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Overseeded with wrong grass type. What now?

10 years ago

Unfortunately, I overseeded several large patches that were somewhat bare with the wrong type of seed. I have bluegrass, but the grass that grew (in only about a week) is a light green color. And, unlike bluegrass, it is very soft and thin and falls over like shag carpet. I don't mind the texture, but the color clashes a lot with the bluegrass.

What can I do now?

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Comments (7)

mulchmama
10 years ago
What does the seed label on the bag say it is? If it isn't what you want, all you can really do is kill it off and start over.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Is shade an issue in the area with no grass? Because if the bluegrass has not filled it in, something else is wrong. Have you been watering at least once per week all summer? Do you fertilize 3x per year?
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If you read up on the time to seed, you undoubtedly learned that spring is not the time to seed. But here we are!!! Don't know how expensive the Titan TLC Plus is but I'm hoping not very. Let's keep our fingers crossed that something comes in because the later you get, the less strength the new grass will have for summer. Keep it going as long as you can once it comes in. If you get some crabgrass, try pulling as much as you can until you are overwhelmed. It will die in the fall anyway. And speaking of fall, that is the time to seed. For you fall starts in late August. Then you can use the expensive seed, do the good power raking to get rid of thatch and everything that keeps the seed off the soil, mow low, roll the new seed down, and water like crazy. In the fall you don't have to worry about the summer annual weeds sprouting. You can skip the core aeration unless you love that stuff. It won't help seed germinate. Set your mower for the highest setting for that grass type. That will help keep the crabgrass out. Don't give up on watering for this seed. Once you have 80% germination (!), start to back off on watering. You should never gain water daily unless you are trying to grow new seed/sod. By the time you have grass growing you it will probably be warm enough to water 2 times per month. Then start bringing the frequency up to every 12 days, 10 days, until you get to 7 days in the hottest part of summer. In order to go long periods with no water you have to water deeply, so get that set in your head. Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering.
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Where are you? The kind of grass you have may vary a lot depending on where you are. If you've got cool season grass, it sounds a lot like most of your lawn is KBG and the wide leaf grass is tall fescue (likely K31). It's very hardy, but not as attractive in a lawn and its faster growth rate makes it stick out. If that's what you have, you could spot spray with glyphosate and if the patches are not too large, the KBG will fill in from surrounding areas. If the patches are too big for that, you could spray a few areas at a time. The problem with killing all of the K31 and overseeding is that it might be tough to match the rest of the lawn (and if you buy the seed at a "big box" store, it may well include K31).
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You don't want to force feed a lawn at this time...that just causes increased growth and if an early frost hits, the lawn can be damaged. The starter fertilizer would have been added at seeding time and no longer is it required. Wait for any pushing to be done in the spring. As far as protecting against winter, just maintain the lawn in watering and mowing a height that will not invite damge from frost. The first cut should be a high one....3" to 3 1/2" is fine. Going lower at this time with new grass invites damage if an early frost occurs. Keep the height at this level and let the grass mature gradually. Lower mowing can be accomplished in the spring when, at that time, a further layering of compost/topsoil/triple mix..can be given the lawn prior to the first mowing. Let the grass grow up through this topping. This then feeds the soil--increases the nutrtion the new grass will appreciate. Then you can drop the height to 2 1/2" - 3" and maintained at that height.
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pezastic
Original Author
10 years ago
There is no shade in the problem areas, and I am watering my lawn twice a week, 1.5 inches each time. Also, I've applied fertilizer three times since spring.

I was hoping to avoid removing the new stuff, and seeing if there is a technique to planting bluegrass seed and trying to get it to blend in. Maybe I could just pull up some plugs in those problem areas and plant the right kind of seeds? Or, would that make it look like polka-dots?

This post was edited by pezastic on Mon, Sep 30, 13 at 10:47
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Thanks for the info.

You are watering far too much. When watering new seed you should water 3x per day, for several weeks, until you have 80% germination. You do not need to water inches for this. You only need to water enough to keep the seed moist. That might be 3 minutes up to 10 minutes. Once the grass is established, then back waaay off on the frequency and increase the time. This time of year a mature lawn in your area should be watered one inch, all at one time, once very 3 weeks. If you want to correct this, do not do it cold turkey. Write back for more help on that.

Bluegrass easily blends in with fescues for summer time color and appearance. Bluegrass will go dormant (turn brown) in the winter while the fescues normally remain green, so that is one difference. Otherwise, the blend works perfectly.

The new stuff will eventually die out due to rare insects or rare disease. Bluegrass will also suffer under those pressures, but it will return. The fescue and/or rye you might have will die and remain dead. Until that time, you are stuck with what you have.
pezastic
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for your advice. I will do as you suggested.
auteck
10 years ago
If is Fescue, you can spray MSM or Manor (same thing) right now before the it gets established. This will take out the Fescue and not harm the Bluegrass.
pezastic
Original Author
10 years ago
I think it is ryegrass, from what I've seen in grass type pics online. I know, I should have read the label before. I certainly will next time!

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