Best low-water seed mix for the Denver area?
 

We live in the Denver area and are moving to a house that has no lawn at
present. I want to plant some grass seed mix over this fall and winter, so
it sprouts by spring, but we DO NOT want Kentucky Bluegrass that requires a
lot of water and mowing.

I've heard of native grasses like Buffalo but there are supposedly pros and
cons to it, like it sprouts up late and dies off early. They say to mix it
with other kinds so that they sprout early and stay later. Ok, what kinds?

We're looking for a lawn that we can water once a week and maybe mow once a
month, and it would still look good? That would be great. Can we do that?

What seed mixes should I look for, for that, which would grow well in
Denver?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Hi Popcorn Lover,
Congratulations on your new home! I would suggest that you ask your local extension service which would be the best turf grasses to use. Before you do, you might want to read these sites so you can familiarize yourself with the different types of grass. I will also include links on how to plant your new lawn, lay sod if you choose and how to organically maintain your lawn. I'm also including a link to the Colorado Extension Service. You might even find recommendations at the site.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/

Turf Types:
http://www.turfgrasssod.org/lawninst...hern_lawns.htm
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8035.pdf
http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/turfSpecies...ason/Tour.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/TURF/TURFSPECIES/
http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/turfSpecies...gement/pH.html

Seeding and Sod:
http://www.garden.org/articles/scrip...;subch=default
http://www.hortmag.com/articles/seedinglawn.asp
http://www.michaelholigan.com/Depart...p?ts%5Fid=5741
http://turfgrass.com/planting/rake.html

Organic Lawn Care
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/compost/organic.htm
http://www.theorganicreport.com/page...ucontentID=436
http://www.organicgardening.com/library/lawn.html
http://216.109.89.116/backyardwildli...rganiclawn.cfm
http://www.members.tripod.com/~Garde.../index-11.html

Water:
http://www.dof.virginia.gov/rfb/rain-gardens.shtml

Newt

Popcorn Lover wrote :

We live in the Denver area and are moving to a house that has no lawn at
present. I want to plant some grass seed mix over this fall and winter,
so it sprouts by spring, but we DO NOT want Kentucky Bluegrass that
requires a lot of water and mowing.

I've heard of native grasses like Buffalo but there are supposedly pros
and cons to it, like it sprouts up late and dies off early. They say to
mix it with other kinds so that they sprout early and stay later. Ok,
what kinds?

We're looking for a lawn that we can water once a week and maybe mow
once a month, and it would still look good? That would be great. Can we
do that?

What seed mixes should I look for, for that, which would grow well in
Denver?

Thanks in advance for your help.


Years ago I read in the paper about something they were calling
"superturf", that was supposed to be like that, but don't know whatever
became of it.

Anyone?

--
Grassroots Activist
( no email - spoofed )

[quote=Years ago I read in the paper about something they were calling
"superturf", that was supposed to be like that, but don't know whatever
became of it.

Anyone?

Grassroots Activist
( no email - spoofed )[/QUOTE]


Grassroots,
Are you talking about that rubber stuff?
http://hometown.aol.com/globalrubr/2.htm

If so, you might want to read this too.
http://www.paghat.com/rubbermulch.html

Newt

We live in the Denver area and are moving to a house that has no lawn at
present. I want to plant some grass seed mix over this fall and winter, so it
sprouts by spring, but we DO NOT want Kentucky Bluegrass that requires a lot of
water and mowing.
I've heard of native grasses like Buffalo but there are supposedly pros and
cons to it, like it sprouts up late and dies off early. They say to mix it with
other kinds so that they sprout early and stay later. Ok, what kinds?
We're looking for a lawn that we can water once a week and maybe mow once a
month, and it would still look good? That would be great. Can we do that?
What seed mixes should I look for, for that, which would grow well in Denver?

I'm not sure that there is a turf type that meets all of your requirements. All
will require equal amounts of water initially, until well-established, but few
can only be mowed once a month and still look good. There are several types of
turf that are considered low-water grasses, including buffalograss and tall
fescue, that will work here in Denver. You can read about them at:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopE...s/turfchoi.htm
Colorado State University, where different turf types are extensively tested to
determine their suitability for this area, has a webpage on starting new lawns:
http://csuturf.colostate.edu/Pages/newlawn.htm
And there are seed companies that specialize in turfgrass seed specific for
this area (also have a much lower weed seed count than most popular brands).
I've purchased my seed from Rocky Mountain Seed Co (only because they are
located the closest to me), at 1325 15th St., Denver, CO 80202 303-623-6223
but Arkansas Seed Company has a good reputation too.
Give our Denver Extension Office a call and they will be glad to send you a
list of preferred seed blends. 720-913-5278. To see examples of some of these
grasses, visit the demonstration garden at Denver Water Department where they
have plots of each, showing them both mowed and not mowed.
And for any other gardening questions, see: www.denvermastergardeners.org
sed5555

Great sites from Sed. Here's some more that should be helpful if you decide to seed or sod a new lawn and want to maintain it organically as well.

