World Grass Guide
Japanese, cool-season, warm-season — pick by climate and sun, with care notes for each.
Creeping bentgrass
The only practical turf that can be mown down to a few millimetres, which is why it carpets golf greens. Unmatched in density and finish — at the price of daily mowing, watering and disease control. Not a home lawn grass.
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.
Kentucky bluegrass
Known for its deep blue-green colour and for creeping rhizomes that let it repair its own damage. Very cold-hardy, but unhappy in hot humid summers — in Japan it suits cooler regions.
Perennial ryegrass
The fastest grass to green up from seed, and tough under foot — hence its use on school grounds and sports fields. It struggles in Japanese summers, so it is also sown over warm-season turf for winter colour.
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.