Creeping Bent Grass Creeping into Blue Blend

14 years ago

Greetings,

Two years ago i started fresh with a complete renovation including a blue blend of Bedazzled, Moonlight and Blue Velvet.

Now i have a couple isolated patches of creeping bentgrass goin on in there. How can this be?

It gets 1" of water a week, mowed at 2.5" twice weekly, gets its organic fertilizer regularly and a nice aerator once a year in the fall.

So i ask you, the community:

1. What did i do wrong to deserve such creeping bentgrass in my prize lawn (so i can avoid it in the future)

2. What should i do to get rid of it (Kill it, dig it up or nothing assuming the Blue Blend will overtake it)?

As always thanks for your input.

Dan

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Comments (5)

terrafx
14 years ago
A couple of questions first...did you have any creeping bentgrass in the yard 2 years ago? Did you purchase a custom blend seed mixture from a garden center, online, or contractor supply store? When you say Blue velvet..I am assuming that you mean Kentucky Bluegrass variety "velvet". THe only reason why I ask is there is a velvet bentgrass that is used in golf course putting greens.

Off the top of my head, there are a couple of things that could have happened.
1. The seed mixture you bought was not blue tag certified. That means it was not weed free. Creeping bentgrass is a weed only by the fact that you don't want it.
2. Certain box type seed mixtures will prodominately display the 3 variety blend you mentioned but again there is probably additional seed listed or a % listed as weed seed.
3. It is possible that animals/birds could have possibly transferred live seed and deposited but...that is the least likely in this situation.

So, getting rid of the creeping bent. Getting rid of cool season grasses within a stand of cool season grasses is tricky if not impossible by chemical means. The fastest way would be to use roundup on a sponge brush and dab the plant surface. Effectively killing the just the creeper. Waiting for the Kentucky to overtake is not going to yield the results you want...it will most likely spread. Get it now while you have the chance. Your cultural practices are sound for KB so that is not the cause of infestation. Hope that helps.
bpgreen
14 years ago
"When you say Blue velvet..I am assuming that you mean Kentucky Bluegrass variety "velvet". THe only reason why I ask is there is a velvet bentgrass that is used in golf course putting greens."

I'm pretty sure the OP means Blue Velvet.
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dlenart
Original Author
14 years ago
Greetings,

The Kentucky Bluegrass Blend of Bedazzled, Moonlight and Blue Velvet was chosen based on NTEP Turfgrass reports for Southeastern Michigan two years ago. It is certified sod quality seed purchased from Williams Lawn Seed
http://www.wls.com/ and is an even mixture 33% of each.

I did in fact have a couple areas of creeping bentgrass before the renovation in close proximity to where it is popping up now. Hmm. I did two applications of round up though during renovation. I was sure everything was totally dead. This may be the issue then?

Yes BP Green, that is the Blue Velvet variety i speak of.

I did some reading today and a site suggested i dig the creeping bentgrass out and down to a depth of 2". Fill in new soil and reseed in that area. The site also said that overwatering and fertilization and shorter mowing can encourage creeping bentgrass growth, just an FYI.

What do you guys think? I've got some seed left, do you think i got enough time to get it going before winter?

As always thanks for your help.
bpgreen
14 years ago
Do you know what your average first frost date is? You should try to seed at least 6 weeks before average first frost.
garycinchicago
14 years ago
> "1. What did i do wrong"

Right here is what. "a nice aerator once a year in the fall"

You are bringing the bent seeds up to the soils surface to germinate.

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Creeping Bent Grass Creeping into Blue Blend

Comments (5)

terrafx

bpgreen

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dlenart
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bpgreen

garycinchicago

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Creeping Bent Grass Creeping into Blue Blend

Comments (5)

terrafx

bpgreen

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dlenartOriginal Author

bpgreen

garycinchicago

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dlenart
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