10 Types of Grass That Grows in Shade (Under Trees)

If you have ever tried to grow a thick, green lawn under a canopy of trees, you already know the frustration. The grass thins out. Bare patches appear. No matter how much you water or fertilize, something just does not work. You are not alone in this struggle, and the problem is not your effort — it is your grass variety.

Trees compete with grass for water, nutrients, and sunlight. Dense-canopy trees such as oaks, maples, and beeches can reduce sunlight reaching the ground by as much as 80 to 95 percent. Most standard lawn grasses, including common Kentucky bluegrass and Bermuda grass, need full sun to thrive — typically six or more hours of direct sunlight daily. When they do not receive it, they slowly decline.

The solution is not to give up on having grass under your trees. The solution is to choose the right grass species — one that has adapted, over thousands of years, to survive and even flourish in low-light conditions.

This article covers ten types of grass that genuinely grow in shade, particularly under trees. For each variety, you will find key characteristics, shade tolerance levels, ideal growing conditions, and practical tips to help you make the right selection for your landscape.

What “Shade Tolerance” Really Means for Grass

Before diving into the list, it helps to understand what shade tolerance actually means in practical terms for turfgrass.

Shade tolerance refers to a grass plant’s ability to photosynthesize efficiently with limited light. Shade-tolerant grasses have typically evolved larger, wider leaf blades to capture more of the available light. They also tend to have shallower root systems that allow them to compete in the upper soil layers, where tree roots are active.

However, shade tolerance is not the same as shade preference. Even the most shade-tolerant grasses perform better with at least two to four hours of filtered or dappled sunlight per day. What separates them from sun-loving varieties is that they can survive and look reasonably good with far less light than the average lawn grass.

Agronomists and turfgrass scientists classify shade tolerance on a spectrum. Light shade refers to areas receiving filtered light for most of the day, such as under open-canopy trees. Moderate shade describes areas with two to four hours of direct sunlight. Dense shade refers to areas receiving less than two hours of direct sunlight, which is the most challenging environment for any grass species.

With that context in mind, here are ten grass types that stand out for their shade performance.

1. Fine Fescue (Festuca spp.)

Fine fescue is widely recognized as the most shade-tolerant group of cool-season grasses available to homeowners and turf managers. The group includes several closely related species: creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra), hard fescue (Festuca brevipila), chewings fescue (Festuca rubra subsp. commutata), sheep fescue (Festuca ovina), and slender creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra subsp. litoralis).

Shade Tolerance: High. Fine fescues can handle moderate to dense shade with as little as two to three hours of dappled sunlight per day.

Appearance: The blades are narrow, fine-textured, and dark green to blue-green in color. The lawn has a delicate, almost feathery appearance when well-maintained.

Climate Suitability: Cool-season grass; best suited to northern regions and transitional zones in the United States, Canada, and similar temperate climates in Europe.

Why It Works Under Trees: Fine fescues have a naturally deep root system that allows them to absorb moisture efficiently even in dry, root-competitive soil beneath trees. They are also notably drought-tolerant once established, which matters greatly in the dry summer understory of many trees.

Practical Tip: Fine fescues are often sold in shade-seed mixes blended with perennial ryegrass or Kentucky bluegrass. If your area is predominantly shaded, look for mixes that contain at least 70 percent fine fescue for best results.

2. Creeping Red Fescue (Festuca rubra)

Although creeping red fescue is technically a member of the fine fescue group, it deserves its own discussion because of its widespread availability and specific characteristics that make it exceptional for under-tree planting.

Shade Tolerance: High. Among the fine fescues, creeping red fescue is often cited as the top performer in shade, particularly under dense deciduous trees.

Appearance: It has fine, dark green blades with a semi-creeping growth habit. Unlike bunch-forming fescues, creeping red fescue spreads through short rhizomes, allowing it to fill in bare spots over time.

Climate Suitability: Cool-season grass; thrives in northern climates, but can adapt to the transition zone.

Why It Works Under Trees: Its rhizomatous spreading means it can gradually recover from damage caused by tree roots or fallen branches. It also tolerates the acidic soil that is common beneath many conifers and oaks.

Practical Tip: Creeping red fescue does not respond well to heavy foot traffic. Use it in areas under trees where people do not regularly walk, such as naturalized garden borders or ornamental under-planting zones.

3. Hard Fescue (Festuca brevipila)

Hard fescue is the low-maintenance champion of shade grasses. It is not as well-known as creeping red fescue, but among turf professionals, it has a strong following for difficult sites.

Shade Tolerance: High. Hard fescue manages well in moderate shade and is particularly noted for its performance in dry shade — arguably the toughest growing condition for any grass.

Appearance: Stiff, fine-textured blue-green blades that grow in a bunch-forming habit. The color tends to hold well even under stress.

