Best Lawn Grass for the Charlotte, NC, Area
North Carolina is in a climate area known as the transition zone. Zone 9, which works best with warm season grasses, runs along the Coastal Plains in the east. Zone 8 (cool season grasses) starts at the edge of the Piedmont. This puts Charlotte in zone 8, but warm season grasses can still grow there.
Kentucky Bluegrass
The dominant cool season grass in the US, and one of the most common grasses around Charlotte, especially on the western side. The closer you get to the mountains, the better the grass will grow. Originally, bluegrass was introduced to North America from Europe by settlers and animals.
It can take a while for bluegrass to get initially established, but when it does it creates a thick, lush turf with finely textured grass. It’s not the toughest grass, and can be damaged by disease, insects, or water deficiency. That being said, it spreads well, and will fill in areas that have been damaged. To help make the grass tougher, it’s often mixed with other grasses, like fescues.
Tall Fescue
Despite the dominance of bluegrass, tall fescue is actually the most-grown grass in North Carolina, and Charlotte is not exception. A big reason for this is because of how hardy tall fescues are. Tall fescues are drought and heat resistant, disease resistant, and do well with minimal care. Other cool season grasses can’t handle the heat of being in the transition zone, but fescues are strong enough that they can survive the warm summers.
Even if the fescues are damaged, it’s easy to repair them. Tall fescues can be over-seeded to fill in gaps and shore up the turf. This is especially important since fescues can get bunchy over time. The best time to over-seed is during the fall. The seeds will germinate, then fill in the grass for the next summer.
Bermuda Grass
Most warm season grasses simply couldn’t handle the cold weather of the Piedmont Region, but Bermuda grass can take it, especially in a location that’s as far south as Charlotte. Bermuda grass loves the heat, and can stay green all summer long. That same love of heat means that it has good drought resistance, but it also means that it doesn’t have a good shade tolerance.
Bermuda grass works best in places that get plenty of sunlight. The grass is also tough, so it stands up to wear and traffic. For that reason, it’s a common sight on golf courses, athletic fields, and commercial lawns.
Zoysia Grass
Like Bermuda, Zoysia can stand some cold weather, and its range stretches north a surprising distance into the cool season zones. Zoysia grass is stiffer than Bermuda grass, which is often one of the reasons its used. The turf from Zoysia is incredibly dense. Couple that with stiff blades, and it creates an extremely wear resistant lawn.
Zoysia grass grows well throughout the Piedmont Region. The farther from the mountains it gets, the better it grows. The combination of low maintenance and tough turf can work well for some home lawns, but for the most part the grass is used for applications like athletic fields, industrial lawns, and commercial lawns.