Seeding, sodding, and prep:
http://www.garden.org/articles/scrip...;subch=default
http://www.hortmag.com/articles/seedinglawn.asp
http://turfgrass.com/planting/rake.html
http://www.michaelholigan.com/Depart...p?ts%5Fid=5741

Maintaining:
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/compost/organic.htm
http://www.organicgardening.com/library/lawn.html
http://216.109.89.116/backyardwildli...rganiclawn.cfm
http://www.members.tripod.com/~Garde.../index-11.html

Newt

(Sed5555) wrote :

We live in the Denver area and are moving to a house that has no lawn at
present. I want to plant some grass seed mix over this fall and winter,
so it
sprouts by spring, but we DO NOT want Kentucky Bluegrass that requires a
lot of water and mowing.
I've heard of native grasses like Buffalo but there are supposedly pros
and cons to it, like it sprouts up late and dies off early. They say to
mix it with other kinds so that they sprout early and stay later. Ok,
what kinds? We're looking for a lawn that we can water once a week and
maybe mow once a month, and it would still look good? That would be
great. Can we do that? What seed mixes should I look for, for that,
which would grow well in Denver?

I'm not sure that there is a turf type that meets all of your
requirements. All will require equal amounts of water initially, until
well-established, but few can only be mowed once a month and still look
good. There are several types of turf that are considered low-water
grasses, including buffalograss and tall fescue, that will work here in
Denver. You can read about them at:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopE...s/turfchoi.htm Colorado
State University, where different turf types are extensively tested to
determine their suitability for this area, has a webpage on starting new
lawns: http://csuturf.colostate.edu/Pages/newlawn.htm
And there are seed companies that specialize in turfgrass seed specific
for this area (also have a much lower weed seed count than most popular
brands). I've purchased my seed from Rocky Mountain Seed Co (only
because they are located the closest to me), at 1325 15th St., Denver,
CO 80202 303-623-6223 but Arkansas Seed Company has a good reputation
too. Give our Denver Extension Office a call and they will be glad to
send you a list of preferred seed blends. 720-913-5278. To see examples
of some of these grasses, visit the demonstration garden at Denver Water
Department where they have plots of each, showing them both mowed and
not mowed. And for any other gardening questions, see:
www.denvermastergardeners.org sed5555


Thank you!


--
Grassroots Activist
( no email - spoofed )

(Sed5555) wrote :

We live in the Denver area and are moving to a house that has no lawn at
present. I want to plant some grass seed mix over this fall and winter,
so it
sprouts by spring, but we DO NOT want Kentucky Bluegrass that requires a
lot of water and mowing.
I've heard of native grasses like Buffalo but there are supposedly pros
and cons to it, like it sprouts up late and dies off early. They say to
mix it with other kinds so that they sprout early and stay later. Ok,
what kinds? We're looking for a lawn that we can water once a week and
maybe mow once a month, and it would still look good? That would be
great. Can we do that? What seed mixes should I look for, for that,
which would grow well in Denver?

I'm not sure that there is a turf type that meets all of your
requirements. All will require equal amounts of water initially, until
well-established, but few can only be mowed once a month and still look
good. There are several types of turf that are considered low-water
grasses, including buffalograss and tall fescue, that will work here in
Denver. You can read about them at:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopE...s/turfchoi.htm Colorado
State University, where different turf types are extensively tested to
determine their suitability for this area, has a webpage on starting new
lawns: http://csuturf.colostate.edu/Pages/newlawn.htm
And there are seed companies that specialize in turfgrass seed specific
for this area (also have a much lower weed seed count than most popular
brands). I've purchased my seed from Rocky Mountain Seed Co (only
because they are located the closest to me), at 1325 15th St., Denver,
CO 80202 303-623-6223 but Arkansas Seed Company has a good reputation
too. Give our Denver Extension Office a call and they will be glad to
send you a list of preferred seed blends. 720-913-5278. To see examples
of some of these grasses, visit the demonstration garden at Denver Water
Department where they have plots of each, showing them both mowed and
not mowed. And for any other gardening questions, see:
www.denvermastergardeners.org sed5555

At the house we used to own in southwest Lakewood, we had some kind of grass
come in by accident. It was tough,wiry, dense, bluish green and required
very little water or mowing. Does anyone know what it may have been?

There's a photo at http://www.dimensional.com/~melissa/photos/GRASS.JPG



--
Yours In Liberty, Melissa - Colorado, U.S.A.
http://melissasliberty.blogspot.com/

The last best hope for liberty, to give the world its first Bill of
Rights: http://www.UPAlliance.org/billofrights.htm