Bermuda Grass vs Fescue: The Call for 20 Transition-Zone Cities

For bermuda grass vs fescue, the deciding numbers are local. We pulled NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 climate normals for 20 cities across the transition zone and set two counts side by side: the hot days and warm nights that thin tall fescue, and the hard-freeze nights that kill bermudagrass. Next to each city is what that state’s own extension service recommends, from NC State to University of Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Six of the 20 cities average 5 or more nights a year at 10°F or colder, six average 60 or more hot days or warm nights, and Wichita is on both lists. Find your city, then let the sun on the actual patch of ground settle it.

Start with your city: the heat count and the cold count

Tall fescue fails in summer. NC State’s tall fescue calendar (AG-367) says brown patch develops above 85°F with high humidity and turns extremely severe when evenings stay above 68°F, and gray leaf spot takes over when nights stay above 70°F, mostly July to October. Bermudagrass fails in winter: the University of Kentucky (AGR-52) warns every bermudagrass variety can winterkill when the temperature drops below 15°F with little or no snow cover. The table counts both, per average year.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

City (NOAA station)	Days 90°F or hotter	Nights above 70°F	Nights 10°F or colder	January normal low	Our flag	State extension call	Our read
Asheville, NC	9.1	1.2	2	28.6°F	Neither	NC State: Table 9-1 lists no bermudagrass for the Mountains-Foothills	Tall fescue
Raleigh, NC	52.4	37.2	0.6	31.8°F	Neither	NC State: both listed for the Piedmont; tall fescue best adapted to mountains and piedmont	Either; sun decides
Charlotte, NC	49.2	35.4	0.5	31.8°F	Neither	NC State: both listed for the Piedmont	Either; sun decides
Greensboro, NC	33.3	27.6	1	30.1°F	Neither	NC State: both listed for the Piedmont	Either; sun decides
Roanoke, VA	30.4	15.8	1.6	28.7°F	Neither	Virginia Tech SPES-748: any cool-season grass in the mountain regions	Tall fescue
Richmond, VA	44.9	35.6	1.2	28.8°F	Neither	Virginia Tech SPES-748: tall fescue and cold-tolerant bermudagrass both listed for the Southern Piedmont	Either; sun decides
Norfolk, VA	36.2	66.2	0.2	33.6°F	Heat	Virginia Tech SPES-748: tall fescue and all four warm-season grasses used on the Coastal Plain	Either; fescue faces brown patch
Knoxville, TN	36.5	23.6	1.4	30.0°F	Neither	UT PB1935: tall fescue for most home lawns in East and Middle Tennessee	Tall fescue
Nashville, TN	54.1	42.9	1.8	30.1°F	Neither	UT PB1935: tall fescue for most Middle Tennessee lawns; bermudagrass for full-sun lawns	Either; sun decides
Memphis, TN	72.1	80.1	0.6	33.3°F	Heat	UT PB1935: bermudagrass for full-sun lawns in Tennessee	Bermuda in sun
Lexington, KY	25.1	15.4	7	25.4°F	Cold	UK AGR-52: tall fescue adapted statewide; bermudagrass winterkill risk below 15°F	Tall fescue
Louisville, KY	42.7	44.6	4.1	27.8°F	Neither	UK AGR-52: bermudagrass has its best chance in Western Kentucky	Tall fescue
Tulsa, OK	73.9	63.6	2.6	28.0°F	Heat	OSU HLA-6418: bermudagrass best adapted for full sun; tall fescue for shaded or irrigated sites	Bermuda in sun
Oklahoma City, OK	73.4	48.9	1.9	27.0°F	Heat	OSU HLA-6418: same statewide split	Bermuda in sun
Wichita, KS	64.9	40.6	7.7	22.5°F	Heat and cold	K-State MF2032: seeded bermudagrass works well in southern Kansas	Split by sun
Topeka, KS	49.6	31.4	13.3	20.0°F	Cold	K-State MF2032: Kansas is the northern edge for bermudagrass; tall fescue most widely adapted	Tall fescue
Kansas City, MO	36.3	27.9	14.7	19.5°F	Cold	MU IPM: tall fescue the most appropriate lawn species in Missouri	Tall fescue
St. Louis, MO	47.1	49.9	6.9	23.8°F	Cold	MU IPM: tall fescue the most appropriate and popular lawn species in Missouri	Tall fescue
Springfield, MO	39.7	27.6	7.7	24.2°F	Cold	MU IPM: same statewide call	Tall fescue
Little Rock, AR	76.4	67.2	0.3	30.9°F	Heat	U. of Arkansas FSA2112: bermudagrass adapted to the entire state, needs 6 hours of sun	Bermuda in sun

