The best time of year to plant grass seeds in North Carolina depends upon whether the grass is a warm- or cool-season grass. Cool-season grass seeds grow best if planted from mid-August to mid-October, while warm-season grass seeds are best planted from March through July.
Planting cool-season grass seeds in late summer gives the seeds a chance to take root before their prime growing season. Cool-season grasses grow during the spring and fall, going dormant in the summer and winter. These grasses include tall fescue, bluegrass, turf type fescue and perennial ryegrass.
Warm-season grass seeds must have time to become established before hot weather. Common and hybrid bermuda, centipede, zoysia and St. Augustine are all warm-season grasses.
