• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
AC Yard Services

AC Yard Services

  • Services
    • Our Services
    • Annual Plans
    • Summer Plans
    • Winter Plans
  • Our Difference
    • About Us
  • Towns
    • Bethel, Newry & Greenwood, ME
    • Cumberland
    • Falmouth
    • Yarmouth
    • Gorham
    • North Yarmouth
    • Portland
    • Scarborough
    • South Portland
    • Southern Maine
    • Westbrook
    • Windham
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Pay My Bill
Types of Cool Season Grass for Maine Lawns

Types of Cool Season Grass for Maine Lawns

Types of Cool  Season Grass for Maine Lawns

There are a variety of cool season grass commonly used in Maine lawns. Read more to learn about the different types.

Perennial ryegrass is a dark green, fine-to-medium textured grass. It performs best on well-drained, fertile soils. It is usually grown either alone or in combination with Kentucky bluegrass. When seeded with Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass should not exceed 10-15% of the seed mix, in order to prevent the bluegrass from being out-competed during the seed germination process. Perennial ryegrass tolerates heavy foot traffic and develops into a durable sod, but it requires more fertilizer and water than other turf grasses. It is a bunch-type grass, and does not quickly form a solid turf when it is grown alone. Also, because perennial ryegrass is fibrous, it is important to mow with a very sharp blade. Not all perennial ryegrasses are winter-hardy in Maine. Over time, they can thin out or even be killed during a cold, open winter. Perennial ryegrass often comprises 5-10% of seed mixes. It functions as a “nurse crop” by germinating in 5-7 days, and protecting the slower germinating grasses.


Photo of grass
Photo of dutch angle grass

 

Fine fescues include red fescue, chewings fescue, and hard fescue. They have finer texture than Kentucky bluegrass. They are quite tolerant of dry soils, acid soils, and low fertility, and perform well in shady sites. However, fine fescues do not support as much foot traffic as other turf grasses. Red fescue is widely used in grass mixes, but it can be used alone as an unmown meadow grass, or for erosion control on slopes, or for a low maintenance/low traffic shady lawn. It knits well into a lawn because it grows from rhizomes, but its leaves are shiny and fine-textured, and it does not mow easily when it is grown alone. Red fescue is the only common turf grass that is native to Maine. Chewings fescue and hard fescue are bunch-type grasses. They do not knit into a solid turf as quickly as red fescue.

Kentucky bluegrass is the dominant grass type in traditional northern lawns. A blend of three or more varieties of Kentucky bluegrass forms an excellent lawn in a full-sun, well-drained site with moderate-to-high fertility and regular irrigation. Kentucky bluegrass knits together well because it spreads by underground rhizomes. It tolerates cold winter temperatures and heavy wear, making it an excellent athletic field choice. In the heat of summer, it sometimes becomes dormant and turns brown, but it greens up again when temperatures drop. When this grass is over-fertilized or over-watered, it can develop a layer of thatch (dead tissue at the base of the plants) that interferes with water movement and grass growth.

Tall fescues have been improved in recent years, and are now used as stand-alone blends for low-maintenance lawns in many parts of the country, including Maine. Tall fescues germinate best in very warm soils and are slow to establish into a turf because they are bunch grasses. It is important to control the weeds that can establish in the open spaces among the grass clumps during the first one or two seasons. Tall fescues tolerate heat and drought, and perform well in sun or light shade. However, not all tall fescues are fully hardy throughout Maine. After a cold, open winter, the spring cover may be reduced, allowing weeds to establish and making it necessary to overseed.

Grass mixes are composed of two or more types of grass. Traditional home lawn grass mixes are composed of Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescue, and perennial ryegrass. Such a mix adapts to the range of conditions found in a home lawn; the Kentucky bluegrass tends to dominate in sunny areas, while the fine fescues dominate in shadier and less fertile areas, and the ryegrass is competitive in high-moisture areas.

Endophyte-enhanced grasses have fungi living in them. Endophyte-enhanced varieties of perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and fine fescues are available. They perform well in low-maintenance and high-stress situations, and resist leaf-feeding insects such as chinch bugs, billbugs, and sod webworms. They do not resist root feeding by white grubs.

Other grasses: Bentgrass is a very fine-textured grass planted on many golf greens, but it is not recommended for home lawns. Annual ryegrassis sometimes added to inexpensive seed mixes, but it is not perennial and is not recommended as a lawn grass for Maine. Warm-season grassessuch as zoysia and St. Augustine grass are sometimes advertised for use in the northern part of North America, but they are not hardy and are not recommended for use in Maine

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Summer Checklist for Your Property: What Needs to Be Done (and What We Can Handle For You)
  • Grubs Gone Wild: What’s Destroying Your Maine Lawn This Year
  • Dethatching Done Right: 5 Reasons to Hire a Pro to Dethatch Your Lawn
  • 8 Ways to Revive Your Yard After Winter
  • Horticultural Trends for 2025: What’s Next in Gardening?

Categories

  • Aeration
  • Annual Plan
  • Best of 207
  • Dethatching
  • Edging
  • Employment with AC Yard Services
  • Fall Cleanup
  • Garden Tips
  • Gardening
  • Job Opening
  • Landscaping
  • Landscaping Tips
  • Lawncare
  • Lawncare Tips
  • Mulching
  • News
  • Overseeding
  • Perennials
  • Pests
  • Plant Hardiness Zone Map
  • Pruning
  • Services
  • Snow Plowing
  • Snow Removal
  • Spring Cleanup
  • Summer Plans
  • Trees and Shrubs
  • Uncategorized
  • Year-Round Contract

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • October 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
AC Yard Services Logo

Serving Southern Maine, Portland & the Bethel Area with locations in Windham & Bethel.

(207) 712-5554

info@acyardservices.com

  • Our Difference
  • Services
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2025 AC Yard Services | Developed by Anania Bailey