Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...
 

I will admit I'm pretty much a beginner, and I have sinned. I reseeded a patch of my lawn
with the wrong type grass seed, and now I have a bright, almost lime green island of stuff
that I would swear is crab-grass in the middle of the rest of my dark green lawn with tiny
little blades that stand straight up. Assuming grass was grass I used several bags of
different seed, I'm not even sure which bag contains the offending seed.

I've searched the web, and found some seed companies that have photos, but those photos
are just a little larger than a postage stamp on my monitor and usually are taken from about
6 feet up, with no scale... not much help. Is there a good site that has large photos, close
up, with scales so that I can identify both the culprit and the desired species?

Thanks...

Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...
 

"BeamGuy" wrote in message
s.com...
I will admit I'm pretty much a beginner, and I have sinned. I reseeded a
patch of my lawn
with the wrong type grass seed, and now I have a bright, almost lime green
island of stuff
that I would swear is crab-grass in the middle of the rest of my dark
green lawn with tiny
little blades that stand straight up. Assuming grass was grass I used
several bags of
different seed, I'm not even sure which bag contains the offending seed.

I've searched the web, and found some seed companies that have photos, but
those photos
are just a little larger than a postage stamp on my monitor and usually
are taken from about
6 feet up, with no scale... not much help. Is there a good site that has
large photos, close
up, with scales so that I can identify both the culprit and the desired
species?

Thanks...


Identifying different grass types is not an easy job for the amateur. Many
of the pros out there have problems once you get beyond the most common
varieties. Simply looking at the photo of the grass type will often not be
enough. You have to consider the root type, shape and type of blade etc. I
have a excellent book on the subject, but nothing online.

I do have a couple of suggestions though. Feed the leftover seed to the
birds and the next time you buy seed be sure to purchase it at a reputable
garden center and not a " hardware store".

Another consideration is that you will have a variety of different grasses
in most seed mixes. Most contain a nursegrass, which is simply there to
germinate early and give the other seeds time to germinate. Once the lawn is
established the nursegrass is crowded out and dies. What you are seeing may
just be the nursegrass and the new seed may blend in given enough time.

Peter H

Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...
 

Thanks for your reply...

Indeed - the mix of seeds I used appears to have three types of seeds, Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass,
and a type of Fescue. The existing lawn is mostly a dark green grass with very fine leaves (roughly 1/16" across).
In the newly seeded areas there may be some plants like this, but the dominant grass is a much lighter shade with very
wide floppy leaves (almost 1/2" across). This lighter grass also grows almost three times as fast at the other grass. In
some areas where the overseeding was light I can pull up single plants that come from one central seed area but have
spread out almost a foot in diameter!

Yes - I bought it as a Scotts "sun & shade" grass seed mixture at hardware store.

Can I hope that whatever this is it will die off this winter?

-thanks


"Peter H" wrote in message ogers.com...

"BeamGuy" wrote in message
s.com...
I will admit I'm pretty much a beginner, and I have sinned. I reseeded a
patch of my lawn
with the wrong type grass seed, and now I have a bright, almost lime green
island of stuff
that I would swear is crab-grass in the middle of the rest of my dark
green lawn with tiny
little blades that stand straight up. Assuming grass was grass I used
several bags of
different seed, I'm not even sure which bag contains the offending seed.

I've searched the web, and found some seed companies that have photos, but
those photos
are just a little larger than a postage stamp on my monitor and usually
are taken from about
6 feet up, with no scale... not much help. Is there a good site that has
large photos, close
up, with scales so that I can identify both the culprit and the desired
species?

Thanks...


Identifying different grass types is not an easy job for the amateur. Many
of the pros out there have problems once you get beyond the most common
varieties. Simply looking at the photo of the grass type will often not be
enough. You have to consider the root type, shape and type of blade etc. I
have a excellent book on the subject, but nothing online.

I do have a couple of suggestions though. Feed the leftover seed to the
birds and the next time you buy seed be sure to purchase it at a reputable
garden center and not a " hardware store".

Another consideration is that you will have a variety of different grasses
in most seed mixes. Most contain a nursegrass, which is simply there to
germinate early and give the other seeds time to germinate. Once the lawn is
established the nursegrass is crowded out and dies. What you are seeing may
just be the nursegrass and the new seed may blend in given enough time.

