In the spring I killed poa annua with several light applications of Tenacity. I think I did 1 oz/ac rate about once a week for four weeks (it varied as rain and mowing affected when I could spray). You used Tenacity in late August, right? That would have given you some pre-emergent protection through September. But all through October you will have had poa germinating. Prodiamine isn't going to affect what has germinated and early fall is the prime time for poa annua germination. Maybe consider several light applications of Tenacity (with surfactant) now to target what has germinated this fall. I have tttf and there was some minor bleaching but nothing dramatic and it grew out of it.

Update before Christmas: the KBG has established fairly well and overall I am pleased with how things turned out. For a while there I was walking around the yard with a bag of seed fixing washed off spots singing "don't give up nonono" in my head.

As opposed to last year we've had low temps for the past month, which slowed growth significantly - though roots may still be developing underground. Thus I have not applied any PGR to it since it wasn't necessary. I really like the finer texture of KBG. It seems to come out light green when young and then it gradually darkens as it matures. Looking forward to it further maturing and spreading next year.

Wow. Looks awesome for a kbg renovation. Kudos!

Looks awesome! At least all the effort paid off.

Update as of today. The remaining fescue has mostly succumbed to fungus(visible in the picture if you look hard), but the bluegrass is holding the fort. I am excited to see Barvette performs this spring - it's supposed to be an aggressive spreader, so we shall see.

So if your neighbor fires their lawn care company and comes to ask you for advice on how to get their lawn looking as nice as yours, does that mean you've won the lawn wars?

j4c11, how's the Turf Blue HGT doing through the summer so far? I planted the same in late August in Richmond, VA along with a blend of Award/Midnight/NuGlade/Keeneland. Besides a Pythium outbreak in late May that I quickly nuked with pyraclostrobin, the lawn is holding up well. My only complaint is that I don't have very dark color. Depending on how your's is holding up, thinking of overseeding with only HGT this Fall. Thanks!

It is doing very good. One of the cultivars in the mix is clearly starting to dominate. Which one it is is anyone's guess - probably Barvette since it's the aggressive one But it is a nice, dark cultivar. Another one of the cultivars in the mix was very light color, and it seems to be on its way out. Natural selection at its finest.

I have been spraying trinexapac-ethyl since March and propiconazole since May every 2 weeks, and Lesco Moisture Manager once a month. No disease issues yet, and drought tolerance has been outstanding. Mind you, this is due to the care it is receiving, not due to the grass itself. I have a low maintenance area (read: only gets some fertilizer) on the side that was seeded with the exact same mix and the difference is night and day. I will post some pictures this evening, it's really striking.

So overall I am pretty happy with it so far, but the most brutal part of the summer is just now coming. I will try to post updates through summer and hopefully you can get a good idea by the time fall comes.

Barenbrug has another, new KBG cultivar that does exceptionally well in the Transition Zone based on Raleigh NTEP. It is called Barseratti and it is not yet on the market, but they were supposed to add it to the HGT mix. Maybe this year if they get good seed yields. It would killer mix for our area with Barvette.

Awesome work brother, this is how you run a successful KBG lawn in the transition zone!

Ok, grabbed some pictures today.

This area is on the side of the house - same grass, gets the same amount of fertilizer but no PGR or fungicide. It's worse than it looks, it hasn't been mowed yet. The difference between this one and the one above is exclusively in the care routine. There's a clearly visible demarc line where I stop spraying, but I couldn't capture it very well in a photo.

This cultivar is starting to dominate big time. The circled one was a lot more common through spring, but it's tapping out due to heat and drought. Fine by me, the one thriving is much nicer.

Hoping whatever fescue remains will be done this summer and I can push an aggressive fertilizer/mowing schedule in the fall to get this KBG cultivar to do a complete takeover.

Now I'm strongly considering PGR and fungicide routine. Would spring be the best time to apply? NE Ohio here and I'm also really trying for a KBG takeover.

Edit: application time for PGR. I have a good grip on fungicide I think.

You can start with PGR when the spring flush starts and keep it going until the grass stops growing in the fall. It helps a lot with color and drought tolerance, and it also stimulates grass to spread and tiller.

What kind of grass do you have? I'm assuming you have a mix since you're wanting a "KBG takeover"? The PGR will affect all of them.

Yes, mix. Fall over seeding with KBG the past two years had ok results, but going with an elite blend this fall. Had a little outbreak of P triv from store bought seed, I think.

