That is an excellent question. And this is a perfect place to comment on the inadequacy of the USDA zone system for telling us about your situation. Here is an image of USDA Zone 7. Zone 7A is the golden color and 7B is the tan color.

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The hardiness zones have everything to do with winter low temperatures and nothing to do with summer high temperatures. To pick a grass requires knowledge of both along with your soil type. If you lived in the part of Zone 7 in Central Texas, then bermuda or possibly St Augustine would be a good answer for your situation. If you live in the part of Zone 7 in Massachusetts or in Washington, then bermuda would be out of the question. We need to know where you live at least to the ZIP code level of resolution. Most of us are little familiar with the soils around the country so we aren't going to ask for a soil test right away. For example we know that Texas soils are alkaline, most soils east of the Mississippi River are getting to be acidic, Florida has a lot of sand, and a lot of soils can act like clay but not have much clay in them. For your case, I promise if you tell us what town you live in we will not come visit you.

Back to the excellent question. We really need to know where you live to give you a good answer. If you can grow bentgrass, then try that. If you can't then probably bermuda will work. Creeping bent can be a little on the yellowish side so maybe there is a better turf type of bentgrass. If you are on the West Coast, then rye. If you grow bermuda be sure to get a sod type and not a seeded type. The seeded varieties and the common bermuda put up seed heads that will work opposite of your wishes. They make the grass look shaggy instead of lush. Clover looks lush.

Wow thanks for the great reply.

My zip code is 29720, Lancaster, SC.

Our soil is a somewhat sandy clay and unfortunately varies a little bit throughout the lawn. I did have a soil test performed about 2 years ago and the soil was acidic, about 5.5. It was also lacking pretty much most nutrients. I had several truckloads of top soil brought in and added a lot of lime. I have not had the soil tested since then.

All of the lawn sees full sun for at least part of the day, and half of the lawn gets full sun from about 10AM-sunset. I've had the hardest time in that area since it gets baked all day.

As far as grass, I'd prefer to not use Bermuda.. I guess being brought up by a man who HATED Bermuda and always went with Fescue...combined with fighting wild Bermuda in my own lawn the past 3 years (as I was trying to grow TTTF) has jaded me against Bermuda.

That being said, I would consider Bermuda if it's the best choice. I don't like how Bermuda is so darn tough and grows anywhere. (Flower beds, expansion joints in driveway, etc.)

I don't have to have "the best" lawn in town and it doesn't need to be perfectly manicured. That was the main reason I went with clover, because it seems to be lower maintenance. Just want something that looks good, goes well with clover, and grows about the same height as clover (so I don't have to mow as often).

Thank you!

Sorry, checked the old soil test report and it showed a pH of 5.8, not 5.5

Out of curiosity, why not just have a clover lawn? Clover spreads and requires very little water and no fertilizer, so you could use it without any grass if you wanted.

Just to add to David's point about the zones, if you notice in Utah, there's a stripe of zone 7 in the southern part of the state and another splotch near the lake in the northern part of the state. It's snowing today in the northern part of the state.

Don't know the whereabouts you got the map from but it certainly isn't very good for showing 'other' 7's areas.
For instance, many areas that border large bodies of water have higher zones -- thus lower Michigan, upstate New York, and even southern western Ontario Province are zone 7.
One can paint such zones throughout the country where water makes a statement.

Its true that clover can make a lawn....but it isn't grass.
Clover will stain so if there are young'uns romping on it, expect your laundry bill to go up.
While clover can indeed need no fertilizer....it fixes nitrogen right out of the air, and can for that reason, feed other nearby soils. But it spreads, will take over a lawn, pushing out native grass. If it borders a neighbor, be sure to advise him that you are growing something that stays green, puts up with doggie urine, needs far less watering, far less mowing but ....he should plan on having an influx of the clover himself....by way of your generosity.

Here is more on clover lawns.

Thanks for all the replies.

I have read on several sites that a 100% clover lawn does not work out well and that clover will usually "thin out" to an equilibrium of anywhere from 40%-60% of the total lawn.

Those sites recommend mixing a grass like fescue, etc. with clover.

I know clover stains, I know it attracts bees and I know it isn't as rugged as grass...and I am fine with all of those!

I would just like to know what grass would be best to mix with clover in my neck of the woods where it gets hot and dry in the summer.

Thank you!

Off the top of my head, take a look at Marathon. Marathon is a tall fescue blend that is used often in Southern California. There are three blends with the Marathon name, so you would need to decide which one is best for you. They all contain semi-dwarf or dwarf cultivars, so it would probably work well with clover, and require less mowing. The only thing is you would be well advised to plant it in early fall.

http://esoils.com/seedfertilizer.html

I've been replacing my front and back lawn with White Dutch clover, because I like the look and the ease of care, I mow every other week, the only time it grows fast is after a good rain,its mixed with a fescue grass,I don't mind the bees and my neighbor I'm not worried about there lawns are weeds any how.by the time I'm done I should have about 80% clover lawn

gardenbear1, would you mind posting some pictures of your lawn? Many people write in here curious about alternatives to traditional lawns and would like to see what the clover alternative looks like. If you could take pix before and after mowing that would be really helpful.

I'll take pictures in the morning before I mow and after, there are still some weeds coming up, but as the clover grows it chokes out the weeds

First to bpgreen question why not all clover lawn.clover won't stand to a lot of foot traffic by its self, when you have kids playing on it it has to take lots of abuse,but mix with other types of grass it will hold help very well,if you have a female dog that pees on you lawn you will end up with brown spots with clover it won't happen,that's why I started using clover and now I like the look of it and you can say I've gone green,I never have to feed it or bag the cuttings,its taken 9 years to get it to look like a lawn I started with a sand pit and lots of weeks, after dumping tons of top soil I now have a very green lawn.its hard to tell from the pictures before and after if the lawn needs or been cut, I cut it just last week so it really didn't need to be mowed thats why I like it

lawn before mowing

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new lawn coming up first mowing at 3 weeks
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after mowing
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back yard 9 years ago
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