With over 700 species of grass available in Texas, choosing the best grass for a Dallas lawn can be confusing.
Most homeowners want a beautiful, lush lawn that looks great all year round—but differ in how much work they are prepared to do to create and maintain it.
Conditions in Texan backyards vary, meaning that grass can suffer from a lack of water or sunlight, soil composition or other factors. Lawns also serve different intended purposes—from ornamental carpets of green to picnic areas and kids’ play areas.
So, how do you choose the best grass for your Dallas or Fort Worth backyard?
The choice can normally be narrowed down to only four or five different grass types suited to our variable conditions. Let’s look at five of the best options—plus one grass alternative that you may not yet have considered.
BEST GRASS FOR DALLAS TEXAS
The best grass for a Dallas lawn is generally warm-season grass like Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia or Centipede grass. You may also see Buffalo grass or even ryegrass, which is a cool-season grass.
The best grasses are naturally quite suited to the humid sub-tropical climate of Dallas-Fort Worth with the powerful summer heat and cooler winter temperatures in northern Texas. They have different properties when it comes to shade resistance, how much maintenance is required, and so on.
The climate here can be variable, with a wide annual temperature range and rainfall unevenly distributed throughout the year—creating many challenges for gardeners and grass lawns.
Each of the main grasses is covered in more detail below. First, let’s consider a possible alternative to grass that gives you the look of a finely manicured lawn—without the worries or the work.
THE BEST GRASS FOR DALLAS MIGHT NOT BE REAL GRASS!
Want a lawn as green as the AT&T Stadium? Then why not do what the AT&T does and install artificial grass?
Since the AT&T Stadium opened in 2009, the Dallas Cowboys have played their home games on Hellas Matrix Turf manufactured right here in Texas. College football stadiums also commonly use artificial turf, including the Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
You can get comparable-quality lawn grass for your backyard right here in Texas too. We’ve helped thousands of homeowners make the switch in the past two decades. Here’s an example:
There’s more about the benefits of artificial grass later in this post but let’s get into more detail on the best real grass choices in Dallas…
GET A FREE ARTIFICIAL GRASS ESTIMATE
Looking for an alternative to grass? Get a free estimate from the experienced team at DFW Turf Solutions in Dallas. Contact us here.
WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THE BEST GRASS CHOICE IN DALLAS?
Some grasses work better for some yards than others. To select the best grass for your Dallas lawn, you’ll need to weigh up the following factors:
Purpose of the grass:
What are you going to do with your grass lawn? Have it sit there for the neighbors to admire or use the area to entertain the kids, guests or pets?
If you want to host backyard barbecues or build a kids’ play area, you’ll need a type of grass such as Bermuda, which is designed to handle activity and foot traffic. Some grasses struggle to recover once downtrodden.
Sun and shade conditions:
Most lawn grasses require plenty of sunlight and water to grow healthily and struggle in shade and drought. Sunlight is used in photosynthesis to produce food, energy, and nutrients that help the grass grow.
Do your homework on your grass selection to see how it will handle the specific sun/shade conditions in your yard, as well as the amount of irrigation it will receive. If you have many large trees or other structures blocking sunlight in all or some of your yard for much of the day, you may need to opt for a highly shade-tolerant grass for Texas, such as St. Augustine.
Maintenance levels required:
How much maintenance you intend to do will affect the type of grass you choose. Most Dallas homeowners should go with a grass variety already well-adapted to the conditions. However, if you love your time in the yard, mowing, fertilizing, watering, weeding, and aerating your lawn, it may be possible to successfully grow less hardy grass with regular maintenance.
Not every homeowner wants to spend around 70 hours per year looking after their yard, which is the national average—and not everyone wants to pay for lawn care services. These homeowners should choose low-maintenance grass, such as Centipede grass/Buffalo grass or switch to a grass alternative like artificial turf.
Drought tolerance:
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is considered in moderate drought. While this changes according to conditions throughout the year, most Dallas residents must be conscious of water restrictions.
