Choosing the right kind of grass for your lawn is an important step in establishing a healthy yard. How much cold or heat the grass can tolerate, whether or not it stands up well to foot traffic, and the grass’s preference for sun or shade all play a big role in determining how well a certain type of grass will do in your yard.
For this article, we’ll be focusing on which grasses grow best in sunny and shady parts of a lawn in Texas. Matching the type of grass you have in your lawn with the amount of sunlight available is a key step in making sure you’ll have a healthy, thriving lawn for many years to come.
Most grasses grow best with lots of sunlight, but some do well in the shade. Growing conditions like the soil quality and water availability also play a role, since grasses can tolerate a little shade more easily if their other growing needs are being met.
Understanding Grass Types
One of the things usually discussed about choosing a type of grass is whether to grow cool-season or warm-season grass. Warm-season grasses do best in climates with hot summers and mild winters, and they’ll go dormant if the weather gets too cold. Cool-season grasses thrive in climates with cold winters and milder summers, and they’ll go dormant if the weather gets too hot.
Most Texas homeowners will be growing warm-season grass in their lawns. These include grasses such as Bermuda grass and buffalo grass. Northern Texas is an exception to the warm-season grass rule because it falls in a transition zone. Lawn owners here can grow certain types of cool-season grasses.
Some bluegrass-fescue blends, such as Scotts Heat-Tolerant Blue Mix, are being marketed for growing as far south as Dallas. A cool-season grass like this can be planted by itself in transition zones, or inter-seeded with a warm-season grass, like zoysia, which tolerates cooler weather.
Grasses for Sun or Shade
Some grasses grow well in both sun and shade. If you have a lawn that is partly sunny and partly shaded, these are a great choice. Planting a new lawn will be easier if you can have the same type of grass in your whole yard, rather than trying to plant one type of grass in the sunny spots and another in the shaded areas.
- Zoysia is a warm-season grass that will grow in sun or shade. It grows slowly, so it requires less mowing, but also forms a lush lawn that tolerates foot traffic. On top of all that, it’s also very water efficient.
- Centipede grass is a low maintenance grass that has good drought resistance. Another plus-side to this grass is that it does not require much fertilizer. Centipede grass can tolerate some shade, but not as much as zoysia.
- Heat-tolerant bluegrass (which is typically a hybrid of Kentucky bluegrass and Texas bluegrass) is often mixed with tall fescue for cool-season lawns that are tolerant of heat and drought. These grasses grow well in sun or part shade.
Full-Sun Grasses
If your lawn is mostly sunny, picking one of the grasses that thrive in full sun is a great choice (though you could also pick from the Sun or Shade list). Typically, these grasses also have a high tolerance for heat and drought.
- Bermuda grass is a hardy, fast-growing grass that needs to be mowed frequently. Many varieties are drought tolerant and it likes full sun. It also has a higher cold tolerance than most other warm-season grass.
- Buffalo grass has excellent traffic and drought resistance. It will also grow in alkaline soil but can turn brown in midsummer when the weather gets hot.
- Bahia grass has a coarse texture but grows thickly. It is a good choice for poor soil, low water, and full sun. If you don’t plan to water your lawn much and the soil in your yard isn’t great, this grass can be an excellent choice.
Shade Grasses
If most of your lawn is shaded by trees or buildings, then you’ll want to go with a grass that does well in shade.
- Augustine grass is the most shade-tolerant of the warm-season grasses. It actually prefers dappled shade, so it’s not a good choice for lawns that get a lot of sun. St. Augustine grass also stays green during the winter and resists drought. It has poor tolerance for cold, and should not be grown in transition zones.
- If you live where the winters get too cool for St. Augustine grass, then zoysia or a bluegrass-tall fescue blend will be your best options for a shaded lawn.
Your Lawn Grass
In summary, most warm-seasons grasses thrive in full-sun yards. Some, like centipede grass, will also tolerate light amounts of shade. For yards with both sunny and shady areas, zoysia is probably the best type of grass to grow here in Texas, though heat-tolerant bluegrass can also work. In shady lawns, zoysia and St. Augustine are the most popular choices.
Once you’ve chosen the grass that will be right for your yard, then it’s time to get planting! Check out our article Planting A New Lawn in Texas for more tips about how to get started putting in a new lawn, or you can click here for tips about repairing a damaged lawn.
