Tall Fescue in Bluegrass lawn

15 years ago

I recently bought a new home...

1 Acre

Kentucky Bluegrass mixture

The Problem

The previous homeowner must have done a repair job on a drainage ditch in the front and side of the lawn and seeded with what looks like Kentucky 31.

The day after mowing the lawn looks great, albeit slightly "greener" than other areas...By 5 days after the Kentucky 31 areas looks clumpy, tall, and sticks out from the rest of the lawn. It even looks like it is spreading through out my front lawn and my neighbors lawn.

I am not a fan of the uber wide blade and I think it makes my lawn look unkept late in the week before mowing... I live in a neighborhood with million dollar homes so I want to solve it so my lawn does not look unkept.

What do you recommend? Dig up or over speed in a new mixture?

Thank you,

Joe

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Comments (6)

volumetricsporetrap
15 years ago
Tall fescue shouldn't spread, it should clump or bunch.

By Kentucky Bluegrass mixture do you mean several different cultivars of Kentucky Bluegrass, or Kentucky Bluegrass mixed with other desireable (thin-bladed) lawngrasses?

Assuming you've got KY31 and not some broadleaf weed that can't be eliminated with a selective herbicide, I'd hit all the KY31 with Roundup and reseed (or sod) the areas killed by the Roundup in about three weeks with a blend of quality KBG cultivars or a mixture that approximates the thin-bladed grasses you have now. We're approaching the best time of year for seeding. You *could* dig the KY31 out, but that sounds like more work than killing it with Roundup.

So yes, dig up (or Roundup) *and* overseed a new mixture (or blend). I'm assuming the affected areas are large enough the existing KBG won't have time to spread and fill in the bare soil in one season. If you leave the soil bare you'll have weed problems next spring.

I know what you mean about the unkempt look of KY31 growing in the midst of bluegrass. The blades are lighter green than bluegrass, much wider, and grow twice as fast so you have these unsightly things sticking up out of your uniform stand of lawngrass about two days after mowing and it just gets worse the longer you wait to mow again.
bpgreen
15 years ago
From your description, I think you very likely have KY31 fescue. It's very drought tolerant, but that's about the only thing going for it. I hate the wide blades, the bunch grass growth and the much faster growth rate. It might be ok in a monostand, but it looks bad in a mostly KBG lawn. And my daughter tells me it's very uncomfortable to sit on.

I agree with Volumetricsporetrap. Kill it with roundup. If the patches are too big for the KBG to fill in, reseed or resod after a week or two.
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I assume you mean you have pasture type or K-31 tall fescue intermixed into your lawn that is primarily bluegrass, perennial rye, fine fescues, or a combination of those grasses. It is wrong to say all tall fescue is undesirable to have in a lawn. Turf type tall fescue produces a very nice turf with the newer cultivars being fine bladed and dark green, and will blend with many cultivars of KBG. If you remove the tall fescue patches, and you have KBG, the KBG should fill in bare areas, but only if your soil is good, and it is well fed. Perennial rye won't spread, and creeping red fescue will take a long time to fill in areas, a lot longer than the weeds will. If the tall fescue is just left by itself, the other grasses won't "squeeze it out". Instead of pulling the TF, you can spot spray any areas with Round-Up. That will kill it and the other grass wherever you spray, leaving a brown spot in 2 weeks. There is a specialty chemical that will selectively remove TF called Certainty. It is pricey, and not the easiest stuff to use as it can harm other grasses if overapplied. It will also kill any turf type tall fescue you might have in your lawn. With regards to your soil. You say you have clay, and a lot of people think this is the case. Mass isn't particularly well known for clay, but I'm sure their are pockets in the state. You should spend the time from now, till you seed to get your soil in better shape. This means having a soil test done (I recommend Logan Labs, $20 basic soil test or you can send it to Umass, which is $5 bucks cheaper). You can also do a jar test to see if you soil is mostly clay. When you get your soil test back, you can then add amendments to correct any imbalances or deficiencies. If you are saying to yourself "I don't need no stinking soil test, my grass grows fine", then you are only fooling yourself. I was the same way, until I did one, and saw how bad my soil really was (back yard pH was below 5). It will save you money in the long run too by not overapplying fertilizers, and amendments.
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jcosgrove
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I renovated my lawn in 2005 and I still have a couple small patches of K-31 left. I hit everything with Roundup twice and I used a string trimmer to cut the K-31 down below the soil surface and two patches still survived. Make sure you keep the K-31 watered over the next couple of weeks so it is growing well. You may even want to give it a shot of fertilizer. I would recommend at least 3 treatments of Roundup over the next couple of weeks.
jimtnc
15 years ago
Your got one more vote here for the Roundup hit. I had it and tried to seed TTTF with it and it was the biggest looking crap you've ever seen...looked just like some unkempt pasture with the K-31 sticking up higher than the rest. Yeah, blast it outta there and you'll be happier.
joedittmar
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you everyone!!! That is what I thought the right answer would be.... It may be a dig up case given the squarew footage...but I may try the round up before I get the bobcat to stop by!!!

Thank you,
Joe
dantana
15 years ago
If this is indeed tall fescue, I've used Certainty by Monsanto. It will kill the fescue, but not the KBG. I've used it for Tall Fescue and Poa Triv. (roughtstalk Bluegrass). It does leave a spot of dead grass if the fescue is dense enough. One problem; it's $100+ for the smallest granular size. But could cover over an acre of Fescue.

Tall Fescue in Bluegrass lawn

Comments (6)

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Tall Fescue in Bluegrass lawn

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volumetricsporetrap

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