What Type of Grass Do I Have? Easy Identification Tips

Knowing about the type of grass in your lawn is essential as it helps in maintaining a beautiful lush green lawn. The upkeep of the lawn gets easier once you identify the grass as water requirements, mowing height, fertilization, and mowing frequency depend upon the variety of grass. Identifying the grass is a task, especially when you move to a new house in a new set-up without an idea of what type of grass was sown by the previous homeowner. We have discussed various types of grass and their varied growing conditions in this article to avoid wrong lawn treatment.

Understand the Grass-Growing Regions

Before knowing about the types of grass, it’s important to know the grass-growing regions. All the grass have their distinct growing conditions associated with particular regions where they thrive. Some grow best in cool climates, whereas others in warm climates.

The common perennial lawn grasses that grow in cool climates have been named “cool-season grasses" because they thrive during the cool season of fall and spring in the Northern part of the US. These lawn grasses grow well in the northern climate making the lawn lush green.

The common lawn grasses that grow in warm regions are named “ warm-season grasses” because they have robust growth in the summer months. Warm-season grasses grow in the Southern half of the US.

Know the Grass Structures to Identify the Grass

To identify the grass, it’s vital to know the parts of the grass. The basic grass structure consists of a collar, ligule, vernation, leaf tip, leaf blade venation, auricle, sheath, crown, and tiller. Let’s know about all the parts of the grass in detail:

Collar

It is lighter in color and exists at the point where the leaf blade and sheath meet. The types of the collar can be constricted, continuous, or divided.

Ligule

The ligule is the projected part of the grass that exists near the point where the sheath and leaf blade meet. The types of ligules can be absent, hairy, or membraneous.

Vernation

It is the leaf arrangement within the bud. The types of the vernation can be folded or rolled.

Leaf Tip

The leaf tip is the tip of the grass blade. The types of leaf tips can vary from boat-shaped, pointed, or rounded.

Leaf Blade Venation

It’s the pattern of veins in the leaf’s blade. The types can vary from coarse to midrib.

Auricle

It is a short and claw-shaped part attached to the collar. The types may vary from long and claw-like to short and stubby.

Sheath

It is the part of the leaf wrapped around the stem. The types of sheath can be split overlap or fused tube.

How to Identify the Type of Grass in Your Lawn?

Cool-Season Lawn Grasses

Here are some of the cool-season lawn grasses whose features and shapes may help you identify the grass in your lawn:

Fine fescue: It is a fine textured grass that looks like a fine needle and has folded vernation.

Bentgrass: It has a fine texture with coarse veins, pointed tips, and rolled vernation.

Kentucky bluegrass: These are fine textured, green colored with light colored lines on either side of the midrib, boat-shaped tip, folded vernation, and short membranous ligule.

Perennial ryegrass: These are colored, colored-dark green, pointed leaf tip, folded vernation, and short membranous ligule.

Tall fescue: It has different features than the usual grass. It has a glossy backside of the leaf blade, coarse leaf venation with no central veins, rough leaf edges, and rolled vernation.

Warm-Season Grasses

Bermudagrass: It has fine or medium textured leaves, light or dark green leaves, folded vernation, and hairy ligules.

Buffalograss: It has fine textured leaves. The leaves are grayish-green or blue-green with rolled vernation and hairy ligules.

Centipedegrass: The leaves are yellow-green and have a coarse texture, folded vernation, and membraneous ligule.

Kikuyugrass: It has light green color leaves, folded vernation, and hairy ligules. The male flowers rise above the turf and create a silvery sheen.

St. Augustinegrass: The leaves are medium to dark green, have a coarse texture, and have blunt leaf tips. It has folded vernacia and hairy ligule.

Zoysiagrass: This is the first grass to green up among the warm-season grasses category. It has hard leaf blades, light or medium green color, rolled vernation, and hairy ligule.

Cool-Season and Warm-Season Grasses Identification in a Nutshell

Conclusion

Lawn maintenance gets easier once you identify the type of grass in the lawn because it helps in using the right material and the appropriate technique, especially for new homeowners who barely have an idea of the grass sown by the previous owner.