The only Bluegrass I would try in Phoenix would be hybrid bluegrass (Texas X Kentucky). Given enough resources I suppose you could grow Kentucky, but your water bill would be enormous.

Are you looking for a "lawn" or a grass ? I think Buffalo grass is also a warm season grass and will go dormant during the winter.

neilaz, that is a great question! I think I am looking for a lawn. I would like green grass all year round without overseeding each fall.

Do you water it deeply once a week and fertilize monthly all winter? And does it still go dormant? If not then you might try doing that.

KBG will go dormant as will buffalo grass. Sometimes St Augustine will remain green and growing all winter if the temps are not too low and the water and fertilizing is kept up. I've done it to prove a point, but I don't feel a need to do it every year.

Dave SA will not work in Phoenix, it is just too hot and dry to keep alive in Summer without watering every day. Even with that much water I am not sure it can survive 110 degree days at less than 10% humidity for 60+ days. Only grass I know that will remain green all year in Phoenix that one can afford is Astro Turf.

Sorry but you are kind of asking the impossible. At your elevation Bermuda is the best choice as it will remain green for about 10 months out of the year. But even Bermuda requires quite a bit of water to keep it alive in Phoenix.

What you can try is pushing liquid iron on the Bermuda once a month from November to late February to keep it green during December and January. But if you get a heavy frost, the game is over, and the Bermuda will go dormant.

I agree with TW.

KBG would not survive Phoenix summers no matter how often you water.

I think the only real options are Bermuda and Buffalo. Both will go dormant if you get a frost. Bermuda is more aggressive, but requires more fertilizer. Buffalo takes less input, but is more likely to give you a thin lawn.

I planted a small patch of Paspalumn late summer 2010. It had some green (25%) all winter while my bermuda had none. Low last winter was about 27 degrees. So this spring i went all in with the Paspalum. Will overseed the front due to HOA but the back will not.

Paspalum in Phoenix, err Arizona? I do not recall it even being mentioned by any of the Ag or horticulture guru's in AZ. I am no expert on the stuff, but am under the impression is a coastal grass requiring muggy wet conditions of Florida and the Gulf coast. I am going to to look around town to see if I can spot any.

I live up in Prescott and we have both cool season grasses (KBG, rye and fescue), ans warm season grasses predominantly Bermuda with some Zoysia here and there. Granted I am a nw resident to the area, but all I have ever seen in Phoenis for those fortunate few who actually have grass lawns is Bermuda and over seeded with Rye in winter.

TW, give Western Sod a call and talk to Jay Danek. They tested it on the farm for a few years and have been selling it for maybe 2 years. It was NOV last year when i installed mine. Platinum Paspalum. It is a great looking turf. Held up to the heat just as well as Bermuda. And since it is not a nitrogen hog it grows slower. You can pump up the nitrogen if you want it to grow faster but per Jay's recommendation i have used a liquid Fert of 4-0-6 followed the next month with a 7-7-7 then back to the 4-0-6 and so on. Organic too by the way.

Thanks Neil I will look into as I am curious and a bit stunned. I have looked at just about every AZ horticultural, professional landscaper, Master Gardner's, etc website, and do not recall any mention of Paspalum.

St. Augustine does just fine in Phoenix. I live in central phoenix and have St. Augustine palmetto. It stays green all year round. Its a soft thick bladed Grass and very resilient. I don't find myself putting as much time into care as you would think on an az climate. It does require a bit more water than Bermuda but its definitely not breaking my bank as others would suggest on here in these post.I water every other day. And palmetto St Augustine is actually on the list of grasses for this zone. It does well in shade and sun. I have a couple large trees in my front yard and the grass is just as thick in the shaded areas as the sunny.so I'm telling from my experience and research it does great in az.other varieties of St Augustine won't do so well.

sage-man, do you mind answering a few questions pertinent to this topic?

How long do you water when you water every other day? Do you know how much water your sprinklers put out during that time? Do you back off on watering in the cool months (January ;-))

How high do you mow and how often?

The problem in the Sonoran desert and even the inland Mojave desert east of Edwards AFB is the extremely low humidity. It's brutal on St Augustine.

@gbooks:

One of the alternatives to overseeding in the winter for keeping green color on dormant bermuda grass is to paint the grass. I'm not sure if there are contractors in your area that provide such a service, but it is a growing trend here in the southeastern U.S. for golf courses, athletic fields, and homeowners. It reduces the need for additional mowing, fertilizer, and labor in the winter months. It also eliminates the problems associated with Spring transition (ryegrass or Poa Triv competing with the emerging bermudagrass.)

Dogs shouldn't be your sole reason for feeling a need to have a lawn. Dogs will run on landscape rock. Ours run like crazy on it. Like humans, it doesn't take long for their feet to become accustomed to rocky surfaces.

sage_man, are you still around? We live in Northeast Phoenix and put Palmetto St. Augustine in our back yard. It is thriving in some areas, but completely bare in the middle, which has sun and shade. Anyone that has helpful advice on how much to water, fertilize (what kind) and any advice on who to contact for help.

Melissa can you please open a new topic for your issue. Nobody wants to read over the ancient history of someone else's issue to get to yours. You'll get better attention with your own conversation. Please mention you're in Phoenix and what kind of grass you have. If you can take a picture on a cloudy or overcast day, that's always a plus. Also please mention how you are watering now. How often and for how long. Mention your mowing height and how often you fertilize.

how about Zoysia grass? It has a lower cold tolerance than Bermuda and has a high heat and drought tolerance like Bermuda. This includes Japanese lawn grass (Zoysia japonica), manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) , mascarengrass (Zoysia tenufolia), and the Hybrids Emerald Zoysia and Empire Zoysia

HU-64...24, I'm a firm believer in going with the local trends. Zoysia is not a popular choice in PHO for whatever reasons. You can give it a try. There are varieties of all the ones you mention, and they do not all have the same characteristics, so look for zoysia installations and see what you think. In most large cities you can find various grass types in use at places like museums, zoos, and botanical gardens. I am reasonably certain that ASU uses only seeded bermuda, so I can save you the time of looking there. Their stadium grounds are separate from the general university and uses only hybrid bermuda. You can check local nurseries to see if any of them sell zoysia, and ask to see some installations. Check nurseries in/near Scottsdale, because zoysia can be expensive to maintain.