My color is probably somewhere between your two first pics. I'm thinking it must be the PGR that's the major difference. Curious where you've been purchasing? Also been scouring the web and watching the twitter feeds of various Barenbrug employees for news on Barseratti. Agree that Barvette/Barseratti would be a deadly combo for us. I'm also currently waiting on a call back from DeLalio Sod to see if they'll ship me some Mazama. It seems to have done well in Raleigh and has much better genetic color scores than than the Barvette.

I'm also currently waiting on a call back from DeLalio Sod to see if they'll ship me some Mazama

Keep me posted on that, may give it a shot as well if they'll send you some.

I'm thinking it must be the PGR that's the major difference. Curious where you've been purchasing?

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/qualipro-tnex-p-16595.html

Keep me posted on that, may give it a shot as well if they'll send you some.

Will do.

@j4c11, I never heard back from DeLalio, but somebody from ATY turned me onto Long Island Cauliflower Association (http://www.licassoc.com/LICA_Catalog.pdf). I ordered 5lbs at $4.45/lb. Also grabbed an 8oz bottle of PGR from domyownlawn.com to give that a try.

Cool. I know a lot of people have high hopes for Mazama, so let us know how it turns out.

How's your grass holding up? We've been hit with a string of mid-90s and the grass is struggling, and me right along with it to keep it alive :-)

How's your grass holding up? We've been hit with a string of mid-90s and the grass is struggling, and me right along with it to keep it alive :-)

Yeah, know what you mean, we'll probably break a record in Richmond today. My grass is holding pretty strong except damage from a neighbor's dog. Based on the spots its creating, I feel like it must have some major dietary issues! I sprayed some beneficial nematodes along with a Serenade & Companion cocktail last night. I'll grab a few pics this evening after I give it a cut.

I've been reviewing NTEP tests and I keep getting surprised by good old Midnight - great Summer Patch resistance, great color, good drought resistance, and it's cheap. If I have big losses this summer might throw some in.

I've been reviewing NTEP tests and I keep getting surprised by good old Midnight - great Summer Patch resistance, great color, good drought resistance, and it's cheap. If I have big losses this summer might throw some in.

Yeah, I noticed it when I started my reno last year too. Midnight was 40% of my Award/Midnight/NuGlade/Keeneland mix from SSS. I used that mix to overseed my bare spots from the Fall reno, but for some reason it kept damping off. Those spots filled in, but I think from Barvette spreading.

Hey j4c11, I have a few updates you might be interested in. First, I heard back from a Barenbrug rep that we should start seeing Barserati in the market (I assume in the HGT mix) in "Spring 2018." I also did a little more NTEP research and realized that Knoxville, TN is also a good location for comparison. Given that, I did some spreadsheet work and combined the top 2016 cultivars for NC1+TN1. Not surprisingly, the same ones are at the top. Barvette, Barserati, SRX 466, A05-TB-382, Mazama. I have an email out to SRO and Mountain View asking about availability of SRX 466 and A05-TB-382. On another note, I started pots of HGT mix, Mazama, and an RTF mix on 7/29. Of course, the RTF mix is already up today, but amazingly, Mazama has also already started to germinate at 6 days! That has me a little more excited about the probability of a successful overseed. How are you holding up? Are you going to add any seed this Fall?

That is very interesting, thanks for the update. 6 days is very impressive for KBG. It will make a big difference in establisment.

It's funny, I was looking at the latest NTEP data for KBG the other day and Barvette is in the top 3 in so many categories and then dead last in genetic color :-)

The grass is holding up great, it looks like for the first time I won't need to seed/overseed this fall. It has lost some density due to heat but no patches of dead grass or anything. With a generous dose of urea once it cools off it will thicken back up nicely. My only concern is color, we will see how that turns out. I pulled a plug of the HGT bluegrass and placed it in a pot to hopefully test its recovery from dormancy and spreading, you can follow that here.

I will be redoing the 1,000 sq ft strip of grass along the driveway with 100% Midnight. I want to see how it looks color-wise and how it holds up through next summer. If that is successful, and it looks significantly better than the HGT mix, I will probably renovate to 100% Midnight next fall.

Update as of 8/6/2017. Still holding up but the grass' drought tolerance seems to be reduced. I haven't applied Lesco Moisture Manager in a while so that may have something to do with it. There's probably significant root loss due to heat as well. Luckily, fall is around the corner.

