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| My original plan was to overseed via slit-seeder TTTF into my existing, brown-patch and heat damaged lawn on September 9. I live in the D.C. area, by the way.
I am thinking about changing plans and doing the overseeding next weekend (8/19) instead. Reason why is that my wife and I are going on vacation Oct. 13 for ten days and I want to be able to water very very frequently (3xDay) until the seeds germinate and grow to 1". I am not sure if it will really matter if I do the seeding and begin watering next weekend or wait until Sept 9. It's only 2 weeks. So... Please either convince me to be patient and wait until Sept 9 to overseed and water. Fescue usually germinates in 2 weeks (or 3) so I should be able to water until I leave for vacation.... or... Tell me it's ok to do this work on 8/19 and that temps will be ok for proper and full germination. Again, I plan to use my homemade sprinkler system with timers to water 3 x per day for 15 minutes per zone. Concerns are germination (is it too early??) and weed sprouts (or is it too late in the summer to worry about most weeds?) Thanks in advance for your expert advice! Oh, also, if you have recommendations for a really good TTTF that likes full full sun and partial shade and does really well in the D.C. area, please please let me know!! I've been using Rebel from home despot and it comes in great in the fall and is green in the spring/early summer, but doesn't do well in the sun that I get full-on during the summer in 1/4 of the yard. I read the NTEP tables and I'm more confused.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| I think that is way too early for an overseed in Virginia. With all the watering you are doing, and the temps still high at night you are setting up a prime situation for fungal disease. The only way I would recommend doing so would be putting down fungicide at the time of seeding. Tall fescue typically germinates in 5-8 days, not 2-3 weeks. I did a renovation and overseed in mid September in CT and it worked out fine. You would be well advised to wait. I will look at the NTEP's in your area if you want, let me know. |
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- Posted by jdp_vienna z7 VA (My Page) on Thu, Aug 11, 11 at 19:32
| Timeco, thanks! Yeah, that's my gut feeling on this. I have ALWAYS overseeded or seeded in mid-sept. So my original plan was to do this 9/9/2011 and I'll stick to that plan. That still gives me 4 weeks of attentive watering if need by. Plus I have timers and I can throttle them back to water once per week once the seeds germ which should happen well before I leave in Oct. (as you mentioned) Yeah, still looking for seed recommendations if anybody has any. Went to the local nursery today and looked at something called Black Beauty Ultra by Johnathan Seed. Anybody have any experience with this stuff in the DC area? Looks like it's a mix of: Never messed with rye or KBG in blends so I don't know what to expect. Is this a good blend for DC? Full sun to part shade, by the way. Thanks!! Y'all are helping me a ton!!! |
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| I wouldn't use that mix. Those cultivars are older, and don't perform as well as the newer ones on the market. Having a little KBG in with TTTF is a good idea, as it will help repair any bare areas. I wouldn't bother having the perennial rye. Most of Jonathan Green's mixes are poorly thought out and use mediocre cultivars. Most prepackaged mixes in general are not worth buying. You can do much better with internet seed sellers, and it will likely not cost as much. |
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- Posted by jdp_vienna z7 VA (My Page) on Thu, Aug 11, 11 at 22:12
| Timeco, once again, thanks!! Any recommendations on how to order and mix up a blend of seeds? I want to use a slit seeder, so do I just dump both seed types into the hopper and seed away? At the TTTF rate? Also, if you know of a good site to order this seed from, please let me know. I am also considering just overeeding with the TTTF again like I did before. It really was beautiful until about July... .then brown. Now I'm wondering if maybe it will come back in a few weeks once temps go down and we get some rain. It is just sort of 'laying down' and really crispy in patches. So maybe it's not dead??? Regardless, next year I will keep up with the watering (i slacked off starting around 4th of July this year).... . Thanks again for the help/recommendations!! |
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| For selecting seeds you want to pick ones that perform well in your area. You can see which ones these are on the ntep website (www.ntep.org). You can also see which ones are more drought tolerant, disease resistant, darker green, etc. Once you figure that out you can order them via internet seed sellers, or local ones if you have one near you. TTTF's biggest drawback is it's susceptibility to brown patch. Seems to be a yearly issue, even up here in Connecticut. It sounds like some of your grass was affected. If it doesn't affect the crowns, the grass should come back, but often times you will get complete die off in certain areas. I don't know much about slit seeders, except that they can be wildly inaccurate, so I don't use them. I prefer to use a broadcast spreader. If they are calibrated and functioning correctly I'm sure they do an okay job, but again, I am not that familiar with them. |
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- Posted by jdp_vienna z7 VA (My Page) on Fri, Aug 12, 11 at 12:11
| Ok, so I have been doing research now for about 24 hours straight and I think I am going to go with seedsuperstore.com. They have a mix that is referenced in recent post (need lawncare advice is the title, I think) and I checked against the NTEP talbe for college park MD, which is closes to me. The blend is: SS1000 : Tall Fescue Blend. This superior quality blend of three of the top tall fescue varieties in the most recent national trials is the finest tall fescue blend available anywhere. Contains 33% each of Cochise IV, 3rd Millennium and Falcon V Tall Fescues. One of these is a 'self repairing' tall fescues which I have never used before - 3rd Millennium. So.. questions here are: what does everyone think of this blend for D.C. Area full sun to partial shade? And has anyone had any experience with the 'self repairing' tall fescues? Thanks as always! |
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- Posted by bassplayer7 6 (My Page) on Fri, Aug 12, 11 at 12:17
| Fescue does decent with shade. Better then other cultivars, I believe. I've had pretty good success with fescue that has rhizomes in it. It's no speedy process and really only happens when the lawn is healthy and in good condition. Nonetheless it is a nice "feature". |
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| That blend should be fine, all the cultivars are good performers. 3rd Millenium is great in the shade, #2 in the NTEP shade trial. The other two are OK in the shade. That test is done in dense shade, so if you get 4 hours of sun in most areas you will be fine. 3rd Millenium is very highly rated in the brown patch trial, Cochise IV is up there too. Falcon V isn't as strong in that area, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Spreading fescues are more about selling seed than actual spreading. There was a TTTF spreading study done in 2005. Basically the results are all TTTF spreads at about the same rate, but it is slow, and occurs in the 2nd or 3rd year of the grass. This study was done with the first RTF's, so the newer varieties might spread more. I have a small patch of Firecracker LS that is two years old, and it spreads pretty well, mostly by tillering, but I have seen a few daughter plants as well. Here is a link to the study if you need help sleeping at night. http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/2097/2072/1/StJohnBremerITSRJ 2009.pdf |
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