What type of grass to sew this fall
 

Last fall I decided I wanted toi try my hands at putting in a good
lawn. I rototilled my front lawn and subsequently checked and adjusted
the pH. I added a small amount of fertilizer and plantend Scotts Pure
Premium Tall Fescue grass seed. This was in mid-October which is very
pleasant here in Tennessee. In fact we had a week of warm weather and
light rain that combined to have the seedlings popping up within a few
days of planting. The winter came and went and this spring showed me
something that I was really amazed at. My lawn looked like a golf
course ! Short lived though. By mid-June my lawn was invaded with
weeds even though I had used both a pre-emergent in February and a
weed-&-feed in May. We had a week of high-temperatures which ran near
or over 100 every day. I thought that the grass had gone dormant but
evidently it simply died.

To cut this rather long story short, I'm looking for recommendations
for a grass that can handle drought and high-heat without completely
dying. I live about 60 miles south-east of Nashville, Tennessee and
water isn't an issue as there is plenty around here. We have an
underground stream on our property (and I mean real shallow!) as well
as an above-ground stream about 100' down the road. The lawn usually
has a heady dew and in fact I have to keep is mowed somewhat short or
it will not dry out before sundown. Of course it does get cold here as
well and I also have some dense shady areas where I was planning on
putting creeping fescue.

Thanks for your recommendations.


JD
Photography - www.puresilver.org - www.darkroompro.com
Motorcycles - www.xs750.net Music - www.picknparlor.net

Me too.
I had a nice lawn until it got hot. Now I have this weed that I thought
I killed coming back and the grass is very sparse even with watering.I
think the heavy rains of the last several years keep washing the
nutrients and my fertilizer off.
I'm about 50 miles furthr south than you.

On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 20:17:14 -0500, Tightwad
wrote:

Me too.
I had a nice lawn until it got hot. Now I have this weed that I thought
I killed coming back and the grass is very sparse even with watering.I
think the heavy rains of the last several years keep washing the
nutrients and my fertilizer off.
I'm about 50 miles furthr south than you.

What seed were you using ? I'm thinking about just using plain ol'
K31 as it cheap. I've read that some of the new stuff looks exactly
like the "premium" tall fescues.


JD
Photography - www.puresilver.org - www.darkroompro.com
Motorcycles - www.xs750.net Music - www.picknparlor.net

On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 21:46:44 -0500, John wrote:

I've read that some of the new stuff looks exactly
like the "premium" tall fescues.

Varieties may look alike but have very different habits or
resistance...



Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

On Sun, 11 Sep 2005 21:46:44 -0500, John wrote:

I'm thinking about just using plain ol'
K31 as it cheap.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p.../tallfesc.html
Varieties. Kentucky-31 and Alta are the 2 oldest varieties of tall
fescue in use today. Alta was selected from a stand of tall fescue in
Oregon in 1923 and K-31 is an increase from tall fescue found in 1931
on a Kentucky farm where it had been growing for 50 years. Both of
these grasses are coarse textured and produce a rather weak turf. They
have been widely used as pasture grasses in the transition zone.
Kenwell, Kenhy, Fawn and Goar were later releases, but possessed
similar turf characteristics. In the 1970's, tall fescues were being
developed specifically for turfgrasses and varieties such as Rebel,
Olympic, Houndog, Falcon and Adventure were released. These new
turf-type tall fescues are finer textured and produce a denser turf
than older pasture-type varieties. They also provide year-round green
color for lawns. Bonsai tall fescue is a newly released dwarf variety
with outstanding turf quality

some variety info...
http://www.sroseed.com/Products/VDB/8000.html



Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

I used three different varieties of fescue including Rebel and two
others that I don't remember. I figured the best for the area would
certainly survive. I'm real disapointed.
I have Zoysia or something that has most of thesuides and back yard and
it is thick and lush and has taken over any and all bare spots.
The only problem it won't grow under my Oaks and Hickorys worth a damn
and it looks like a cocoa mat during late fall and winter.
I'm at wits end.

The grass probably dies from lack of water, not the heat. Or was mowed to
low preventing it from combatting the heat and loss of moisture.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p.../tallfesc.html

"John" wrote in message
...
Last fall I decided I wanted toi try my hands at putting in a good
lawn. I rototilled my front lawn and subsequently checked and adjusted
the pH. I added a small amount of fertilizer and plantend Scotts Pure
Premium Tall Fescue grass seed. This was in mid-October which is very
pleasant here in Tennessee. In fact we had a week of warm weather and
light rain that combined to have the seedlings popping up within a few
days of planting. The winter came and went and this spring showed me
something that I was really amazed at. My lawn looked like a golf
course ! Short lived though. By mid-June my lawn was invaded with
weeds even though I had used both a pre-emergent in February and a
weed-&-feed in May. We had a week of high-temperatures which ran near
or over 100 every day. I thought that the grass had gone dormant but
evidently it simply died.

