Looking to grass your gardens? You may have already done a little light digging, and come to realise that when researching grasses (and other garden related topics) that there is a load of jargon that is quite important to understand. So, before you dive into research once again, we suggest that you familiarise yourself with the following terms to ensure that you see the full picture and weigh-up the options accurately.
1. Warm-season
Let’s start off with the most basic differentiation between the abundance of grass varieties… warm vs. cool-season grasses. Warm-season grasses thrive in higher temperatures and the weather conditions associated with summer. Bermuda grass is one such species, they are normally drought-tolerant and their biggest downfall is the fact that they go dormant in winter. During dormancy these grasses will turn brown, and depending on the maintenance carried out, may or may not return to normal once the cool seasons have come to an end.
2. Cool-season
Naturally, the opposite of warm is cool. Thus, we have cool-season grasses. With excellent performance in cold months, cool-season grasses thrive autumn and spring. Cool-season grasses enjoy a fair bit of water, which is why they generally struggle in summer. An interesting observation, most cool-season grass varieties tend to be bunching, but there are a few exceptions. Don’t know what a bunching grass is? Hang-tight, we break it down for you in point number 7.
3. Evergreen
You have to love evergreen grass, why wouldn’t you want a green lawn for longer? These grasses are neither cool nor warm season, and will generally only turn brown as a result of improper maintenance, neglect or pests.
4. Annual Grasses
Think of these grasses as having a 1-year warranty – its life cycle begins and ends within the span of a single year. You might be thinking, “what use is that?”, but the truth is there are situations where annual grasses come in very handy. For example, these grasses establish much faster than grasses that would normally take-root, so they are great in stabilising soil to kick-off growth of a more permanent solution.
5. Creeping
Considered aggressive, these grass species are highly inclined to spread and consume a surface area. They grow by establishing stolons (stems) horizontally, and will keep spreading further and further as time goes by. For some this might be exactly what they are looking for, others might give this type of grass a pass if they knew what it meant, but whether you like it or not, it is important to understand the characteristics of creeping grasses before committing to buy it.
6. Mat-forming
Unlike the other terms that we have defined in this guide, the term “mat-forming” does not refer to grass in the broader sense. Instead, it refers to and describes the root system. The reason we chose to include it? Because, it is an important characteristic of a variety of grass species that may influence your decision. If a grass has a mat-forming root system, it makes it unmatched for erosion, the tight-knit root system helps keep soil under control.
7. Bunching
Lastly, we know you have been waiting since point number 2 to find out what a bunching grass is, so here it goes: a bunching grass contrasts the creeping grass. Considered to be less aggressive than its creepy counterpart, these grasses will grow, as the name suggests, in bunches. They spreads by means of vertical shoots (tillers).