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I just read this entire post, and it's a rambling mess. Basically, I need recommendations for grass seed to overseed my lawn over several seasons as part of a long-term rehab. I'm trying to find a source of reliable "Texas Fescue" or "Texas Bluegrass" seed. They are/it is somewhat new, so there's not a lot of info out there. Theoretically, it's fine-bladed and dark, much like Kentucky Bluegrass, but it withstands hotter temps and is more drought-resistant. All are important to me. Short version: I bought a house a year ago in the Texas panhandle (zone 7a), and the lawn was poo poo. Still is, frankly, just a better grade of poo poo. We have a mish-mash of fescues, Bermuda, ryes, bent grass (we're on a golf course), crabgrass and God knows what else. Previous owners didn't give a poo poo about their lawn. I'm working on displacing it —according my original plan— with some sort of turf-type tall fescue. I overseeded last fall with a 80/20 TTTF/KBG blend, and the results were good, though obviously not complete. This is a multi-year rehab project. (I'm treating with pre-emergent in spring & early summer to kill off the crabgrass) My next-door neighbors have a very fine-bladed, deep green turf that looks about one trillion times better than mine, yet we water the same amount. My lawn guy says, "that's fescue," but he doesn't know any more than that. In this part of the world, you have either fescue, a fescue/KGB blend, or Bermudagrass. Nothing else withstands the heat and lack of water. And before you suggest it, Buffalograss is not an option. I wish it was. Put it out of your mind. Ditto xeriscaping. What the gently caress do my neighbors have? This is them:  This is me:  Photos were taken about 10 feet apart. Same guy mows our lawns. As much as I don't want to keep up with the Jonses, I want to keep up with the Jonses. My lawn is one of the worst on the block. That photo is basically the best spot of my side yard. Again: I'm patient, and I'm willing to undergo a multi-season rehab. But the choice of seed is overwhelming, and pretty much all of them sell themselves as "deep green, fine bladed, drought-resistant, blah-blah." I WANT ANSWERS.
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Jul 19, 2022 21:58
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 04:19 |
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I have moderately-compacted soil on 2005 construction. I areated last year and will probably again this year, but is there a responsible way to introduce earthworms into my soil? I know I can just buy earthworms (eggs) and plant them, but I also understand some of them are considered invasive & shouldn’t be used. Texas panhandle, zone 7.
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Mar 31, 2023 14:29
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I have some areas of extremely compacted soil. This is Zone 7, Texas panhandle. I'll be core-aerating soon, then again in the fall before over-seeding. Should I be adding sand after core-aerating to help with drainage in the future? We naturally have a lot of clay in our soil, and the original builder backfilled with a lot of caleche rock.
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Apr 7, 2023 14:22
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Well, this part of the yard is already concrete, so it looks like I saved a step. Here's a pic of one of the offending areas: My manual core aerator won't touch it; soil is like rock, and the tubes always get clogged after a single coring.** Water can't penetrate deep enough to loosen the "soil." My lawn guy will use a gas-powered walk-behind, but not until fall. I literally just bought a 3/4-inch auger bit to drill out some holes so the soil can at least relax a little bit until then. Never tried that before, we'll see how it works. I have over-seeded the past two autumns, and power-core-aerated last September. Fert & weed control 4 times a year. ** You can see some good-looking turf back in the corner, which is what most of the lawn looks like. edit: that's a medium-small oak tree on the left. It drops a lot of acorns, but the canopy doesn't really cause any shade issues yet. Lincoln fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Apr 7, 2023 |
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Apr 7, 2023 15:00
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Fitzy Fitz posted:If it wouldn't look out of place, you could try mulching that area and adding some shrubs. The tree would appreciate the mulch. Maybe after some years of that it would be more amenable to other options. This is one of three similar areas on my lawn. For now I'm content to amend the soil in whatever way I can to re-establish good turf. We have a ton of other shrub/tree projects in our near future, unfortunately. And BTW, thanks to everyone who advised against sand...I would have literally went and bought a poo poo-load of sand today otherwise. For future reference, would it be wise to add organics immediately after aerating? And for that matter, can I core-aerate too often? (Like, is spring and fall too much? For right now, anyway.) My landscaping problems are many...we moved here almost two years ago, the previous owners didn't occupy the home for more than two years prior, so the lawn was poo poo. On top of that, we now live on a golf course, so we get all the detritus from the adjacent fairway...not just weed seed, but bent grass, Bermuda...all the poo poo that is great for a golf course but bad for my lawn. I mean, our back yard literally blends into the rough & fairway:  ...that's the same oak tree from the previous photo, looking in the opposite direction. Behind that nearby little rise is the #18 fairway. Piece of advice to all: never move to a loving golf course.
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Apr 7, 2023 15:31
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What, just add topsoil when I over-seed this fall? Will a couple of inches of new soil make a lasting difference? Seriously, I'm asking: will that do the trick, long-term?
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Apr 7, 2023 15:40
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:What kind of grass do you have? I've done two fall over-seedings with 90% TTTF and 10% KBG. The grass that's there is a horrible mix of whatever trash the previous owners seeded, plus whatever blows in from the adjacent golf course.
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Apr 7, 2023 16:40
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Ok so apparently core-aerating your lawn with a drill & auger bit isn’t new. I did it about 2 weeks ago to a patch of lawn that was hyper-compacted. I then top-dressed with a 50/50 mix of manured soil & peat moss. Since then I found out plenty of people have done this before. Anyhoo, I’ll let you know how it worked.
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Apr 22, 2023 19:33
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 04:19 |
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How long does granular Pendimethalin remain active? I usually apply pre-emergent to my lawn a couple of times late winter/late spring, and then overseed in autumn using Tenacity with a starter fert. But this spring I want to spot-seed some troublesome areas (fescue). I can't do both, can I? I either pre-em crabgrass or I seed some bare spots, correct?
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Jan 23, 2024 00:29
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