We live in the west desert area near Vegas and the bags of mix variety works well in that the shade loving grass grows in the shade and the heat tolerant grass grows in the sun. Best of both worlds
I would love a part 2 and 3 to this video, I live in North Carolina in the transition area and I would like to seed my new yard with a cool season grass mix.
Part 2 is up. Depending on where you are in NC, you'd have a couple options. Tall fescue would work over much of the state while Ky bluegrass would be really only suitable for the mountains.
I'm in Southern Ontario and use Perrenial Rye Grass. I get awesome results, it's great for that July heat as well. Just make sure you mow it no more than 2 inches. Awesome grass for striping
Perennial ryegrass is great when it's great but can also get pretty bad. I live in the transition zone of the US and our summers here put a pretty hard beating on PR so that it can either look dog-ugly or die out completely. I know the university of Guelph recommends putting a little PR in with KBG to get quicker coverage but they warn that PR can winterkill pretty badly in areas of ON. I grew up in Sask and we had no PR out there because our winters were so bad. The only concern I'd have for your situation is if you get a bad winter, or a cold snap without much snow coverage--that can often times result in some dead grass. I'm glad it's looking great for you though--thanks for reaching out!
Well, I didn’t think a you tube video could save me from my own stupidity, but yours did. THANK YOU. Was about to pull the trigger on a bag of100% ryegrass in Northern New York. Thank you for this great content. Subbed.
great to hear, samlol23! Perennial rye looks really good at times, but it can also look really bad after a cold winter or a hot summer. Glad the content was useful for you!
Great video. I'm in the northern zone and most lawns here are a mix between KBG and fine fescue. Perennial ryegrass typical doesn't survive more than 5 years here. I do about 75% KBG and 25% fine fescue. The hard part is judging how much N to put down as KBG is a medium to high maintenance turf while fine fescue is low maintenance. I do about 2 lbs of N annually as I mulch and my lawn is 28 years old (good CEC and organic matter).
The interesting thing to me is that more and more tall fescue is showing up in the far north because it can thrive with reduced inputs. They tell me they will sometimes see some winterkill, but it generally does ok. I'm with you on 2#N/1000 sq ft on that mix. I have a TF/KBG lawn and I generally will go 2# on it as well and the KBG does fine.
@@wayneessar7489 got ya--good thing I can read! KBG will typically do well under 2-3 lbs of N/1000 sq ft per year, while FFs like less than that (~1 lb). Still going out somewhere in the middle at around that 2 lb rate shouldn't be too crazy for the FF while still keeping the KBG happy. It's something I would play around with--start on the lower side (like maybe 1.5 lbs) and see how it looks and then come up from there.
@@wayneessar7489 you're welcome. The Univ. of MN and Purdue Univ have both been working quite a bit with FFs so we should start to see some of their results making it out into the mainstream. Google those programs though and you'll see quite a bit of FF info.
Good job on the videos, you present information simply & accurately. Thanks for doing the video on the grass characteristics, it helped me to see the broad range of identifying characteristics a plant can have. Blessings.
We had a beautiful lawn for years…then we hired a place to mow for us and the next year we noticed an odd looking bent grass in places throughout the yard….that was three years ago and its all over now in huge sections……another well know lawn care guy told him s it was the grass of a golf green and the other place was mowing for a golfcourse and not cleaning off their equipment before going to residential yards so some seeds were transferred into our lawn…….its just 😢
That is sad! Creeping establishes very easily from stolons so a mower could easily have had a stolon or two that they deposited in your yard and caused the patches. Unfortunately, because it produces those stolons, it will spread like crazy and that's why you're seeing the patches get larger. There are a few chemicals that you can use to selectively remove the bentgrass from your lawn if you are interested.
TTTF grows just fine in cold zones, even the University of MN extension has research on this. Live in MN zone 4b and take TTTF over KBG. There are so many new varieties and I would say that a 90/10 mix of TTTF and KBG works great. Tall Fescue tolerates the summer heat so much better than KBG, needs less water and fertilizer. KGB can hand cooler ground temps for greening up in the spring or going dormant in the winter.
You're right on, Adam. I'm a huge fan of tall fescues. In a lot of lawn instances, I wouldn't even include the KBG. Traditionally TFs haven't had great cold tolerance but this is certainly changing rapidly. If you watch part 2 in this series I mention that and then get into more detail in my TF identification and use video. I'm not at all suggesting it isn't a good fit for your area--just that there are grasses with better cold tolerance that would be the best fit as you get up into Canada. Thanks for the comment!
@@GrassDoctor Hi Gregg, yup commented and then watched your part 2 and stand corrected so no worries! To me it has been amazing to see the growth in varieties, even in agriculture. I would say that even in the South Eastern part of Canada, TTTF would probably preform better than in MN lol.
@@adambarlow81 all good--I should've made that point more clear in the first video and then there wouldn't have been any confusion! Plant breeders are ridiculously good at what they do--the variety improvements in the last 10 years have been mind blowing.
