Posted by ltilton ... Aside from winning contests, I wonder what is commonly done ... I once grew a 275 pound pumpkin, scrawny little thing, nothing of note really, and a woman of our acquaintance decided she would like to eat the whole think. It took her about a year. She has never asked for another pumpkin in the succeeding 25 years. Do you want to get into the record growing headlines? I think strawberry's are ripe for your attention. Get one of the varieties that produce all year and see how big a strawberry you can grow. Guinness needs a new category.

Rob, one reason for mixing KBG with TF is to improve appearance. Your reason for mixing TF with KBG for shade tolerance is another common reason, but I hate mixing KBG with other species for almost any reason. In your case, I can't see the purpose because no matter what you do, the existence of TF cannot improve KBG's shade performance, can it? So, what's the purpose when you end up with some green and thriving grass (TF) and some crappy-looking grass (KBG) under shady conditions? Kinda defeats the appearance factor, right? I think all the species serve their utility purpose quite well on their own, and mixing them makes little sense. The bottom question for me becomes "what do you accomplish?" The answer is "nothing." The only reason I can see doing it is to have the creeping/spreading virtue of KBG to fill in bare spots when bunch grasses like tall fescue and ryegrass thin out. But then, that's only in cases where there is no other utility purpose to satisfy. Your options are to either transition KBG into tall fescue (fine fescue might be best) as Morpheus and Bill Hill suggested. Or, just go with tall fescue, and I think this the better idea. Many of the newer varieties of tall fescue rival bluegrass in appearance, so I know you won't regret the decision. Also, by sowing shade tolerant tall fescue, you'll also have better wear tolerance for your high traffic backyard. Where that's concerned, consider something else. Other than creeping bentgrass, nothing recuperates like bluegrass, and tall fescue has almost no recuperative ability at all. In other words, it is better at withstanding traffic and wear but once damaged, it will not come back. Just wanted to point that out for you to determine just how much wear your backyard endures. And if a dog is what you mean, nothing survives them LOL. You might want to give Fido an area of his own as opposed to the run of the whole yard. If you decide to transition from KBG to one of the fescues, I can offer KBG cultivar suggestions. If you decide to go with tall fescue or fine fescue, start a new thread addressed to A.J. or check his response here about fine fescue. The fine fescue blends are best for dense shade, better than tall fescue but he can also help with the better looking tall fescue varieties. Hope I helped a little and didn't confuse you. Welcome to the Lawn Care Forum.

1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet would be 0.5 kilos of nitrogen per 100 square meters. It is sometimes easier to figure how many kilos of N are in the original bag. If you have a 10 kilo bag of 5-4-3 fertilizer you multiply 10 kilos by 0.05 to get 0.5 kilos of actual N in the bag. If it was 19-5-8 you would multiple 10 kilos by 0.19 to get 1.9 kilos of N. Then if you want to apply 0.5 kilos per 100 square meters, you adjust the amount you apply to match up. Always water chemical fertilizer in right after you apply. If you do not, then tomorrow morning's dew will create a very strong fertilizer solution that kills the grass. I like organic fertilizer for many reasons but for this discussion it does not need to be so carefully calculated, nor does it need to be watered in. Modern organic fertilizers are primarily made up of food like wheat, corn, soy, alfalfa, and other ground up grains, nuts, beans, and seeds. Here is a picture of plain alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) used at a rate of 10 kilos per 100 square meters. It was applied in mid May and the picture was taken in mid June. Thanks to mrmumbles for posting the picture here back in 2011. That photo has cleared up the questions about whether organic fertilizer actually works. The best place to get these raw materials is a feed store. Here is a link to feed stores near you. Call first to get availability and prices. Moss killer? You should not need to routinely use weed or moss killer. What was your watering schedule again? I think we got the schedule but not the timing. Once the lawn is established you should never be watering more often than once every 3 weeks (note that his average summer temp is below 70 degrees F). ONCE! When you allow the ground to dry out completely before watering, weeds and moss are seldom an issue. Sometimes rain plays havoc with your best intentions, but it should not be a routine to apply weed and moss killer.

The distinction isn't that meaningful in my view. What I think matters more to a gardener is climate of origin. For example, native sages of California and the Cape area of South Africa have more in common than sages of California and tropical Mexico because both California and the Cape are winter-rainfall, summer-drought climates, and the salvias there reflect that growth pattern (both are also fire ecologies, so germinating seeds of some species from those regions require smoke treatment, naturally or with Liquid Smoke). Tropical salvias from Mexico are summer-rainfall and tolerate little frost. Some Chinese salvias come from summer-rainfall subtropical regions, and some salvias are montaine and don't like high temperatures and humidities. These climate characteristics are probably the best clue to whether a particular salvia will succeed for you. David