Which grass do you choose?

I have emerald zoysia now and absolutely love it. Love walking in the yard barefoot. It'll probably be my grass of choice in any house I own, climate permitting.

It does grow fast though when it gets lots of water. I cut it once a week.

The palisade zoysia I have is as close to shade tolerant as st Augustine. Feels much better and better looking.

I’ve got 5 live oaks in my backyard that provide a near 100% canopy...St. Aug is basically my only option

Bermuda 419 or tiftuf

my neighbor has zoyisa and it's awesome. I have st augustine and hate it. not the grass itself but it's more susceptible to weeds,etc. the zoyisa is lush green, soft,etc.

bermuda is good because you can spray anything on it to kill weeds

I like my Palisades Zoysia that I put down with sod. It has a great color (when watered) and dense, nice texture.

Now if I could just figure out how to get it to grow/spread to rest of the lawn.

It depends how into lawn care you are. Centipede is the lazy mans grass and grows slow compared to the rest. St Aug likes to be cut high around 2” and is much thicker than centipede. I’ve had all three and now have Empire Zoysia which is super thick and likes to be cut low. It can be maintained higher, but can also go super low to the point of looking like a golf course.

What kind of mower do you have or intend to get? Rotary or reel mower also depends on how you want your lawn to look. Do you plan to fertilize, use pre/post emergent and go down that rabbit hole or do you want to only mow once a week to keep it nice enough? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before deciding what kind of grass you want. Where are you located? Soil acidity also plays a role on what type of grass you should get. While this can be adjusted you will have to keep up with it to maintain it.

Do you plan to bag or mulch your grass? Since this is my first year with Empire Zoysia I’m learning quickly that unless I want to mow every other day I should start bagging as it is so thick this will lead to thatch build up. I read that zoysia was a kind of slow grower, but mine is growing like crazy. I mow at least two times a week. I’ve been enjoying getting into more serious lawn care, but I can see where a lot of people aren’t and just want to maintain.

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bermuda is good because you can spray anything on it to kill weeds

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I just had to do the same thing and this is why I went with a hybrid Bermuda. I hydroseeded with a strain called Daniela Bermuda on June 11 and I have already had to cut it once. It came up in no time. I use a good bit of herbicide on my yard so I wanted something that I wouldn’t have to worry about.

If you have plenty of sunshine, go with a hybrid bermuda. It's tough as hell and repairs itself quickly.

If you have some shade, go with zoysia.