How to Select Low Water Grasses

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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If you've tried to grow and maintain a healthy lawn, you know there are dozens of grasses from which to choose. Without the expertise of a lawn service, it's often extremely difficult to know which grasses suit your needs. Grasses vary in properties such as watering maintenance, temperature resistance and weed tolerance. For a grass that requires little watering, follow a few easy steps.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Buy Bermuda grass for a highly drought resistant lawn. It requires roughly one inch of deep watering every 4 to 7 days. Bermuda grass adapts exceptionally well to hot, dry or tropical regions and tolerates heat up to 110 degrees F.

Step2

Select Zoysiagrass, a warm season grass, which tolerates hot, humid or tropical climates. Like Bermuda grass, it requires about one inch of deep soaking every 4 to 7 days. Zoysiagrass withstands temperatures up to 100 degrees F and stays green during short droughts. With longer droughts, it goes dormant but greens again with adequate water.

Step3

Purchase Buffalograss for its excellent heat and drought tolerance. Buffalograss has a low water requirement and grows best in full sun with little watering and fertilizing. It also has a good cold weather tolerance.

Step4

Choose Tall Fescue, which is the most drought and heat tolerant of cooler season grasses. Tall Fescue is popular for its low price, low maintenance and little need for irrigation. Be sure to choose a turf-type Tall Fescue for the most drought tolerant variety.

Step5

Try Fine Fescue, which exhibits a very good drought tolerance for a cooler season grass. Needing low to moderate watering, it requires at least 1 inch once or twice a week during summer. Fine Fescue tolerates both cold and hot weather. During drought conditions, Fine Fescue goes dormant but greens again once watered.

Tips & Warnings

Bermuda grass has a low shade and cold weather tolerance.
Zoysiagrass is more tolerant of shade than Bermuda or Buffalo grasses; however, it can take up to two years to establish a uniform lawn.
Avoid frequent but shallow watering of Bermuda and Zoysiagrass, as this results in shallow roots and weed growth.
The major problem with Buffalograss is excessive weed growth.
The one major disease problem with Tall Fescue is brown patch.