The drought tolerance of the grass you choose for your lawn is, therefore, a major factor. Most of the grasses detailed below are, to some degree, drought-tolerant but weeks of limited or no rainfall can harm grass health if it doesn’t receive proper irrigation.
Storm/flood tolerance:
Despite periods of drought, the Dallas area gets an average rainfall of around 36 inches per year, which is well above the 27.25 inches of average rainfall for Texas.
The summer months may be generally hot and dry but the spring and fall, which get the majority of the rainfall, can see heavy storms. This could affect your lawn unless you choose a grass suitable for these conditions and are prepared to put in a little maintenance work.
Soil types
The soil type does affect the health of the grass lawn you’re trying to grow. Some hardy grasses like Centipede grass and Buffalo grass grow well in highly acidic, low-nutrient soil like in much of Texas.
However, homes with more fertile soils can consider Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass more seriously.
THE 5 BEST GRASSES FOR A BEAUTIFUL DALLAS LAWN: A CLOSER LOOK
With the climate here in Dallas, the obvious choice for most homeowners in their backyards is warm-season grass. This is planted throughout the southern states because it thrives in warm weather and can handle long hours of sunshine.
However, these grasses vary in their properties and resilience to other challenges posed by North Texas conditions. Let’s take a closer look at the five main options…
1. Bermuda grass
Bermuda grass is widely used for athletic fields, golf courses, and other high-traffic areas throughout the south because of its beauty, thickness, and robustness.
This grass is quite easy to establish, with fine blades that tolerate heavy use and regenerate quickly after being flattened. It can grow in most soil types, including sandy soils. Bermuda grass is also disease-resistant and drought-tolerant, which makes it suitable for the dry Dallas summers.
Bermuda grass is among the best grasses for Dallas but struggles in shade. It needs a lot of sunshine— around three-quarters of a day’s sunlight or full sun. This is partly why so many college and NFL football stadiums around the country have switched from real grass to artificial turf.
You’ll also need to put some work in to keep your Bermuda grass lawn looking pristine because this grass grows quickly and requires fertilization. So, if you’re looking for a low-maintenance backyard, check out some other options.
2. Centipede grass
Centipede grass is another of the best grasses for Dallas. It is a good low-maintenance lawn option for many homeowners, requiring no fertilizer. It grows best in acidic soils with good drainage without too much watering, except in the dry summer months.
Centipede grass grows well in our temperatures—but much slower than Bermuda grass and so requires far less mowing. It doesn’t love the cold but can still flourish for most of the year as a lawn grass in Dallas-Fort Worth.
On the downside, Centipede grass doesn’t quite have the lush green look and feel of Bermuda grass. Instead, it is flat-bladed, light green, and relatively coarse to the touch. It also doesn’t bounce back very well after heavy foot traffic.
Like Bermuda grass, Centipede grass thrives in full sun and struggles in full shade. Partial shade a few hours a day should be fine but if you have tall shade trees around the yard that block the sunlight every day, choose another option.
Overwatering or fertilizing this type of grass can increase its disease susceptibility.
3. St. Augustine grass
St. Augustine has a major advantage over other warm-season Texas lawn grasses: its tolerance to shade.
If your property receives less than 5-6 hours of sunlight per day (not necessarily direct sunlight—filtered sunlight on cloudy days is OK), you’ll need a highly shade-tolerant grass like St. Augustine. This grass can flourish with as little as four hours of sunlight per day.
There are several popular varieties of St. Augustine grass in Dallas, most notably Palmetto, Raleigh, and Texas Native. They offer a coarse texture with flat blades that are smooth on both sides with blunt tips—but there are some variations in properties.
Raleigh is known for its thick, deep-green blades and is moderately shade-tolerant but the winner for heavily shaded yards is probably Palmetto.
Besides shade tolerance, St. Augustine’s strong, deep root system provides good drought tolerance and, though it needs irrigation, you won’t need to overdo watering to keep your lawn looking green and healthy.
The downside with St. Augustine is its poor tolerance of colder weather and heavy foot traffic so cold Dallas winters can create some problems for St. Augustine lawns—as can busy barbecue areas, pet play or kids’ play areas.
