10 Types of Grass for Your Lawn

Think grass is just, well… grass? As it turns out, there are quite a few different types of grass blanketing the lawns of today’s homes, each with their own textures, maintenance requirements, and benefits. And depending on where you live, you’ll have a lot more luck with grass of one variety than you would with another.

Many people move into homes where the lawn is already established, so there are no decisions to be made about which type of grass would be the best fit. Understanding the differences between the various types of grass however will allow you to pinpoint exactly what you’re working with—and what you’ll need to do to keep your yard looking as healthy as possible.

Below, we’ve outlined the basics of some of the most common types of grass options in the country. Whether you’re trying to figure out how to better care for your yard or you’re starting from complete scratch with your landscaping, here’s what you need to know to achieve shear perfection with your lawn (sorry, we had to).

So, How Many Types of Grass Are There?

Grass belongs to a family of plants called poaceae, of which there are about 11,000 different species. But don’t worry—you don’t have to consider 11,000 different types of grass when designing or identifying your yard!

Instead, there are about a dozen different grass species that are commonly used in North American lawns, and many lawns contain a mixture of two or more varieties.

Lawns in the U.S. tend to fall into two distinct categories:

Warm season grasses – Grass varieties that do best in warmer climates, such as the South and Southwestern states.

Cool season grasses – Grass varieties that do best in cooler climates, such as the Northeast and Pacific Northwest.

If you opt for warm season grasses in a cooler climate (or vice versa) you’re almost certainly going to run into some trouble keeping your lawn looking healthy. For that reason, it’s a good idea to stick to the types of grass that are the best fit for where you live, and then from there narrow it down even further to the grasses that offer the look and level of maintenance you’re after.

10 of the Most Popular Types of Grass in the U.S.

Now that you’ve got a quick intro on the world of grass varieties, here are the types of grass that are most commonly used in the U.S.—including their seasonal affinity.