Climate Suitability: Cool-season grass; best for northern and mountainous regions.

Why It Works Under Trees: Hard fescue is extremely low in nutrient requirements, which gives it a competitive advantage in root-dense soil beneath trees. Trees absorb significant quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil, leaving little for competing vegetation. Hard fescue manages to thrive where other grasses starve.

Practical Tip: Hard fescue rarely needs fertilization. Over-fertilizing it, particularly with nitrogen, can actually reduce its shade performance and encourage disease.

4. St. Augustine Grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum)

For homeowners in warmer southern climates, St. Augustine grass is arguably the best shade option available among warm-season grasses.

Shade Tolerance: Moderate to high for a warm-season grass. This is significant, because most warm-season grasses have very poor shade tolerance.

Appearance: Broad, coarse, dark green blades with a stoloniferous (surface-spreading) growth habit. It creates a dense, carpet-like lawn when healthy.

Climate Suitability: Warm-season grass; best suited to the Gulf Coast, Florida, coastal South Carolina and Georgia, Hawaii, and similar subtropical or tropical climates.

Why It Works Under Trees: St. Augustine grass has a naturally wide blade that captures available light efficiently. Its surface-spreading stolons can navigate around tree roots and establish in soil that many other warm-season grasses would struggle to colonize.

Practical Tip: The cultivar ‘Palmetto’ is generally acknowledged by turfgrass extension services as the best St. Augustine variety for shade. ‘Seville’ is another excellent shade-tolerant selection. Always choose shade-adapted cultivars rather than standard varieties when planting under trees.

5. Zoysia Grass (Zoysia spp.)

Zoysia is a popular warm-season grass known for its dense, weed-resistant turf and surprising shade tolerance compared to other warm-season species.

Shade Tolerance: Moderate. Zoysia performs reasonably well in light shade — areas receiving three to four hours of filtered sunlight — but struggles in deeper shade.

Appearance: Medium-textured, deep green blades that form a tight, dense lawn surface. Zoysia turns straw-colored during winter dormancy.

Climate Suitability: Warm-season grass; thrives in the transition zone and southern United States.

Why It Works Under Trees: Zoysia’s slow, deliberate growth makes it competitive in the low-resource environment beneath trees. Its fine to medium blades are efficient light-catchers, and its drought tolerance helps it manage the competitive root environment under large trees.

Practical Tip: Among Zoysia varieties, ‘Zeon’ and ‘Emerald’ are recognized as the most shade-tolerant. ‘Meyer’ Zoysia, while widely popular, has lower shade tolerance and is better reserved for sunnier areas of the lawn.

6. Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea)

Tall fescue occupies a useful middle ground between sun-loving turfgrasses and the more specialist fine fescues. It is not the best shade grass on this list, but its versatility makes it one of the most practical for homeowners who have a mix of sunny and shaded areas.

Shade Tolerance: Moderate. Tall fescue handles light to moderate shade, particularly under open-canopy deciduous trees that allow filtered light through.

Appearance: Coarser blades than fine fescue, medium to dark green, with a clump-forming growth habit in older varieties. Modern improved cultivars tend to be finer-textured.

Climate Suitability: Cool-season grass with better heat tolerance than most. Works well in the transition zone and the upper South.

Why It Works Under Trees: Tall fescue has a deep root system — one of the deepest of any common turfgrass — which allows it to extract water from soil layers below the dense mat of shallow tree roots. It also tolerates dry soil conditions much better than Kentucky bluegrass, making it less vulnerable in the competitive under-tree environment.

Practical Tip: Tall fescue is a bunching grass and does not spread to fill bare spots on its own. Overseed thin areas annually in the fall for cool-season regions to maintain a continuous cover.

7. Ryegrass (Lolium perenne — Perennial Ryegrass)

Perennial ryegrass is commonly used in shade-seed mixes because of its fast germination and reasonable performance in lightly shaded conditions.

Shade Tolerance: Low to moderate. Perennial ryegrass is not a shade specialist, but it outperforms Kentucky bluegrass in light shade. It does well under trees with relatively open canopies.

Appearance: Fine to medium texture, bright to dark green, shiny leaf blades. It creates a very attractive lawn and is often used for high-visibility turf areas.

Climate Suitability: Cool-season grass; best in northern regions and mild coastal climates.

Why It Works Under Trees (in light shade): Perennial ryegrass establishes very quickly — often showing visible germination within five to seven days of seeding. This rapid establishment allows it to colonize soil before the competing tree roots fully exploit the moisture and nutrients available in the upper soil horizon.

Practical Tip: Do not rely on perennial ryegrass alone for heavily shaded areas. Use it as a component in a shade mix with fine fescues. In very deep shade, it will thin out and eventually disappear, leaving only the fescues.

