 mm | 15 | 50–75 mm | 25 mm/wk |
Buffalograss: the native lawn that needs 3 g of nitrogen
Buffalograss is a North American prairie species that runs on 3 g of nitrogen per square metre per year and 10 mm of water per week, with no summer irrigation at all once established. It is also…
Centipedegrass: the 6 g lawn that lime will kill
Centipedegrass is the lowest-input warm-season species available: 6 g of nitrogen per square metre per year, 30 to 50 mm cut, and a tolerance for acid soil that nothing else here has. It is also the…
Colonial bentgrass: the 10 mm lawn that needs a reel mower
Colonial bentgrass is the only species here that will hold a genuine 10 to 20 mm cut. It also has the shallowest roots in the set at 80 to 120 mm, the fastest thatch build-up, and a hard requirement…
Hard fescue: the cheapest lawn you can own
Hard fescue runs on 5 g of nitrogen per square metre per year and 12 mm of water a week. It is the species for slopes, road verges and any lawn where the mower comes out six times a season. The trade…
Common bermudagrass from seed: cheaper, coarser, still unkillable
The seeded bermudagrasses are the only way to get a bermudagrass lawn without buying sod. Establishment drops from 26 to 52 weeks down to 10 to 14, the price falls by roughly 80 percent, and the…
St. Augustinegrass Floratam: the shade answer in the warm season
Floratam is the only warm-season species here that keeps a usable stand in real shade, rated 4 of 5. That is its whole reason to exist. The cost is a coarse blade that cannot be cut below 50 mm, the…
Zoysiagrass Empire: half the nitrogen, twice the patience
Zoysia sits between the bermudagrasses and the fescues: it holds a 15 to 30 mm cut, runs on 10 g of nitrogen per square metre per year, and survives drought on a 150 to 250 mm root system. It also…
Creeping red fescue: the low-input shade grass that hates being fed
Creeping red fescue is the only species in this set that gets worse when you fertilise it. It takes full shade, survives on 6 g of nitrogen per square metre per year, and keeps colour on 15 mm of…
Perennial ryegrass: fastest to cover, first to suffer in heat
Perennial ryegrass germinates in five days, holds its colour through winter, and takes wear better than any other cool-season species at 30 mm. It also roots no deeper than 150 mm and is the first…
Hybrid bermudagrass Tifway 419: the 15 mm sports surface
Tifway 419 is a sterile hybrid, so it cannot be sown from seed at all: it goes in as sod, plugs or sprigs. What it buys is the most wear-tolerant, most self-repairing surface in this profile set at a…
Turf-type tall fescue: deep roots, no rhizomes, high cut
Tall fescue is the drought answer for the transition zone and the wrong choice for anyone who wants a low, tight lawn. It roots to 250 mm, tolerates 40 mm of mowing without complaint, and cannot fill…
Kentucky bluegrass: the rhizome-repair profile
Kentucky bluegrass is the most self-repairing cool-season turf you can sow, and the most thatch-prone. Everything in this profile follows from those two facts: a mow range of 25 to 40 mm, 15 g of…