That definitely qualifies as lawn porn. It looks so much like a golf course it makes me want to hit a few bags of range balls off it. Can you take the next set of pics right after you mow it? That would be triple X rated lawn porn.

That is awesome. I have Turfstar Rye recommended by Auteck last year. It is mixed in with my KBG and has done extremely well in it's first year. It is darker green than the KBG and has weathered very dry weather after a wet spring. Perennial Rye should be given another look by people that are apprehensive about mixing it in with there existing lawn.

That first picture, considering the shade - WOW!

BEAUTIFUL!

Nice!! That looks great

How do you deal with all those leaves?

They paint the curbs in your neighborhood?

I Just checked your lawn is not noticeable from space but this is.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Montgomery+Village+MD&ie=UTF8&split=0amp;gl=us&ei=Kb9_Sr3CGoa6MN_0iOcC&ll=39.172378,-77.193377&spn=0.00136,0.00284&t=h&z=19

Reel, good pictures. But I'm really baffled how well the RG is doing under what appears to be full shade to partial sun...?

Thanks for the comments, fellas'. The sunlight comes in under the trees for just a few hours a day. I too am a bit perplexed at the vigor of the turf. I've had the Rye in place since 05', so there is really no explanation short of super high input care. I'm a believer in "any turf anywhere" if you can devote the hours and products to it. With the exception of Bermuda in full shade of course. For fun, I have included a couple of neighbors lawns pics so you can see the heavy competition in the neighborhood.

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I have saved the best for last. A true indication of Tru-Greens' abilities. With their "pesticide application" flag flying high for all to see..............

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How these guys stay in business is beyond me. Eight of the ten houses on my street subscribe to the Tru-Green "full service" package. The results are self-evident. I guess the homeowners feel that if they did not use Tru-Green the lawns would revert back to asphalt or something.

I frequently have dreams about a neighborhood comprised of nothing but you guys as neighbors. THAT would make for some fun evenings and week-ends.

That's funny about TruBurn. Against my objections, HOA hired TruBurn to treat the park. Sloppy work apparently. Leaves fertilizer on sidewalk every time (seems like every month?). Used pre-em stuff twice and weeds still comes up so they spray for weeds a several times. It gets on trees as well. Maybe that's why one tree looked bad? A few trees looked a little burned at the bottom where it was sprayed on. Not only that, HOA hired lawn service to come out TWICE a month to mow bermuda. After 2 weeks with all that fertilizer, it's like a jungle. Clueless HOA...

I'd kill for super hardy drought/heat tolerant PR like bermuda. Looked great during winter. Dead in summer though. It'd at least stay green 12 months here if they come up with one.

I'd love to know exactly what it is they do too, Lou. My neighbors that have the service are sprayed monthly without fail. The turf always looks exactly the same. I've always assumed they are just hitting everything with fast release N, but nothing ever greens up. They don't spray for disease here in MD, and the only pest they ever identify are "lawn mites", so what exactly it is that they are doing is beyond me. I know in Sept they will be here with a full platoon of guys doing one pass middle of the lawn aeration and "powerseeding" some kind of junky Fescue that will never come up. Somehow, no one is ever disappointed.

Reel, with those levels of expectations, you should be able to open up your own Turf and Landscaping Comp. and have success with ease... What you thought about it?

The same garbage happens here, they must be using the same junky Fescue they use in MD...

I actually have thought about it, Auteck. Some sort of "high end" lawn service. However, I'm sure the cost would be prohibitive for all but the wealthiest lawn centric customers. Furthermore, if I was actually operating a licensed business, I would be prohibited from using 70% of the chemicals I get away with now. For a while, there was a home putting green craze that swept some of the area. This craze was quickly killed when DIY's realized the amount of care needed for Bent and discovered that the mowers needed to keep it puttable were 7,000.00. I have some experience with building USGA spec'd greens and thought about operating a green building/maintenence service as well. Again.... far too pricey. Doubt I would make any money.

Your not cutting down to 1/8 and the traffic isnt heavy and your not using BG so you Might be able to get good results w/ less imputs especially if you only do customers with good irigation and unlike your lawn, pick those with very little in the way of shade.Maybe.

You could get a couple of small customers and try medium inputs on their lawns to see if it would work.

Home putting greens are somewhat in high demand, but most are being constructed with Astroturf, unfortunatelly (for good reasons)

I like the idea of lawn service for "high End" residential and commercial. Residential will work, but in commercial applications, they always look at the $$$ amount; quality is second.