My KBG lawn looks fine in the spring and fall but my mid-Iowa summers stress it into dormancy unless I really dump the water on it. I'm tiring of high irrigation bills but am also concerned for warmer climate grasses being unable to tolerate my area's winter temps.
I understand completely. I had a KBG lawn when I moved to KY and the summers were just too rough on it. I converted my lawn to a turf type tall fescue and had much better success with it. I would look at some of the new TFs as they are much prettier than older ones and have much improved cold tolerance.
I live in Chicago. We just bought a house. My yard have a lot of shade and heavy traffic. The lawn was covered with tons of leaves for a few years and after we start cleaning the property we end up with tons of mud and not much grass. The property was really neglected. Please advice which grass type will be best and when to plant it since there is no snow so far.
Going to disagree with you some in that TTTF will work very well in all but the very coldest climates. Also, recognize that if the grass if buried in snow and is in fact in the soil, it gets nowhere near the actual cold air temperatures.
Thanks so much for this information!! Very helpful! Question though; we just had the lawn aerated and out down weed and feed. I realized that it’s not actual seeds (or is it?) I plan to go out and find a mixture of Perennial Rye (no more than 30%), Kentucky Bluegrass, and Fine Fescues for our NY lawn. Should I seed it now in November and again in the Spring? Thanks for any help you can provide.
Good video, what’s the best grass to grow in GA? We have Bermuda but can’t beat the look of a long, 4” cut on a thick green yard aside from golf course yard.
Hi Eduardo, bermuadgrass is certainly one of the choices for GA, but it really depends on where you live in the state. If you're in ATL or north GA, you could use tall fescue and have a nice green lawn year-round. It would sometimes struggle a little in the middle of the summer, but it has great heat tolerance. If you're south of ATL, you can pick up St. Augustinegrass which makes a nice thick lawn and centipedegrass which is maybe not quite as nice as St. Augustine, but is lower maintenance. Zoysiagrass is also an option for anywhere in GA.
I think it depends on how much of the lawn is weeds vs grass. If you're mostly weeds, you might consider applying glyphosate over the whole area, killing it all off and then starting from scratch. I have a video on here that details those steps. If you have more turf than weeds, I would focus on thinning out the weed populations and work on the health of the grass. Your crabgrass (depending on where you live) may only have a month or so left to grow until frost takes it out. You can spray it but mature crabgrass usually takes several applications to control it. You'd be better off applying a pre-emergent herbicide in the spring to make sure it doesn't come back next year. Creeping Charlie can be dinged up pretty good with a 3-way broadleaf herbicide or a product containing triclopyr. These same products will also get white clover but will likely take several apps to actually kill them. For either weed, products containing triclopyr will do a better job for you. There are limitations of how quickly you can seed a lawn after you apply a pesticide so you'd have to read the label of any product you use to see if you can apply it to new seedlings or before seeding. If the lawn is thin I would also try to work some seed into it this fall. Again, check out the renovation video I have to show this. You can improve your lawn a lot by adding good seed but you have to get seed to soil contact or you're not going to get much germination. I know this is a lot. Let me know if you have other specific questions and good luck!
thanks very much--glad you enjoyed it. Creeping red is a pretty good choice for much of Canada so long as the site is not too wet or too much fertilizer is applied. My folks had it at their cottage in Sask and it did very well under the low maintenance conditions.
Question: I see videos of people cutting over grown lawn for free, and they take a after pic right away but, my knowledge of grass is great of being a homeowner and fellow “grass mate” but when you attack over grown grass and weeds and cut real short isn’t that “shocking or burning” the grass and turning it brown in a couple of weeks time….doing a good deed but also sending the grass in to a trama state with a dramatic cut like that?
hey MrSnell, thanks for the comment. I've seen these videos too and assume they are making more off of social media by posting these videos than they would've if they got paid for the lawn. I agree with you that taking a lawn down from 6 inches (or whatever tall height) to 1 or 2 inches is not the textbook method of mowing. In classes we teach students about the 1/3rd rule for mowing (never remove more than 1/3rd of the leaf blade in a single mowing) because taking off any more than this will have a detrimental impact on the rest of the plant, and especially the root system. During the spring and fall on cool-season grasses and in the summer with warm-seasons taking a little more than 1/3rd off probably isn't too big of deal as the plants aren't under environmental stress--in their stressful times though it can be really bad. I think the kind of videos you're talking about aren't too terribly concerned with the 1/3rd rule as the before and after pics wouldn't be as impressive. I see lots of 'lawn care experts' on social media doing things or suggesting products or practices that I shake my head at, but it's not worth it to engage with them. I just do my thing and try to get the right message out and they can do theirs...
Love your take on video’s, I feed my lawn with iron, clippings soup, and a three in one, fixing dog pee patches now for passer-by dog owners……I think there jealous of the green lawn
@@GrassDoctor I need some help identifying some weeds I never seen ( can i send you a Pic) I believe its nutsedge but different I think, i live in the norther parts of NY (farm land) and this weed spreads like wild fire in days time, hard to kill, and is a pain in my a$$, it could be a tall Fescue 31 Kentucky grass
@@TruckerRob444 Hey Rob, do you have instagram or Tik Tok? You could shoot me some pics on that. I would need some good close ups to try and figure out what it is. If it's a sedge, it will have triangular stems. Let me know and we can go from there.
