World Grass Guide
Japanese, cool-season, warm-season — pick by climate and sun, with care notes for each.
Fine fescue (red fescue)
Needle-fine blades and the best shade tolerance of the cool-season grasses. It gets by on little fertiliser or water, but does not take traffic — best under trees and in spots nobody walks on.
Tall fescue
Deep-rooted and, for a cool-season grass, comparatively tolerant of summer heat and drought. The blade is coarse, but it handles traffic with little care, so it is common on school grounds and riverbanks. Often still sold under the older name Festuca arundinacea.
Bahiagrass
Deep-rooted and content on poor, dry soil. Cheap to establish from seed, but it throws seed heads readily, so it looks unkempt if left uncut. Suited to slopes and low-input greening.
Centipedegrass
Slow-growing and near-indifferent to fertiliser — its selling point is simply how little it asks for. Good where you want to mow rarely. Poor under traffic and in cold.
Noshiba (Japanese lawngrass)
The native zoysia found on riverbanks, parks and embankments across Japan. The blade is coarse, but it takes heavy traffic and cold well and asks for very little care — the default choice for greening a large area cheaply.
Oba-korai (broad-leaf Manila grass)
A broader-bladed Korai selection chosen for toughness over fineness. A good fit for public green space, or any garden where durability matters more than a manicured look.
TM9 (low-maintenance Korai)
A Korai cultivar selected for slow vertical growth. It looks like ordinary Korai but needs far fewer cuts through the season — aimed at households that want less mowing.