I tried posting this once before and it looks like it didn't work, so I'll try again. Sorry if its a re-post.

I live in Las Vegas. In October 2009, I had a sod lawn installed in my backyard. I want to say about 1100 square feet or so. I believe (but I'm not really sure) that the sod was a tall fescue type. It had fairly thin blades (not super thin, but not the thick broad blades I've seen in older Las Vegas lawns). It was very beautiful, grew well and stayed green through about December, then went dormant in January.

The following spring, I didn't do any fertilizing. Sadly, the lawn did not come back well. It was slow to grow, and the portions that did grow were clumpy and much lighter in color than before. There were other spots were the grass appeared dead (the blades were white, maybe sun bleached). But not all the blades in the "dead" areas were dead, so I'm not sure what to make of that.

Gradually over the summer of 2010 the lawn improved, but it was nowhere near the beautiful lawn that was installed the previous fall. It was much lighter, much more slow growing, and had a lot of these white/dead blads (when I pulled the white blades out, they were black/gray on the bottom).

In October 2010, I mowed the lawn as close as I could and raked out as much of the white blades as I possible. I reseeded these areas, but I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't pay much attention to the seed I chose. I bought one bag of "Emerald Carpet" seed, which I think was primarily fescue. I also over-seeded the entire lawn with a perrenial rye grass, thinking I would have a nice green lawn in the winter. The seeding seemed to do the trick, and the lawn looked very nice through the fall (although still not nearly as nice as it looked right after planting).

This spring I fertilized in February. The lawn perked up a bit, but then went back to its sad self. In fact, this year it looks even worse than last year. The parts that it re-seeded have not come back for some reason. However, the rye (I think) has grown very fast. Unfortunately, it is a very thin and ugly plant. It seems to have a reddish base which grows up half of the length of the blade, which, when taken as a whole, makes the lawn look brownish.

I realize its too late to do anything about the lawn right now, so I will wait until October again. However, I need advice on what to do when the time comes. Here are the options I've considered:

- Should I kill the entire lawn, till (or just power rake) it up and sow new seed in October? If so, what seed should I use? Should I till or not till?

- Should I make another go of over-seeding, this time using higher quality seed? Again, what seed should I use? Is there away to reduce the influence of the rye? What about the dead white blades that are all over?

- Is there a third option?

What I'm looking for is a nice, lush green lawn with a semi-fine blade. I know it can be done in Las Vegas, I see it all the time. Here are some pics of the beautiful (to me) lawn surrounding my office building:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_SaQiojfYEQY/TdQ5tQLCzFI/AAAAAAAAA9Q /tLJNRAOCY6s/s576/IMAG0106.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_SaQiojfYEQY/TdQ7Pbp3xZI/AAAAAAAAA9Y /pVFS_6V9yu0/s576/IMAG0107.jpg

I would love to have a lawn like this. I have some pictures of my lawn at home, I will try to post them tonight.

Any advice is appreciated.

Camp

Sorry but Fescue is a cool season grass and does not stand a chance in Vegas. There is not enough water and money that can keep it alive.

In Vegas you only have about 2 choices for turf grass being Bermuda or Buffalo. They are the only types that can take the heat and dry conditions.

You lost most of the Bermuda because you did not water and fertilize enough. It is dying from neglect, heat, and drought.

However you can bring back the Bermuda, but it is going to take a lot of water which is a pricey commodity in Las Vegas. You are going to have to water every day, and fertilize every 30 days.

Las Vegas soil is mostly granite rubble and coarse sand. It does not hold water or nutrients.

I admit that I don't know much about bermuda, so I suppose there could be a bermuda variety that looks closer to fescue. But my limited experience with bermuda tells me this looks completely different.

I don't think not watering enough is the problem. I watered quite a bit. Perhaps I should have watered longer and less frequently? I tried that originally too, but the water ended up puddling and then draining off the lawn.

Also, to bolster my claim that this could be fescue, I'm linking a pdf from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension which states that bermuda and fescue are the tow main types of grass grown in southern Nevada, and that fescue does "reasonably well" here. Pg. 15 under the heading Turfgrass Management.

Okay, enough arguing (even though I said I wasn't). When you say that its bermuda that has been over-seeded, are you suggesting that the overseeding was done by me as opposed to at the sod farm? I've only overseeded rye, and patched a little with whatever is in emerald carpet.

So thanks for the response, TW. Any advice for how to bring it back? I already water 4 days a week (its still in the 60s and 70s here). What fertilizer do you recommend?