To cut this rather long story short, I'm looking for recommendations
for a grass that can handle drought and high-heat without completely
dying. I live about 60 miles south-east of Nashville, Tennessee and
water isn't an issue as there is plenty around here. We have an
underground stream on our property (and I mean real shallow!) as well
as an above-ground stream about 100' down the road. The lawn usually
has a heady dew and in fact I have to keep is mowed somewhat short or
it will not dry out before sundown. Of course it does get cold here as
well and I also have some dense shady areas where I was planning on
putting creeping fescue.

Thanks for your recommendations.


JD
Photography - www.puresilver.org - www.darkroompro.com
Motorcycles - www.xs750.net Music - www.picknparlor.net

On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 22:47:00 -0500, Tightwad
wrote:

I used three different varieties of fescue including Rebel and two
others that I don't remember. I figured the best for the area would
certainly survive. I'm real disapointed.
I have Zoysia or something that has most of thesuides and back yard and
it is thick and lush and has taken over any and all bare spots.
The only problem it won't grow under my Oaks and Hickorys worth a damn
and it looks like a cocoa mat during late fall and winter.
I'm at wits end.

Well the wife and I have decided to try Scotts again. Specifically
cotts Pure Premium Heat-Tolerant Blue Grass Seed. See :

http://www.scotts.com/index.cfm/even...d92dc326cc8024

If that doesn't work then we'll go with Zenith Zosia when the price
has come down a little. $25/pound is just a little over the top.

John

John wrote:
Well the wife and I have decided to try Scotts again. Specifically
cotts Pure Premium Heat-Tolerant Blue Grass Seed. See :

http://www.scotts.com/index.cfm/even...documentType/p
roduct/category/%2FCategories%2FProducts%2FGrass+Seed%2FGrass+Seed +Seedin
g+Mixes/documentId/8cd29cd2d6cc930cdfd92dc326cc8024

If that doesn't work then we'll go with Zenith Zosia when the price
has come down a little. $25/pound is just a little over the top.

John

Hrmm..

Have you looked at the improved turf-type tall fescues yet?

"Have you looked at the improved turf-type tall fescues yet? "


Speaking of that, has anyone tried the new tall fescue that has been
bred to have rhizomes, so that instead of being a clump type grass as
std tall fescue, it will spread? There's info about it at
www.aboutrtf.com.

On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:27:27 GMT, "Lil' Dave"
wrote:

The grass probably dies from lack of water, not the heat. Or was mowed to
low preventing it from combatting the heat and loss of moisture.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p.../tallfesc.html

Nope. I'm very careful and follow recommendations from the
manufacturers. I keep it at 2" year round. Also our property has one
stream under it and the lack of water would only be a problem is we
didn't have rain for more than a month IMO. The heavy dews we have in
the morning are amazing. I have to leep the areas in shade mowed short
or they'll never dry out.

JD

John wrote:
On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:27:27 GMT, "Lil' Dave"
wrote:

The grass probably dies from lack of water, not the heat. Or was mowed
to low preventing it from combatting the heat and loss of moisture.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p...cations/tallfe
sc.html

Nope. I'm very careful and follow recommendations from the
manufacturers. I keep it at 2" year round. Also our property has one
stream under it and the lack of water would only be a problem is we
didn't have rain for more than a month IMO. The heavy dews we have in
the morning are amazing. I have to leep the areas in shade mowed short
or they'll never dry out.

JD

Dew will not irrigate turfgrass very much, it will add a bit of nitrogen
tho.

On 17 Sep 2005 01:49:00 GMT, Steveo wrote:

Nope. I'm very careful and follow recommendations from the
manufacturers. I keep it at 2" year round. Also our property has one
stream under it and the lack of water would only be a problem is we
didn't have rain for more than a month IMO. The heavy dews we have in
the morning are amazing. I have to leep the areas in shade mowed short
or they'll never dry out.

JD

Dew will not irrigate turfgrass very much, it will add a bit of nitrogen
tho.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of that. Can you give me some more details
? Also, while the 2" mowing height is somewhat minimal, I do generally
allow it to grow for at least 1 week between mowings. 8" is max height
though. I really prefer it to be around 3" however I assume that the
taller grass provides shade and traps moisture better.

JD

On 14 Sep 2005 22:52:39 GMT, Steveo wrote:

Hrmm..

Have you looked at the improved turf-type tall fescues yet?

That's what we have/had. Specifically Scotts Pure Premium Tall Fescue
Mix. It's a great grass and I higly recommend it to anyone north of
Tennessee. Perhaps even to those in northern Tennessee. But we're 55
miles southeast of Nashville and the weather here is remekably
different. My sister lives about 40 miles north of Nashville and our
weather is a good deal warmer and we seem to get much more rain.

JD