Get to know your lawn grass type.

Rooting depth matters

Tall fescue

Festuca arundinacea

A cool-season grass with a substantial drought-research record. Deep rooting can support drought avoidance, but cultivars and sites differ.

Choose the cultivar carefully

Kentucky bluegrass

Poa pratensis

A widely studied cool-season species. Research finds substantial variation in drought resistance and recovery between cultivars and locations.

A family of fine-leaved grasses

Fine fescues

Festuca species

A group that includes creeping red, Chewings, hard, and sheep fescues. Reviews describe shade adaptation and potential for lower-input turf in cool climates.

Think beyond establishment

Perennial ryegrass

Lolium perenne

A cool-season species studied in seeding, irrigation, and low-input lawn trials. Its performance relative to tall fescue changed over time in a four-year lawn study.

Cultivar makes a difference

Bermudagrass

Cynodon species and hybrids

A warm-season grass group with both seeded and hybrid cultivars. Breeding research shows why drought performance must be assessed within the species.

Durable, with a slower recovery

Zoysiagrass

Zoysia species

A sod-forming warm-season grass group. The review literature describes high wear tolerance alongside slower recovery from injury.

Local conditions come first

St. Augustinegrass

Stenotaphrum secundatum

A warm-season species represented in drought screening and Florida controlled-release nitrogen research. Study setting and cultivar affect how far a finding applies.

Keep recommendations specific

Centipedegrass

Eremochloa ophiuroides

A warm-season species with cultivar-specific evidence in this library. TifBlair performed well under controlled soil drying in a greenhouse study.