Last Fall we tilled the yard, picked roots/sticks/rocks out, Top soiled, conditioned, & planted new lawn seed. Well, it turns out that we didn't get on that project as early as we should have, as the following week it began to rain (HARD)! Our faces were in a constant state of grimace for 2 weeks, as we watched the rain "drops" (about equal to 1/2 cup ...EACH) pummel the ground & splash back up again, & we just KNEW that the seeds were washing down to the low side of the yard!

Sure enough! There is wonderful thick grass down on the edges, & a sick looking thin spot... taking up the entire middle of the yard! (That's not really a high spot that you see in the center. The deer tore it up pretty well right there, before we decided to go out in the rain & fence the whole yard in, to keep them off it!)

Grass is invasive, so should we just leave it alone & let it fill in by itself? (How long will that take?) OR, should we throw some more seed out there where there is more ground showing, than grass ?

Actually, it doesn't look as bad in pictures as it does in person... When you're out there looking straight down at it, there's A LOT of brown... not green!
It looks pretty nice down at the lower edges of the yard, but are we going to have problems there later because it's so thick? (OVER-seeded, thank you Rain god!)

Now, for the second issue:
We spent quite a bit on this grass seed (Douglas County Mix), as it's developed for this area & recommended by our Extension office... so, what the heck is THIS STUFF? I'm thinking that it's Crab or Quack grass (is there a difference?), but the bag only lists Perennial Ryegrass, Creeping Red Fescue & another local Fescue mixture.

Since I think it's NOT what I want growing as "lawn", & as I think it's one of those "weeds" that have more of a rhizome root structure that will choke off my good grass, I've been out there pulling it out. (Right?)

This looks like the very same thing, but it's a year older. This is in part of the back yard, in an area that was planted last Spring with a "Contractors Mix", which I believe was mostly a fast-growing Fescue with a bit of Perennial Ryegrass in it. It's pretty thick & clumpy looking stuff, & I really don't want that, especially in the front yard. (Actually, I think I should have used the rest of the Contractors Mix that I still have, instead of spending all that money on the "locally approved" seed! Other than these "weed" grass spots, that section of the back yard looks like something I can live with! ...Other than the fact that I think we over-planted it!)


I see that Mike Maier has been lurking in this topic already this pre-Spring, with his good info... Hi Mike! Nice to see you again! ("Help me Help me!")

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If your mix was only PR and fescues, you're going to need to put more seed down if you want it thicker. Keep pulling the rogue grass plants as you are. They are definitely not crabgrass. May be tall fescues. You may want to think about overseeding with a newer variety of Kentucky Bluegrass which is a superior species and should do well in your area.

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John - Zone 6

Creeping red fescue is a shade grass and does better there than anything else I know of, but I don't see much shade in the picture of your yard, Patty. Personally, I have excellent luck with the Rebel or Pennington fescues. That's all I plant in the sunny areas. Blue grass did horribly for me. It gets too hot here for it.

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Terry

May the force be with you

Some of my shade is pretty dense, so I mixed the creeping red with some Rebel. At the most shady areas, the creeping red predominates.

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Terry

May the force be with you

There is NO shade in my front yard in the summer months, until about 3 hours before sunset! Our summers get scorching hot (107*F), Fall is usually cooler but very dry, then the ground turns into a soggy, sloppy sponge for the duration of Winter & Spring, due to heavy rainfall! I don't know of ANY grass that can tolerate both, high heat & nearly standing water conditions!

Green cement might be the answer!

I'm going to see if I can find out what they use in the city parks around here, as the lawns there are beautiful. (Of course our taxes are at work, watering those parks pretty heavily in the summertime.) Hmmm... maybe the answer is to seed in a water-loving grass, then "over water" it all summer, when it's so hot & dry.

Keep brainstorming, guys... I appreciate your input!

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Gosh! I've been so sidetracked with so many other things, I nearly forgot about by lawn post! Now that out cold snap is over with, it's time to get back on task & focus on my "crooked" lawn again!

Yes Dave, I'm about 80 miles due-south of Eugene. It gets ridiculously hot here in the summer, & our winter & spring weather consists mostly of rain! (Last year so did the autumn months, which was the reason my lawn ended up so uneven!) Roseburg is pretty green, probably because there are a couple rivers running right through town, as you can see from my photo... but we live above where the water hangs out, & have a pretty healthy water bill during the growing season if we want our yard to match those down by the water!

Terry mentioned the Rebel & Pennington fescues, & that sounds about right for these conditions. I know that Bluegrass & Zoysia won't work here. I like the IDEA of Zoysia & would love to have a lawn that resembles a golf course green... who wouldn't! But last Fall when I was asking what kind of seed to use, Mike Maier said that Zoysia is the last grass to green up in the spring, and the first to go dormant in the fall... I get that effect with our dry summers, as it is! Looking into Zoysia, I also learned that because of the extremely damp winters here, we stand the chance of having mold & disease problems if we went with something like that.

I'm VERY unhappy with the mix I bought last fall (which came so highly recommended locally), because now that the lawn is up a little higher, it's beginning to look identical to the patch I'd planted a year ago, with that cheap Contractor's mix! I think I'll look & see if I can find some Rebel or Pennington seed, as you & Terry both make it sound like Fescues are probably my best bet.

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If summers are as hot as you say they are, then yes fescues are your best bet far a cool season variety. There are many turf-type tall fescues availible these days.

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John - Zone 6

Wonderful to see you again Mike! I'm sorry your winter is lasting so darned long, but thanks for checking in & posting here!

"Yellow Nut Sedge", huh? I knew it couldn't be "normal" grass... it just doesn't have that "look", & it comes up with triple & quad strands, instead of singles! I AM pulling it out by the roots, as it seems to have a pretty good hold & will break off, if I don't poke down next to it with a thin screw driver & wiggle the root loose. I'm uprooting them just as I would any "weed", because I've observed that by leaving a piece of root in the ground, weeds seem to over compensate during self-repair, & come back stronger... & more profuse!

As for the "bald spot" in the middle, there just may be something under there that is sitting deeper than the roto tiller dug in, although this yard was so thick with thatch, it acted just like Peat, so we turned, & tilled, & raked, & turned, & picked, until every bit of that old stuff was gone... (we built up the sides of the steep slope leading to the adjacent field, with all that stuff, & boy is it green right there, now! Makes a person stop & ponder!) I'll just reseed the sparse spots, & see what happens. If, as you say, there is something under there which is causing the grass to die, maybe we'll wind up putting a big raised flower bed in the middle of the lawn, & call it good!

When I first heard about Zoysia plugs, I thought I wanted that, but you had told me in November too that, "Zoysia is the last grass to green up in the spring, and the first to go dormant in the fall", & as I mentioned in my last post, we get that with our dry summers as it is, so I wouldn't need to plant anything, to get that effect! Also mentioned earlier; I'd read that because of the extremely damp winters here (and spring... and fall, as it turns out), we stand the chance of having mold & disease problems if we went with something like Zoysia.... (DEFINITELY out!) The consensus seems to lean toward the Fescues, so I think that's the route we'll go. I'll be back with a report on our results, come mid-summer.

Again, thanks for stopping, Mike! Wishing you a lovely spring (when/if it ever arrives), & a productive summer!

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