Cool Season Grass Tips

Cool-season grasses are those grasses that grow primarily during the spring and fall of the year. These grasses become dormant during the hottest portion of the summer and during the coldest part of the winter.

Cool-season grasses generally maintain some green color year around except under extreme heat and cold. Included in the category of cool-season grasses are tall fescue, bluegrass, turf type fescue, perennial ryegrass and mixtures of any of these grasses.

In the western region of North Carolina, bluegrass, bluegrass-fescue mixtures or tall fescue are the most common cool-season grasses. In the piedmont, bluegrass-fescue blends or tall fescue are the dominate cool-season varieties. Tall fescue is the only cool-season grass that should be considered as a permanent lawn for eastern North Carolina.

Plant a Mixture of grasses

    Mixtures of grasses are more adaptable to varying growing conditions such as shade, soil moisture and temperature. Planting a mixture of grasses also increases the chance of survival from turf diseases since mixtures have varying levels of resistance to different diseases.

Seeding rates

    Seeding rates of bluegrass are 1.5 to 2.0 pounds per 1000 square feet. Fescue-bluegrass blends and fescue blends should be seeded at a rate of 6.0 pounds per 1000 square feet.

Best Time to Seed

    Cool-season grasses are best seeded in North Carolina from mid-August to mid-October, depending on the location in the state. Seeding in the spring is generally not satisfactory since young seedlings do not have enough time to develop a root system capable of providing needed moisture before hot, dry summer weather arrives. If you must seed in the spring, you may want to consider a temporary cover, such as annual ryegrass, until the fall. Another option would be to seed the cool-season grass with the intent of coming back in the fall and overseeding the areas that do not survive.