In the transitional zone, roughly a hundred mile region astride a line between Norfolk, Virginia and Tulsa, Oklahoma between the northern and the southern regions of this country, choosing lawn grass is a bit more complicated. There is no simple dividing line between the North and the South, above which only cool weather grasses do best and below which warm weather grasses do best. Depending on the particular area within this fuzzy transitional belt that spans the country [see map] one or the other may be most appropriate.
A general guideline is that cool-season varieties are likely to be better for the higher elevations and mountainous areas in this zone and warm-season southern grasses are better for lower elevations. The grass choice that works pretty well in both situations is turftype tall fescue. It can handle the heat of the lower regions in the transitional area.
Talk with experienced neighbors and with staff in a local garden center, home center, or hardware store. After years of selling quality grass seed, they will know whether your particular property will do best with the northern grasses described above, or more appropriately should have the southern grasses such as Bermudagrass, St. Augustine grass, centipede grass, zoysia and others.
