Moonbeam KBG

16 years ago

Yesterday, turf toes noticed a new KBG called "Moonbeam" on the Rose Agri-Seed website. According to the site, it's a cross between Midnight and Moonlight:
"'Moonbeam' Kentucky bluegrass was developed by Pure Seed Tested and tested as Y2K-136. A cross between Midnight and Moonlight Kentucky bluegrasses, 'Moonbeam' is an incredibly dark green bluegrass that is darker green than both its parents. With strong rust resistance and very good overall disease resistance, this variety forms a compact, lower-growing bluegrass turf that is ideal for the over-seeding of dark green Kentucky bluegrass turf. With a spreading growth habit, 'Moonbeam' readily tolerates 'fairway' mowing heights to 0.5"."

I'm wondering if it will perform better than a mix of Midnight II and Moonlight? If so, won't this mix save money instead of purchasing Midnight II and Moonlight separately and mixing it yourself?

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Comments (8)

User
16 years ago
It would be a monostand, though, which isn't a very good idea for all except the most dedicated hobbyists.

Even as a hobbyist, I don't want a monostand. One single disease (or pest) could theoretically wipe out the entire lawn. I'd rather have the mix of three, keeping the losses to a much more workable 1/3 under most circumstances.

Sure, even with a monostand it's unlikely to kill the majority of it, but I keep thinking about how unlikely the Irish Potato Famine was...
turf_toes
16 years ago
Sweetchuck,

Morpheuspa is right. Don't do it. The only reason I did it is because I am truly a lawn whacko and want to experiment with it. But only in the back yard.

Even at that, I'll probably overseed the backyard Monostand of Midnight II with Bedazzled or Moonlight this fall.
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oops It appears I misunderstood "your" post. I thought you had not caught that Moonbeam was a cross between those two, and I took your question literally. Sorry about that. Moonbeam is a Midnight type. In this instance, the progeny expressed characteristics most similar to Midnight, but that doesn't mean anything either to answer your original question. You'd expect the offspring to assume the general traits and characteristics of one or the other, but that doesn't always happen. It may turn out completely dissimilar of both. That happens but probably not very often. Something else that has happened is initially a hybrid is classified but then re-classified some time later. While it appeared one way at first, it changed over time of maybe 3-5 years. Again, it happens but hasn't happened often. Soooo, I think the ultimate answer is as I said before, there really is no way to answer. They just wait and see what happens. I probably shouldn't say that though, being that it seems a little too simplistic and doesn't account for intentional breeding, so please take that into consideration.
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Hey there, Conngirl. Good to "see" you! First, lets make some sure we're specific in our assessment of Bedazzled and the compact categories. As you can see from the description, Bedazzled is also one of the slower growing cultivars. I'm wondering why you don't think it is. Did you find information that says differently? Just curious. There are three compact categories of genetic families - Compact Type, Compact Midnight Type, and Compact America Type. Bedazzled is a Compact America Type. Did you mean literally "Compact Type," or just one of the three compact categories? When blending, I usually select one variety from each of the three. The effort is to select for genetic diversity but to choose those most similar in growth habit, so I wouldn't add a cultivar that grows faster/taller than the other two. Here are the three compact genetic families....... Compact-Type Able 1, Alpine, Bewitched, Blacksburg, Blackstone, Bravado, Broadway, Chicago II, Diva, Dynamo, Glade, Goldstar, Moonlight, Moonshadow, Princeton (P-105), Prosperity, Ram I, Serene, Wildwood Compact-Midnight Type Alexa, Arcadia, Award, Awesome, Barrister, Beyond, Blue Velvet, Bluestone, Courtyard, Everest, Everglade, Excursion, Freedom II & III, Ginney, Impact, Liberator, Midnight, Midnight II, Midnight Star, Moonbeam, NuDestiny, NuGlade, Odyssey, Perfection, Quantum Leap, Rhythm, Rugby II, Skye, Total Eclipse, Tsunami Compact-America Type America, Apollo, Arrow, Bedazzled, Blackberry, Blue Night, Bordeaux, Boutique (changed to "Other" type), Brilliant, Delight, Dynamo, Glenmont, Kingfisher, Langara, Mallard, Mercury, Mystere, Royale, Showcase, Sonoma, Unique I'm sure there are some new varieties, like Zinfandel, Shiraz, and others, not listed here that I haven't yet learned of their groupings.
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bestlawn
16 years ago
SweetChuck, I think you misconstrued the wording in the description. It says ". . .forms a compact, lower-growing bluegrass turf" but they all say something similar because grass seeds do form a "turf" or "sod." But, it isn't trying to suggest Moonbeam is a mixture of anything or that it is all you need. Moonbeam is a single variety (cultivar actually) the same as Midnight is just one and Moonlight is just one. Put them together, and you have a blend of bluegrass varieties. If Moonbeam is one that piques your interest, then swap Midnight and use Moonbeam instead. So, you'll have a blend of Moonlight and Moonbeam (and might want to consider adding one more).

To clarify.....
A mix is different varieties of different species, like a kbg/fescue lawn or a kbg/fescue/ryegrass lawn.
A blend is different varieties of the same species, like Midnight/Moonlight or Midnight/Moonlight/Bedazzled.

Did I help at all?
sweetchuck
Original Author
16 years ago
bestlawn,

You are correct. I read the description wrong. Thanks for clearing me up. You too morph!
paulinct
16 years ago
Bestlawn said: "Moonbeam is a single variety (cultivar actually) the same as Midnight is just one and Moonlight is just one."

Bestlawn, I did read your previous post on this subject, but I think the question remains what "family" (if that is the right word) Moonlight is in among the compacts. I would think that it would be important to know this for blending purposes. Please forgive me if you explained this already and I just missed the point. :)

Thanks,
Paul
bestlawn
16 years ago
Yes, Paul, that is the correct term, and Moonlight is a Compact Type.

Tell me if I missed something or don't understand something. I understood the question to be about Moonbeam, which I answered is a Compact Midnight Type. That was another thread, wasn't it? Or did I miss a question in this thread?
rutgers1
16 years ago
Does this mean that it can't be mowed at 3 inches?
User
16 years ago
Does this mean that it can't be mowed at 3 inches?

Not at all, if 3" makes you happy (it does me), go for it. It'll tolerate a much lower mow, but you don't have to do that if you don't want to.

Moonbeam KBG

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Moonbeam KBG

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