A Lawn--Is it Really Worth It?

Anyone who's every had a yard to maintain knows how hard it is during the late spring and summer months when grasses begin growing like mad. When I had a lot of shade, I used to yearn for some sun so the flowers would bloom and thrive. Now that I do, it has become painfully obvious that with lots of sunshine also come a lot of problems.

http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/low-maintenance-lawn.html
If you have a fairly large lawn you know that weeds just love sunshine and that getting rid of them is almost a constant struggle. And even the turf grass that can be so lovely requires regular mowing once every ten days or even a week. Say you're willing to do the mowing and put down regular weed killer and fertilizer. If you have neighbors nearby who don't care for their lawns, all this work can be an uphill battle. When neighbors don't kill their weeds and take care of their lawns, all those seeds from their weeds and unwanted grasses will just blow into your yard, starting a whole new batch of problems for you. It can be frustrating, to say the least. What can be done to help keep a yard that's as low maintenance as possible and still very lovely?

The first thing to think about is the type of grass that requires the least maintenance. What grasses are best for what zones? There are some grasses that are very high maintenance. Unfortunately one of them is Bermuda. Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and Tall Fescue are quite high maintenance, needing frequent watering and mowing. Anyone making plans to return their lawns should absolutely consider planting Zoysia or Buffalograss. Buffalograss has a fine blade, requires very little watering and only has to be mowed much less often. Zoysia is really fantastic. It doesn't have to be mowed as often as Bermuda or Fescue, and when it spreads it forms a very dense carpet that is weed resistant and quite pretty.
http://www.stockseed.com/buffalograsses_turfgrass_maint_comp_chart.asp