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chief58_gw

kentucky bluegrass/ryegrass

Chief58
12 years ago

Wondering is someone could help, I'm renovating my lawn. I have a blend of bluegrass of midnight, emblem, prosperity, and brilliant. I also have lesco 50/50 mix of ryegrass/kbg that has americus/pavilion ryegrass and shamrock/gladstone bluegrass. Should I mix all these together or just use all bluegrass. If anybody could tell me the benefits of both or any info to steer me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Comments (3)

  • ibanez540r
    12 years ago

    Depends on a lot of things. What is the lawn currently? Is it an active area? How much care do you plan on giving it? etc.

    KBG is going to take more maintenance, AKA water & fert. It is also less tolerant to heat (without regular water) and more tolerant to cold. It does not like being "ruffed up" as much as your wear tolerant Perennial RYE. It's very very slow to germinate (21-28 days) and slow to green in the spring.

    Perennial rye is less tolerant to extreme cold. It is more wear tolerant and often mixed in sport fields. It is the fastest to germinate (sometimes as fast as 5 days). The fast germination can hold bare ground, but have to be careful not to crowd out the slow KBG.

    The two are often mixed together to get benefits of each. Also, they will make your lawn more diverse against various diseases. 50/50 is usually to heavy on the RYE side, but if you are adding a straight KBG that should help. I would mix.

    I hope the area is mostly sun as that is the requirement for KBG and RYE.

    Do your homework on prep and watering and do it right or say bye bye to germinating seed.

    There is also a lot of info if you browse through threads.

    Good luck.

  • Chief58
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I'm killing off my lawn and starting over, I do have a sprinkler system and fertilize 4 times a year with milorganite. I was gonna mix 60 lbs of the Elite KBG with 100 lbs of the lesco 50/50 which will make the mix 70 % KBG. My yard is mostly sun. Does KGB tend to get darker as it matures?

  • Jesse
    12 years ago

    I presume your lawn is at least 20,000 sq. ft. if you plan to put down the entire 160lbs. of seed. Don't put down more then 8lbs per 1,000 sq. ft. of seed when you start fresh.

    It's hard to answer your question about KBG. Over years of maturing does it get darker? No, not that I've seen. Will young, just germinated plants be lighter then they will be in a couple of months? Possibly. Seedlings can be lighter in color then mature grasses.

    Honestly, I would be a little nervous mixing by hand two different types/brands of seed. Be careful with that - you don't want two different yards in one yard. ;-)