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| We had sod installed last year and lost several spots due to us leaving for vacation during a heat wave.. big mistake to not have arranged for someone to water while we were gone!!!
Anyway, it's filled in decently, but we're going to overseed this year and I'm really struggling with information overload! I'm leaning toward a blend of maybe 3 types of kentucky bluegrass - we do have some more shady spots, but the existing lawn is kentucky blue and although about half of it only receives about 3 hours of sun, it has done well on that part of the property. I'd like to keep it to one type of grass if possible - only because I feel that it would look more uniform but perhaps I'm overanalyzing this. My concerns about the kentucky bluegrass are with the seed germination time - if it's just too difficult to get it off to a good start since it takes so long.. and also about the spring green-up factor. Should we consider adding some ryegrass or something in there to help with that part? I also thought about just going with all ryegrass but from what I gather, 3 hours of sun is not enough for perennial ryegrass. But the ryegrass apparently makes a great lawn around here - not sure if it would be able to eventually crowd out the bluegrass if we continued to overseed each year. We're in zone 6 - eastern PA. Any suggestions or advice? I'm a newbie with all of this but want to do it right after having failed with the sod!!! Thank you so much for any tips!!! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Might want to research tall fescue! |
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- Posted by appletree729 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 24, 11 at 18:51
| thank you - I did think about tall fescue but was concerned about how it would mix with the existing kentucky blue. From what I understand, the ryegrass and bluegrass look a little better when growing together? I could be wrong though - just starting my research.... I just REALLY don't want a lawn that has an obvious mix of different types of grasses - like the patches or tufts you see that sometimes grow faster or as a much brighter green than the rest of the lawn? |
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| One year old KBG sod should look pretty good, even with some loss to drought. It should also fill in this fall, but only if it's happy. That means your soil is balanced, and it gets plenty of nutrients. Have you ever done a soil test from a soil lab? What is your fertilizer schedule like? Rye grass is fine for sports fields that get cut twice a week, but in a KBG lawn the rye tends to grow much faster and the lawn looks ragged a few days after a cut. Those shady areas might struggle a bit with just KBG depending on what cultivars were used. Tall fescue blends well with KBG, but since your lawn is all KBG is might look uneven if you overseed with it. If it were my lawn I would work on the soil this year, and reassess it next year in late spring. |
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- Posted by appletree729 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 25, 11 at 6:09
| Thanks - I think I might just go with an all KBG blend then and see how it goes... there are some areas (significant) that are just dirt and we've struggled with weeds all summer in those places, so we really do need to put something down. And actually, the only places that look good right now are the shaded spots! It's also the low point of the lawn though so tends to get soggy there. We had Natural Lawn of America do our fertilizing and weed control this year - it was just too much for us to handle ourselves right now. The soil is clay. We wanted to top dress with compost before laying the seed, but it's a large lawn and I can't find any place to do it for us at a reasonable cost. I'll probably just spread a compost/topsoil mix myself over the bare areas before seeding. |
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- Posted by skioutwest none (My Page) on Thu, Sep 1, 11 at 7:55
| Those bright green patches of grass that grow faster than the rest of the lawn are actually yellow nutsedge. I live north of Philly and it has been a big problem the last couple years. Mixtures of different seeds are much less obvious....almost undetectible if you are using all fine grasses. -Mark |
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