Warm-Season GrassesRelocate from Massachusetts to Florida, and along with a year-round tan, you’ll find a much different lawn outside your front door—it will even look different. Warm-season grasses vary in appearance from species to species far more than cool-season grasses do. Southern grass species range from mat-forming broad-leafed types, to specimens that more closely resemble their northern cousins. This gives the southern homeowner in search of a new turfgrass a wealth of choices.
Appearances aside, the warm-season grasses share a whole slew of characteristics, the traits that fundamentally separate them from cool-season species. Chief among these are growth periods.
As far as warm-season lawns are concerned, the hotter the better. They grow most actively when the temperature is above 80°F, and will keep growing strong right into triple-digit temperatures. This group of grasses basically has an on–off switch: they start growing when the weather gets hot in early summer, and shut down at the first sign of frost in late fall, after which they go completely dormant until late spring.
Unlike their cool-season counterparts, warm-season lawns are usually comprised of a single species of grass. And because of the way they grow, these species are usually planted as sod or plugs, while new cold-season lawns can easily be seeded. The most common warm-season grasses are Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass, both of which are disease-resistant, and low growing. This limits the amount of mowing you need to do—a big plus when it’s hot outside.
Transition Grasses 
As you can see on the map on page 34, some areas of the country can’t be neatly classified as cool or warm. They’re actually a little bit of both. Homes in these transitional areas generally call for very rugged and adaptable lawns that can potentially survive both steaming hot summers and frigid snowy winters. The best transition grasses are actually native grasses that once grew wild on the plains of the Midwest. These include buffalograss and Blue Grama.
A durable and low-maintenance choice, St. Augustine grass can be found throughout most warmer climates, especially in the deep south in the United States.