USDA Hardiness Zone · 20° to 30°F
Lawn care in USDA zone 9
Subtropical: minimal winter dormancy in coastal areas, mild central-Florida and Gulf Coast summers extending well into October. St. Augustine and bermuda are dominant; zoysia and centipede common. Year-round irrigation usually required in the drier parts (central California, Phoenix). Chinch bug and grub pressure highest of any zone.
Example metros: Houston TX · Orlando FL · New Orleans LA · Sacramento CA
Lawn grasses that grow here
5 grass types survive zone 9. Pick yours for the 12-month schedule.
Bermuda Grass
warm-seasonBermuda is the workhorse warm-season lawn of the South: heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant, traffic-tolerant, and aggressively self-repairing via both stolons and rhizomes.
Zoysia
warm-seasonZoysia is the premium warm-season grass: denser, more shade-tolerant, and more cold-hardy than bermuda, but slower to establish and slower to recover from damage.
St. Augustine
warm-seasonSt.
Centipede
warm-seasonCentipede is the "lazy lawn" of the Coastal Plain South: low-fertility, low-mow, slow-growing, light-green.
Bahia
warm-seasonBahia is a tough, drought-tolerant warm-season grass dominant on roadsides and unirrigated rural lawns through Florida and the Gulf Coast.