# Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum)

Canonical: https://plantguide.ae/plants/seashore-paspalum · Updated: 2026-09-30
Source: Ghaf Gardens (https://plantguide.ae/plants/seashore-paspalum)

Seashore paspalum · باسبالم · also called Sharjah grass, Salt grass, Biscuit grass  
grass · adapted · family Poaceae · grows 0.05–0.3 m tall, 0.4–1 m wide · fast growth  
full sun · moderate water need  
Ratings for Dubai (1–5, 5 is best): heat 5 · salt 5 · drought 4 · shade 2 · ease of care 3  
Sow or plant: Mar–May, Sep–Nov  
Uses: lawn, pool-side  
Garden styles: luxury, manicured, tropical

A fine-bladed warm-season lawn grass that shrugs off saline irrigation water better than any other turf sold in the UAE, but needs full sun to stay dense.

## About

Meet seashore paspalum, the lawn grass that was practically written for Dubai's water. Most turf grasses tolerate a little salt before thinning and browning; this one keeps its dense, fine, dark green cover at salinity levels that would finish off almost anything else sold as a lawn here. It doesn't look tougher up close — the blades are fine, soft underfoot and genuinely attractive — but under the surface it is doing real physiological work to manage salt that most grasses simply cannot.

That resilience is what earns it a place right at the water's edge: around a pool, along a beachfront terrace, or on a villa irrigated with a borewell or treated wastewater supply that would slowly kill a less tolerant lawn. In full sun it knits into a crowded, weed-resistant sward that reads as a uniform dark green carpet rather than individual blades.

The mood it creates is precise rather than relaxed — a crisp, saturated green that looks sharpest kept mown short and regular, which is exactly the look most Dubai villa and pool-deck lawns are going for.

Seashore paspalum is the grass Dubai reaches for when the water is the problem. A 2018 trial at the United Arab Emirates University compared Sea Dwarf and Sea Isle 2000 paspalum against Princess 77 and Yukon bermuda under irrigation water salted up to 10,000 ppm — roughly a third of seawater. The paspalum types kept higher shoot density and more biomass than the bermudas at every salinity level, and the gap widened as the water got saltier. In practice that means paspalum is the safer pick on a borewell, recycled (TSE) or brackish water supply, while bermuda is fine on cleaner mains water.

It is sold in the UAE as turf rolls or sprigs, often under the local trade name "Sharjah grass" (bermuda has its own trade name here too — see [American grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/bermuda-grass.md)), and is popular right up to pool edges and beachfront gardens where salt spray and saline soil kill weaker lawns. The trade-off is light: University of Florida extension guidance is blunt that seashore paspalum has poor shade tolerance and should not be planted under a tree canopy or anywhere air circulation is poor — it thins out and becomes prone to fungal patch disease in those spots.

Grown correctly — full sun, mowed short and regularly, watered on an as-needed basis rather than a fixed schedule — it forms a dense, dark green, fine-textured lawn that resists weeds simply by crowding them out. It pairs naturally with [Date Palm](https://plantguide.ae/plants/date-palm.md) and other salt-tolerant plantings in villa gardens that use greywater or brackish groundwater for irrigation.

Against the other two turf-roll grasses sold in the UAE, the comparison is straightforward on paper: paspalum leads decisively on salinity, sits roughly level with bermuda on heat and wear tolerance, and loses badly on shade to both zoysia and St Augustine. For a sunny villa lawn irrigated with anything other than clean mains water, that combination usually settles the choice on its own.

## Through the year

Seashore paspalum holds better colour through a Dubai winter than most warm-season grasses, staying green with only a modest slowdown in growth from December to February, so mowing frequency drops but the lawn rarely looks dormant. Spring and autumn are the main turf-laying and renovation windows, with growth ramping up as temperatures rise. Through peak summer heat it grows vigorously in full sun, needing attentive but not excessive watering — rolling leaf blades or a dull blue-grey tinge are the visual cue to irrigate. Its main visual risk is not season but shade: any spot losing direct sun for much of the day will thin out regardless of time of year.

| When | What | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mar–May, Sep–Nov | Plant: Best turf-laying window | Lay sod in the shoulder seasons so roots knit down before peak summer heat or the slower winter growth period. |
| Oct–Feb | Feed: Main feeding season | Low fertility needs compared with bermuda; a light feed through the cooler months is usually enough. |
| Oct | Overseed: Autumn renovation | Dethatch, top-dress and patch bare spots rather than oversowing — paspalum's dense growth habit already crowds out winter weeds. |
| Jun–Aug | Heat stress: Peak summer heat | Handles Dubai summer well once established; watch for rolling leaf blades and footprints that don't spring back as a sign it needs water. |
| Dec–Jan | Dormant: Winter slowdown | Growth and colour hold up better through cooler months than bermuda, though mowing frequency drops. |

