Choosing the Right Grass Type
Waterwise grasses for home landscapes
Homeowners are looking more and more for plants with low-water requirements to contribute to water conservation and minimize their environmental footprint.
Sheep Fescue: A fine-textured grass, native to North America, that forms dense tufts, perfect for dry, sunny areas by providing excellent cover and erosion control. Rocky Mountain Fescue, Arizona Fescue and Idaho Fescue are similar native varieties. Call for availability and pricing.
Grass seed tips:
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- Always buy good quality seed or you could be introducing undesirable species into your lawn.
- Seed mixtures contains 2 or more different grasses. For example: bluegrass, ryegrass and fescue.
- Seed blends contains 2 or more cultivars of the same grass.
Grasses for Lawns
When looking for a low maintenance grass consider using fescue species. Fine-leaf fescues, especially sheep fescue and hard fescue, grow very slowly, require little to no fertilizer, do well in acidic and shady sites. Some cultivars (varieties) have endophytes which are beneficial fungi that live in the leaf sheath of the grass and produce chemicals that deter surface-feeding insects such as chinch bugs and sod webworm. (If planting near grazing pastures, be sure to use endophyte free varieties. Keep in mind fine fescues do have their problems: they can’t hold up to lots of traffic or wear and tear, they can take on a “brown haze” appearance under full sun and dry conditions without irrigation and they are susceptible to white grub infestations. You can have an excellent fine fescue lawn if you have irrigation.
Tall fescue is another grass to consider for home lawns. Breeders have developed exceptionally dark green cultivars that are extremely heat and drought tolerant. To blend well with Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass it should make up 90% of the grass mixture. Tall fescue has a bunch type growth habit which means it can be clumpy in appearance. It will require overseeding to be competitive where there is a lot of traffic. Tall fescue requires more frequent mowing and is susceptible to brown patch and Pythium diseases. Tall Fescue is most successful when established from seed in early August. It performs best when properly fertilized with nitrogen.
Turf-type Perennial ryegrass germinates very quickly and can provide uniform lawn within two weeks. It thrives in full sun, requires well-drained soils and will require moderate to high fertilization. Perennial ryegrass is susceptible to a few diseases (red thread, rust, brown patch and Pythium blight) especially when not maintained properly. It is not well adapted to shade or drought conditions and overseeding may be needed any time it becomes thin.
Kentucky bluegrass is the most common cool season grass used in home lawns and one that is associated with providing a “high quality” lawn. It spreads by underground stems (rhizomes) which allows it to form a nice dense sod and one that can recover from damage.
BBB Seed Mixes for Lawns
Overseeding for healthy lawns and clean water
Although the best time to seed lawns is in late summer/early fall bare spots should be over-seeded regularly to reduce the chance of soil erosion, improve water infiltration, reduce weed invasion and use fertilizer more efficiently. This is the time when you can introduce new and improved varieties that may have more pest resistance, better fertilizer efficiency, lower water requirement, may be darker in color or have other desirable attributes.
First be sure to match the grass with your lawn situation and maintenance program.
| Tall fescue | Fine fescue | Perennial rye | Kentucky blue | |
| Shade tolerance | good | excellent | poor | poor |
| Drought tolerance | more | more | less | less |
| Fertilizer need | little | little | med-high | med-high |
Kentucky bluegrass thrives in full sun and well drained fertile soils. It should be fertilized regularly and will require irrigation to avoid summer dormancy when warm, dry conditions exist. Kentucky bluegrass is susceptible to leafspot, dollar spot, summer patch and necrotic ringspot.
Fortunately there are many pest-resistant cultivars and very dark green cultivars available. Keep in mind that if you need quick germination Kentucky bluegrass is not the grass to use. It usually takes more than two weeks to germinate and many weeks to produce a dense turf. When establishing a lawn Kentucky bluegrass needs to make up at least 80% or more of the mix when seeded with fast germinating grasses like perennial ryegrass to remain the predominant grass.
Overseeding rates should be 4-6 lbs for perennial ryegrass, 6-8 lbs for tall fescue, 2-4 lbs for fine fescue and 1-2 lbs for Kentucky bluegrass per 1,000 square feet.
Establishment seeding rates will vary depending on seeding mixtures and situations.
For shady sites plant:
a 100% fine fescue blend at 4-5 lbs. per 1,000 square feet.
For sunny low-maintenance lawns plant:
100% tall fescue blend at 7-10 lbs. per 1,000 square feet.
or
65% or more fine fescue blend +
15% or less perennial ryegrass +
20% or less Kentucky bluegrass blend at 4-5 lbs. per 1,000 square feet
For sunny medium-high maintenance lawns plant:
65% or more Kentucky bluegrass blend +
15% or less perennial ryegrass +
20% fine fescue at 4-5 lbs. per 1,000 square feet.
