ECOLOGICAL LAWN CARE

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Perennial ryegrasses:

The new ryegrasses (Lolium perenne) are probably the most versatile of all the improved, Northern lawn grasses. They have good color, germinate and grow quickly and are tough: excellent for overseeding worn lawns or establishing a quick cover. However, too large a proportion of perennial ryegrass in a seed mix may overwhelm slower-growing kinds such as bluegrass; 20 to 30% should be about right.

Fine fescues:

The red fescues (Festuca rubra), chewings fescues ( F. rubra commutata) and hard fescues ( F. ovina duriuscula) grow in clumps of fine-textured, dark green blades, are the most shade-tolerant Northern grasses and do well in a wide range of soil types. Relatively low maintenance, they're suitable for overseeding poor lawns and for helping to choke out weeds. Some of the newer hard fescues are also slow growing (less mowing!). Use a high proportion in your lawn mix: 40 to 60%, even greater for the slow-growing hard fescues and shady lawns.

Improved varieties include Banner, Jamestown, Koket and Shadow (chewings); Ensylva and Pennlawn (red); and Spartan, Reliant, Waldina and Scaldis (hard).

Turf-type tall fescues:

Greatly improved over the older tall fescues in color, texture and disease- and insect-resistance, these turf-quality varieties (Festuca arundinacea) tolerate drought, poor soil, heavy traffic and shade. They do not spread by underground rhizomes (ergo, no thatch), so sow thickly. Make them 60 to 80% of the lawn mix, and add some bluegrass and perennial ryegrass.

Improved varieties include Rebel II, Houndog, Falcon, Arid and insect-resistant Apache.

Warm-Season Grasses

These subtropical grasses grow primarily during the hot months of the year and go dormant and brown in winter. Invasive growers, they crowd out broad leaved weeds but are also likely to develop thatch problems. Although most of the improved varieties are planted by costly sods, plugs or sprigs (stolons), the best choices for low-maintenance organic lawns (the Bahia grasses, centipede grasses and, in the upper South, tall fescues) are available in seed.

Bermuda grasses:

Perhaps the most commonly grown grass of the South, Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) establishes a good-looking lawn very quickly but is so invasive it becomes a real problem in bordering plant beds. Improved varieties such as Tifway, Santa Ana and Tlfgreen II are less invasive and more cold- and disease-tolerant. Tiflawn is a good choice for high-wear areas. NuMex Si and Guymon aren't as good, but the best seed varieties available so far.

Zoysia:

While zoysia (Zoisia) fills in more slowly than Bermuda grass or saint augustine grass, once established, it makes a thick, tough lawn that crowds out anything else trying to grow there. Consequently, it is generally planted alone (there are some mixes with tall fescue). It will tolerate some drought and shade but is susceptible to certain pest problems.

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