I have a fried in the commerical side of turf and landscape maintenance, and I have heard just about every thing you can think of.

I'm not surprise that your perennial ryegrass is doing as well as is doing in your climate, just at the amount of shade and the impressive cutting height... The local State Fair here in Raleigh (the fairgrounds) grows PRG under these big oak trees with heavy traffic on the weekend and it does very well.

How's your backyard bermuda doing? Any pictures you can post?

Sweet lawn! Wow

It would look much better with some Primo Maxx...

j/k...GREAT JOB!

Thanks Buzz. @Auteck.... The Bermuda is fine. I've actually stopped trying to train the dogs from using it so it has some urine spots. It has filled in even thicker, which I assume happens every year. It does better at 1/2 as opposed to 3/8ths as well. To be honest, I have kind of lost interest in it. Most of the enjoyment I get from turf care is from the spray rotations, tending to trouble areas, etc. The Bermuda, IMO requires literally no care except mowing, Nitrogen, and water. It's actually a little anti-climactic because I don't feel as if I've really accomplished anything. No offense to any of you Bermuda guys of course... It's a beautiful grass. I just don't have to worry about it or micro-manage it, and for me, that is the fun. I'll put some pics in this thread of it this weekend.

wow reelfanatic,

if one had to extract national secrets from you they would lock you up in a room with astroturf for a week lol...

Freshly cut just now.

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That looks GREAT. I still can't believe that PRG can grow so well under that much shade... Unreal. Those varieties must be the most shade tolerant PRGs out there.

I have always had great results with Turfstar, but not with that much shade. I have tried it in the shade, but it thins out significally. I actually decided not to use PRG in my backyard this year, instead I"m using Kenblue and Fine Fescue.

Have you tried letting the grass grow tall so see if it gets darkger green?

Jim, I"m glad to hear that your lawn is doing great and that you're happy with the Turfstar PRG. Post some pictures when you get a chance.

My only complain about mixing PRG with KBG is that during the summer KBG loses its dark green color and becomes green, while PRG remains dark green despite the heat and lack of nitrogen.

During the Spring and fall and some times winter (depending where you're located), however, it is impossible to tell the two apart unless you get a close up on the bluegrass blade and spot the "boat" shape leaf.

Auteck.... Have you ever had just a single species lawn? I can understand mixing cultivars of the same variety, but have no experience with, nor really understand the multiple turf approach. Thanks for the compliments as well.... I'm looking forward to Fall. As far as letting it get tall....Blasphemy! I'll be hitting it with sprayable 15-0-0/Iron in a couple of weeks though. It should darken up a little.

Auteck notice the same about the PR being much greener than KBG during the summer. I should have taken pics Saturday after I cut it so it will be another week or so before I mow again unless the rain will pick up. It already seems to be on the upswing for Fall currently as it is thicker this week versus a week and a half ago. Will stop by Lesco around the 1st of September for new round of fertilizer. Any suggestions as was wondering if iron is necessary or not.

For some reason when i see those pics i imagine someone yellin Fore! and a window crash lol.

Still looks very good.

Does PRG show mowing stripes as much as the grass they use in baseball outfields?

Wouldnt letting it get tall for winter increase potential problems with snow mold?

oh growing tall to get green. nm my last post, its too hot here, first day in the 90s since april was yesterday. I had an airconditioner fall out of a window a month ago.

It's not the turf, it's the equipment. My Tru-Cut doesn't stripe worth a damn because it has the four rear tires/wheels instead of roller drive. My POS McLane Greens mower stripes like nobody's business despite not cutting well. From what I've seen Ball fields use Fairway Mowers for the outfield and Jacobsen/John Deere/Toro and sometimes Locke walk-behind Tee and collar machines for the infield or for the stripe within a stripe look in the outfield. The key is the rear roller or drum drive after the cut. The fairway mower I use at work has cutting units (reels) that weigh 140lbs each. The rollers themselves (front and rear) weigh 50 lbs each, (per cutting unit) and the hydraulic cylinders that raise and lower the cutting units can be adjusted to apply downward force onto the surface. Those things will stripe crabgrass.

Reelfanatic -

Nice lawn. However, you may want to read about volcano mulching. A big no no when it comes to tree health. It can cause rotting on the trunk so you may want to remove them away from the trunk.

Thanks Lou. I don't care about the trees or mulch. Thats my wifes job. I'll inform her of your comment.