1. Little Rock, AR76.40
2. Tulsa, OK73.90
3. Oklahoma City, OK73.40
4. Memphis, TN72.10
5. Wichita, KS64.90
6. Nashville, TN54.10
7. Raleigh, NC52.40
8. Topeka, KS49.60
9. Charlotte, NC49.20
10. St. Louis, MO47.10
11. Richmond, VA44.90
12. Louisville, KY42.70
13. Springfield, MO39.70
14. Knoxville, TN36.50
15. Kansas City, MO36.30
16. Norfolk, VA36.20
17. Greensboro, NC33.30
18. Roanoke, VA30.40
19. Lexington, KY25.10
20. Asheville, NC9.10

Source: NOAA NCEI 1991 to 2020 normals, airport stations Nights above 70 F = 365.25 minus normal nights at or below 70 F. NC State AG-367 links brown patch to evenings above 68 F and gray leaf spot to nights above 70 F.

Show the numbers

	Days 90 F or hotter	Nights above 70 F
Little Rock, AR	76.40	67.20
Tulsa, OK	73.90	63.60
Oklahoma City, OK	73.40	48.90
Memphis, TN	72.10	80.10
Wichita, KS	64.90	40.60
Nashville, TN	54.10	42.90
Raleigh, NC	52.40	37.20
Topeka, KS	49.60	31.40
Charlotte, NC	49.20	35.40
St. Louis, MO	47.10	49.90
Richmond, VA	44.90	35.60
Louisville, KY	42.70	44.60
Springfield, MO	39.70	27.60
Knoxville, TN	36.50	23.60
Kansas City, MO	36.30	27.90
Norfolk, VA	36.20	66.20
Greensboro, NC	33.30	27.60
Roanoke, VA	30.40	15.80
Lexington, KY	25.10	15.40
Asheville, NC	9.10	1.20

Memphis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Little Rock clear 72 hot days a year, and Memphis averages 80 nights that never cool below 70°F: that is brown patch weather for most of the summer. Norfolk has only 36 hot days but 66 warm nights; Virginia Tech notes the Atlantic moderates its Coastal Plain climate. Asheville, at 9 hot days and 1 warm night, fits NC State’s Table 9-1, which lists tall fescue for the Mountains-Foothills region and no bermudagrass at all.

1. Kansas City, MO14.70
2. Topeka, KS13.30
3. Wichita, KS7.70
4. Springfield, MO7.70
5. Lexington, KY7
6. St. Louis, MO6.90
7. Louisville, KY4.10
8. Tulsa, OK2.60
9. Asheville, NC2
10. Oklahoma City, OK1.90
11. Nashville, TN1.80
12. Roanoke, VA1.60
13. Knoxville, TN1.40
14. Richmond, VA1.20
15. Greensboro, NC1
16. Raleigh, NC0.60
17. Memphis, TN0.60
18. Charlotte, NC0.50
19. Little Rock, AR0.30
20. Norfolk, VA0.20

Source: NOAA NCEI 1991 to 2020 normals, airport stations Every night counted is below the 15 F line at which UK AGR-52 says any bermudagrass can winterkill without snow cover.

Show the numbers

	Nights at 10 F or colder	Nights at 0 F or colder
Kansas City, MO	14.70	3.80
Topeka, KS	13.30	2.70
Wichita, KS	7.70	0.70
Springfield, MO	7.70	1.40
Lexington, KY	7	0.90
St. Louis, MO	6.90	1
Louisville, KY	4.10	0.50
Tulsa, OK	2.60	0.20
Asheville, NC	2	0.20
Oklahoma City, OK	1.90	0.10
Nashville, TN	1.80	0.10
Roanoke, VA	1.60	0.20
Knoxville, TN	1.40	0.10
Richmond, VA	1.20	0.20
Greensboro, NC	1	0
Raleigh, NC	0.60	0
Memphis, TN	0.60	0
Charlotte, NC	0.50	0
Little Rock, AR	0.30	0
Norfolk, VA	0.20	0

The cold count splits the region on a line running roughly through Lexington, St. Louis and Wichita. Kansas City averages 14.7 nights at 10°F or colder and Topeka 13.3, against 0.6 in Raleigh and Memphis. K-State’s MF2032 calls Kansas the northern edge of bermudagrass country and says seeded types are less winter-hardy but work well in southern Kansas; University of Kentucky says bermudagrass has its best chance in Western Kentucky. If you still want bermuda north of that line, AGR-52 names the vegetative cultivars Latitude 36, Tahoma 31 and Northbridge and the seeded Monaco, Rio, Arden 15 and Yukon for Kentucky.

