- Kentucky bluegrass: High maintenance but durable and beautiful<\/a><\/li>
- Perennial ryegrass: Establishes quickly, handles heat<\/a><\/li>
- Fine fescue: Good in shade, endures drought<\/a><\/li>
- Tall fescue: Hardy and low-maintenance<\/a><\/li>
- Grasses to avoid in north Jersey<\/a><\/li><\/ul> \t\t\t<\/div> \t\t<\/div><\/div>
Kentucky bluegrass: High maintenance but durable and beautiful<\/span><\/h2>
![\"closeup](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/kentucky-grass-1.jpg\")
Shutterstock<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> Perhaps the most ubiquitous grass type in the Northern United States, Kentucky bluegrass is popular everywhere in New Jersey because it withstands the state\u2019s cooler winters and bounces back great in the spring. It does especially well here in north Jersey and west Jersey because it doesn\u2019t care for very hot temperatures, and those areas experience half as many summer days over 90 degrees as the southern areas of the Garden State.<\/p>
When you\u2019re establishing a new lawn, know that Kentucky bluegrass<\/a> germinates slowly. It takes between 10 and 30 days, which is why it\u2019s often mixed with fast-germinating grasses like perennial ryegrass or fine fescues in new lawns.<\/p>
Another downside: to look its best, Kentucky bluegrass requires more attention and more fertilizer than some other grass types.<\/p>
Grass Seed Options:
<\/strong>\u2013 Jonathan Green (11970) Blue Panther Kentucky Bluegrass Grass Seed<\/a> (3 lbs.)
\u2013 SeedRanch Midnight Kentucky Bluegrass Seed<\/a> (5 lbs.)<\/p>Perennial ryegrass: Establishes quickly, handles heat<\/span><\/h2>
![\"pyrennial](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/pyrennial-ryegrass-1-1.jpeg\")
Aaron Patton | Purdue’s Turfgrass Science Program<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> This is a super versatile grass that you can plant alone as a lawn or mix it with other grass seed to quickly repair bare spots or improve the durability of a lawn that gets heavy use. Perennial ryegrass<\/a> also tolerates heat relatively well, which means it is less likely to go dormant at the peak of north Jersey summers when the average daily temperatures are between 80 and 85 degrees.<\/p>
Perennial ryegrass may have trouble with super cold or very icy winters, but those are fairly infrequent here in Jersey. But, with its rapid growth rate, it\u2019s still a great choice for a quick cover-up when fixing bald patches on your lawn<\/a>.<\/p>
Grass Seed Options:
<\/strong>\u2013 Outsidepride Perennial Ryegrass Seed<\/a> (5 lbs.)
\u2013 Eretz ProTurf Perennial Ryegrass Fine Lawn Seed<\/a> (choose your size)<\/p>Fine fescue: Good in shade, handles drought<\/span><\/h2>
![\"fine](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Fine-fescue-1.jpg\")
Aaron Patton | Purdue’s Turfgrass Science Program<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> This group is made up of several cultivars, such as creeping red, Chewings, hard, and sheep fescue. They are all well adapted to north Jersey\u2019s cool climate and thrive in shady lawns. They\u2019re less needy when it comes to fertilization, requiring only 2 pounds or less per 1,000 square feet per year.<\/p>
Just like Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescue<\/a> mixes well with other grass types to improve drought and shade tolerance. If you want to tweak the appearance or bolster a weaker lawn, you can combine it with Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass.<\/p>
Grass Seed Options:
<\/strong>\u2013 Outsidepride Legacy Fine Fescue Grass Seed<\/a> (5 lbs.)
\u2013 Eretz Creeping Red Fine Fescue Seed<\/a> (choose your size)
\u2013 Outsidepride Creeping Red Fine Fescue Grass Seed<\/a> (25 lbs.)<\/p>Tall fescue: Hardy and low-maintenance<\/span><\/h2>
![\"tall](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Tall-fescue-1.jpg\")
Aaron Patton | Purdue’s Turfgrass Science Program<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> Tall fescue is a fairly hardy grass that can go long stretches without supplemental irrigation, so it\u2019s good for those who don\u2019t want to invest hours and hours a week on their lawns. It\u2019s also a good choice for yards exposed to direct sunlight throughout the day or communities that restrict water usage.<\/p>
Along with this drought resistance, tall fescue<\/a> also has fewer problems with the insects and diseases than other cool-season grasses, but it is still susceptible to some diseases like brown patch<\/a> if it\u2019s overwatered or overfertilized. <\/p>
Grass Seed Options:
<\/strong>\u2013 Triple-Play Tall Fescue Grass Seed Blend<\/a> (5000 sq ft)
\u2013 Eretz Kentucky 31 K31 Tall Fescue Grass Seed<\/a> (choose your size)
\u2013 Pennington The Rebels Tall Fescue Grass Seed Mix<\/a> (7 lb.)<\/p>Grasses to avoid in north Jersey<\/span><\/h2>
Annual ryegrass <\/span><\/h3>
You might be enticed to reach for annual ryegrass because it grows fast and, therefore, can be a quick fix as a new lawn or to patch bare spots in existing lawns. Don\u2019t do it. Annual ryegrass creates a coarse, sparse turf that grows quickly but doesn\u2019t last long.<\/p>
Zoysiagrass<\/span><\/h3>
Zoysia is a staple of Southern lawns because it creates a thick green carpet and endures heat exceptionally well. And while newer cultivars resist cold better and are gaining popularity as far north as Connecticut, they\u2019re still optimal in warmer climates. We can recommend them for south Jersey<\/a>, where winters are five degrees warmer on average, but not here.<\/p>
Trust the pros<\/span><\/h2>
Lawn maintenance can be time-consuming and tough. Starting a new lawn? Tougher still because tender young seeds require a lot of care until they can thrive on their own.<\/p>
If you don\u2019t have the patience for all this, or perhaps you\u2019re just not confident that you have the green thumb to pull it off, contact Lawn Love. Our lawn care professionals<\/a> can guide you in finding the best grass for your needs and location.<\/p>
\t\t\t\t\t\tSources:\u00a0<\/p> \t\t\t
<\/span><\/div> \t\t<\/div> \t\t\t- Rutgers University New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station<\/a><\/li>
- Mississippi State University Extension<\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <\/div> \t\t<\/div> <\/div>
Lawn Love participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. Lawn Love may earn revenue from products promoted in this article.<\/em><\/p>
Main Image Credit: Jrogers123<\/a> | Wikimedia Commons | CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescue, tall fescue, and perennial ryegrass are best for lawns in north Jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":27197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-27170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-jersey","tag-lawn-care-nj"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/house-in-north-jersey-1-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Whitney Lehnecker","author_link":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/author\/whitney-lehnecker\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Mississippi State University Extension<\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <\/div> \t\t<\/div> <\/div>
- Perennial ryegrass: Establishes quickly, handles heat<\/a><\/li>