## Care in Dubai

- **Watering in summer:** Water as needed rather than on a fixed timer — rolling leaf blades, a dull blue-grey tinge or footprints that stay pressed in are the signs to irrigate. As a general guide, Abu Dhabi's municipal irrigation standards call for around 20 litres/m²/day for turf-type planting in summer, tapering off outside the hottest months.
- **Watering in winter:** Cut back sharply; established paspalum on decent soil often needs irrigation only every 7–10 days in the cooler months.
- **While establishing:** Keep new sod moist with light, frequent watering for the first 2–3 weeks until roots knit into the soil.
- **Soil:** Tolerates a wide pH range and poor, sandy or saline soils better than almost any other lawn grass; still benefits from a well-prepared, levelled base at installation.
- **Feeding:** Needs less nitrogen than bermuda for a dense, dark green lawn — over-fertilising just adds to mowing and thatch.
- **Pruning:** Mow at 1–2 inches (25–50 mm) with a sharp blade; scalping below this height stresses the grass and lets weeds in. Weekly mowing in the growing season is typical for a tidy result.
- **Planting:** Best laid as sod or sprigs in the shoulder seasons (spring or autumn) so it roots before summer heat or winter's slower growth.
- **Pests and problems:** Fall armyworm; Take-all root rot (in shade or poor drainage)

## Good and bad

**Pros**
- The most salt-tolerant lawn grass sold in the UAE — handles brackish, borewell or recycled irrigation water
- Dense, fine-textured, dark green lawn that outcompetes most weeds on its own
- Excellent for pool surrounds and beachfront gardens where salt spray kills other turf
- Copes with heat and reduced water once established
- Few insect and disease problems when grown in the open

**Cons**
- Poor shade tolerance — thins out and gets fungal patch disease under tree canopy or in poor air circulation
- Needs mowing at a precise 1–2 inch (25–50 mm) height for best appearance, more often than a rougher lawn
- Can develop thatch quickly with vigorous growth, needing periodic verticutting
- More expensive to buy and lay than common bermuda

## Common mistakes

- Planting it under or near tree canopy expecting its toughness to extend to shade — shade, not drought or salt, is its real weakness, and it will thin out and develop patch disease there.
- Watering on a fixed daily timer rather than reading the grass — over-irrigating encourages thatch and disease, while the correct approach is to water based on visible stress signs like rolled blades.
- Mowing infrequently to save effort — letting it grow tall and then scalping it back stresses the grass badly; regular mowing at the correct height keeps it dense and healthier.
- Assuming any lawn grass will do near a saltwater pool or on brackish irrigation — bermuda and St Augustine will decline in those conditions where paspalum is specifically suited to them.
- Skipping periodic dethatching — its vigorous growth builds up thatch faster than a slower lawn grass, and an unaddressed thatch layer eventually smothers the turf beneath it.

## Good to know

- A 2018 UAE University trial (Karimi et al.) is the most direct local evidence for its salt tolerance advantage over bermuda, tested up to 10,000 ppm salinity — roughly a third of full seawater.
- Locally traded as "Sharjah grass", a nursery trade name rather than a botanical one, in the same pattern as bermuda's "American grass" label.
- Its biggest limitation is shade, not heat or salt — UF/IFAS extension specifically warns against planting it under tree canopy or in poor air circulation.
- Installed cost typically runs higher than bermuda in the UAE market, reflecting both the grass's premium salinity performance and its lower local availability.

## Using it in a garden

Roles: Lawn, Pool surround, Beachfront turf

Reserve seashore paspalum for open, sunny ground with no significant tree canopy — its one real weakness is shade, and it will thin and thatch anywhere air circulation is poor. It earns its premium price right where salt is unavoidable: close to a saltwater pool, near the coast, or on a villa plot irrigated from a borewell or treated wastewater supply where a bermuda lawn would slowly decline. Keep it well clear of dense shade trees; if the garden needs both a sunny lawn and a shaded one, pair it with a more shade-tolerant grass in the shaded zone rather than trying to stretch one lawn across both conditions.

- [Date Palm](https://plantguide.ae/plants/date-palm.md): Date palm's high salt and drought tolerance matches paspalum's own, so both thrive on the same brackish irrigation supply without conflict.
- [Bermuda grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/bermuda-grass.md): Where part of a plot has cleaner mains water and part has saline groundwater, splitting the lawn between bermuda and paspalum lets each zone use the grass suited to its own water source.
- [Zoysia grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/zoysia-grass.md): Zoysia can take over in the one shaded corner where paspalum would thin out, giving a consistent lawn look across sun and part-shade areas.
- [Hibiscus](https://plantguide.ae/plants/hibiscus.md): Hibiscus beds at the lawn edge bring flower colour without encroaching on the open, full-sun conditions paspalum needs to stay dense.