8. Centipede Grass (Eremochloa ophiuroides)

Centipede grass is sometimes overlooked in discussions of shade tolerance, but it has earned respect among southeastern U.S. lawn managers as a reliable low-maintenance option that handles light shade acceptably.

Shade Tolerance: Low to moderate. Centipede grass tolerates light shade under open trees but does not perform well in deeper shade.

Appearance: Medium texture, apple-green color, spreading via stolons. The color is distinctively lighter than most warm-season grasses, which some homeowners find attractive.

Climate Suitability: Warm-season grass; well-adapted to the southeastern United States, particularly the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama.

Why It Works Under Trees: Centipede grass is inherently adapted to low-fertility, acidic soils — conditions that are common beneath mature hardwood trees like oaks. Its modest nutrient requirements mean it does not need what the trees are consuming from the soil.

Practical Tip: Centipede grass is sensitive to high-pH soils. If you have limey soil, amend it with sulfur before planting centipede grass under trees. Avoid planting it under dense conifers, where shade levels often exceed its tolerance threshold.

9. Rough Bluegrass (Poa trivialis)

Rough bluegrass is a specialist option not often found in mainstream garden centers, but it is widely used by professional turf managers in cool, moist, heavily shaded sites — including under trees near water features, streams, or in northern landscapes.

Shade Tolerance: High. Poa trivialis is one of the few cool-season grasses that can genuinely handle deep shade, making it suitable even beneath dense-canopy trees.

Appearance: Fine-textured, light to medium green, with a somewhat glossy sheen. It creates a delicate, soft lawn surface.

Climate Suitability: Cool-season grass; best suited to cool, humid climates in northern regions. It goes dormant and struggles significantly in summer heat.

Why It Works Under Trees: Rough bluegrass is naturally adapted to woodland environments. It is frequently found growing wild along shaded stream banks and forest edges, which reflects its ecological preference for low light and consistent moisture.

Practical Tip: Rough bluegrass is best suited for areas that receive consistent irrigation or natural moisture, such as north-facing slopes under trees. It is not a good choice for dry shade. Also note that it is sometimes found as a contaminant weed in Kentucky bluegrass lawns, appearing as a lighter-colored patch.

10. Shade-Tolerant Bermuda Grass Cultivars (Cynodon dactylon)

Standard Bermuda grass is well known for its full-sun, high-traffic performance. It is not a shade grass in any traditional sense. However, researchers and turf breeders have developed specialized Bermuda grass cultivars with meaningfully improved shade tolerance, which deserve mention here.

Shade Tolerance: Low to moderate (for shade-adapted cultivars only). While no Bermuda grass approaches the shade performance of fine fescues or rough bluegrass, improved cultivars such as ‘Latitude 36’ and ‘TifGrand’ have demonstrated noticeably better performance in light shade compared to standard Bermuda grass varieties.

Appearance: Fine to medium texture, dense, dark green. In shade, Bermuda grass tends to produce longer internodes and a slightly more open growth habit.

Climate Suitability: Warm-season grass; best suited to the southern United States, Australia, the Mediterranean region, and other warm subtropical climates.

Why It Works Under Trees (light shade): Breeding programs at universities such as the University of Georgia and Oklahoma State University have focused specifically on selecting Bermuda grass genotypes with more efficient photosynthesis at lower light levels. ‘TifGrand,’ developed at the University of Georgia, was specifically bred for shade tolerance and has been documented to maintain acceptable turf quality at light levels that cause standard Bermuda grass to fail.

Practical Tip: Even the most shade-tolerant Bermuda grass cultivars need at least four hours of direct sunlight or six hours of bright, filtered light to maintain adequate density. For denser shade, shift to St. Augustine grass or one of the fine fescues depending on your climate zone.

Comparing the 10 Shade Grasses at a Glance

Grass	Season Type	Shade Tolerance	Best For
Fine Fescue (group)	Cool	High	Northern shaded lawns
Creeping Red Fescue	Cool	High	Naturalized under-tree areas
Hard Fescue	Cool	High	Dry shade, low-maintenance sites
St. Augustine Grass	Warm	Moderate–High	Southern shaded lawns
Zoysia Grass	Warm	Moderate	Transition zone, light shade
Tall Fescue	Cool	Moderate	Transition zones, mixed sun/shade
Perennial Ryegrass	Cool	Low–Moderate	Shade mix component, fast cover
Centipede Grass	Warm	Low–Moderate	SE United States, acidic soils
Rough Bluegrass	Cool	High	Moist, deep shade, cool climates
Bermuda Grass (improved)	Warm	Low–Moderate	Warm climates, light shade only

Tips for Establishing Grass Successfully Under Trees

Choosing the right grass species is essential, but it is only part of the equation. The environment beneath trees presents several unique challenges that must be addressed to give any shade-tolerant grass a reasonable chance of success.