I was hoping you'd tell us how often you water. Yes you have killed your fescue lawn with kindness. The grass you describe is rotten with a disease. Start to fix it by stopping the frequent watering. With temps in the 60s, you should be watering monthly, not daily. Watering deeply is going to take some weaning. If you are getting runoff, you were right to stop wasting the water. But instead you should have asked how to get the soil to accept the water. It could be your sprinklers simply apply it all too fast. Or it could be your soil is relatively lifeless and needs a little care to open up.

My first suggestion is to spray your lawn with baby shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Use an Ortho hose end sprayer (easy to find, use, and fairly bullet proof). So if you have a 2,000 square foot lawn, put 6 ounces of soap in the sprayer, fill it with water, swirl it around, and spray it all out as evenly as you can. Do that right before you irrigate and the soap will allow the water to penetrate deeper. Repeat every week or so for 2 months or until you notice the water penetrating faster. You might notice the soil feels soft after you water. Whatever it takes, you must back off on your frequency of watering. You might need to water more often than once per week during the summer but even in Las Vegas, you should not have to water daily.

If you want the grass to look like it does in the photo, you have to stop seeding with random seed. It will never look like that grass unless you fix on one and only one seed. Fescue is one of the few grasses that needs to be seeded annually to become dense.

From your pictures of the backyard I concur what is standing up is not Bermuda as I stated earlier. Maybe Fescue, maybe rye cannot tell but does not make any difference. What threw me is the finer denser grass below that which on my screen appears to be Bermuda on this screen through my old eyes. If it does not have runners (stolons), then it is not Bermuda or Zoysia for that matter.

OK getting on with it whatever type of cool season grass you have is toast and you cannot bring it back. If you wish to continue with a cool season grass, you really need to wait until Fall to replant. However if you are in Las Vegas Proper in the valley, I strongly recommend you stay away from any cool season grass, and consider a warm season grass. If you are at altitude then you maybe can consider a cool season grass if water is no problem for you.

I di dread the PDF you linked too. To my surprise they do mention cool season grasses can be grown in southern NV. However I suspect they are referring to higher altitudes where it is significantly cooler in the summer months. If you read carefully you will notice they state Bermuda lawns will need 60 to 80 inches of water per year, and Fescue will need significantly more water which makes a lot sense because Bermuda is an extremely drought tolerant grass, where as Fescue is not as drought tolerant requiring more water.

I would recommend you switch to either Bermuda for a high quality lawn, or Buffalo for a medium quality lawn. Buffalo requires even less water than Bermuda and only needs mowed a few times a year where Bermuda if irrigated needs mowed twice a week.

Here is the trick. If you want a green lawn year round select Bermuda because you can over seed it in October with Rye grass. I bet you a dollar from your office pix that is Bermuda grass over seeded with Rye grass. Look again in say July when your temps are well into the triple digits and the Rye will be toast and all you see is Bermuda. Every golf course in Vegas is Bermuda, and they over seed every October with Rye to keep the courses green in winter. Over seeding Bermuda with Rye in your area is a common practice, even here in Prescott and default practice in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

If you go with Buffalo, you cannot over seed it in Fall as Buffalo cannot compete with any other grass. Buffalo can only thrive in very poor low nutrient soils with very little water. If you irrigate, or over irrigate, and fertilize it, something like Bermuda will invade and take it over. The advantage of Buffalo is it needs very little water, almost no fertilizer, and only needs to be mowed once a month or so depending on moisture levels. However it must have full sun and cannot tolerate much shade which should not be a problem unless you have trees.

As for fertilizer I concur with your PDF white paper. Use a 3-1-2 ratio. You really do not have soil unless it was added after construction. LV soil, if that is what you want to call it is granite rubble and coarse sand. It is void of nutrients and does not hold water. So a balance 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 ratio is the perfect choice for fertilizer. Look in your garden centers for either 15-5-10 or 20-5-10. Check Home Depot and look for a green or purple bag made by Lesco.

Hope that helps and good luck.

TW

I checked my watering schedule, and I'm a little embarrassed to mention that I'm watering 5 days a week (M-F) 10 min/station, three times a day. So 30 minutes total, 5 days a week. I turned the water off Sat and Sun because that's when my kids play the most in the back yard.

So I take it that if the fescue is dead, then its dead. I can't revive it without re-seeding, correct? Bah.

Question about bermuda - the bermuda I've seen around Las Vegas needs to be trimmed very short. Its almost like a carpet. I have doubts as to whether my mower can actually mow that short.

