Choosing the right kind of grass to plant on your lawn is an essential step toward having a healthy, lush-looking lawn that will be resilient against local weather, insects, and diseases. Luckily, here in Connecticut, we have a variety of grass types that thrive in our climate, each with its own unique benefits and maintenance needs, ensuring that whatever the conditions are like in your lawn, there’s a grass (or grass mixture) that will be a perfect fit for it!
Landscaping Insights: 6 Popular Grass Types for Lawns in Connecticut
1. Kentucky Bluegrass: An Attractive and Popular Cool-Season Grass
There are a couple of key reasons why Kentucky Bluegrass is among the most popular types of grass grown in CT and throughout New England. It is an attractive, cool-season grass that spreads by rhizomes, meaning it forms resilient sod which can easily repair itself when damaged or subject to wear and tear. It is also extremely tolerant to cold weather, making it an ideal grass for the long winters of the northeastern United States.
Kentucky Bluegrass’s strengths in terms of its attractiveness and resilience are balanced out by the fact that it is a shallow-rooted grass, meaning it requires fairly frequent irrigation. It can be an insect-prone type of grass as well, meaning it might require a little more maintenance to keep it healthy and pest-free. Kentucky Bluegrass takes a little longer than usual to get properly green in the spring, but mixing it with other types of grass can help offset that.
2. Rough Bluegrass: Ground Cover for Shady Lawns
Another common type of grass grown on CT lawns is Rough Bluegrass. Rough Bluegrass is often used by individuals looking for a low-maintenance type of grass that will be quick to establish itself. A few of the drawbacks of Rough Bluegrass include its low resilience to wear and tear, making it a poor choice for areas with a lot of foot traffic, such as sports fields. It is not particularly resistant to drought and does not handle hot weather well.
Though it is considered a less attractive choice than Kentucky Bluegrass due to its yellowish-green color and very fine texture, Rough Bluegrass is a great option for individuals looking for a grass that will not require much mowing or fertilizing, and which will thrive in moist, shady conditions that might not be a great fit for some of the other types of grass on this list. For shady, wet conditions, Rough Bluegrass can be a great choice for ground cover.
3. Zoysia Grass: CT’s Warm-Season Grass
Zoysia grass is a bit of an anomaly on this list, as it is among the only warm-season grass that is commonly grown throughout New England. Being a warm-season grass, one of the main perks of Zoysia is that it is extremely drought tolerant, and will still look attractive in drought conditions. Zoysia is also very resistant to wear and tear and tolerant of the road salt that may end up on your lawn in the winter months.
One of the main considerations you’ll want to take into account when choosing a type of grass for your lawn is the sunlight requirements for any given grass. Zoysia grass is a grass that does best with full sunlight, and which does not do particularly well in moist conditions. For that reason, this may not be the best grass to include in your lawn if you have a particularly shady lawn or a lawn with poor drainage or naturally moist soil.
4. Tall Fescue: A Low-Maintenance, Year-Round Lawn Cover
Tall Fescue is a type of grass that is very well acclimated to cool climates, making it a great choice for many lawns in CT. This is a fast-growing grass that is also, thanks to its deep roots, quite resistant to drought. Perhaps one of the biggest perks of planting Tall Fescue in your lawn is that it is a grass which stays relatively green year-round, making it an attractive choice for all four seasons.
Tall Fescue is an attractive grass, with a dark green color that manages to maintain its lush, verdant looks in prolonged, direct sunlight for much longer than other types of grass. Another reason this grass is such a popular choice in CT is its overall minimal requirements for maintenance, as it is not naturally susceptible to many insect or disease problems, and is very slow to form thatch.
5. Fine Fescues: An Attractive Grass for Any Soil
Another type of Fescue grass, the Fine Fescues is a group that is composed of several different types of grass, including Chewing Fescue, Hard Fescue, Red Fescue, and Sheep Fescue. What these types of grass have in common is that they are all fine-textured, cool-season grasses that do very well when planted in conditions that many other types of grass would not thrive in, including poor and infertile soil conditions.
While their appearance can range from light green to greenish-brown, depending on the type of Fine Fescue planted, they all have a similar lush, vibrant look that make them an attractive choice for lawns. Though not particularly high-maintenance, Fine Fescues are susceptible to a few problems, including a build-up of nitrogen and the development of thatch, meaning that these types of grasses will require some upkeep and attention to keep them looking their best.
6. Perennial Ryegrass: A Beautiful Grass Choice for Moderate Climates
Perennial Ryegrass is another of the most popular types of grass in CT and beyond. Perennial Ryegrass is best suited for places with relatively moderate weather, so is well-suited to the milder winters and cooler summers enjoyed along coastal parts of the state. Perennial Ryegrass is a generally hardy type of grass, with good resistance to drought and heat, and a resilience to wear that makes it a versatile cover for many people’s needs.
Perennial Ryegrass is also well-known for being very quick to establish itself, creating an attractively vibrant lawn in a relatively short period of time. A few of the drawbacks to this type of grass, however, are that it is somewhat prone to pests and disease, and may not tolerate particularly cold spells very well. It is also a fairly aggressive type of grass, meaning it is not often well-suited to being used in a mix, where it may take over other types of grass.
With such a multitude of grass types to choose from, many homeowners decide to tackle the creation of a perfect lawn alongside a reliable, trustworthy landscaping professional who will be there for you when you need them. Visit us at Landscaper Locator to find the perfect landscaper for your needs from among our directory of vetted, background-checked landscapers around Connecticut, and get started on creating the lawn of your dreams today!