I'm not sure if you question was directed at a particular someone but thought I'd ask anyways.

As for which one - that depends on what you are needing/using it for.

Guess I hadn't give other cultivars much consideration, although I have read recent info showing K31 as being somewhat inadequate (by today's standards) for lawns. I've used it on my 3A lawn for 35 years & had fair luck with it. You're just down the road from me, so which cultivar do you plant?

There's something to say for established turf - almost any kind. Part of my back yard was something similar to K31 and had been there forever. That part was really disease resistant and drought tolerant, I think because it was so established. I've overseeded in the past couple of years with a TTTF and it still does really well, though.

Basically, K31 is a more of a pasture style fescue. It's tends to be more clumpy and like to grow out vs. up. TTTF is more recent and can make for a beautiful lawn. Honestly, I'm not familiar with how disease prone K31 is in general, mostly because if it's in my yard, I want to get rid of it. ;-) If you want quality TTTF cultivars here's a list for you.

Recommended Turfgrass For Kansas

TTTF looks better because of it's upright growth and the ability to make it very dense, but you may have disease problems show up. Now, K31 may have the same or worse. After all a brown lawn looks worse then any type of turf grass!

On the seed, the important part is that you get 0.00% "other crop" and 0.00% "weed seed", that is, if you don't want weeds. I'm planting Lesco's certified seed this year ($1 per pound).

What kind of maintenance do you do currently on the lawn?

Yep, Topeka, Ks,,,,,,,,,, I use a 6' Landpride core areator spring & fall. I overseed (Landpride 4' APS) & rennovate mostly in the fall. Fertilize three times/year.Mulch all newly sewn seed/fert using straw from my Goosen bale chopper. Spring is reserved for spraying 2,4-D with a 60 Gal/12' boom Fimco sprayer & broadcasting preemmergent (Landpride FSP 500). I pull all this with a Kubota B3200.

I'll overseed probably 600 # of fescue this fall, & pay about .83/Lb for K31, so $1 wouldn't be out of reason for better seed. I have very little level ground on my 6A, so keeping grass on these slopes is a challenge!

You've got a nice setup! That's the way to aerate. Pretty cool. It sounds like you do a lot of maintenance. If it were me, I would definitely give the TTTF a shot. Without irrigation, though, it might struggle. I really can't say how well it would do for you especially if we keep getting summers like this one. I do know it's beautiful.

Bummer, just looked at the invoice - it's $1.20 per lb. Nicer than the almost $2.50 per lb. KBG blend, but still $700 is quite a bill!

Do you have trouble with disease and/or drought currently? Are there a lot of dead patches that didn't make it through the summer?

Yep, really nice setup.

Irrigation is out for me unless I drill a well, consequently I lose a lot of grass. I've got a pond that could use the input from a well, so I've kicked the well idea around...
Cost is one factor for my having stuck with K31 over the years. I posted I'd seed/overseed 400-600# this fall, but that figure may be low. I've lost a ton of lawn...

Thank you!

720 pounds is the maximum you would want to overseed with. You may be able to price shop some.

So it sounds to me like you have lost a lot of grass this year to (1) drought and (2) disease. It get's disease because when it get's really hot, the plant gets weak and consequently susceptible to disease. From what I've heard and read, K31 doesn't do well with drought or disease while some of the newer cultivars do much better. One important thing to not is that I said "better" - the newer cultivars are by no means immune to disease and drought. Brown patch, a very common fescue disease, typically won't kill the plant itself, if the conditions subside soon enough, but when combined with drought, the plant will likely die. On the other hand, I've been amazed at how well a yard, that had severe brown patch, pulled through the next spring.

Here's my TTTF lawn if it encourages you at all. Lighting in the picture is really bad, BTW. Just so you know, I did spray Disarm once early August, and I water it by hand, although it hasn't been watered for about a month by hand (only rain).




I have more if it might convince you a little more. ;-)

If you're not looking for the best you can get, the stuff on sale sounds like the better deal.

I had only heard before of the improvements with the newer TTTF varieties, and those improvements then, must be for looks.

Still, irrigation of some sort may be something to consider. It may save you from having to reseed every year. Often, it doesn't take much to keep the grass going.

K31 is a pasture type, unimproved fescue. But it's extremely hardy, and considering the quantities you mentioned, it sounds like you're not talking about a traditional/high profile lawn.

If you're not looking for the best you can get, the stuff on sale sounds like the better deal.

Thanks, bpgreen! I think you're right on both counts. With the size of my lawn, we're not talking about a manicured 1/2 - 3/4 A lawn on a flat piece of ground. I think I'll run over to TSC tomorrow & pick up 600# of the cheaper K31! We're talking about a (roughly)$150 savings!

I didn't kill the existing lawn, which was a mixture of KBG an Tall fescue (mostly K31 due to cheap mixes I'd bought).

I've watered twice this year. Some of the K31 is still green, while even some of the native grass is going dormant.

One problem with tall fescue is that it is a bunch grass, so if some of it dies, it won't fill in.

As I think about this, I wonder if you might be better off in the long run with something like this: Cabin Mix

It's more expensive, but wouldn't need to be overseeded. It would stay alive with no watering here (with a lot less precipitation than you have). It would thrive where you are.

Maybe it would be worth doing a half and half seeding. Get half of what you need from the on-sale K31 and half what you need of the cabin mix. That would let you have grass this year, and next year, the Cabin mix would start to fill in bare spots and over time, you'd no longer need to overseed.

You might be able to find some of the seeds for less.

Roadcrest or Ephraim crested wheatgrass might be good options for you. I don't have suppliers handy, but crested wheatgrass is easy to get established and roadcrest and ephraims are both spreading varieties. You'd still need to ship, but they have a high number of seeds per pound, so you would not need as much.