• Lawns are important parts of the landscape and bring warmth to otherwise bare expanses of ground. Success with lawns depends upon choosing the right variety adapted to your area's growing conditions. If you wish you grow a relatively carefree lawn, the secret is to select varieties that thrive even with minimal care, such as those with low water and fertilizer needs. A number of warm- and cool-season grasses are cited as being low maintenance and are good choices for people who wish to grow carefree lawns.
  
  

Hard Fescue

• Hard fescue (Festuca longifolia) is cited as a low-maintenance grass by the University of California Extension. The cool-season grass has fine blades and a dark green color. Hard fescue thrives in shade and cold temperatures and is tolerant of drought. The grass maintains its appearance even when it is not regularly mowed and has a low requirement for fertilizers. The high shade tolerance of hard fescue makes it a popular choice in lawn seed mixes especially formulated for shady lawns. Low-maintenance hard fescue is used extensively on median strips, slopes and little-used park areas.
  
  

Buffalograss

• Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) is a native warm-season grass of the North American Plains. The University of California Extension explains that buffalo grass is low-maintenance grass that has minimal requirement for irrigation, fertilizers and mowing. The low-growing grass has a fine texture and gray-green color and spreads with stolons. Buffalo grass is naturally drought resistant and has a low tolerance for shade. Mow buffalograss lawns before end of winter dormancy as this helps to speed up greening and removes dead foliage.
  
  

Zoysiagrass

• Zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) is listed as a low-maintenance grass variety by the University of California Extension. The dark green grass has a fine-to-medium texture and a high level of tolerance for drought, heavy traffic and heat. Zoysiagrass is among the warm-season grasses and has low water requirement and has few pest-related issues. The grass is also moderately tolerant of shaded sites and spreads low with rhizomes and stolons, creating a thick turf. The grass assumes a brown color during periods of winter dormancy.