Wichita is the one city that trips both flags: 64.9 hot days and 7.7 hard-freeze nights. There, and in the 9 cities with neither flag, the climate counts alone do not pick a grass. University of Missouri’s Lee Miller calls tall fescue the most appropriate and popular lawn species statewide, while Arkansas’s FSA2112 says bermudagrass is adapted to the entire state. The state line matters less than the next question.

Then the spot: how many hours of direct sun it gets

Inside one yard, sun hours outrank climate. Mississippi State’s P2892 ranks bermudagrass as needing the most light of all maintained turfgrasses, with tall fescue near the shade-tolerant end, below only red fescue among the grasses it lists. The published hour cutoffs do not agree, and the gap matters if your lawn gets 6 or 7 hours.

Source	Bermudagrass needs	Tall fescue	What to do with it
Oklahoma State, HLA-6608	At least 8 hours of sunlight in the growing season	Less than 6 hours: use tall fescue (6 hours: zoysiagrass may work)	The strictest line. Use it for a new lawn you want dense
U. of Arkansas, FSA2112	Full sun, 6 hours a day	Grows with at least 4 hours of full sun or filtered pine shade	Bermuda at 6 to 8 hours will grow but thins first
UT, PB1935 (March 2026)	Low shade tolerance: 6 or more hours of direct sun	Full sun to moderate shade	Same 6-hour floor as Arkansas
Mississippi State, P2892	Most light of any maintained turfgrass; Celebration and TifGrand “by no means shade tolerant”	More disease in shade	Cultivar does not rescue a shady bermuda lawn
K-State, MF2032	Shade tolerance: poor	Shade tolerance: very good	Fescue is the shade grass of the pair

Count the hours, do not guess them. Oklahoma State tells readers to estimate the daily length of full sun over the area through the growing season; checking the spot every hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on a clear June day does that. A yard can split the difference: UT’s PB1935 suggests cool-season grass in shaded areas and warm-season grass in full sun on the same property. Expect a border war, though. Virginia Tech’s bermudagrass control guide says tall fescue mowed at 4 inches can completely kill bermudagrass without herbicide, while fescue kept at the low end of its height range lets bermuda hold on.

Then the job the lawn has to do

Once sun and climate leave both grasses standing, the job the lawn does separates them. NC State rates each on a 1 (very poor) to 6 (excellent) scale in Table 9-1, and the gaps are narrower than most comparisons suggest: one point on wear, one on drought, one on heat. The bigger differences are in recovery and in what the lawn looks like from November to March.

If the lawn has to	Pick	The number behind it	Source
Take dogs running laps, kids or a play area	Bermuda	Wear 6 vs 5; bermuda spreads by stolons and rhizomes and recovers rapidly, while tall fescue does not recover well from excessive wear and must be reseeded	NC State 9-1; NC State AG-431; AG-367
Go through summer without a sprinkler	Bermuda	Drought 6 vs 5; NC State says some tall fescue may be lost if a drought runs past 3 weeks	NC State
Stay green from November to March	Tall fescue	Bermuda is straw-brown from the first killing frost in October to mid-April in Kentucky, about 6 months	UK AGR-52
Grow under trees	Tall fescue	Shade 4 vs 1	NC State 9-1
Stay out of flower beds	Tall fescue	Fescue is a bunch grass; bermuda runners invade beds above and below ground	NC State AG-69; UK AGR-52
Look like a golf fairway	Bermuda	Mowed 0.75 to 2 inches vs 2.5 to 3.5 for fescue; below 1 inch needs a reel mower and level ground	NC State 9-1; AG-431
Survive a cold snap on an exposed slope	Tall fescue	Cold 5 vs 1 (common) or 2 (hybrid bermuda)	NC State 9-1

Water is where the two grasses trade places. Oklahoma State’s HLA-6419 recommends tall fescue for lightly shaded or irrigated sites and warns that fescue in full sun needs more frequent watering. UT’s PB1935 says most Tennessee lawns need no more than 1 inch a week in the hottest months, rain included, and many bermudagrass lawns do well on about 0.5 inch. If the lawn will not be watered in July and August, that 0.5-inch gap is the whole argument.

