The Best Grass Sod for the Southeast

Grass Types

• Cool-season grasses are best used in the cooler summer areas of the Southeast, such as in the Appalachian Mountains, or inland parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. Examples of cool-season grasses are bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass. Cool-season grasses may be seeded into lawns in fall to provide seasonal greenness from November to April, but usually die out or turn brown once temperatures reach over 80 degrees F. Warm-season grasses also go dormant across the Southeast, turning light brown when nighttime temperatures are not warmer than 50 F. The farther south, the longer the warm-season grass remains lush and green. Examples include Bermuda grass, zoysia, St. Augustine/Charleston grass, centipedegrass, buffalo grass and carpet grass.

Geographical Insight

• In parts of the Southeast in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 and 7, the winters are colder, with slightly longer cool spring and fall seasons -- better for cool-season grasses. Often the band from northeastern Oklahoma through Kentucky and Tennessee to Virginia is referred to as the transitional zone for lawn grasses. The winters are too cold for reliable survival and performance of warm-season grasses, but the summers to hot or dry for the best growth of cool-season grasses. In states that touch the Gulf of Mexico as well as Georgia, warm-season grasses dominate.

Growing Conditions

• The best grass sod to use on your property in the Southeast depends on your growing conditions. All sod performs best when not growing in shady conditions, which leads to less dense coverage and more bare soil spots. Of the warm-season grasses, carpet grass is most tolerant of wet, soggy soils, while Bermuda and zoysia grasses most tolerant of drought. If you lack irrigation, avoid Bermuda and zoysia grasses, especially if you have sandy garden soils. Cool-season grasses need ample irrigation during the heat of summer across the Southeast to remain greener, but watering alone does not prevent browning and dormancy.

Lawn Use

• The best sod grass for the Southeast also depends on your intended use of the lawn space and the amount of time and money available for maintenance and upkeep. Zoysia and Bermuda grass sod is best for playground and athletic fields, and resist diseases better than others. They also are the most drought-tolerant. Comparing zoysia and Bermuda grasses, zoysia requires less fertilization but establishes and grows at a slower pace. Bermuda grass lawns may be overseeded in winter with cool-season grasses to create a temporary green carpet. Other warm-season grasses do not fare well with overseeding. Along the Gulf Coast, St. Augustine/Charleston grass is widely grown, mainly in USDA zones 9 and warmer.

Recommendations

• Because climate, soils and rainfall amounts and timing during the year varies greatly across the Southeast, the best sod in one area isn't always the best in another. For example, summers are hotter and drier in Texas than in Florida or the mountains of northern Georgia. Contact your county cooperative extension office and ask which sod grasses are recommended by your state university's agricultural researchers. Certain cultivars of grasses may be preferred for use in a region and more readily available. Cool-season grass sod is best laid in fall, while warm-season grass sod is best placed on site in spring and early summer.