I'm pretty new to lawn keeping, but I don't believe Fescue is even recommended for the southern most states, including southern California.

Stop watering at night. How cool (if any) does it get at night in there?

That certainly doesn't sound like enough water in your climate. I would probably do a ten minute watering midday to cool off the grass and soil, and do a long watering, half inch of water, before sunrise every few days. I am not sure this is possible where you live due to water restrictions.

Mojave desert.... I am guessing that is a tough climate -- Hot summers and Cold winters...

How's water availability? Any risk of water restrictions from you municipality?

Tall fescue likely isn't a good choice. It's not well adapted to the intense heat and the droughty conditions.... It won't really go "Dormant" as much as it will just kinda shrivel up and die.... Spring planting fescue doesn't work so well in Hot places -- the plants just can't develop deep enough roots before the summer heat hits them and they quit growing roots.... Then fungus moves in and really hammers the nail in the coffin....

Bermuda grass will do well in the Heat -- but maybe not so much the cold (Brown yard in the winter)... It's going to be expensive to keep it green and pretty when it's growing, though... Check out the Bermuda Bible for tips.

My guess is that your spring planted fescue's days are numbered.... It basically stops root growth at around 85 degrees... which was like 2-months ago for you...

At this point -- got no idea what to recommend except that you check out your University Extension's website for turf grasses recommended for your area.... Buffalo and Blue Gamma grass may be the best choices... They like hot weather and do well in droughty climates.. They are also good for Low fertilizer and maintenance requirements... Some of the new turgrass cultivars really do make a really nice "Lawn" rather than an ugly looking patchy cow pasture like the older Buffalo grasses.......

Thanks

John

Thanks for the replies. Water availability isn't a problem at all...I live in a city with population of 15,000, underground water table studies show we have enough water to support a city of 450,000+ population. And water's dirt cheap (funny huh, you would think there would be shortages in the desert!). I only pay $17/month for water, and maybe an extra couple bucks if I go over my 2000 cu ft.

For some reason, Tall Fescue was the ONLY grass seed sold by Lowes/Home Depot. I was able to find that one little 2 lb bag of bermuda grass once though. Yeah, when I researched it, it showed as a cold climate grass, with not as good drought/heat tolerance as bermuda grass. But why would that be the only thing sold around here then? Unfortunetely I didn't do the research before buying the seed.

From talking to neighbors, it seems like the norm to water at night and early morning. Watering mid-day is just a waste of water, 90% of it evaporates before doing any good. Why shouldn't I water at sunset? I haven't seen any fungus/mushrooms in the yard at all.

Should I fertilize on the 4th of July? Or should I aerate my lawn now?

I wouldn't fertilize fescue on July 4. You want it to grow slowly if at all during the heat of the summer. If you aerate the lawn, do that in the spring or fall when the grass is growing the best. Aerating now will stress it and not give it a chance to recover.

Watering at night in the desert is different from watering at night in other areas. In most places, watering at night is a bad idea because it leads to fungus, but in desert climates, night time is the best time to water. too much is lost to evaporation before the water even hits the ground if you water during the day. And winds tend to be higher during daytime, too.

I'm going to guess that fescue is the most common because the winters are too harsh for Bermuda to thrive. Fescue can survive the heat, but will need water to get through the summer.

What kind of soil do you have? You should try to water less often, but more deeply. That will help the grass develop deep roots. I would immediately switch to once a day watering, maybe watering for 15 minutes at a time. If the grass does well with that, switch to every other day, stretching the time to 20-25 minutes. After a few weeks at that, switch to twice a week for 30 minutes.

If that works, stick with that. You'll notice that you've cut your water to less than half what it was before and your grass will probably be healthier, to boot.

Okay, I'll hold off on the aerating and fertilizing until fall then. I figured watering at night was okay since there's very little humidity in the desert (so probably not much fungus growth). And yes, it gets VERY windy during most days (we average 30 mph winds every day of the year, from noon-6pm usually).

Maybe I'll try watering back to back then, since the soil is mostly clay, after about 10 minutes the water will start to puddle up in areas (that's why I stuck with 10 min.) Maybe if I water 10 minutes, then wait 30 minutes, then do another 10 min, or maybe just 5-8 minutes. Would that be better than watering at night and in the morning?

If it starts to puddle after 10 minutes, try watering for 5 minutes, wait 30 minutes, then water another 5 minutes, then repeat again after another 30 minutes. Or give it an hour between cycles, if necessary. That gives the water a chance to soak in and it gets deeper into the soil. The roots follow it and actually help break up the soil. Eventually, your soil should be able to accept longer and longer periods of watering. When I bought my house, I could water for 10-15 minutes. Now I can water for at least 30. I still water in cycles in order to try to get the water to penetrate more deeply, but I'm not sure I really have to do so anymore.

As to why all the box stores sell either Bermuda or Tall Fescue..... Well.... They all sell that stuff because you live in a Transition Zone -- and they sell Bermuda and Tall Fescue in the Transition Zone... Just because they sell it doesn't mean it is well suited or a good choice... They sell it because they buy it by the rail car.... They have big regional and national contracts and little local control of what goes in the store....

If you really want to know what works best -- Check out your local university Ag Extension office, local Sod Farms, and honest to goodness Turfgrass supply Distributors...

I was pretty surprised to find out that the local sod farms and turfgrass distributors sell TOTALLY different stuff that you can't even buy in a Big Box Home Store.... Remember... These guys business is to know what grows well in your area for your desire for maintenance...

Thanks

John

Fescue and Bermuda are completely incompatible with each other. They have exact opposite maintenance requirements.

Right... they aren't mixed in the same bag....

Lowe's and Home Depot and Wal*mart all sell either Bermuda grass seed OR Turf type Fescue seed... and not much else here in the Transition zone...

If you really want Bermuda - stay away from the stuff they sell in the Box store and look for one of the newer highly rated varieties sold through a real Turfgrass supply or sod farm....

Yeah, I should've researched more. I read a lot that people mix tall fescue with bermuda all the time, I thought that's how you get a lawn in the summer and winter. Its still growing plenty, even though its probably not meant for my zone...just some dead spots showing up where it gets plenty of water. Ill experiment with some different watering schedules.

Yeah, I should've researched more. I read a lot that people mix tall fescue with bermuda all the time, I thought that's how you get a lawn in the summer and winter.

Well that is a half truth. In the very warm climates like Phoenix, folks do over seed their lawns in the Fall with a cool season grass (usually Rye) so they have a green lawn in the winter. Then when Spring comes along the heat kills off the cool season grass and the Bermuda thrives.

Holy cow -- didn't catch that either...

I am amazed that anyone would tell you to interplant those on purpose... It's like the worst of all worlds....

Mixing a Tall, low input, clumping Cool season grass with a Short, HIGH input, spreading Hot season grass.....

As Tex stated -- they have totally opposite cultural requirements.... so if you try to care for Fescue... you get a weak stand of stringy looking Bermuda that is ugly with brown patches all winter... and if you try to care for the Bermuda... you kill all the Fescue...

Thanks

John