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| I have a lawn that is apparently tall fescue, but with some bare spots, mostly in the back yard. Pics can be seen on my post here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lawns/msg081408294913.html
Anyway, I plan to overseed in a few weeks to fill in the bare spots and I was thinking of going just KBG on the overseeding. Now, however, I'm reconsidering just a bit, and thinking of going with this blend: 40% Tall Fescue:Cochise IV
According to NTEP, Cochise IV does well for my area, and Midnight does well, so presumably Midnight II would too. Bedazzled isn't listed. I'm in Maryland, Zone 7, a bit south of Baltimore. Any advice on mixtures? Should I do a TF/KBG blend of these, or should I stick with just KBG and do something like Midnight II, Bedazzled, and Bewitched or Solar Eclipse? Thanks! P.S. - what does the 'red thread' column mean in the NTEP report? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| That mix of grass seed will be mostly KBG if those are the weight percentages (as opposed to volume). I'm assuming it is since seed is normally listed by weight percentage. Since KBG seeds are so small (1-1.5 million per pound), 60% KBG seed by weight is going to be 6 million seeds in 10 lbs, and only about 1 million TTTF (220-250K seeds per pound) seeds in that 10 lbs. It's really up to you what you want to do with your lawn. If it was me, I would probably just overseed with a mix that is mostly TTTF and 10-20 percent KBG. If you use mostly or all KBG the bare areas in your lawn are going to be KBG which will have a different texture, growth rate, and color than your TTTF. Red thread is a turf grass disease that affects most cool season grasses, but KBG more so than TTTF. |
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| Ahhh, ok. I was using the Seed Super Store Seed Express Tool. That is very good to know about the seed per volume. I'm assuming TTTF is tall fescue? What do the first two Ts stand for? How about: 70% Tall Fescue:Cochise IV I have about a 1600 sq. ft. yard. Would 10 lbs of this be suitable? |
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| TTTF is Turf Type Tall Fescue, just a longer way of saying TF that is suitable for lawns. That blend is still a bit heavy on the KBG, seed count would be about 1.75 million TTTF:3 million KBG, which is fine if you want to go that way. 80% TTTF:20% KBG would give you about 50:50. 10 pounds should be enough since you are overseeding, and that rate would be 3-4 lbs. per thousand. You can hand seed bare areas a little heavier with the leftover and have some for next year if needed. |
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- Posted by bassplayer7 6 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 11, 11 at 13:58
| TTTF = Turf Type Tall Fescue. That super seed store is super expensive. I pay $50 for a 50lb. bag of fescue local. |
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- Posted by bassplayer7 6 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 11, 11 at 14:04
| Oops - just saw you posted before me. :) |
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| Thanks! Ok, so 80/10/10 it is then, if I go this route. I am not sure of any local places around here that sell high quality seed; we have a bunch of home depots and lowes, but they just seem to have the scotts and pennington brands. It looks like it would be $51 for 10 lbs split 80/10/10, although if anyone knows of a local store in MD that carries brands at the top of the NTEP list, I'm all ears! |
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| There are plenty of seed sellers on the internet that could hook you up, especially for the bluegrass. You will have to get them separately however, but for 1600 square feet it might be better to seed them apart anyway. For KBG: Pawnee Buttes, Williams Seed, AV seeds, the Hogan Company. |
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| Thanks for the store names! I'm on the hogan company's website now and it looks like I could do a 40/40/10/10 of Faith, Chocise IV (both TTTF), Alexa (II?), Midnight II (both KBG) from their lists. They don't seem to advertise prices on their site nor do they have an email form. I guess I'll have to call. What is a reasonable price? For 80/10/10 at super seed store it's about $50 with no shipping cost. I emailed Oliger's, it seems I could do an 80/10/10 of Chocise IV, Bedazzled, and Midnight with them. |
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| You might be better off with either Turbo or Bullseye over Faith. They do better in the shade (if that's an issue) and are more resistent to brown patch. Quality wise they are very similar. Hogan charges about 1.40 a pound for TTTF, not sure of their KBG prices but it's almost definitely lower than SSS. Shipping is reasonable. |
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| Cool. I was choosing seed based on this: NTEP Tall Fescue for my area Is there any way for me to see the differences between varieties? I was simply basing my decisions on what got highest ratings here, since I didn't have anything to go by. Side by side pictures would be awesome, or even stats on the differences like color, blade type, drought/heat/disease resistance, etc. |
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| No, I suggested to NTEP that they should take pictures, but not sure that will happen for this next round of tests. You have to trust the data. They do have stats on color, blade width, drought tolerance, disease resistance, etc. You have to look at the full report, not just your area, then you will see the other tests. Don't get me wrong, Faith is a great choice, but there are ones that have better brown patch resistance. Also you have to realize that a 7.3 vs a 6.9 in quality or color is almost indistinguishable. |
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| Yeah, it would be quite helpful if they took pics each month so you could view the chart and judge for yourself, or even better, to have the ability to select seed, month, maintenance level, and test area for multiple seeds and do a compare. For a 1600 sq foot lawn, when I go to seed, would it be worthwhile to rent a seed slitter? Or would I be better off aerating, or even just going over the bare spots with a rake? I'll be throwing down starter fertilizer on the same day. |
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| No to both unless you have a pretty healthy thatch layer, which is unlikely with TTTF. A good raking should be enough, although any areas of dead matted grass might take some elbow grease. A power rake would probably make short work out of 1600 sq. ft., that's the most I would do, I'm not too big on slit seeders. Seed with a broadcast or drop spreader, and topdress with either peat moss or shredded straw. |
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