Grasses that spread by rhizomes grow through underground stems that extend outward from the main plant. These hidden stems produce new shoots and roots at intervals, allowing the lawn to fill in bare spots naturally. Because the growth happens below the soil surface, the lawn often appears dense and well-connected.
This spreading habit helps create a strong, unified turf that can recover quickly from damage. When part of the lawn is worn down by foot traffic or stress, nearby plants can expand into the area through their underground network. This makes rhizome-spreading lawns especially resilient over time.
Rhizome growth also contributes to better soil stability. As the underground stems spread, they bind soil particles together and reduce erosion. This is particularly beneficial on slopes or in areas where soil movement is a concern.
Because these grasses expand laterally, they tend to crowd out weeds more effectively. The dense growth pattern limits open spaces where unwanted plants could establish. As a result, lawns with this growth habit often require less intervention to stay thick and uniform.
However, this strong spreading ability requires thoughtful management. Without proper boundaries, rhizome growth can move beyond intended areas into garden beds or walkways. With balanced care, these grasses provide a durable, self-repairing lawn that maintains its coverage and strength.
Kentucky Bluegrass
Kentucky bluegrass is one of the most popular cool-season grasses, prized for its ability to spread aggressively through underground rhizomes that create a thick, self-healing turf. These rhizomes allow the grass to repair damaged areas, fill in thin spots, and recover from heavy foot traffic or other stresses.
The rhizomatous growth habit gives Kentucky bluegrass lawns their characteristic dense, carpet-like appearance and makes them ideal for high-quality residential and commercial landscapes in northern climates.
Bermudagrass
Bermudagrass employs both rhizomes and stolons (aboveground runners) to spread rapidly and aggressively, making it one of the fastest-spreading warm-season grasses available. The extensive rhizome network allows bermudagrass to withstand extreme traffic, recover quickly from damage, and outcompete most weeds through vigorous growth.
This spreading ability makes bermudagrass excellent for sports fields and high-use areas, though it can become invasive in garden beds and requires edging to keep it contained within lawn boundaries.
Zoysia Grass
Zoysia grass spreads slowly but steadily through thick, robust rhizomes that create an extremely dense turf over time. Once established, the rhizome network forms a mat so thick that it crowds out most weeds and creates a cushiony, carpet-like lawn surface.
While zoysia’s slow spreading can be a disadvantage during establishment, this same characteristic makes it less invasive than bermudagrass and easier to maintain defined lawn edges once mature.
Creeping Red Fescue
Creeping red fescue is unique among the fine fescues for its rhizomatous growth habit, which allows it to spread and fill in bare areas in shaded lawns. The fine, slender rhizomes spread more slowly than those of bluegrass but effectively knit together a uniform turf in low-light conditions.
This spreading ability makes creeping red fescue valuable in shade seed mixtures, where it provides the self-repair capabilities that bunch-type fescues lack.
Canada Bluegrass
Canada bluegrass is a hardy, rhizomatous cool-season grass that tolerates poor soil, drought, and harsh conditions better than its cousin Kentucky bluegrass. The rhizomes spread to form a moderately dense turf that works well in low-maintenance situations and naturalized areas.
While Canada bluegrass produces a coarser, less attractive lawn than Kentucky bluegrass, its vigorous rhizome growth and stress tolerance make it useful for erosion control and utility turf applications.
Quackgrass
Quackgrass is an aggressive, rhizomatous perennial grass that’s typically considered a weed in cultivated lawns due to its invasive spreading habit. Its tough, white rhizomes spread rapidly both horizontally and vertically through the soil, making quackgrass extremely difficult to eradicate once established.
The rhizomes can regenerate new plants from small fragments, allowing quackgrass to quickly dominate lawn areas and outcompete desirable turf grasses despite control efforts.
Smooth Bromegrass
Smooth bromegrass is a cool-season grass with vigorous rhizomes that create dense stands ideal for pastures, roadsides, and erosion control rather than manicured lawns. The extensive rhizome system allows smooth bromegrass to establish quickly on difficult sites and withstand grazing pressure or frequent cutting.
While too coarse for residential lawns, its rhizomatous spreading makes it valuable for stabilizing soil and providing durable ground cover in agricultural and conservation settings.
Western Wheatgrass
Western wheatgrass is a native North American grass with extensive rhizomes that spread aggressively to stabilize soil and prevent erosion in prairies and rangelands. The deep, vigorous rhizome system allows western wheatgrass to survive drought, grazing, and harsh environmental conditions while forming dense colonies.
Though typically used for conservation and restoration rather than lawns, its rhizomatous growth demonstrates nature’s strategy for creating resilient, spreading grasslands in challenging environments.
Redtop
Redtop is a cool-season grass with short rhizomes that spread to create moderately dense turf, particularly in moist, acidic soils where other grasses struggle. The rhizomatous growth habit allows redtop to establish quickly and fill in low areas, making it useful in temporary turf applications and as a nurse grass in seed mixtures.
While the rhizomes don’t spread as aggressively as those of Kentucky bluegrass, they provide enough spreading ability to create reasonably uniform coverage in challenging sites.
Creeping Bentgrass
Creeping bentgrass spreads through both stolons and short rhizomes to create the extremely dense, fine-textured turf prized on golf course putting greens. The rhizomes, combined with aggressive stolon growth, allow creeping bentgrass to form a mat so thick it can be mowed at heights below one-quarter inch.
This spreading ability requires intensive management to prevent invasion into surrounding areas, but it creates the smooth, uniform putting surfaces that make creeping bentgrass the standard for championship golf courses.