1. 1Does the spot get less than 6 hours of direct sun on a June day?

   YesTall fescue. Arkansas and Tennessee put bermuda at 6 hours minimum; Oklahoma State says 8.

   NoGo to the next question

2. 2Does your city average 5 or more nights a year at 10 F or colder (table above)?

   YesTall fescue, or a cold-hardy sod cultivar such as Latitude 36 or Tahoma 31 only in full sun.

   NoGo to the next question

3. 3Must it stay green from November to March?

   YesTall fescue. Bermuda is brown about 6 months in Kentucky.

   NoGo to the next question

4. 4Will dogs, kids or play wear paths into it every week?

   YesBermuda: it regrows into wear from runners; fescue must be reseeded.

   NoGo to the next question

5. 5Will you skip watering in July and August?

   YesBermuda. Some tall fescue is lost when drought passes 3 weeks.

   NoEither grass fits. Pick tall fescue for a 3.5 inch lawn fed in fall, or bermuda for a 1 to 2 inch lawn mowed often in summer.

Source: OSU HLA-6608; U. of Arkansas FSA2112; UK AGR-52; NC State Table 9-1

What each grass asks of you over 5 years, per 1,000 sq ft

The yearly work moves to different months rather than disappearing. Fescue’s work is in fall: seeding, feeding and patching. Bermuda’s is in summer: mowing low and often from green-up to frost. The table below uses the Piedmont rates from NC State and the July to September 2026 farm price of sod from USDA AMS; the 5-year column is our arithmetic.

Input	Tall fescue	Bermudagrass	5-year arithmetic	Source
Planting window (Piedmont)	Sept. 1 to 15	April to July	Fescue’s second-best window is mid-February to mid-March (AGR-52); late spring seedings seldom succeed	NC State Table 9-4; AGR-52
Seed to plant	6 lb	1 to 2 lb (common types only; hybrids are sod or sprigs)	Fescue takes 3 to 6 times more seed by weight	NC State Table 9-4
Sod, farm price, July to Sept. 2026	51.62¢ per sq ft national ($516)	55.29¢ national ($553); 47.12¢ South ($471)	Add $50 to $120 delivery at the reported 5 to 12¢ per sq ft	USDA AMS
Nitrogen a year	2 to 4 lb	4 to 4.5 lb common; 3 to 6 lb hybrid	Fescue 10 to 20 lb; common bermuda 20 to 22.5 lb	NC State Table 9-1
Patching thin areas	Reseed; it cannot spread. K-State: 3 to 5 lb for thin lawns, 6 to 8 lb for large dead areas	Fills gaps from runners	Fescue: 1 or 2 interseedings is 3 to 10 lb of seed (our assumption)	K-State MF736; UT PB1935
Mowing height	2.5 to 3.5 in; 3.5 in summer	1 to 2.5 in for most lawns	Fescue never below 2.5 in; bermuda below 1 in needs a reel mower	AG-367; AG-431
Peak mowing interval	Every 5 to 7 days, late spring	Twice a week in rapid growth	Peaks fall in different seasons	AG-367; FSA2112
When to feed	1 lb N in mid-September and again in November	First 0.5 to 1 lb N several weeks after full green-up, early April to May	Fescue is fed when bermuda is going dormant	AG-367; AG-431

Read the nitrogen row as a range, not a bill: at 2 to 4 lb a year, a 5,000 sq ft fescue lawn takes 50 to 100 lb of actual nitrogen over 5 years, and common bermuda 100 to 113 lb. The seed row cuts the other way. UT lists periodic interseeding among the limitations of cool-season lawns, because tall fescue thins from heat, drought or disease and cannot spread back. Our sod installation cost guide prices the labor side.

Switching a lawn from one grass to the other

Going from bermuda to fescue is the harder move: NC State says it takes several applications spaced 3 to 4 weeks apart to completely control bermudagrass. Virginia Tech’s glyphosate program sprays in late June or early July, sprays again 3 to 4 weeks later and seeds a week after that; its selective programs run 3 or more sprays and finish with fall seeding of tall fescue at the Sept. 1 to 15 Piedmont window. Product rates and waiting periods are in our guide to killing bermuda grass.

Going from fescue to bermuda means killing the fescue in spring and planting once the ground is warm, inside NC State’s April to July window; Kentucky’s AGR-52 narrows that to May and June. Our guides to killing grass before replanting and soil temperature for planting cover the timing.

This page is general information. Herbicide and fungicide rules vary by state and product; read and follow the label, which is the law for pesticide use.