Warm-season grasses are ideal for southern cli-mates. They are tough and can grow best in heat of 80 to 95 degrees. Sandy soils don’t bother them either. Yet, warm-season grasses fail to stay green all year. This is offset by the fact that they come back better and thicker each year.

Each of the following types of grasses are available in a growing number of varieties. These have been developed in order to improve their use as lawn turf with such qualities as speed of establishment and disease resistance..

Bermudagrass is one of the best lawn grasses among the warm season types. It is heat and drought resistant and does well at maintaining a green color in these conditions. It needs to get full sun. It spreads very quickly but has both runners and rhyzomes which means that it is hard to keep from spreading into beds and onto driveways.

Carpetgrass grows better on wet soils than most grasses. It can be seeded or sprigged. It should be chosen only if quick establishment and ease of care is more important than quality of turf. It is easily scalped. Recovery from winter and drought is slower than with most warm season grasses.

Centipedegrass is an aggressive and dense grass with great weed resistance. It requires less care and can take some shade. It is slow growing but can be seeded or sprigged. Surface runners make edging easy.

St. Augustine is a very popular grass. It is thick and course. It spreads quickly with runners but is easily edged. Not much seed is produced so it is better planted by sodding or plugging. Of the warm season grasses, it is the most shade tolerant. It does not like the cold. It is susceptible to chinch bugs.

Zoysiagrasses are good in full sun or partial shade. Rather slow in getting established; they should be sodded, plugged or sprigged. They are less drought tolerant than bermudagrass. Zoysiagrasses need more care than other warm season grasses. But, when they are properly maintained, zoysia grasses are some of the best lawns.