- Turf-type tall fescue: An adaptable, low-maintenance grass<\/a><\/li>
- Fine fescue: The shade-tolerant, easy-care grass<\/a><\/li>
- Kentucky bluegrass: A cold-tolerant grass that bounces back when damaged<\/a><\/li>
- Perennial ryegrass: The fast-growing, traffic-tolerant grass<\/a><\/li><\/ul> \t\t\t<\/div> \t\t<\/div><\/div>
Turf-type tall fescue: An adaptable, low-maintenance grass<\/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> Turf-type tall fescue is easy to care for. It\u2019s an adaptable grass that thrives in pretty much all of Minnesota and handles the common local sandy soil with ease. Like Kentucky bluegrass, it grows in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit, so it\u2019s great for southern, central, and northern Minnesota.<\/p>
This resilient champ of a grass survives cold weather, drought, and heat. It even moderately tolerates shade. The best time to grow tall fescue<\/a> in southern Minnesota is late July. But if you need to, you can instead seed in mid-May. Tall fescue is also a great overseeding grass.<\/p>
Additional reading:<\/strong> Check out our article The Best Grass Seed for Minnesota Lawns for more information about grasses in the rest of the state.<\/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>Fine fescue: The shade-tolerant, easy-care grass<\/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> Fine fescue is great at tolerating shade. It\u2019s a soft grass that\u2019s easy to maintain. The grass handles hardiness zones 4 and above, where annual temperatures don\u2019t drop below -30 degrees Fahrenheit. So it\u2019s a great match for southern, central, and some of northern Minnesota.<\/p>
Because the grass grows well in soil temperatures of 50 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, you can plant it in late August to mid-September. Alternatively, late April to early June also works. Fine fescue<\/a> will take 5 to 12 days to germinate.<\/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>Kentucky bluegrass: A cold-tolerant grass that bounces back when damaged<\/span><\/h2>
![\"closeup](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/kentucky-grass-1.jpg\")
Shutterstock<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> Kentucky bluegrass is a cold-resistant grass that lives through freezing temperatures and grows in all of Minnesota. But in southern Minnesota, it may need supplemental watering in the summer. Kentucky bluegrass<\/a> also needs more maintenance than most in general. However, it\u2019s a stunning, dense grass.<\/p>
Because of the climate and soil temperature, the best time to seed Kentucky bluegrass is early September, but alternatively, you can also do it in late April. Take note that this grass can take up to 28 days to germinate.<\/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: The fast-growing, traffic-tolerant grass<\/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> Perennial ryegrass is a fast-growing grass that tolerates foot traffic. It\u2019s also great for overseeding. But it doesn\u2019t work for everyone.<\/p>
In Minnesota, you can only grow perennial ryegrass<\/a> in hardiness zone 5. That includes cities like Minneapolis, Marshall, and Fairmont. It doesn\u2019t include cities like Olivia and Madison. Stick to hardiness zone 5 or pick a different grass.<\/p>
Check out our article about the best grass types for Minneapolis.<\/a><\/p>
Like fine fescue, perennial ryegrass grows well in soil temperatures of 50 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. You can plant it in late August to mid-September. Alternatively, late April to early June also works. It will take 5 to 12 days to germinate.<\/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>FAQ<\/span><\/h2>
Which grass is best for overseeding in southern Minnesota?<\/span><\/h3>
Depending on where you live, tall fescue and perennial ryegrass should work well. But Kentucky bluegrass and fine fescue should be fine, too.<\/p>
Can you grow Bermudagrass in southern Minnesota?<\/span><\/h3>
No, even the warmest parts of Minnesota are unsuitable for Bermudagrass which needs a hardiness zone of 7 to 10.<\/p>
Can you grow Zoysiagrass in southern Minnesota?<\/span><\/h3>
Unfortunately not. You might assume that the cold-tolerant Zoysiagrass would be the warm-season exception for Minnesota. But no. Even this grass requires a higher hardiness zone than the hardiness zone in the state.<\/p>
Trust the pros<\/span><\/h2>
Southern Minnesota has much more to offer than lawn care. And yet, if you neglect that part of home maintenance, it will have clearly visible consequences. Stop worrying about lawn care and call a local pro in <\/strong>Minnesota<\/a>, Minneapolis<\/a>, or Saint Paul<\/a>.<\/p>
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: Bobak Ha’Eri<\/a> | Wikimedia Commons | CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The best grasses for southern Minnesota are tall fescue, fine fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and in some regions, perennial ryegrass. We’ll tell you why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":29213,"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":[202],"tags":[586],"class_list":["post-29204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-minnesota","tag-lawn-care-mn"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/house-in-minnesota-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Judith van der Weij","author_link":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/author\/judith-gallova\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29204","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\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Fine fescue: The shade-tolerant, easy-care grass<\/a><\/li>