Raise your mower height. Shade-grown grass needs more leaf surface area to capture available light. Mowing at a height of 3.5 to 4.5 inches for most shade grasses — compared to 2 to 3 inches in full sun — significantly improves their health and density. This is one of the simplest and most impactful changes you can make.

Reduce competition from tree surface roots. Where tree roots protrude above the soil surface, grass cannot establish well. Rather than fighting this battle, consider applying a light top-dressing of quality compost mixed with topsoil to level the surface without burying the root crown of the grass.

Address soil compaction. The area beneath a tree canopy often receives compacted soil from foot traffic and the shedding of water by the canopy (umbrella effect). Core aeration once per year, ideally in the season of active growth for your grass type, will improve water and air movement into the root zone.

Water deeply but less frequently. Shallow, frequent irrigation encourages shallow root systems that compete poorly with tree roots. Deep, infrequent watering — applying enough to wet the soil to a depth of six inches — pushes grass roots deeper, where they are less in direct competition with the uppermost tree root mat.

Minimize foot traffic. Shade-grown grass is inherently less dense than its full-sun counterpart and recovers more slowly from wear. Redirect foot traffic pathways away from shaded areas, or install stepping stones to distribute pressure across a wider area.

Fertilize lightly and thoughtfully. Shade grasses do not need heavy fertilization, and over-fertilizing can cause disease outbreaks, particularly in humid climates. A light application of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer — at roughly half the rate recommended for full-sun turf — is generally sufficient.

When Grass Is Simply Not the Right Answer

There is one important truth that experienced landscapers are willing to admit: in some situations, no grass will perform adequately, regardless of species. When canopy shade is truly dense — such as beneath a Norway maple, a large Southern magnolia, or a grove of mature conifers — the light levels, root competition, and allelopathic compounds released by some tree species can make it physically impossible to establish a viable grass stand.

In these situations, it is worth considering alternatives: ground covers such as pachysandra, vinca, ajuga, or native wild ginger; decomposed granite or mulch rings; or intentional naturalistic plantings with shade-adapted woodland perennials. These options can look intentional and beautiful rather than like a defeat.

However, for the vast majority of residential yards — where shade comes from one or two deciduous trees with relatively open canopies — the grasses on this list are proven performers. With the right species selection and sound cultural practices, a healthy, attractive lawn under trees is entirely achievable.

Final Thoughts

Growing grass in shade is genuinely challenging, but it is far from impossible. The key is to work with the environment rather than against it — selecting a grass species that has adapted to lower light conditions, adjusting your maintenance routine to support rather than stress the plants, and being realistic about what to expect from truly dense shade areas.

Whether you are in a cool northern climate relying on fine fescues or a warm southern region planting St. Augustine under live oak canopies, the right choice exists for your situation. The ten grass types covered in this article represent the best available options based on current turfgrass research and widespread practical experience.

Take time to assess your specific shade conditions — measure the hours of sunlight, test your soil pH, and consider the moisture availability in the under-tree area. With that information in hand, you are well-equipped to make a grass selection that will reward your effort with a resilient, attractive lawn beneath even the most established trees in your landscape.

References

1. Beard, J.B. (2002). Turfgrass Management for Golf Courses (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor Press. University-level turfgrass textbook covering shade tolerance physiology, grass species adaptation, and management practices for low-light environments. https://www.ashs.org/page/BeardTurfgrassManagement
   
2. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension – Turfgrass Science Program. Comprehensive extension publications on warm-season grass cultivar performance including shade tolerance research on ‘TifGrand’ Bermuda grass and shade-adapted St. Augustine cultivars. https://site.extension.uga.edu/turfgrass/
   
3. Brilman, L.A., & Watkins, E. (2012). Fine Fescues: A Review of the Species and Their Improvement. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, 12, 11–23. Peer-reviewed research summarizing breeding advances in fine fescue species, including shade and drought tolerance mechanisms. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/fine-fescue-shade-tolerance
   
4. Penn State Extension – Turfgrass Science. Practical educational resources on cool-season grass adaptation, including species comparisons for shaded lawns and management guidelines for under-tree turf. https://extension.psu.edu/turfgrass
   
5. Wherley, B.G., Gardner, D.S., & Metzger, J.D. (2005). Tall Fescue Photomorphogenesis as Influenced by Changes in the Red/Far-Red Ratio and Photoperiod. Crop Science, 45(2), 562–568. Scientific study examining how shade conditions (specifically altered red/far-red light ratios under tree canopies) affect turfgrass physiology and growth responses. https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2135/cropsci2005.0562