Grass for Lawn

And every lawn can become attractive — even creative, if the right grass is selected.

Requirements for Lawn Grass

Grasses used for lawns differ from common meadow grasses. They are softer, finer, wear-resistant, and have a rich, vibrant green color. Key qualities a lawn grass should have include:

• dense coverage,
• resistance to trampling,
• drought tolerance,
• low maintenance needs,
• freezefrost resistance,
• shade tolerance,
• good disease resistance,
• attractive appearance.

Lawn grasses can be annual or perennial. If the above-ground part dies back in winter and regrows from the roots in spring, it’s considered a perennial.

Perennials grow slowly, developing from seed germination to flowering. Examples include perennial rye, horned willowherb, red fescue, and meadow fescue.

Fast-growing grasses have shorter lifespans. These include multicolored and pasture ryegrass, common combgrass, juncus, and rootless couchgrass.

Most lawns are dominated by grasses, while legumes are less common.

Right Lawn — Right Grass

Each lawn type has recommended grass species and mixtures. Park lawns are seeded with mixtures capable of forming a durable, dense turf. Using a single grass species is not effective; instead, mixed grasses that resist trampling are ideal. Examples: common fescue, white or sheep’s fescue.

For parterre lawns, one species of low-growing grass is used: red fescue, meadow fescue, pasture ryegrass, meadow grass, or perennial rye.

Lawns for leisure and recreation are planted with clover, white or red meadow grass, meadow hairgrass, timothy, or ryegrass.

Game and sports lawns require grass that resists damage and dries quickly. The ideal mix is meadow fescue, pasture ryegrass, and red fescue.

Good Grass = Beautiful Lawn

To keep your lawn attractive for years, select grass based on location, climate, and sunlight exposure. You can easily assess local conditions. If clover or meadow fescue are already growing on your future lawn site, you can expect them to thrive there.

• Red fescue – a low-growing, perennial grass with a wide range of green shades. It doesn’t turn yellow in dry periods, tolerates mowing (but not shorter than 3 cm), and maintains a neat appearance.
• Meadow fescue – a low-growing grass thriving in fertile, moderately moist soils. It withstands cold winters, resists trampling, and features dense, bright green foliage.
• Bermuda grass (palmate creeping ryegrass) – a perennial with long underground creeping stems. Can be used for lawns, but must be monitored to prevent spreading to adjacent areas. Highly resilient, low-maintenance, and fast-growing. Also effective for preventing soil erosion.
• Clover – commonly used clover types include white creeping and perennial pink-flowered clover. This plant spreads easily and forms dense mats. It creates a thick, green cover, flowers for a long time, tolerates drought, and requires little maintenance. Nitrogen compounds formed in clover roots promote rapid growth, increase shoot production, and improve leaf color. A clover lawn is elegant, low-maintenance, and naturally enriches soil with nitrogen, reducing fertilizer needs. It resists diseases, weather changes, and winter cold.
• Creeping meadow grass – forms a deep emerald green carpet from root leaves and vegetative shoots. Thrives on various soil types, including saline and acidic soils, as well as loamy and sandy soils.
• Pasture ryegrass (perennial rye) – establishes a dense, carpet-like growth within the first month after sowing. Recovers quickly after mowing, maintains a neat look until the first snow. Tolerates low light, resists trampling, and thrives in compact soil. Due to its strong root system, it regrows rapidly after mechanical stress. However, it is sensitive to frost and may die out, leaving bare patches. Because of its fast growth, pasture ryegrass is among the top choices for lawns after fescue, meadow grass, and clover.

Grass Additives for Faster Results

No one wants to wait long to see results. That’s why manufacturers add biologically active ingredients — such as ryegrass seeds — to grass mixtures. These germinate quickly and provide immediate visual appeal. But their lifespan is short, and they soon give way to longer-lived lawn species.

Often, grass mixtures include meadow grass seeds. This grass is widespread and essential in golf courses, but it may cause lawn issues. Meadow grass is demanding in care: it needs frequent short mowing, proper watering, and special feeding. Though beautiful in early years, it becomes prone to disease later.

If your grass mix contains even a small percentage of meadow grass, expect it to dominate the lawn within a year. Meadow grass does not coexist well with any other lawn grass.

Important Facts About Lawn Grass

• Small proportion – Remember, grass mix composition is measured by weight, not seed count. Seed density varies: for example, ryegrass has about 500 seeds per gram, and they are large. A 5% meadow grass content in a ryegrass-based mix may actually contain far more meadow grass seeds because they are 20 times smaller.
• Most even lawns are achieved using a single grass species.
• Some low-cost grass mixtures contain white meadow grass, hairgrass, meadow fescue, timothy, and creeping thistle. These grasses are unsuitable for attractive lawns; even small amounts can ruin the entire lawn.
• Grass density in the first year depends on seed quantity, but in later years, it depends on the grass’s own biological traits.

All excellent qualities of lawn grass develop over time. Young growth needs proper care: fertilization and timely watering. Only then will your front lawn delight the eye and soothe the soul. Good luck.