@@MissSunshineHS hi Hannah, if drought is the number one thing above everything else, you may want to look at buffalograss. It's a warm-season native grass that has good cold tolerance and excellent drought tolerance. It will be brown for 6 months out of the year though (fall-spring). Blue grama, wheatgrass, and smooth bromegrass are all other low input grasses that will do pretty well in drought. hard fescue and sheep have really good drought tolerance and red fescue and chewing are also decent. Tall fescue is another option. It is not quite as drought tolerant as the others listed but it's a prettier grass than any of the others I've listed. I would stay away from Kentucky bluegrasses and perennial ryegrasses in your area. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Excellent video. I hope you can help me. I live in the mid NY area. I just had the landscaper lay down new tall fescue grass around my yard can I add Kentucky bluegrass seed this fall for a better and healthier lawn. I want ny lawn to be thick and green all year round or at least for most of the year.
You can indeed interseed KBG into your TF. KBG is really slow to germinate and probably won't do great if you simply throw seed down over the fescue. If you can slit seed the KBG into the TF you'll have much better success. Just keep in mind that KBG is a very small seed so shouldn't be planted very deep into the soil.
There is one patch grass in my front yard thats so soft and dark green and velvety no water no diffent care done, and literally the rest of the yard looks dry and yellow ish so I'm sitting here trying to figure out what that patch is so I can buy some more of it I'm thinking it's the Kentucky bluegrass cuz it's like a thicker grass with like a softer bigger velvety leaf and it has like a deep green color, any ideas? Btw its in hot texas and thriving!
Hi mmq, that's a tough one. I wouldn't think it would be Ky bluegrass as it hates hot and dry--it would basically be a miracle for it to be doing amazing during the summer there. If it is Ky bluegrass, I would try to breed it as it could make you rich! Have you watched my videos on how to identify grasses? Check out the specific ID areas and let me know what you see--if there is any hair on the leaves, it's likely a warm-season grass. There are several warm-season grasses in TX that could have a deep green color. If you can't figure it out from the ID videos, shoot me some good close up pics on Instagram or Tik Tok.
Tough question but really depends on where you are in the state--the answer might also be xeriscaping if you live in a really dry part. Let me know and I'll give you my 2 cents!
Hi BBR2! Great question. I think there's an argument for and against them. If you only use one species and variety, then you know the lawn will be uniform--and if you use a good species choice for your area and a new and improved variety, it will likely be dark green, dense, and fine textured vs old varieties. The problem with only using 1 species and variety is that if a disease comes in, everything is the same and the pathogen may be able to spread easily across the grass. If there are several varieties of the same species (called a blend) or several different species (called a mix) then the chances of a single pathogen taking out the entire lawn is slim. The problem with mixes is that TF doesn't look anything like KBG which doesn't look anything like fine fescue so the stand of grass can sometimes not look uniform. I'm usually fine with a high percent TF (depending on where you live) mix with lower percentages of KBG and perennial rye. The specific varieties that are in the mix really matter for how good the lawn will end up being. I need to do a video on that as well!
Hi Nick, great question. Most of what you're going to find up in that area is going to be Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, some fineleaf fescue (and annual bluegrass as a weed that can take over). You don't see a whole lot of tall fescue in that area. If I lived up that way, I would strongly consider some kind of mix of KY blue, p. ryegrass, and fine fescue. I know lots of seed sellers up that way will sell specific mixes with these species but you'll have to branch out to professional seed stores, rather than box stores. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
I think it depends on where exactly you are. If you are northern mid-west, I would consider a mix of tall fescue and Ky bluegrass (the mix may also have a little perennial ryegrass in it, but you wouldnt want tons of it). If you are in the southern mid-west, consider going with straight tall fescue. It has excellent heat tolerance and deals with our summers well in this area.
@@I_O_2004 You could get away with a mix of turf type tall fescue and Ky bluegrass. You could also use either on their own. TF has great drought and heat tolerance while KBG has better cold tolerance, spreads much more, and is slightly prettier.
@@GrassDoctorKY it is thanks, I found this Barenbrug Turf Blue pro Kentucky Bluegrass seed with Yellow Jacket seed coating. What you think and thank you for your time
@@I_O_2004 It really depends on what is in the blend. They have some really good grasses, so if they are in the bag, I would have no problems with it. Check the seed tag and then run a search on the varieties on NTEP.org and see how good they are. Coatings as a whole don't benefit you at all. If you can find seed that isn't coated, you'll get more bang for the buck (i.e. you will need fewer bags to cover your lawn)
Hey Bobby, Penncross is an old variety of creeping bentgrass that isn't spec'd a whole lot these days (although it is still on an awful lot of older golf courses). Bentgrasses in general are great on golf greens, fairways, and tees because they can be cut very short. Bentgrasses, however, basically need constant care. They are very disease susceptible and require specialized equipment for maintenance. They also tend to get puffy when grown much taller than fairway height so we just don't see them on lawns for all of these reasons. Let me know if you have any other questions!
