The Best Lawn for Your Yard

July 28, 2008— -- With the scorching summer showing no signs of letting up, Sam Champion shared a few tips on how to make your lawn a little more drought-resistant.

First and foremost there are different varieties of grass suited for different geographical areas. Sodfather.com a Web site that also has some great planting tips, provided four sod samples for a particular area to show the wealth of turf conducive to each climate.

For figuring out which area you live in, the United States is helpfully broken into numbered climate zones that classify what plant life will thrive where. If your lawn has been looking unhealthy and is still requiring more than one inch of water per week, it is probably not the right grass for your zone.

"GMA" focused on zones 8 and 9, the southeastern zones, showing Augustine, Empire Zoysia and Bermuda grass as good options for these areas. Platinum TE, a new kind of grass that thrives on salt water, is also being used in these zones by golf courses and corporations.

It is a good idea to check out which climate zone you live in and from there plant your grass accordingly. Zones as well as other lawn tips can be found at WalterReeves.com, a site with tips from the gardening mastermind Walter Reeves.

Another healthy-lawn tip to consider is keeping the height of your grass a little higher than normal. This works both to choke out weeds and to keep the lawn a little tougher in case of drought. With a higher lawn, the grass is more capable of getting a good root growth.

No matter what area of the country you live in there are great lawn alternatives. The important thing is finding the right match.