Year-round
Updated 5 min readGrass DFW team
The short answer
It comes down to sun, traffic and mowing: Bermuda for full sun and heavy use, St. Augustine for shade (with the least margin for a hard winter and for foot traffic), and Zoysia for a dense, slow-growing lawn in between that needs the least mowing. All three turn tan after the first freeze in DFW.
Three warm-season grasses cover almost every lawn in North Texas, and each one wins a different question. Answer these in order and the choice usually makes itself: how much direct sun does the lawn get, how hard is it used, and how much mowing are you willing to do?
The table uses Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s ratings for each species under good care. Varieties differ, which is why some cells show a range.
| Trait | Bermuda | St. Augustine | Zoysia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun and shade | Needs full sun; very low to low shade tolerance | The most shade-tolerant; high | Moderate to high shade tolerance |
| Foot traffic | High | Low | Moderate to high |
| Drought tolerance | Very good to excellent | Good | Very good |
| Cold tolerance | Moderate | Low | Moderate to high |
| Mowing height | 1 to 2 in | 2.5 to 3 in | 1 to 2.5 in, by variety |
| How often to mow | Every 3 to 7 days | Every 5 to 7 days | Every 5 to 10 days |
| Leaf texture | Fine | Coarse | Medium to fine |
| Disease potential | Low to moderate | High | Low to moderate |
| After the first freeze | Tan until spring | Tan until spring | Tan until spring |
No warm-season lawn stays green through a DFW winter. Texas A&M says these grasses turn straw-colored at the first frost and may go dormant for the winter. Tan is dormant, not dead, and it is the same for all three.
Bermuda. Texas A&M describes it as very tolerant of drought and traffic, and it requires full sunlight: it does not grow well in shade. The trade-off for that toughness is upkeep. Hybrid (vegetative) Bermudas are denser, darker and finer-leaved than common Bermuda, and many need more frequent mowing and more nitrogen.
Pick it when the lawn is in the sun most of the day, takes constant use and you do not mind mowing weekly in the growing season. Skip it under trees: shade thins Bermuda faster than either of the other two.
St. Augustine. Texas A&M calls it the most shade-tolerant warm-season grass, and Mississippi State Extension says it needs about 4 hours of direct sun (or all-day filtered light). The St. Augustine we sell is Palmetto, one of the varieties A&M lists.
The trade-offs are real. A&M rates its cold tolerance low and says severe winters can kill it in the northern third of Texas. It rates its foot-traffic tolerance low and its disease potential high, and it has the coarsest leaf of the three. For a shaded yard that nobody plays on, that is often a fair deal. For anything harder, read our guide to the best sod for shade first.
In the middle, with real strengths. Texas A&M gives it moderate to high marks for shade, traffic and cold, very good drought tolerance and the lowest mowing frequency of the three. It forms a dense canopy that crowds out weeds, and it generally needs less fertilizer than Bermuda or St. Augustine.
The catch is speed. Zoysia grows slowly, so it also recovers slowly from damage such as scalping or heavy wear, and it is harder on mower blades. We carry two Zoysia varieties, Palisade and Zeon, and they differ in blade width, light needs and mowing: see Zeon vs Palisade Zoysia.
All three go tan, but the risk is not equal. Zoysia has the best cold rating, Bermuda is moderate and St. Augustine is lowest, which is why a freshly laid St. Augustine lawn is the one to worry about in a hard first winter. If you are thinking of laying any of them right now, read Can You Lay Sod in November in North Texas? before you order.
Questions about your yard? Call or text (214) 702-0622, or see each variety on its own page: Bermuda 419, St. Augustine Palmetto, Zoysia Palisade and Zoysia Zeon. All four, side by side, are on the sod page.
See the sod varieties
Year-round
Zeon is the finer, denser, darker zoysia, and in Texas A&M’s shade trial it needed less light than Palisade; it wants a low, sharp cut. Palisade has a wider, medium-coarse blade that A&M’s breeders describe as quick to establish and regrow, and it takes a slightly taller cut. Both are slow to repair damage, and both turn tan after the first freeze.
Year-round
St. Augustine is the most shade-tolerant warm-season grass, and of our two zoysias, Zeon needed less light in Texas A&M’s shade trial. Both still need roughly 4 to 6 hours of direct sun, or bright filtered light most of the day, and Bermuda needs full sun. With less light than that, no sod will thrive: use mulch, groundcover or a patio instead.
Year-round
The best windows for sod in DFW are spring and the stretch from late summer through fall, when warm-season grass is actively growing and roots in fastest. Summer works with a lot of water, and winter works only with care, because sod laid after the first freeze may not root until spring. Texas A&M says sod can go down nearly year-round, but it roots best while the grass is growing.
We deliver sod across Dallas–Fort Worth and can lay it with our own crew. Call or text and we will give you a free, written estimate.