It depends on what you're using it for and if there is a season (i.e. football in the fall). Give me some more info on your situation and I'll give you the best answer!
@@DeaganZ3488 a good turf type tall fescue is a pretty solid choice for that area. They have good drought tolerance for your summers and are still a good looking lawn grass (it's what I have on my lawn).
I'm not sure what you mean by 'chemicals' but I like to use as much cultural control measures to keep pests out as possible. The thicker and healthier the lawn is, the less chemicals you'll have to use. I'm sure this doesn't answer your question so please feel free to elaborate.
HELP! If you Google....tall fescue is considered an undesirable grass. Its listed along side quack, nutsedge, crabgrass, etc. So WHY do seed companies sell it? I hate the stuff. It's clumpy and stands out from other grasses. Especially if it's dry out. So back to my question...why is it sold ? To me it's the equivalent of selling a bag of quack grass or crabgrass.
well I googled tall fescue and I didn't see any big negatives about it. I've grown a lot of different types of grasses (and a lot of weeds) over the years and I can say without a doubt that not every grass will work in every situation--and...any plant growing where we don't want it to be growing is considered a weed. So, KY bluegrass growing in a flowerbed or in a perennial ryegrass lawn is a weed. The thing about tall fescue that most people don't realize is that the old types (like KY 31) aren't anything at all like the new turf type tall fescues. I had a clump of KY 31 in my KY bluegrass lawn in KY and I would agree with you that it looked as bad or worse than a big clump of crabgrass! I ended up digging the KY 31 up but then overseeding my entire lawn with a turf type tall fescue to give me an overall tougher lawn. The seed companies sell a ton of turf type tall fescue because they are so much more environmentally friendly than KY bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, etc. They typically need less water and less pesticides (dense canopy so less weeds, fairly disease resistant, and deep rooted so root feeding insect resistant (they can also have endophytes which make them unappealing to insects). So I wouldn't put tall fescue in the same group as the annual grassy weeds you mentioned, especially the new ones but remember that if any grass isn't where we want it, we can consider it a weed. Does this help?
@@GrassDoctor I googled "bad fescue vs good fescue" and it talks about clumping fescue being the "bad" fescue and the fine fescue being the good fescue. Then I read "tall turf type fescue" is the good fescue---but then it talks about it clumping. So I'm confused.
@@question_it_701 that all sounds confusing! There are fine-leaf fescues (sometimes just called fine fescues). These are grasses such as creeping red fescue, hard fescue and sheep fescue and have a very small, almost needle-like leaf. Tall fescues are pretty much just broken down into turf type tall fescues, which have a fine texture, good density and color, and make a nice lawn, and forage (or pasture) tall fescues which grow tall, have large leaf texture, lack density, etc. These are generally more clumpy than the turf type tall fescues as well. All tall fescues have the ability to spread underground via small rhizomes but some of them don't produce many. We typically think of tall fescues in general as bunch type (or clumping) grasses because mostly how they spread is by producing new tillers rather than through stolons or rhizomes. Bunch type grasses (there are a lot including other grasses such as the ryegrasses) can certainly form clumps, especially if they are grown mixed with other species. The better the new turf types become though, the less you notice them clumping in other grasses. Also, new turf type tall fescues have more ability to spread laterally than older ones did. So I would look more at 'bad' tall fescues as old ones such as KY 31 and 'good' ones such as tall fescues that have been released in the past 10 years. Does this help?
We live in the west desert area near Vegas and the bags of mix variety works well in that the shade loving grass grows in the shade and the heat tolerant grass grows in the sun. Best of both worlds
I would love a part 2 and 3 to this video, I live in North Carolina in the transition area and I would like to seed my new yard with a cool season grass mix.
I am just wrapping it up. It'll be posted this week!
Part 2 is up. Depending on where you are in NC, you'd have a couple options. Tall fescue would work over much of the state while Ky bluegrass would be really only suitable for the mountains.
I'm in Southern Ontario and use Perrenial Rye Grass. I get awesome results, it's great for that July heat as well. Just make sure you mow it no more than 2 inches. Awesome grass for striping
Perennial ryegrass is great when it's great but can also get pretty bad. I live in the transition zone of the US and our summers here put a pretty hard beating on PR so that it can either look dog-ugly or die out completely. I know the university of Guelph recommends putting a little PR in with KBG to get quicker coverage but they warn that PR can winterkill pretty badly in areas of ON. I grew up in Sask and we had no PR out there because our winters were so bad. The only concern I'd have for your situation is if you get a bad winter, or a cold snap without much snow coverage--that can often times result in some dead grass. I'm glad it's looking great for you though--thanks for reaching out!
