How do I figure out what kind of grass I have?
Lawn care and patching bare spots require knowing your specific grass species, but visual similarities between desirable turf and invasive weeds make it difficult to tell them apart. Guessing wrong leads to using the wrong maintenance habits or buying incompatible seed for repairs.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1guessing the grass type
- 2pulling the unknown grass out manually to inspect it
- 3consulting AI tools like Gemini for identification
- 4Pulling them out by hand and tossing in grass seed
- 5Using lawn identification mobile apps
- 6Asking online communities for visual identification based on photos
- 7reading up on different types of grass
- 8comparing current lawn to neighbors' lawns
- 9Digging it up
- 10Using broad spectrum herbicide
- 11Replanting
- 12using Kentucky bluegrass
- 13Posting photos of the lawn on online forums to ask other users for identification.
- 14Suspecting the straw used for covering seeds is the source of the unwanted grass
- 15Consulting online guides
- 16Guessing whether to seed in fall or spring
- 17buying random bags from Home Depot over the year
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I can't seem to identify what I have. Could I get some help and guidance on what to do about this?”source ↗
“I want nice, lush green uniform grass. This feels chaotic.”source ↗
“Help me figure out what kind of grass I have please!”source ↗
“I can’t figure it out from the online guides.”source ↗
“I’ve got patches of thick bladed grass which stands out, not sure if it’s just weed or if it’s where I’ve used cheap grass seed in the past and not used the same seed all over?”source ↗
“Wondering if I am mowing all weeds (crab grass / signal grass) or if this is something else.”source ↗
“I have no idea what kind of seed to use in Calgary.”source ↗
“Should I do this before or after aeration?”source ↗
“if someone could recommend a schedule/timeline of how to get these things done?”source ↗
“trying to identify my grass so I know how to take care of it and what to plant”source ↗
“What I’m looking for is something I can plant that will be good for my small dogs, relatively low maintenance, and won’t die if I keep it mowed an inch or less high.”source ↗
“Is this one of the grass type in blue resilience or an unwanted grass?”source ↗
“I want to know how to properly care for this grass, but I have no idea what it is.”source ↗
“Some years it looks dead, some years it's patchy and this year it looks like this.”source ↗
“Doesn’t look like st Augustine. It is torpedo grass.”source ↗
“Looks like St Aug but that’s not a seed head”source ↗
“Then what is it?”source ↗
“Interested if anyone can ID as well”source ↗
“In CT and have what looks to be a mix of grass. I had the lawn aerated and over seeded a couple weeks ago and because of that the grass has gotten longer and it’s become very clear that we have multiple types of grass.”source ↗
“What are these two different grasses. Trying to figure out which is which so I can try to make it consistent over the next years”source ↗
“Following as I’m in same situation”source ↗
“Can anyone identify what type of grass I have from these pics?”source ↗
“I’ve had a bunch of this growing in my yard after seeding resilience 2, not sure what it is.”source ↗
“New home owner and I’m trying to identify the lawn grass I have.”source ↗
“is this normal st Augustine or is this an invasive weed?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Why is green growth showing up so fast after seeding?
- 3Why is it so hard to figure out why my grass is dying?
- 6How do I identify strange white patches and spiraled growths on my lawn?
- 69Why is my overseeding failing to grow?
- 4What order should I do lawn care tasks like aeration and seeding?
- 4What is an effective pre-emergent herbicide for lawns?