The Best Grass for Hot Dry Regions
Picking the correct grass to get a lawn entails locating the grass that’s most suited for your climatic zone. At the warm, arid parts of the U.S., warm-season grasses — adapted for temperatures between 80 and 95 degrees F — do best. Choose a more drought-tolerant selection, or water more often to offset the arid climate. Warm-season grasses grow in climates around U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 10. They are usually started from sod or sprigs, since they’re more challenging to grow from seed than the cool-season varieties.
Bermuda Grass
Bermuda grass (Cynodon spp.) has common and hybrid varieties. Several of the hybrid cultivars include “Tifway” and “Santa Ana.” Typical bermuda grass is a little more drought tolerant than the cultivars, while the cultivars develop a heavier thatch. Bermuda grasses stand up to heavy usage and have a minimal shade tolerance. They are quite nice to proficiency in texture and are medium to dark green in shade. During peak growing times that they need mowing each four to six weeks, and can be cut as short as 1/2 inch.
Buffalo Grass
Buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides) looks more like cool-season grasses than the other warm-season choices. Buffalo grass isn’t tolerant of shade, and does not do well in sandy soil. It is slower than bermuda grass to demonstrate heat pressure, but it takes more time to recover from anxiety. Mowing height of buffalo grass is 2 to 3 inches. Buffalo grass also has far lower salt tolerance than bermuda grass, therefore it’s less appropriate for places right on the shore.
Zoysia Grass
Zoysia grass (Zoysia japonica) is actually the most heat-tolerant of this warm-season grasses, but it’s the least tolerant of heavy usage. Zoysia is dark green and intermediate in texture. It can be cut as low as 1/2-inch tall, and needs mowing every seven to 10 days. Zoysia has some shade tolerance. Zoysia can also be able to be opened from seed, as well as sod, plugs or sprigs. It is a lot slower spreading than the other grasses and it takes more time to repair because of the slower increase.
Bahia Grass
Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) is a course-textured grass. It is gently shade tolerant and will grow in sandy and acidic soils. Bahia grass needs mowing each five to seven days in a height of 1 to 3 inches. It can be started from sod or seed. Bahia grass stands up to wear and rises as a thick carpet over the soil. It doesn’t require as much fertilization as several different grasses and will grow in poor soil conditions.