Did a training recently on turf and turf grass and this is of great value
Masterflick--thanks for spreading positivity on the internet!
Well, I didn’t think a you tube video could save me from my own stupidity, but yours did. THANK YOU. Was about to pull the trigger on a bag of100% ryegrass in Northern New York. Thank you for this great content. Subbed.
great to hear, samlol23! Perennial rye looks really good at times, but it can also look really bad after a cold winter or a hot summer. Glad the content was useful for you!
Great video. I'm in the northern zone and most lawns here are a mix between KBG and fine fescue. Perennial ryegrass typical doesn't survive more than 5 years here. I do about 75% KBG and 25% fine fescue. The hard part is judging how much N to put down as KBG is a medium to high maintenance turf while fine fescue is low maintenance. I do about 2 lbs of N annually as I mulch and my lawn is 28 years old (good CEC and organic matter).
The interesting thing to me is that more and more tall fescue is showing up in the far north because it can thrive with reduced inputs. They tell me they will sometimes see some winterkill, but it generally does ok. I'm with you on 2#N/1000 sq ft on that mix. I have a TF/KBG lawn and I generally will go 2# on it as well and the KBG does fine.
@@GrassDoctor He said fine fescue like I have.
@@wayneessar7489 got ya--good thing I can read! KBG will typically do well under 2-3 lbs of N/1000 sq ft per year, while FFs like less than that (~1 lb). Still going out somewhere in the middle at around that 2 lb rate shouldn't be too crazy for the FF while still keeping the KBG happy. It's something I would play around with--start on the lower side (like maybe 1.5 lbs) and see how it looks and then come up from there.
@@GrassDoctor Thank you for your reply!
There is not much information about the fine fescues on CZcams.
@@wayneessar7489 you're welcome. The Univ. of MN and Purdue Univ have both been working quite a bit with FFs so we should start to see some of their results making it out into the mainstream. Google those programs though and you'll see quite a bit of FF info.
Good job on the videos, you present information simply & accurately. Thanks for doing the video on the grass characteristics, it helped me to see the broad range of identifying characteristics a plant can have. Blessings.
I'm glad they are helpful to you! Thanks for the nice comments. I plan to keep the videos coming...
@@GrassDoctorso what I learned is Kentucky blue grass mixed with tall fescu is a good bland for west coast Washington state.
We had a beautiful lawn for years…then we hired a place to mow for us and the next year we noticed an odd looking bent grass in places throughout the yard….that was three years ago and its all over now in huge sections……another well know lawn care guy told him s it was the grass of a golf green and the other place was mowing for a golfcourse and not cleaning off their equipment before going to residential yards so some seeds were transferred into our lawn…….its just 😢
That is sad! Creeping establishes very easily from stolons so a mower could easily have had a stolon or two that they deposited in your yard and caused the patches. Unfortunately, because it produces those stolons, it will spread like crazy and that's why you're seeing the patches get larger. There are a few chemicals that you can use to selectively remove the bentgrass from your lawn if you are interested.
This is excellent! Thanks Gregg!!
Thanks Matthew!
TTTF grows just fine in cold zones, even the University of MN extension has research on this. Live in MN zone 4b and take TTTF over KBG. There are so many new varieties and I would say that a 90/10 mix of TTTF and KBG works great. Tall Fescue tolerates the summer heat so much better than KBG, needs less water and fertilizer. KGB can hand cooler ground temps for greening up in the spring or going dormant in the winter.
You're right on, Adam. I'm a huge fan of tall fescues. In a lot of lawn instances, I wouldn't even include the KBG. Traditionally TFs haven't had great cold tolerance but this is certainly changing rapidly. If you watch part 2 in this series I mention that and then get into more detail in my TF identification and use video. I'm not at all suggesting it isn't a good fit for your area--just that there are grasses with better cold tolerance that would be the best fit as you get up into Canada. Thanks for the comment!
@@GrassDoctor Hi Gregg, yup commented and then watched your part 2 and stand corrected so no worries! To me it has been amazing to see the growth in varieties, even in agriculture. I would say that even in the South Eastern part of Canada, TTTF would probably preform better than in MN lol.
@@adambarlow81 all good--I should've made that point more clear in the first video and then there wouldn't have been any confusion! Plant breeders are ridiculously good at what they do--the variety improvements in the last 10 years have been mind blowing.
The grass we use in Pittsburgh is called “ Penn state mix”
Thanks
Good video, like the graphics that go along with it.
thanks for spreading positivity on the internet!
Thanks a bunch you taught me so much
My KBG lawn looks fine in the spring and fall but my mid-Iowa summers stress it into dormancy unless I really dump the water on it. I'm tiring of high irrigation bills but am also concerned for warmer climate grasses being unable to tolerate my area's winter temps.
I understand completely. I had a KBG lawn when I moved to KY and the summers were just too rough on it. I converted my lawn to a turf type tall fescue and had much better success with it. I would look at some of the new TFs as they are much prettier than older ones and have much improved cold tolerance.
Then get a native grass lawn
Just let your grass go dormant in the summer.
