Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
freyja5

How can I tell what kind of grass I have?

freyja5
14 years ago

I'm a real newbie here. I notice that most often when someone has a post, they are asked what kind of grass they have.

How would I figure this out? Our builder laid down sod five years ago, and since then I have overseeded (somewhat unsuccessfully) with Scott's brand seed (and in one shady patch, I bought from a local nursery what was simply labeled "shade grass", can't remember the brand). So, I have no idea what kind I have and I'm curious.

I am near the south west coast of BC, but in an area that gets a lot more snow than the rest of the surrounding suburbs. Incidentally, I have found that my grass dies easily if it is covered with snow for several weeks in the winter. Not sure if the remedy is related to the kind of grass, or just poor root systems, or what.

Thanks.

Comments (6)

  • kevingalaxy
    14 years ago

    You know what i did? I got a scotts lawn service thing through the mail, i called them up to give me an estimate - it was free - they came one day and left a report in my mail box, it listed whats wrong with my lawn, what to do to fix it, and listed all types of grass i had - was useful:) Hope that helps. Incidentally they were expensive i thought and i just maintain it myself.

  • bpgreen
    14 years ago

    If you can pull some of the grass out and take pictures against a white background, with something to show the size (like a coin or something) somebody may be able to ID the grass. It helps to have the roots and if there are any seed heads, include those.

    In southwest BC, you're in the part that gets a lot of rain and has mild winters, right?

    Does the grass fill in the bare patches when it dies in the winter?

    I'm going to guess that you've probably got mostly perennial rye. It won't fill in the bare patches, so if what you've got spreads, I'm wrong about that. But perennial rye is used a lot in places like Seattle because KBG (which is common in most of the cool season grass regions) is too susceptible to fungus in rainy areas.

    The shady mix is probably a fine fescue mix. One of the fine fescues (creeping red fescue) will spread a little to fill in bare spots.

    The fine fescue has much finer blades than perennial rye (or just about any other turf grass, really), so you can probably pick it out if you look closely. Somebody walking past the lawn probably wouldn't notice.

    If it's perennial rye that is getting killed by the snow, you'll need to reseed. Fortunately, it germinates very quickly so you can just overseed whenever you have a problem.

  • freyja5
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get a photo of the individual grass blades, and look into that Scott's service (not sure if they have it here in Canada).

    We do get a lot of rain in the fall, winter and spring, although where we are, we also get some snow -- for example, we had about 3 feet of snow on the grass for all of December and January, with several nights of -15 celcius (5 F) at the coldest.

    The patches do not fill in completely on their own, although there is some spreading. The shade grass definately sounds like a fine fescue (the blades are really thin and it seems to be very delicate and easily disturbed/damaged).

  • texas_weed
    14 years ago

    Our builder laid down sod five years ago, and since then I have overseeded (somewhat unsuccessfully) with Scott's brand seed (and in one shady patch, I bought from a local nursery what was simply labeled "shade grass", can't remember the brand). So, I have no idea what kind I have and I'm curious.

    Well given what you have said so far, no one will be able to tell exactly except to say a cool season blend of grasses of various varieties of Fescue and Rye types.

    Unless you are a botanist, it is almost impossible to identify the types within a variety because the differences are so minute it is hard to be exact.

    Look at this way you have a Strouch. Like a dog; part stray, and part pooch. :>)

  • bsquared82
    9 years ago

    I have this type of grass (picture attached) in my yard and it's spreading everywhere. I am trying to get the bermuda to choke it out but have not had much success. Any idea what kind herbicide I could use to get rid of it. Any other treatment options would be greatly appreciated.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    9 years ago

    That is poa annua. Because it grows faster and much taller than bermuda, it will choke out the bermuda. I believe there are some chemical options but I don't know what those are. At least you know what you're dealing with. All those white flowers are dropping seeds for next year, so it can take some time to get rid of this stuff.