The Best & Easiest Grass to Grow for the Lawn

• Certain factors require consideration when replanting your lawn with better-looking grass. Climate, soil-type, annual precipitation and how much work you want to put into the lawn all have a bearing on a final decision. Certain varieties provide relatively simple germination and maintenance with plenty of visual appeal.

Junegrass

• Junegrass is a perennial, cool-season tufted bunchgrass. It's naturally found in rangelands, plains and open forests. It grows up to 2 feet tall, depending on the variety. It has narrow leaves that cluster and are flat and pointed. Seedheads look like dense spikes and are green or purplish in color. The grass is cold, heat and drought tolerant. It thrives at 12 to 20 inches of annual precipitation and is found at elevations between 4,000 and 11,000 feet.

  Junegrass works well for small lawns that receive plenty of sunlight. It also grows well in sandy soil in drought-prone climates. It also survives in extremely low and high temperatures and grows slowly, so there's less mowing and related maintenance on the grower's part.

Tall Fescue

• Tall fescue is a deep-rooted, cool-season perennial grass. It grows vigorously in the spring and fall, and it withstands drought with an extensive root system. It has a bunch-growth habit. It reaches 3 to 4 feet tall, and leaves are broad, dark-green, glossy on their undersides and serrated. The sheath is smooth.

  This grass adapts to many soils and conditions. It has shade tolerance in the southern region and remains green all year with irrigation.

  Tall fescue tolerates foot traffic well, compared to other cool-season grasses. It's not ideal for situations with extremely high traffic, such as athletic fields or golf courses, but it works well for a home lawn, balancing its ornamental value with its ability to handle foot traffic. This grass also remains green all winter and tolerates dense shade far better than warm-season grasses.

Buffalo Grass

• This perennial grass is native to the Great Plains, from Montana to Mexico, and is found in low-rainfall areas. This native turfgrass weathers prolonged droughts and extreme temperatures. It grows 8 to 10 inches long. Leaves bow over, making it appear short. Staminate males have one-sided spikes on seedstalks. Leaves are curly. Male plants produce an "unsightly" seedstalk for lawns, so female plants are used.

  Buffalo grass is an excellent option for a gardener wanting a native landscape. It grows into fairly thin, open turf and needs little mowing. It fills large spaces well, and its thin turf provides an appropriate bed for plants such as bluebonnets and native wildflowers.