Written and checked by the USA Sod team · Published November 12, 2026
Sunny yard with heavy play: pick Bermuda. Sun or partial shade with less mowing: pick zoysia. Shadier yard you want green in spring and fall: pick tall fescue. All three grow in the northern part of Arkansas, and USA Sod commonly offers each of them in the Northwest Arkansas market: check your ZIP code for today's list.
A lawn in the transition zone
Arkansas sits in the transition zone. Summer heat is too much for cool-season grasses to look their best, and winters can turn cold enough to hurt or even kill warm-season grasses. Zoysia rarely takes winter damage here, while cold injury on Bermuda is not unusual.
Pick a grass for your climate, how you use the yard and the look you want. In home lawns, shade and a shortage of water are often what hold the grass back.
Bermuda: full sun and hard use
Bermuda is the most commonly used grass in Arkansas. It wants full sun, 6 hours a day. It holds up well to wear and recovers fast, which makes a Bermuda lawn a good fit where the yard gets heavy use. It also gets through dry soil better than most lawn grasses.
In a fast-growing stretch, a well-fed Bermuda lawn can need mowing twice a week, and its runners push into sidewalks, borders and flower beds. Of the types of Bermuda grass, USA Sod commonly offers TifTuf Bermuda in this market, along with Bermuda.
Zoysia: sun or partial shade, less mowing
Zoysia grows across the whole state. It forms a thick, good-looking lawn in full sun or in partial shade, though it tends to thin out in deep shade. It needs less mowing and less fertilizer than Bermuda, and it is easier to keep away from flower beds. Of the warm-season grasses, it handles cold best.
Know the trade-offs before you buy: zoysia is slow to fill in completely, so it costs more to establish, and it takes drought less well than Bermuda. Sod is the usual way to plant it. Of the types of zoysia grass, Meyer is the most widely used in Arkansas, with a medium-width leaf and good cold tolerance. USA Sod commonly offers Meyer Zoysia and Zeon Zoysia in this market.
Zoysia takes more shade than Bermuda, and Bermuda needs full sun, so give zoysia the spots trees shade for part of the day.
Tall fescue: shade and green in spring and fall
Tall fescue is a cool-season grass, and it does best in the northern part of Arkansas. It keeps its color in spring and fall while warm-season grasses sit dormant, it handles shade well next to warm-season grasses, and in northern Arkansas it will not spread into landscape beds the way Bermuda and zoysia do.
It needs plenty of extra water in the hottest part of summer. And because it grows in clumps, it will not fill bare spots; to keep it thick, plan on overseeding every one to three years. USA Sod commonly offers tall fescue sod in this market.
Laying sod in fall or winter
If you lay zoysia sod from September through November, keep watering it so it does not dry out. Through the winter, new zoysia sod may still need water now and then, especially during long dry, windy spells. Sod delivered in winter may arrive dormant, and dormant is not dead. Lay and water the sod the day it arrives.
Ordering sod in Northwest Arkansas
USA Sod commonly offers Bermuda, TifTuf Bermuda, Meyer Zoysia, Tall Fescue and Zeon Zoysia in the Northwest Arkansas market. Availability changes week to week, so enter your ZIP code for today's list, or see the Northwest Arkansas page.
Quotes here use 450 square feet per pallet, and sod is sold in full pallets because it is cut to order. Delivery is a flat $200 no matter how many pallets you order.
Bermuda for the sunny play area, zoysia where trees cast some shade: start your Northwest Arkansas lawn or call 1-866-886-2763.
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