## Varieties sold in the UAE

| Variety | Traits | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Platinum TE | Very fine, glossy dark green blade with a dense canopy. High salt tolerance and good low-light performance; cut from 2 to 76 mm. | Premium pool-side and coastal lawns on TSE, borewell or brackish water. |
| Sea Isle Supreme | Semi-dwarf, fine-bladed, dark green. Bred at the University of Georgia for superior salt tolerance; tolerates many cutting heights. | Sunny sites irrigated with brackish or recycled water. |
| SeaDwarf | Medium-fine, bright green, dwarf habit. Dense turf that tolerates very low cutting and saline irrigation. | Dense, closely mown lawns on saline irrigation. |
| Sea Isle 2000 | Darker green than bermuda and highly salt tolerant. Tolerates low light and low cutting; recovers quickly from wear. | Family lawns and sports turf on salty water, in sun or light shade. |
| Pure Dynasty | Seeded paspalum, tightly dense, dark green and upright. Excellent salt tolerance; the supplier rates its shade tolerance as very good. | Large areas where seed is cheaper to establish than sod or sprigs. |

## Lawn facts

- Mowing height 25–50 mm · traffic tolerance 3/5
- Salinity: Excellent — the most salt-tolerant lawn grass sold in the UAE; the UAEU trial found it kept higher shoot density than bermuda at every salinity level tested, up to 10,000 ppm.
- Shade: Poor — UF/IFAS extension guidance advises against shaded sites or areas with poor air circulation; grow it in full sun only.
- Install cost: AED 35–60 per m²

## FAQ

**Is paspalum or bermuda better for a Dubai garden with salty irrigation water?**  
Paspalum. A 2018 UAE University trial found paspalum cultivars (Sea Dwarf, Sea Isle 2000) held higher shoot density and biomass than bermuda cultivars at salinity levels up to 10,000 ppm, and the advantage grew as salinity increased. If your water is from a borewell, TSE (treated sewage effluent) or brackish source, paspalum is the safer choice.

**Can I grow seashore paspalum in a shady garden?**  
Not well. University of Florida extension research lists poor shade tolerance as its main drawback and specifically advises against planting it under tree canopy or where air circulation is poor, since it thins out and becomes prone to fungal disease there. For a shaded Dubai lawn, look at [Zoysia grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/zoysia-grass.md) or [St Augustine grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/st-augustine-grass.md) instead.

**Why is it called Sharjah grass?**  
It's a local trade name used by UAE landscapers, in the same way bermuda grass is widely sold as "American grass". The name isn't botanical — it's simply how the grass is marketed in the regional nursery trade.

**How often does seashore paspalum need mowing?**  
More often than a rough bermuda lawn. It performs best kept at 1–2 inches (25–50 mm), and its vigorous growth means weekly mowing in the growing season keeps it dense rather than thatchy.

**How does seashore paspalum compare with zoysia and St Augustine for a Dubai lawn?**  
Paspalum wins decisively on salt tolerance and holds up well in full sun and heat, but it is the weakest of the three in shade. Zoysia and St Augustine both handle shade noticeably better but need cleaner, less saline irrigation water to thrive — so the choice mostly comes down to your water source and how much sun the lawn actually gets.

## Related plants

[Bermuda grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/bermuda-grass.md) · [Zoysia grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/zoysia-grass.md) · [St Augustine grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/st-augustine-grass.md) · [Desert grass](https://plantguide.ae/plants/desert-grass.md)

## Photos

![Lawns hero: a flawless striped seashore-paspalum lawn meeting a crisp limestone kerb edge in a Dubai villa garden](https://plantguide.ae/images/generated/services/lawns/hero-v1.webp)

![Paspalum vaginatum inflorescence flowering](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Paspalum_vaginatum_inflorescence_flowering.jpg)  
Photo: James Schnable / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paspalum_vaginatum_inflorescence_flowering.jpg))

## Sources

- [United Arab Emirates University: Evaluation of bermuda and paspalum grass types for urban landscapes under saline water irrigation (Karimi et al., 2018)](https://research.uaeu.ac.ae/en/publications/evaluation-of-bermuda-and-paspalum-grass-types-for-urban-landscap/)
- [UF/IFAS Extension: Seashore Paspalum for Florida Lawns](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/17/17/00001/EP05900.pdf)
- [Apex Landscape Works: Natural Grass Dubai — local names and installed pricing](https://apexlandscapeworks.com/natural-grass-dubai/)
- [Asian Turfgrass Center: Turfgrass at Dubai (salinity use on Emirates Golf Club par-3 course)](https://www.blog.asianturfgrass.com/2009/06/turfgrass-at-dubai.html)