These are the most commonly used Grasses in Middle Tennessee (Nashville area)

Cool Season

Fescue is the most common grass used in lawns in Middle Tennessee. Fescues used in lawns today come from a single species of grass that originated in Kentucky. Because it is a native grass it is used to the climate, diseases, fungus, and insects we have here. Fescue should be mowed with a 4 inch mowing highth.

The reason behind such a high mowing highth is that Fescue holds up to 90% of its water in its leaves. When you mow Fescue short you take away its water storage and reduce its ability to fight insects, disease, fungus, and drought. Mowing Fescue short also allows sunlight inbetween the plants and causes weed seeds to germinate and Ta daaa you have a yard full of weeds.

Fescue is seeded in warmer weather ( Late Summer/Early Fall or Late Spring/Early Summer) to help the seed germinate, it also needs to be watered every day after putting your seed down. Watering twice a day is sometimes needed in drier berm like areas so that you don't loose your germinating seed before you ever see any green.

Blue Grass is used here in middle Tennessee but it is mostly a cool season grass. That means it doesn't like the mid Summer conditions here. Blue grass has a beautiful color and shorter mowing highth 3 inches is a good highth for Blue grass. Blue grass doesn't do well here in mid Summer. There is an alternative ( Blue grass hybrid )

Blue grass hybrid with Bermuda is a great product for here because it has the beauty of the bluey green color and the heat tolerance of the warm season grass it is combined with.

Rye Grass is used as a temporary grass to make the yard greener during Winter or to stabalize a slope with a fast germinating grass. Rye grass should be seeded into your yard in Fall during the warmer weather before Winter. There are two types of Rye Grass( Annual and Perrenial ). Annual will live from when you plant it until the weather gets too hot for it to survive. Perrenial will live then die and return the next year when conditions become more favorable.

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Warm Season

Bermuda Grass is well know to most people as a neusence grass that is hard to remove from their yards or a great golf course grass. Bermuda makes a thick mat of grass that is comfortable to walk on. But some people love bermuda for the same reasons others hate it. Bermuda arrives in your yard from tiny airborn seeds then quickly sets up shop making more of itself. Bermuda Grass spreads through stolons under ground and can go a few feet down with torpedo shaped roots that store lots of carbohydrates to keep it alive and difficult to kill. Bermuda also seeds at a very low hight so when you mow you will never mow low enough to stop it from growing short seed stalks that make more seed. Very low mowing highth, medium green in color. Once the ground temperatures reach below 70 degrees Bermuda goes dormant and cannot be killed with an above ground treatment. Some people choose to just dig up whole areas of Bermuda to remove it only to find that it comes back later once ground temperatures return.

Bermuda turns tan above ground during the Winter making it ideal for those who don't want to mow. The only bad thing about this is light is now able to penetrate the layers of dead bermuda and you get an abundance of weeds. The solution is to over seed the Bermuda area with either Rye or Fescue. Over seeding will give you a green yard during the Winter months and help prevent alot of weeds from taking over the space where the Bermuda has gone dormant in.

Zoysia Grass is also a wonderful grass that makes a thick dense mat that is comfortable to walk on, like Bermuda once ground temperatures reach below 70 degrees it also goes dormant. All Winter your yard will be tan so it is likely you will overseed Zoysia with another grass product. Year after year your Zoysia yard will spread underground stolons and keep your yard thick with grass. LIght green in color with a coarse looking leaf it also has a low mowing highth.

BlueGrass Hybrid I have no picture available right now. I have used this grass product in the past and I recommend it right now. By blending a warm season grass ( Texas Blue Grass) and a cool season grass ( Kentucky Blue Grass ) this new grass has some unique qualities. Low mowing highth is one quality that everyone will love. This grass creates its seed stalks at a much lower highth even below mowing highth. Blue Grass has a growth habbit that makes stolons under ground that both serve to spread the plant to new locations but also to store carbohydrates and water for dry times. This new Hybrid Kentucky Blue Grass and Texas Blue Grass does this also. I have seen new seedlings at about 2 months old produce stolons with new plants on the end making a new plant just inches from the original new seedling. In cold months this grass is a beautiful dark green to a blue cast. One difference though about this plant is that it requires one more fertilizing per year than Fescue. In the Nashville area Lawns are mostly Fescue so most people will compare this plant to how Fescue performs. After two years of seeding this plant into your yard its dual spreading habbits should enable you to just about put away the spreader. Call me if you would like this plant as your new grass. 615-715-8216