I live in Chicago. We just bought a house. My yard have a lot of shade and heavy traffic. The lawn was covered with tons of leaves for a few years and after we start cleaning the property we end up with tons of mud and not much grass. The property was really neglected. Please advice which grass type will be best and when to plant it since there is no snow so far.
Thank you for the lesson
Going to disagree with you some in that TTTF will work very well in all but the very coldest climates. Also, recognize that if the grass if buried in snow and is in fact in the soil, it gets nowhere near the actual cold air temperatures.
Great information bud! Thanks!
Thanks Valentin! Thanks also for spreading positivity on the internet!
What would you say is the perfect blend for Eastern PA with very little shade?
Thanks so much for this information!! Very helpful! Question though; we just had the lawn aerated and out down weed and feed. I realized that it’s not actual seeds (or is it?) I plan to go out and find a mixture of Perennial Rye (no more than 30%), Kentucky Bluegrass, and Fine Fescues for our NY lawn. Should I seed it now in November and again in the Spring? Thanks for any help you can provide.
Good video, what’s the best grass to grow in GA? We have Bermuda but can’t beat the look of a long, 4” cut on a thick green yard aside from golf course yard.
Hi Eduardo, bermuadgrass is certainly one of the choices for GA, but it really depends on where you live in the state. If you're in ATL or north GA, you could use tall fescue and have a nice green lawn year-round. It would sometimes struggle a little in the middle of the summer, but it has great heat tolerance. If you're south of ATL, you can pick up St. Augustinegrass which makes a nice thick lawn and centipedegrass which is maybe not quite as nice as St. Augustine, but is lower maintenance. Zoysiagrass is also an option for anywhere in GA.
Please link part 2 in the description. I can't find it in your page when viewing on mobile.
done. thanks for the feedback!
I have a 4000 square foot yard i have some grass with lots of crabgrass, clover and creeping charlie. Just moved in what should i do first?
I think it depends on how much of the lawn is weeds vs grass. If you're mostly weeds, you might consider applying glyphosate over the whole area, killing it all off and then starting from scratch. I have a video on here that details those steps. If you have more turf than weeds, I would focus on thinning out the weed populations and work on the health of the grass. Your crabgrass (depending on where you live) may only have a month or so left to grow until frost takes it out. You can spray it but mature crabgrass usually takes several applications to control it. You'd be better off applying a pre-emergent herbicide in the spring to make sure it doesn't come back next year. Creeping Charlie can be dinged up pretty good with a 3-way broadleaf herbicide or a product containing triclopyr. These same products will also get white clover but will likely take several apps to actually kill them. For either weed, products containing triclopyr will do a better job for you. There are limitations of how quickly you can seed a lawn after you apply a pesticide so you'd have to read the label of any product you use to see if you can apply it to new seedlings or before seeding. If the lawn is thin I would also try to work some seed into it this fall. Again, check out the renovation video I have to show this. You can improve your lawn a lot by adding good seed but you have to get seed to soil contact or you're not going to get much germination. I know this is a lot. Let me know if you have other specific questions and good luck!
Nice video!
thanks a bunch Benson!
Excellent video. What do you think of Creeping Red Fescue in Canada?
thanks very much--glad you enjoyed it. Creeping red is a pretty good choice for much of Canada so long as the site is not too wet or too much fertilizer is applied. My folks had it at their cottage in Sask and it did very well under the low maintenance conditions.
Question: I see videos of people cutting over grown lawn for free, and they take a after pic right away but, my knowledge of grass is great of being a homeowner and fellow “grass mate” but when you attack over grown grass and weeds and cut real short isn’t that “shocking or burning” the grass and turning it brown in a couple of weeks time….doing a good deed but also sending the grass in to a trama state with a dramatic cut like that?
hey MrSnell, thanks for the comment. I've seen these videos too and assume they are making more off of social media by posting these videos than they would've if they got paid for the lawn. I agree with you that taking a lawn down from 6 inches (or whatever tall height) to 1 or 2 inches is not the textbook method of mowing. In classes we teach students about the 1/3rd rule for mowing (never remove more than 1/3rd of the leaf blade in a single mowing) because taking off any more than this will have a detrimental impact on the rest of the plant, and especially the root system. During the spring and fall on cool-season grasses and in the summer with warm-seasons taking a little more than 1/3rd off probably isn't too big of deal as the plants aren't under environmental stress--in their stressful times though it can be really bad. I think the kind of videos you're talking about aren't too terribly concerned with the 1/3rd rule as the before and after pics wouldn't be as impressive. I see lots of 'lawn care experts' on social media doing things or suggesting products or practices that I shake my head at, but it's not worth it to engage with them. I just do my thing and try to get the right message out and they can do theirs...
Love your take on video’s, I feed my lawn with iron, clippings soup, and a three in one, fixing dog pee patches now for passer-by dog owners……I think there jealous of the green lawn
@@Lone_Wolf202 haha. hatters are gonna hate! you can't help that you have a green thumb and they don't!
