Greater Triangle Service Area
and Nearby Communities

About Our Grasses

These are the grasses on our sod delivery menu and in the yard estimator. Quick read on each one—nothing here replaces walking your lot, but it beats guessing from a product name alone.

Fescue (Pennington Signature)

Pennington Signature — tall fescue blend

Cool-season workhorse. Handles part shade better than Bermuda or zoysia, and stays greener in winter when warm-season lawns go dormant.

What the label pushes

  • Bags and sell sheets push color, disease resistance, and traffic tolerance versus old contractor mixes.
  • Blends mix a few cultivars so one weak variety does not tank the whole lawn.
  • Some ads claim less water than “ordinary” grass—only true if irrigation actually hits every zone and you do not push heavy nitrogen into summer.

When it makes sense here

  • Shade from oaks or the north side of the house? Fescue is usually the first thing to try.
  • Does not run underground the way Bermuda does, so it is less likely to invade beds if you edge.

Where it fights you

  • Full sun in August is hard on any cool-season grass. Water evenly; hot corners show mistakes first.
  • Big spring nitrogen flushes look great for a week, then summer disease and drought bite harder.

Open the matching tab in the grass guide → · Sod order

Bermuda (Tifway 419)

Tifway 419 — hybrid bermudagrass

Hybrid Bermuda built for sun and heat—tight, fine-bladed, and quick to repair if it gets torn up.

What the label pushes

  • Marketing leans on color, density, and lateral spread after wear.
  • Sold as sod or sprigs, not seed off the rack, so the lawn looks even once it fills in.
  • Nobody sells 419 for shade. Full sun is the deal.

When it makes sense here

  • Lots of sun and kids or dogs? 419 is hard to beat for a durable summer lawn.
  • If you like mowing and keeping edges sharp, it can look sharp all season.

Where it fights you

  • Tree canopy or narrow side yards: plan a different grass or a mulch strip.
  • Winter brown is normal. It will creep into mulch if you never edge.

Open the matching tab in the grass guide → · Sod order

Centipede (Common)

Common centipedegrass

Warm-season grass with a lighter touch—slower growth, less nitrogen hunger than Bermuda, common on sunny Southeastern lawns.

What the label pushes

  • Often pitched as low-maintenance: fewer cuts, less bag fertilizer.
  • Heat-tolerant once rooted, but “drought tolerant” still means you water on a schedule, not never.
  • Color runs apple-green, not deep blue-green.

When it makes sense here

  • Good when you want warm-season turf without chasing weekly dark-green flushes.
  • Looks best if you resist the urge to feed it like Bermuda.

Where it fights you

  • Still needs real sun and working sprinklers.
  • Wet clay that never dries out is trouble—fix drainage before swapping cultivars.

Open the matching tab in the grass guide → · Sod order

Zoysia (Compadre)

Compadre — zoysia japonica type

Medium-bladed zoysia: dense underfoot, handles heat, a bit quicker to establish than fine Zeon (still slower than Bermuda).

What the label pushes

  • Distributor sheets talk drought tolerance, cold tolerance for a zoysia, and sun.
  • Texture is “medium”—soft lawn look without the fussiest fine-blade maintenance.
  • First year is still water and patience; zoysia is never Bermuda-fast.

When it makes sense here

  • Want zoysia feel without Zeon pricing or Zeon crawl speed? Compadre is the usual middle ground.
  • Typical sunny Raleigh-Durham lots do fine if irrigation matches the footprint.

Where it fights you

  • Deep shade still wins against zoysia.
  • Costs more than 419 on the pallet—price material before you commit.

Open the matching tab in the grass guide → · Sod order

Zoysia (Zeon)

Zeon® — fine-bladed zoysia matrella

Premium fine zoysia—soft, dark, and picky about even water the first summer. Budget and patience matter.

What the label pushes

  • Fine blade, rich color, “more shade than most zoysias”—still not a shade lawn in heavy tree cover.
  • Less thatch talk versus older zoysias; mower needs to be sharp and height sensible.
  • Premium price; the pitch is golf-course adjacent, but your irrigation clock still runs the show.

When it makes sense here

  • When money and setup are right, Zeon looks and feels like a finished landscape lawn.
  • Pick it if texture matters more than filling in fast year one.

Where it fights you

  • Pallet cost is up there—measure twice.
  • Seams and edges dry first; fine blades show uneven watering right away.

Open the matching tab in the grass guide → · Sod order

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