If I want to plant bermuda, do I need to kill all the other grass and then till it under? What's the best way?

Thanks for all the help

Yep when it is dead it is done and has to be reseeded. Bermuda on the other hand goes dormant when it does not receive enough water, and comes back with water. However it will not wait forever and will also eventually die.

Question about bermuda - the bermuda I've seen around Las Vegas needs to be trimmed very short. Its almost like a carpet. I have doubts as to whether my mower can actually mow that short.

Yes Bermuda is kept very short. That is why I mentioned it has to be mowed at least twice a week if irrigated and fed. However not all Bermuda grass is alike as their are many varieties all requiring different maintenance techniques.

1. Most of the common types from seed are used for pasture hay and erosion control and those are not mowed but rather cut once or twice a year to harvest hay. They are rarely ever fertilized except once in the spring and never irrigated. Not something you would want for a turf grass

2. Improved common seeded types for turf grass and the quality varies quite a bit in leaf size and cutting height. Some like Princess (aka P77) are near golf coarse quality requiring to be kept very short of 1 inch or less, fertilizing every 30 days during growing season, regular irrigation to maintain color. The there are several varieties which are medium quality than can be maintained around 1 to 2 inches which is probable the best fit for you. They still require frequent fertilizing and irrigation to maintain color, but you can have a decent looking stand using a push mower set for 1-1/2 inches.

3. Then there are the hybrids varieties. These are from sod, plug, or sprigs only. No seed available for hybrids. These are the high quality varities and they fall into two classes semi-dwarf, and dwarf. I will not go into dwarf varieties because they are stickily professional care used for golf greens and very wealthy people who have full time pros maintaining it.

What you likely see around town and on all golf coarse fairways and tee boxes is a semi-dwarf hybrid variety. The two most common varieties used and widely grown by sod farms is Tifway-I (aka 419), and TifSport. In most states where Bermuda grass is grown Tifway-I is the default choice of all builders and landscapers. TifSport is gaining popularity as it is a little finer grain, denser, and better cold tolerance than Tifway-I. Either way they are both fairly high input grasses and best maintained at 1-inch or less with a reel type mower. However many and I would say most maintain them with a rotary mower between 1 and 2 inches. However those that do use a rotary mower do so because that came with there home and they just do not know better. It works, but not optimal.

As to watering I split a different way than David recommends. Normally I would agree once a week with a deep soaking is the best method as a rule of thumb. But not for out here. Unless you are blessed and top soil was shipped in to your yard, or in a flood plain where soil is carried in from flooding, you do not have soil. You have rubble and coarse granite/quarts sand eroded from the surrounding mountains of LV. There is nothing in it to hold water and coupled with bone dry 10% or less humidity and searing temps you have to water much more frequently than most folks do. In summer once a day is the normal practice out here. At least in Prescott and Phoenix it is. Maybe Vegas is different, but I doubt it as the soil and climate are very much alike except Vegas is a little cooler than Phoenix. You guys only get up to 110, where Phoenix 115 is long sleeve shirt weather in summer.

Now with that said I can say you are watering too frequently at 3 times a day for a few minutes each time. To be honest I do not know exactly what to recommend, other than when you do water, do so very early in the morning, and only once in a day. I imagine during cooler months once about every 3 or 4 days. During the blistering summer days it will take watering every day in the mornings. A lot is going to depend on which grass type you choose and actual soil conditions.

I suggest you go around to a few nurseries and landscape companies to seek advice, maybe even visit a golf course and talk to a supt. You should be able to get a pretty good idea if you do that. Or if you have a neighbor with an impressive yard, stop by and ask them as most people will be flattered and tell you exactly what they do unless they pay someone to do it for them. I know from visiting Vegas often and now living in AZ, yards are rare even in the upper class neighborhoods. Just takes too much WATER to maintain them. That is why I mention Buffalo grass to be considered.

TW, what course on you at up there?

If you do have a rocky rubble soil, then my suggestion to spray baby shampoo will be a waste of time.

Something you might consider is using selected prairie grasses. Some of them remain green year round, require very little water or fertilizer, and look very nice when kept mowed. Click here for a post written by bpgreen about using prairie grasses in Idaho. I've seen pictures of his lawn and the only thing that makes it look different is the darkness of the green color. He lives in SLC, Utah.

Click here to go to a message I posted below bpgreen's. It has links to photos of the various grasses he recommends. His lawn looks better than those in the photos.