@@GrassDoctor I need some help identifying some weeds I never seen ( can i send you a Pic) I believe its nutsedge but different I think, i live in the norther parts of NY (farm land) and this weed spreads like wild fire in days time, hard to kill, and is a pain in my a$$, it could be a tall Fescue 31 Kentucky grass
@@TruckerRob444 Hey Rob, do you have instagram or Tik Tok? You could shoot me some pics on that. I would need some good close ups to try and figure out what it is. If it's a sedge, it will have triangular stems. Let me know and we can go from there.
Thx great video
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for spreading positivity on the internet!
Tall fescue in east central Indiana?
absolutely--it's a great choice for your area!
Please list some grass seed mixes for southeast wyoming, weed prevention, and seed in early fall
Drought tolerant
@@MissSunshineHS hi Hannah, if drought is the number one thing above everything else, you may want to look at buffalograss. It's a warm-season native grass that has good cold tolerance and excellent drought tolerance. It will be brown for 6 months out of the year though (fall-spring). Blue grama, wheatgrass, and smooth bromegrass are all other low input grasses that will do pretty well in drought. hard fescue and sheep have really good drought tolerance and red fescue and chewing are also decent. Tall fescue is another option. It is not quite as drought tolerant as the others listed but it's a prettier grass than any of the others I've listed. I would stay away from Kentucky bluegrasses and perennial ryegrasses in your area. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Excellent video. I hope you can help me. I live in the mid NY area. I just had the landscaper lay down new tall fescue grass around my yard can I add Kentucky bluegrass seed this fall for a better and healthier lawn. I want ny lawn to be thick and green all year round or at least for most of the year.
You can indeed interseed KBG into your TF. KBG is really slow to germinate and probably won't do great if you simply throw seed down over the fescue. If you can slit seed the KBG into the TF you'll have much better success. Just keep in mind that KBG is a very small seed so shouldn't be planted very deep into the soil.
Hey thank you for this information, really really good information!!
thanks very much!
There is one patch grass in my front yard thats so soft and dark green and velvety no water no diffent care done, and literally the rest of the yard looks dry and yellow ish so I'm sitting here trying to figure out what that patch is so I can buy some more of it I'm thinking it's the Kentucky bluegrass cuz it's like a thicker grass with like a softer bigger velvety leaf and it has like a deep green color, any ideas? Btw its in hot texas and thriving!
Hi mmq, that's a tough one. I wouldn't think it would be Ky bluegrass as it hates hot and dry--it would basically be a miracle for it to be doing amazing during the summer there. If it is Ky bluegrass, I would try to breed it as it could make you rich! Have you watched my videos on how to identify grasses? Check out the specific ID areas and let me know what you see--if there is any hair on the leaves, it's likely a warm-season grass. There are several warm-season grasses in TX that could have a deep green color. If you can't figure it out from the ID videos, shoot me some good close up pics on Instagram or Tik Tok.
What's the best for Arizona
Tough question but really depends on where you are in the state--the answer might also be xeriscaping if you live in a really dry part. Let me know and I'll give you my 2 cents!
What’s your opinion on seed mixes (with no annual rye)? Which seed brands to avoid?
Hi BBR2! Great question. I think there's an argument for and against them. If you only use one species and variety, then you know the lawn will be uniform--and if you use a good species choice for your area and a new and improved variety, it will likely be dark green, dense, and fine textured vs old varieties. The problem with only using 1 species and variety is that if a disease comes in, everything is the same and the pathogen may be able to spread easily across the grass. If there are several varieties of the same species (called a blend) or several different species (called a mix) then the chances of a single pathogen taking out the entire lawn is slim. The problem with mixes is that TF doesn't look anything like KBG which doesn't look anything like fine fescue so the stand of grass can sometimes not look uniform.
I'm usually fine with a high percent TF (depending on where you live) mix with lower percentages of KBG and perennial rye. The specific varieties that are in the mix really matter for how good the lawn will end up being. I need to do a video on that as well!
What would you recommend for eastern Washington ( I leave in Seattle) thanks
Hi Nick, great question. Most of what you're going to find up in that area is going to be Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, some fineleaf fescue (and annual bluegrass as a weed that can take over). You don't see a whole lot of tall fescue in that area. If I lived up that way, I would strongly consider some kind of mix of KY blue, p. ryegrass, and fine fescue. I know lots of seed sellers up that way will sell specific mixes with these species but you'll have to branch out to professional seed stores, rather than box stores. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
I'm in the mid west and I'm looking to over seedling in the next few weeks. What should i get fir a healthy looking green grass
I think it depends on where exactly you are. If you are northern mid-west, I would consider a mix of tall fescue and Ky bluegrass (the mix may also have a little perennial ryegrass in it, but you wouldnt want tons of it). If you are in the southern mid-west, consider going with straight tall fescue. It has excellent heat tolerance and deals with our summers well in this area.
