Need help with my Bermuda/Tall Fescue Mixed Lawn
8 years ago
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Massachusetts Lawn with Tall Fescue / Need Help!
Comments (3)I assume you mean you have pasture type or K-31 tall fescue intermixed into your lawn that is primarily bluegrass, perennial rye, fine fescues, or a combination of those grasses. It is wrong to say all tall fescue is undesirable to have in a lawn. Turf type tall fescue produces a very nice turf with the newer cultivars being fine bladed and dark green, and will blend with many cultivars of KBG. If you remove the tall fescue patches, and you have KBG, the KBG should fill in bare areas, but only if your soil is good, and it is well fed. Perennial rye won't spread, and creeping red fescue will take a long time to fill in areas, a lot longer than the weeds will. If the tall fescue is just left by itself, the other grasses won't "squeeze it out". Instead of pulling the TF, you can spot spray any areas with Round-Up. That will kill it and the other grass wherever you spray, leaving a brown spot in 2 weeks. There is a specialty chemical that will selectively remove TF called Certainty. It is pricey, and not the easiest stuff to use as it can harm other grasses if overapplied. It will also kill any turf type tall fescue you might have in your lawn. With regards to your soil. You say you have clay, and a lot of people think this is the case. Mass isn't particularly well known for clay, but I'm sure their are pockets in the state. You should spend the time from now, till you seed to get your soil in better shape. This means having a soil test done (I recommend Logan Labs, $20 basic soil test or you can send it to Umass, which is $5 bucks cheaper). You can also do a jar test to see if you soil is mostly clay. When you get your soil test back, you can then add amendments to correct any imbalances or deficiencies. If you are saying to yourself "I don't need no stinking soil test, my grass grows fine", then you are only fooling yourself. I was the same way, until I did one, and saw how bad my soil really was (back yard pH was below 5). It will save you money in the long run too by not overapplying fertilizers, and amendments....See Moreplanting bermuda with tall fescue
Comments (9)Cats, there are very few things that can stop Bermuda like very cold weather, shade, and Round Up. There are some chemical suppressors on the market but they are expensive. A couple of more thoughts that crepe myrtle brought to mind. Plant crepe myrtyle of some other type of shade plant like trees along the street. The shade will cool the area and allow fescue to grow. To grow Bermuda, you will really need a barrier of some kind to contain it like a side walk or a shade barrier it cannot cross. Well almost because if you use a common seeded variety where the seeds are fertile, the wind will breech the barrier and carry the seeds. Sorry I am running out of ideas for you. Zoysia is another choice, but it is like Bermuda, it spreads and is aggressive, just on a slower time table. Here is the real problem with the idea of using Bermuda or even Zoysia. They have completely different maintenance schedules and look nothing like Fescue or the cool season grasses. Bermuda or Zoysia will stick out like a transvestite in a Texas Cowboy bar. Once one of those queers shows up, more will follow and you have to find another beer joint, or convert. :>)...See MoreOverseeding Red Fescue/Ryegrass over Tall Fescue Lawn
Comments (4)Most around here, including me, will try to encourage people to avoid "scotts" grass seed mixes. They are far from being good by any means. I was trying to find the % of the Sun & Shade you quoted and all I could find is this.. "Scotts Select Turf "Sun and Shade" (50% Boreal creeping red fescue, 35% Ragnar II perennial ryegrass, 15% Alene Kentucky bluegrass). Boreal is a fancy name for common creeping red fescue. Although it is adapted to shady growing conditions, Boral has none of the bred-in advantages of improved fine fescue varieties. Ragnar II, like all perennial ryegrasses, has no shade tolerance. Alene is a common type bluegrass that ranks at the bottom of the NTEP trials." A further explanation of my statement above. 6-8 hours of sun is the standard for "Full sun", against the misconception of full sun truly being sun all day long. You could really use any of the three cool season grasses and do not need the fine fescues. However, like I said before, any of the newer varieties are not going to visually blend well if you have an old wide blade fescue. ..I also didn't mention the different growing rates if you are to put a KBG or RYE on the fescue. A few days after cutting, it will look uneven. Ultimately the best thing to do would be to kill of the whole thing and start over (assuming you do have an old course tall fescue), but if your really against that, I'd say to overseed it with a turf type fescue. Go to a local garden center for better seed....See MoreFescue Bermuda mix lawn pics
Comments (6)I think your pic posting is just fine. And I think your tall lawn looks really nice too. Of course what we're seeing in the photo that looks so beautiful is the tall fescue because of the height. By the end of next summer, as much as I hate to be a pessimist, is probably going to be majority bermuda that we are seeing. Especially with that southern exposure. There is something you might like to try though and it's on the shelves of your local Lowes. It's Greenlight "Bermuda Killer". The price isn't too bad even for repeat applications. Wait until the summer to use it if you want....See MoreRelated Professionals
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