Next time please remove the hose from the frame shot; it's ruined my framing of the picture.....

:)

lol. Hey I had to water.

Looks amazing.

Love the Stripes, I want to buy a kit for my mower

No kit required! Those are purely from mowing. After you run over them 3-4 times the stripes "stick".

I re-read this entire thread again today.

I'm amazed you didn't get any fungus this summer, but that may be due to the fact you did preventitive fungicide in May, correct?

I've been doing preventive fungicide since May, every 2 weeks. Propiconazole at 1oz/K and azoxystrobin on occasion to mitigate any fungicide resistance issues. Raised to 1.5oz/K recently due to increased fungus pressure.

In past years brown patch all but wiped out my lawn by the end of May. Last year I waited until there were signs of fungus and I battled that all summer long with heavy (and expensive) doses of azoxystrobin. This year I started spraying as a preventive in May, no signs of fungus all summer but KBG is not as susceptible to BP, so that had something to do with it as well. I plan on doing preventive fungicide on a yearly basis going forward - propiconazole has the added benefit that it helps stun Bermuda as well.

Hi I am in NY 7a zone and we have Scotts or Pennington or Rebel grass seed. WHat would you recommend? I am unable to find the one you used. Thanks

Call The Hogan Company and ask for a mix for your area. Don't buy big box store seed.

http://thehogancompany.us/home.html

I can vouch not to buy the big box seed. I think I got a little poa Triv outbreak from Scotts. Not a Scotts hater...just is what it is. Spend the money on good seed.

I had planned on doing a kgb + perennial rye over seed over my current Bermuda. (I've cut it high all summer Letting the wild fescue shade it out. It worked well so far aND I think if I go ahead and get the kgb in, I can keep it at 3 inches, and coupled with some blue grass control I think the kgb will win.

Anyways, is there any reason to do the rye? It looks like that kgb stayed green all winter. I'm in zone 7a

Also, FYI.. the Bar PP 110358 , is the Barserati variety. and is in both the turf blue hgt, and turf blue pro. (straight from barenbrug's email response)

I am going to try Barserati on its own. I dont like the light green color of the other varieties at all. If it cant handle the heat, ill bite the bullet and over seed with some TTTF.

I wonder if the barserati was in J4c11's bad of seed. if so, that looks like what took over. thats incredible in NC

webuser_993028

So I emailed the Barenbrug rep last year about Barserati, it caught my eye because it did so well in NTEP tests. He said last year was its first year in production and it was going to be very limited availability. He did say it will eventually make it into the HGT mix. I inquired on another forum and a gentleman who purchased a bag of this year's batch indicated there's no Barserati in there. It definitely wasn't in last year's batch either.

Where are you getting Barserati seed from? I was going to special order some last year but no one was really willing to go through the effort for the small amount I needed.

They told me to call Green Resource, in Colfax.

Haha, they told me the same thing. I go there all the time. I left a note for the "seed guy" last fall and never heard back. Great place though, they have everything you can think of. It's right by the Farmer's Market.

How much seed do you need? They may be more inclined to do a special order for a 50 lb bag. I could use 25 lbs.

i really only need 5, maybe 10, but if I have to buy 50, i don't mind splitting it. Im in arkansas though, so It might be easier for me to call another vendor

Ok. Keep me posted if you find a source please. Either way, I'd like to get a hold of some as well.

strike one. green resource wont sell a single variety. ...like.. why not? you just lost 300 bucks from a lost sell. if i cant get what i want, ill go get something else somewhere else.

like.. why not?

Some people just don't want to be bothered.

Customer service is truly dead these days

Hey how many pounds do you need? I can probably work out a deal. Group buy would make it even more possible.

I'd like to get about 25 lbs. Any idea on cost?

I went to Green Resource today to inquire about special ordering some. Their seed guy says "are you the guy I talked to yesterday about this?". Lol, nope, wasn't me, guess you made an impression.

Anyway, I offered to buy a 50 lb bag, they wouldn't do it, he said they only order by the pallet. Bummer.

I'm in for 10lbs of Barserati if you guys can get it!

And I'll take a half a pound of salami!

I'm bumping this thread because A) it's a great read with lots of good info and B) Where are you jc??

jc is no longer on GW. He sends his regards. I will try and chime in as much as possible.