@@GrassDoctor South Michigan
@@I_O_2004 You could get away with a mix of turf type tall fescue and Ky bluegrass. You could also use either on their own. TF has great drought and heat tolerance while KBG has better cold tolerance, spreads much more, and is slightly prettier.
@@GrassDoctorKY it is thanks, I found this Barenbrug Turf Blue pro Kentucky Bluegrass seed with Yellow Jacket seed coating. What you think and thank you for your time
@@I_O_2004 It really depends on what is in the blend. They have some really good grasses, so if they are in the bag, I would have no problems with it. Check the seed tag and then run a search on the varieties on NTEP.org and see how good they are. Coatings as a whole don't benefit you at all. If you can find seed that isn't coated, you'll get more bang for the buck (i.e. you will need fewer bags to cover your lawn)
How come no one ever explains why not to use Pennacross Bentgrass?
Hey Bobby, Penncross is an old variety of creeping bentgrass that isn't spec'd a whole lot these days (although it is still on an awful lot of older golf courses). Bentgrasses in general are great on golf greens, fairways, and tees because they can be cut very short. Bentgrasses, however, basically need constant care. They are very disease susceptible and require specialized equipment for maintenance. They also tend to get puffy when grown much taller than fairway height so we just don't see them on lawns for all of these reasons. Let me know if you have any other questions!
What’s the best for the transition zone?
It depends on what you're using it for and if there is a season (i.e. football in the fall). Give me some more info on your situation and I'll give you the best answer!
@@GrassDoctor southern California. Just regular residential front/back yard. Thanks for the response.
@@DeaganZ3488 a good turf type tall fescue is a pretty solid choice for that area. They have good drought tolerance for your summers and are still a good looking lawn grass (it's what I have on my lawn).
Hey Friend! First .
chemicals ??
I'm not sure what you mean by 'chemicals' but I like to use as much cultural control measures to keep pests out as possible. The thicker and healthier the lawn is, the less chemicals you'll have to use. I'm sure this doesn't answer your question so please feel free to elaborate.
Fertilizer,etc. You several types of weed n feed, weed killer for lawn, aeration ,root growth system, ph .
I gotten great results with Scott's KBG and Scott's Pennsylvania mix.
HELP! If you Google....tall fescue is considered an undesirable grass. Its listed along side quack, nutsedge, crabgrass, etc. So WHY do seed companies sell it? I hate the stuff. It's clumpy and stands out from other grasses. Especially if it's dry out. So back to my question...why is it sold ? To me it's the equivalent of selling a bag of quack grass or crabgrass.
well I googled tall fescue and I didn't see any big negatives about it. I've grown a lot of different types of grasses (and a lot of weeds) over the years and I can say without a doubt that not every grass will work in every situation--and...any plant growing where we don't want it to be growing is considered a weed. So, KY bluegrass growing in a flowerbed or in a perennial ryegrass lawn is a weed. The thing about tall fescue that most people don't realize is that the old types (like KY 31) aren't anything at all like the new turf type tall fescues. I had a clump of KY 31 in my KY bluegrass lawn in KY and I would agree with you that it looked as bad or worse than a big clump of crabgrass! I ended up digging the KY 31 up but then overseeding my entire lawn with a turf type tall fescue to give me an overall tougher lawn. The seed companies sell a ton of turf type tall fescue because they are so much more environmentally friendly than KY bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, etc. They typically need less water and less pesticides (dense canopy so less weeds, fairly disease resistant, and deep rooted so root feeding insect resistant (they can also have endophytes which make them unappealing to insects). So I wouldn't put tall fescue in the same group as the annual grassy weeds you mentioned, especially the new ones but remember that if any grass isn't where we want it, we can consider it a weed. Does this help?
@@GrassDoctor I googled "bad fescue vs good fescue" and it talks about clumping fescue being the "bad" fescue and the fine fescue being the good fescue. Then I read "tall turf type fescue" is the good fescue---but then it talks about it clumping. So I'm confused.
@@question_it_701 that all sounds confusing! There are fine-leaf fescues (sometimes just called fine fescues). These are grasses such as creeping red fescue, hard fescue and sheep fescue and have a very small, almost needle-like leaf. Tall fescues are pretty much just broken down into turf type tall fescues, which have a fine texture, good density and color, and make a nice lawn, and forage (or pasture) tall fescues which grow tall, have large leaf texture, lack density, etc. These are generally more clumpy than the turf type tall fescues as well. All tall fescues have the ability to spread underground via small rhizomes but some of them don't produce many. We typically think of tall fescues in general as bunch type (or clumping) grasses because mostly how they spread is by producing new tillers rather than through stolons or rhizomes. Bunch type grasses (there are a lot including other grasses such as the ryegrasses) can certainly form clumps, especially if they are grown mixed with other species. The better the new turf types become though, the less you notice them clumping in other grasses. Also, new turf type tall fescues have more ability to spread laterally than older ones did. So I would look more at 'bad' tall fescues as old ones such as KY 31 and 'good' ones such as tall fescues that have been released in the past 10 years. Does this help?
@@GrassDoctor Absolutely. Thank you.