Texas weed mentioned a comparison chart. According to the installation and care sheet that came with my Shadow Turf plugs, it states: "Shadow Turf spacing should not exceed 12 inches due to much slower coverage time, typically one season." Somehow, I don't consider that fast-spreading. Also wanted to clarify that Shadow Turf needs that half inch of water per day during the first 2 weeks, not during the entire establishment period. After 2 weeks, they recommend watering every 2-3 days until the grass completely covers. Personally, I know I got confused over what attributes Shadow Turf had because the marketing materials and website shift back and forth in their discussion of Shadow Turf and Tech Turf. At times, they even talk about Turfallo, which appears to be their way of saying "both kinds of grasses." So, if you're interested in either product, take care to read the information carefully to be sure you know which brand of turf they're talking about. desert baby...Due to the water requirements, I'm not sure Shadow Turf would survive on normal rainfall in your area, as it looks to be borderline in mine unless I do supplemental watering.

Dear Rae E, Thank you very much for your inquiry. Tall fescue can be a wonderful lawn grass, especially in the transition zone. There could be several problems going on here that are promoting your issues. First, keep the mowing height at 3-4 inches and mow every 5-6 days. Second, fertilize with a turf specific fertilizers, 4-5 times per year, with a target of 4 lbs N/1000 ft2/year (this can decrease after a couple of years once the turf is mature). Make sure you always put down starter fertilizer with the seed. The corn gluten meal for weed control is not effective on many broadleaf weeds. For this, use triclopyr. You can knock the weed back now, but target early October as well for an application. Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more. Respectfully Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com

I'm in Chesterfield. If you want green for the purpose of just the wedding... go with Kentucky-31 Tall Fescue. You can get it in abundance at any of the stores around here, such as Pleasants Hardware, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. Its low maintenance and hardy. It's not going to win you any awards, but it will definitely have the best chance of establishing and surviving the winter with minimal input and maintenance. It will also be able to handle the foot traffic, etc. involved in preparing your property for the wedding, the foot traffic during the wedding, and of course the clean uproot traffic, etc. (I imagine trucks/carts with chairs, tables, tents, food, flowers, etc.). Tilling the property as part of your preparation will help, but make sure you roundup first and give the plants enough time to die (1-2 weeks) before tilling it. If it's not dead, roundup again. I would till it, level it, etc. and then let it fallow for a few weeks, watering it frequently and lightly during this time to encourage weed growth. Then do a final round up treatment on any weeds that sprout. Once you've killed off any new weeds, then I would just broadcast my grass seed and fertilizer and roll the area to get good seed contact with the soil. It's important that you do not disturb the soil anymore, such as by raking or aeration to avoid exposing more weed seeds. Since you would have previously tilled the soil, simply rolling the lawn should help push the seed into the soil. Cover with straw or peat and keep it moist. Once it reaches about 3 inches height, cut it down to 2.5 inches the first cut only. After that, only cut it at 3.5-4 inches. 30 days after germination, go ahead and feed it again with a fertilizer. Do one more fertilizer in early March (preferably with a crabgrass preventer mixed in) and you will be in good shape for the wedding.

The crab grass, fescue, creeping Charlie, dandelions, and other "weeds" are all organic matter that have been growing in that soil taking nutrients out of that soil, so if you remove them you would be throwing away valuable nutrients. Till them in, put them back where they came from, recycle the nutrients they pulled from that soil. Take a good, in depth, look at the soil to see what needs to be done. A soil test for soil pH and major nutrients is a first step and these simple soil tests may also be of some help. 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1-quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1-foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Once you know more about the soil then you can make a plant to address any short comings.