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suesheldon

Fifty Shades of ....Green

suesheldon
11 years ago

I killed off large areas of bentgrass primarily because they looked like islands of light green in my lawn. After a very challenging spring re-seed with PR/KBG mix, my patches are finally getting established- not great, but more grass than dirt, but the better quality seed I used has now created darker green islands even though I used the new mix to seed both the patches and the entire lawn. The KBG is "Midnight" and the PR is a blend of PR grasses. I have more of the new seed and am planning to overseed the whole thing again in the fall. The original good areas of the lawn are lush and dense but since they're such a "mixed bag" of sunny mixtures I've overseeded with over the past decade, is there a remote possibility that the new seed mix will be aggressive enough to eliminate the patchwork quilt look I've got now? If I told my partner I was going to kill the good stuff so the greens match, I'd be writing my own obituary soon after, so that's not an option. I could introduce the old sunny mix to the new patches, but that would defeat the purpose of this new seed mix which is really pretty. Is midnight KBG capable of taking over the established lawn the way that ugly bentgrass did? Thanks!

Comments (5)

  • tiemco
    11 years ago

    No. Midnight spreads, but not enough to take over existing grass and squeeze it out. Midnight also happens to be one of the darkest cultivars around, and PR is no slouch either, especially the newer cultivars. Overseeding will not create a lawn of consistent color. The only way would be to kill it all and start over.

  • suesheldon
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Oh #%&$, I knew you would say that. Sooo, which is the better option going forward: A. Open the bag of sunny mix and throw that in my dark green patch areas- there's "room" for more seed to sprout and a few empty spots where none of the new mix has popped. Or B: Abandon the old seed mix completely, let summer take its thinning toll, hard rake the established lawn adding only the new mix? You're right about Midnight, it's really dark green...and so is the high end PR. On the upside, if we have a really bad winter with lots of snow mold, the city decides to dig up our yard for some project, or we get caddy shack gophers, I'll have a reasonable excuse to stage a complete do over. Of those options, which seems best to you from a blending perspective? Most of my neighbors settle for green weeds, so maybe I should be content having grass no matter what shade of green it is, but if I don't stop seeding at some point this season, I won't be weeding and feeding until the end of June :( Oh maaaan.

  • tiemco
    11 years ago

    I wouldn't seed any more this close to summer. Take care of the weeds when the new grass is old enough to do so, and reassess in late summer. I also would advise you against fertilizing in June, and I wouldn't use Weed N Feed products ever.

  • suesheldon
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I just finished cutting it and am not quite as despondent about the way it looks today...I've been pulling weeds every time I water, even the tiny ones but that won't work on the clover or the bigger clumps of that vine weed that has the tiny blue flower (forgot what it's called). We usually use Weed B Gone liquid because we're on a corner with curved flower beds and alot of things to navigate around- street signs, street lamps, hydrant etc, so a liquid is easier than something requiring the spreader. It doesn't totally kill the clover but it controls it and keeps it from choking the grass within it to death. Is it OK to use that since it doesn't have a feed component to it? The gradual die off rather than the sudden death look of Roundup is another factor- I think I've hit my limit for murdering anything green this season, along with the endless question- "what happened to your beautiful lawn?". I wrecked it, that's what happened...Thanks Mr "tiemco" for responding-is there anything you don't know about grass?! No wonder everyone on this site picks your brain!

  • reyesuela
    11 years ago

    Weed B Gone is perfect.

    You should still fertilize. It's just either a waste or a pain to use Weed-n-feed products.