weigojmi, The "heat tolerant blue" is nothing more than 3 different types of TTTF (about 94% of the bag) and Hybrid Bluegrass (about 5%) (1% weeds seeds) which is a cross between Texas Bluegrass and Kentucky Bluegrass. The hybrid bluegrass looks just VERY much like most Tall Fescues. It doesn't have the fine blades, the dark green color, and density of Kentucky Bluegrass. A few of my neighbors have seeded that blend for a few years, the results are disappointing in my opinion. It makes a decent turf, but not dense enough or dark green. The real Kentucky Bluegrass grows well in your area with the proper care, so why bother with the "wanna be" kentucky bluegrass. There's a McDonals off of I-85 from Charlotte via Spartanburg, SC, located in Kings Mountain, NC; the entire lawn is Kentucky Bluegrass. It looks wonderful, always green. Of course, they have irrigation and a Lawn care company caring for the grass. I'm not a Nascar fan either, but I watch it from time to time. I'm, however, a Formula 1 fan, Rally, and MotoGP. Back to grass talk, the solarization sterilization process is used in Bermuda Sod Farms to intruduce a new type of bermuda grass in the existing site/soil. I've never done it, so I don't if it will work or not. I have, however, used roundup and a tiler to succesfully get rid of any bermudagrass. I did wintness once one of my neighbors dig a section (about 5x5) of bermuda infested fescue sod to about 4 inches deep, the replace with new fescue/bluegrass sod. That was 3 years ago, today that area (which I remember well because it's near his mailbox) has not shown any signs of bermuda coming back - it's all fescue and bluegrass. You can order Elite type bluegrass from different sources in the internet, one of them is: www.turf-seed.com The carry the Galaxy Blend which works very well in NC.

HI Folks We bought a house in December 2012 with badly neglected (full sun fescue) lawn... moved in March 13 and didn't have time to tackle the 30% crabgrass... while completely renovating the interior and taking down and digging up many disgusting plants and small trees. I have pulled over four large wheelbarrow full of the most obvious crabgrass with a weed puller... and put on Ortho Weed B Gone Max Crabgrass at least 3 times and the crabgrass is laughing at me. It is all shot through my lawn, perhaps 1/4 acre or a littlle less. Shall I just give up and give the professionals a go at killing it? I am just not getting on my hands and knees with roundup on a pair of cotton gloves, which is one of the solutions I have seen. I find it hard to believe that it will all kill itself by September and that I can just overseed at that time and start with pre emergent next spring, but I am willing to listen. Thanks in Advance. Shovel in Atlanta

Hello all, I'm a first-time poster here in the Lawn Care forum. I'm an avid gardener but still consider myself a newbie--especially when it comes to lawns. I just got the results from my soil test from my local UT Extension & would appreciate your help with developing my plan for the coming seasons. The lawn I currently have is maybe 50% common Bermuda, which I hate and would like to eliminate. The remainder is probaby 25% tall fescue which I've overseeded and tried to keep the Bermuda from choking out, and the last 25% is weeds: crabgrass, dandelions, wild strawberries, and an awful lot of purple deadnettle in the winter. I had great results from overseeding in the fall last year. But I'd like to spread pre-emergent to prevent the forest of purple deadnettle I had last year. So when should I overseed fescue relative to spreading pre-emergent? Same sort of balancing act goes for spring... I need to spread pre-emergent for general broadleaf weeds, but would also like to try (for the first time) something to suppress the Bermuda. Will fall-seeded fescue be able to stand up to those herbicides in the spring? And would a fertilization schedule (which has been recommended by my county extension) need to be altered according to these factors? FYI: Irrigation is not an option outside of extreme circumstances. I don't have the infrastructure in place, nor the funds to put it there. And to be honest, no one around me has it either and (some of) their lawns look fantastic. I'm in Middle TN, slightly northwest of Nashville, zone 6B. Soil is mostly clay, but getting better as I mulch-mow grass & leaves into the turf. (This year I've been mowing at ~3.75" which has noticeably helped the fescue.) --- Soil Test results: (Note that I selected turf type as "Lawn, Cool Season". My rationale was that I want to know what helps the fescue the most--not what helps the Bermuda the most.) Water ph - 6.5 Phosphorus - 51 (high) Potassium - 183 (high) Calcuim - 1562 (sufficient) Magnesium - 142 (sufficient Recommendations: Lime is not recommended at this time. II. Medium Level Maintenance of an established lawn. Topdress annually Sept. 1 with 6.2 lbs of 16-4-8 or (other amounts of similar-ratio ferts here... I don't need to type them all out.) per 1000 sq ft. Topdress annually Oct 15 with 3.5 lbs and Mar 1 and Apr 15 with 1.75 lbs of 34-0-0 (or other similar ratio) per 1000 sq ft. If the fertilizer contains at least 30 percent slow-release form of nitrogen, the Mar and Apr applications can be combined as one application in March. --- So, ye masters of all things lawn care... any thoughts regarding the timing of: Fall overseeding Fall application of pre-emergent (mainly targeting deadnettle) Fall applications of fertilizer recommended by my county extension Spring application of fert recommended by extension Spring pre-emergent Spring application of (something like Fusliade or Acclaim?) for Bermuda suppression And one more noobish question... how can I tell which ferts are slow-release and which are not? Thanks in advance for answering my million questions. I've already learned so much from you guys; I'm just trying to tie it all together. :-) --Jon

Find the exact seed matching the grass variet(ies) you have. If you don't match the seed, then the color or texture will be off in the patched areas. If you don't know the varieties, then take some pictures or take in some grass to a local nursery, preferably family owned and been around a long time. Ask them what it is and if they don't know, ask them for recommendations for seed to match it. Wait until fall to put the seed down. Fall is the best time by far for seeding northern grasses. This is something to think about for every fall. And when I say fall, I'm talking about August to September right after the summer heat breaks in your neighborhood. Farther north that is August. Down toward Tennessee it's September. If you seed in the spring, the 3x per day watering schedule needed to sprout the grass seed will also sprout the crabgrass seed already in your lawn. Fescue seed sprouts in 2 weeks. Crabgrass seed sprouts in 3-5 days. So by the time the fescue starts to sprout, the crabgrass will have a full week head start. Whereas if you wait until fall, the crabgrass seed will not sprout. That gives the new grass 8 months head start on next year's crabgrass.