This type of lawn grass needs fertilizing, mowing, and irrigation. It is quick-growing but is quite vulnerable to chinch bugs and other pests. Note that you’ll need to establish your lawn from sod as St. Augustine seeds are not commercially available.
4. Buffalo grass
Unlike the other best grasses for Dallas detailed here, Buffalo grass is native to North America. In fact, it is the only native grass widely used for lawns in the U.S. and is prominent in the entire Great Plains area.
Because this warm-season grass is naturally well-adapted to the heat, intermittent drought conditions, and low-nutrient soils in much of Texas, Buffalo grass is a popular low-maintenance choice for DFW homeowners. The grass can go dormant during droughts but recovers quickly with water—and is also highly disease-resistant
Buffalo grass also requires less mowing than many grasses because it curls down as it grows rather than growing high.
Buffalo grass has a gray-green/blue-green color so you won’t get the verdant green of Bermuda grass. This type of grass is also much better in the sun than in shade—which is its major weakness if you have a shaded yard. It may also suffer from excessive foot traffic—but this applies to many grass types.
Bear in mind too that Buffalo grass struggles with too much watering or higher rainfall because of potential weed issues. This can create higher maintenance requirements.
5. Zoysia grass
Zoysia is another of the best types of grass for Dallas, Texas because of its strong performance in drought conditions as well as its heat/cold resistance, shade tolerance, and resistance to weeds.
For homeowners in dry, warm regions of the state looking for a lush, deep-green lawn without the maintenance required for Bermuda grass—or those with shaded yards—Zoysia is a warm-season grass with several varieties worth considering.
Shade-wise, some varieties don’t perform quite as well as the main St. Augustine varieties but many homeowners prefer its general appearance and lower maintenance requirements (less fertilization and mowing needed). It also stands up better to foot traffic but damaged grass can take considerable time to recover.
Zeon, Palisades, and Emerald Zoysia are the most popular Zoysia varieties in Dallas. Zeon only requires 3-4 hours of sunlight to flourish. Most varieties grow densely and relatively slowly, meaning that less frequent mowing is required and fewer weeds can invade. It is highly pest-resistant.
Zoysia grass needs soil that drains well and, if using seed, requires intensive watering immediately after planting. Note too that Zoysia grass is generally one of the most expensive types for lawns in Dallas.
PLANTING SEED VS INSTALL SOD
Homeowners in Dallas looking for a fine grass lawn will need to choose between growing grass from seed and installing grass sod.
More homeowners choose seed than sod because it is a cost-effective and labor-saving way to start a lawn. Seeding may also be used to fill in bare spots on lawns.
The downside of this is that seeding needs to be done in the right conditions so that the seeds germinate properly—and it can take up to six weeks for the lawn to establish. Unless you know what you’re doing, weeds can also be a problem.
With the warm-season grasses outlined above, the best time to plant seeds to encourage germination is in temperatures between 70-95 degrees Fahrenheit, i.e., late spring to early summer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Ideally, avoid the most intense heat of summer.
Sod is more expensive than seeding but usually requires professional installation. The result is an instantly recognizable lawn at almost any time of year.
With some grass types, you have no choice. St. Augustine is only available as sod or plugs.
GRASS ALTERNATIVES IN DALLAS
Don’t want the hassle of tending a grass lawn? Fortunately, there are plenty of other options for attractive, practical spaces that require a fraction of the care.
If you’re considering artificial grass as an alternative, there are several types of synthetic turf made for different purposes—everything from lawns to backyard putting greens.
When we compare synthetic grass with real grass, we see the following potential benefits:
Don’t fancy artificial grass? Other low-maintenance backyard landscaping ideas may not be able to compete with the verdant appearance of grass but will free up a lot of time, including mulch, pavers, pea gravel, and crushed rock.
If you want to remain with organic options but don’t want the work, try a clover lawn or use native Texan plants to augment your yard.
FAQs
CONSIDERING SWITCHING TO ARTIFICIAL GRASS?
If you’re considering different backyard landscaping ideas for your Dallas home, discuss your options with an artificial grass professional.