The best period to seed is when temperatures are cool and soils are warm and moist. Scalp the turf low and over-seed with improved varieties at recommended rates*. Rake seed in with the back of the rake. Spread ¼ -½” of good quality compost to help with establishment. Newly seeded areas should be kept moist until seed has germinated. Begin mowing when new seedling turf has reached 2”. After 3 or 4 mowings adjust your mower to the regular mowing height of 3”-4″.
You can call your local county Cooperative Extension Service to learn of the latest recommended pest-resistant varieties.
Adapted from:
Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning
Division of Water Quality Improvement
H. Lee Dennison Bld., 4th Floor
100 Veterans Memorial Hwy
P.O. Box 6100
Hauppauge, NY 11788
High Altitude Native Grasses
by Irene Shonle, Gilpin County Extension
Even with normal precipitation, trying to establish new grass under dryland conditions is tricky. Generally, the best time to seed is in the late fall, just before the first significant snowfall. The seeds will then germinate in the spring. The other time in Colorado for seeding is in late June or early July, just before the monsoonal moisture flow that is typical for that time of year. This can be very successful or can be a total bust, depending on whether the rains come in the right amount and over a long enough period of time. Seeding with a grass drill is the most successful practice, but most small acreage landowners do not have access to a drill. Broadcast seeding can work but is not as successful as drill seeding. For broadcasting, the seeding rate needs to be doubled and the seed needs to be incorporated by harrowing as best as possible.
Indian Rice Grass. This beautiful grass was a prime food source of Native Americans who would grind the grain into flour to make bread. Both the leaves and grain have a high nutritional value. “Indian Rice Grass” has been steadily destroyed in its native habitat since the 1800’s; it is a grass worthy of restoration and preservation. The 1’-2’ flowering stems are beautifully airy & a graceful accent in rock garden, or flower beds and a great sandy soil/meadow reclamation grass. Often found in flower markets, many people grow it specifically for cutting. Birds love the seeds! Look for a variety called “Nezpar” or “Paloma”
Mountain brome is a bunchgrass native to the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast regions. Plants grow to 4 feet, with leaves up to 12 inches long and about 0.25 inch wide. Leaf blades are flat and hairy underneath. Growth starts early in the spring, producing much leafy forage relished by livestock. Because of rapid seedling growth and a well-branched, deep root system, mountain brome is excellent where a rapid cover development is needed.
Blue Grama Grass is a warm season grass, native to the High Plains. It is a low-growing bunch grass, (1-1 1/2 ft. with the seed heads) that is part sod-forming & can be grown as a tight turf. The blades are thin, so the texture of this grass is very fine. Easy to establish, cold hardy, pest and disease free, tolerant of poor soil. The seed is borne in flags that curl back gracefully when dry. Up here, plant only in open, south or west facing areas. Tufted hairgrass is a circumpolar native grass. It is a medium to tall growing, densely tufted bunchgrass. It has a fibrous root system and stands between 20–80 cm in height. It grows in soils varying from sand to clay; but does perform best on finer textured soils. It has low to moderate drought tolerance.
Blue wild rye is a perennial bunchgrass native throughout the Western States. It grows in small tufts, reaching up to 5 feet. Leaves are broad and flat, up to 12 inches long. It is abundant on moist soils but will tolerate drought. It is shade tolerant. Slender wheatgrass grows to 3 feet, in dense leafy clumps or bunches, a foot or more in diameter. The flowering stems are erect and rather coarse. Most of the leaves are basal. They are up to a foot long and 0.5 inch wide. Propagation is by seeds. The seed has a high germination rate and excellent emergence characteristics. It can provide a good grass cover on areas that have been disturbed and may be used for seeding low areas that tend to be alkaline.
Wheatgrass is a slender, relatively short-lived grass. It is not as competitive with weeds as other wheatgrasses, but it is shade tolerant.
Arizona Fescue. Dense, thin stems 2-4 ft. tall form this high elevation bunchgrass that grows in evergreen forests & meadows.
Junegrass flowers early and produces lustrous silvery-green seedheads in early summer. Grows on dry sandy and rocky soils, seldom exceeding two feet in height.
Mountain muhly is a dense-growing, moderately large bunchgrass that flowers after the soil has been moistened by summer rains. The plants are usually about 1 to 2 feet tall.
Western wheatgrass is easy to establish on dryland sites. It is a cool-season, perennial, sod-forming grass. It reaches a height of 1 to 3 feet, and because of its bluish-colored stems and leaves, it is often called Bluestem Wheatgrass. Western Wheatgrass will tolerate short periods of flooding and also endure long periods of drought.
Little bluestem is more typically thought of as a plains grass, however, it is worth trying up here on south or west facing areas. A small, non-spreading, clump-forming grass with blue-green leaves that turn bronze-red in the fall. Fluffy silver seed heads are ornamental through winter.