Peter H

Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...
 

http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/libra...ss/content.htm might be useful



"BeamGuy" wrote in message
s.com...
I will admit I'm pretty much a beginner, and I have sinned. I reseeded a
patch of my lawn
with the wrong type grass seed, and now I have a bright, almost lime green
island of stuff
that I would swear is crab-grass in the middle of the rest of my dark
green lawn with tiny
little blades that stand straight up. Assuming grass was grass I used
several bags of
different seed, I'm not even sure which bag contains the offending seed.

I've searched the web, and found some seed companies that have photos, but
those photos
are just a little larger than a postage stamp on my monitor and usually
are taken from about
6 feet up, with no scale... not much help. Is there a good site that has
large photos, close
up, with scales so that I can identify both the culprit and the desired
species?

Thanks...

Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...
 

"BeamGuy" wrote in message
s.com...
Thanks for your reply...

Indeed - the mix of seeds I used appears to have three types of seeds,
Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass,
and a type of Fescue. The existing lawn is mostly a dark green grass with
very fine leaves (roughly 1/16" across).
In the newly seeded areas there may be some plants like this, but the
dominant grass is a much lighter shade with very
wide floppy leaves (almost 1/2" across). This lighter grass also grows
almost three times as fast at the other grass. In
some areas where the overseeding was light I can pull up single plants
that come from one central seed area but have
spread out almost a foot in diameter!

Yes - I bought it as a Scotts "sun & shade" grass seed mixture at hardware
store.

Can I hope that whatever this is it will die off this winter?

-thanks


A quick google search produced this result.

http://2001.scotts.com/lawncare/GrassSeed.cfm

The sun and shade mix is listed there. One of the grasses listed is "tall
fescue", which is probably the large-bladed leaf that you mentioned. Whether
or not tall fescue will be a problem in your lawn will depend upon where you
are located, which to a large extent will determine the grass that you have
in your existing lawn.

I'm in the Toronto area of Canada and around here tall fescue is a bit of a
pain. It doesn't seem to blend well with Kentucky bluegrass/ perennial
ryegrass lawns. I know that in some parts of the US it is routinely planted
though because it's a sturdy variety.

Peter H

Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...
 

I've never seen a commercial tall fescue that produced grass with 1/2
inch wide floppy leaves. Tall fescue does grow relatively fast, but
it stands straight up. It's wider and coarser than a fine fescue or
bluegrass, but should only be about 1/8-3/16 inch wide. Sounds like
you have some kind of undesirable grass.

But whatever it is really doesn't matter. I suggest you find out what
kind of grass the good part of your lawn is then use that as a guide
to get the right seed for repair. You can just kill the bad spots and
reseed in Sept.




"Peter H" wrote in message e.rogers.com...
"BeamGuy" wrote in message
s.com...
Thanks for your reply...

Indeed - the mix of seeds I used appears to have three types of seeds,
Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass,
and a type of Fescue. The existing lawn is mostly a dark green grass with
very fine leaves (roughly 1/16" across).
In the newly seeded areas there may be some plants like this, but the
dominant grass is a much lighter shade with very
wide floppy leaves (almost 1/2" across). This lighter grass also grows
almost three times as fast at the other grass. In
some areas where the overseeding was light I can pull up single plants
that come from one central seed area but have
spread out almost a foot in diameter!

Yes - I bought it as a Scotts "sun & shade" grass seed mixture at hardware
store.

Can I hope that whatever this is it will die off this winter?

-thanks


A quick google search produced this result.

http://2001.scotts.com/lawncare/GrassSeed.cfm

The sun and shade mix is listed there. One of the grasses listed is "tall
fescue", which is probably the large-bladed leaf that you mentioned. Whether
or not tall fescue will be a problem in your lawn will depend upon where you
are located, which to a large extent will determine the grass that you have
in your existing lawn.

I'm in the Toronto area of Canada and around here tall fescue is a bit of a
pain. It doesn't seem to blend well with Kentucky bluegrass/ perennial
ryegrass lawns. I know that in some parts of the US it is routinely planted
though because it's a sturdy variety.

Peter H