The 'Emerald' is a hybrid cultivar and is only available in vegative units (sod, plugs, or sprigs). The 'Aussie Green' is also a hybrid and is best loved in the golf industry for the fact that it doesn't produce seed heads readily! You won't find seed for either grass.

As with most hybrid plants, we rely on vegative propagation to produce clones of the desireable 'mother plant'. Plants produced from their seed will not (usually) reproduce true.

'Emerald' sod would be available in many retail outlets, as it is quite popular as a home lawn. The 'Aussie' is a sports turf and I doubt that you'll be able to locate that sod very easily.

The best way for a person to decide which kind of grass you need to be shopping for is to think about your own needs. Do you want a nice green lawn in the hottest part of the year, but will fade out as soon as the weather turns cold? Or just the opposite? Also, how much time are you willing (BE HONEST) to spend on maintenance chores?

Both Zoysia and Bermuda will turn brown in winter, so you won't have a green lawn for about half the year. Is that what you really want?

Personally, I would choose one of the nice hybrid fescue blends available at most garden centers, such as the Rebels or Falcon. Ask the folks at nurseries/garden centres which varieties seem to grow best in your area.

You can plant fescues now, but the best time is late summer and early fall. The problem with planting now is the grass might not develop a strong root system by the time summer arrives and could suffer during dry spells. If planted in late summer/ early fall, fescue has all fall, winter and spring to develop roots.

Fescues will provide year-round green cover, although they will not look as nice during the heat of summer if it's very dry. If you are in the mountains of NC, that shouldn't be a problem.

If planting now, I would till the ground if possible or at least aerate. Broadcast the seed and cover lightly with straw. Also fertilize and lime at the same time. Do not apply pre-emergent herbicides as that will prevent the grass seeds from germinating. Water often unless there is rain.

I'll have to go this weekend and check out my options. I talked to my neighbor. He recommends a Fescue or Bluegrass Mix. I don't want a lot of maintenance but don't mind putting a little work into this initially. Also, my yard is part shade/sun and I have dogs (I walk them on a leash, no free-range canines). They seem to follow the same path and have worn bare spots into the yard. Also a lot of weeds right now. How would those factors effect my choices?

As I would rather spend time and effort gardening, I am seeding w/centipede seed (Tifblair) this spring. I've read many disparaging remarks on centipede, but Tifblair is supposedly better in many respects relative to common centipede. I prefer a grass that's mostly self repairing (it creeps some).

My other choice was bermuda since a little is creeping into the yard from the neighbor's (we're currently trying to kill that). Bermuda requires a lot more fertilizer to look good, won't grow in shade at all, and has a lot more tendency to invade plant beds. Everyone I know who has it likes it, but they just want a lawn they don't have to baby and aren't gardeners.

Zoysia is a good choice for smaller lawns as any repair requires plugs or sod. Zoysia seed is available, just not for the cultivars you've listed. Google it, I'm sure you'll find some .. I have ~1acre lawn to seed, so sod is not economical, and I didn't want to have to look for it if I lost a patch of grass. This grass also creeps a little. Lots of people love this one ..

I personally don't mind a brown lawn in winter. Very few people in my neighborhood have a cool season grass as they require lots of maintenance here, and that doesn't go over well as everyone has at least 2 acres to deal with. No mowing after a frost or two sounds like a winner to me.

I have had fescue previously for 0.25acre lawn. Unless you are prepared to spend the time and expense to water the grass during the summer, fescue turns brown and dies out to some degree in the summer heat when there's little rain. This is especially true of new lawns. It is fairly easy to germinate fescue, but you need to water the lawn every day for ~1 week *every* year to repair damaged areas. Lots of people do love the fact that it's green in the winter, given you kept it alive and/or germinated new seed in the fall. The seed is pretty cheap compared to some of the seed I've considered. I am a wee bit biased as I grew to hate the maintenance. (Getting onto high horse, she says ..) watering fescue enough to keep it from browining out seems a little irresponsible these days.

Lots of options here in Wake County which is a transition zone for warm season/cool season grasses ... I'm sure this post will generate lots of responses :)

Here is a link that might be useful: NC State Turf Files turf selector

ncdreamer - you sound like my husband. He's quite happy with his centipede lawn. He refuses to water grass. But if we lived somewhere with less hot and dry summers, we would probably have fescue.

The majority of our back yard is gardens with the surrounding grass being bermuda. Yes, it's a pain in the rear to keep out of the beds but it's the only thing my 3 dogs cannot destroy. We have a fenced yard so they get free roam back there - otherwise they're in the house - and the bermuda fills their trails in quickly.

I do have a test patch of zoysia growing in the back to see how it does.

I have centipede in our front yard and love it but it cannot survive my dogs - I've tried. On the otherhand, a couple neighbors have fescue lawns. I have no desire to put the time and effort they do into maintaining it through our heat.

Heather

Where can I buy Pennington� Zenith Zoysia Grass Seed & Mulch? I need a LOT! I know it is expensive so I'm trying to shop around. We are going to try to plant about an acre, shew! thanks