Lawn Problem

[Rocky4]

Outside of my japanese beetle problem, I have this

 

 

 

It's very course. It bogs down my 6.75 horse lawn mower. I thought it might be some sort of crabgrass, but it grows straight up. The pics were taken after I mowed, that when the fibery hair like ends happen. Nobody else in my neighborhood has this. I fertilized just like everyone else. I had it last year, but this year it's much worse. HELP!!

[Riverside]

I'm in a whole different part of the country - and I've never seen your problem.

 

But - I recommend the Lawn book published by Scott's.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Scotts-Lawns-Your-Guide-Beautiful/dp/0696212706

 

Their hints worked for me.

[Witmer]

An unusual kind of grass?

 

Is your mowing blade sharp?

[Rocky4]

An unusual kind of grass?

 

Is your mowing blade sharp?

 

Sharpened it in the spring.

[Artie Owl]

Did you seed also (last year or this year)? Sometimes Seed bags can contain filler or seeds from other types of grasses that can move in unwanted.

[ChanMan]

Consult your local Ag Extension office, they can help with both the beetles and the grass. Yes, I just referred you to Mr. Haney, but try not to think about that....

 

 

Let us know how it works out. Good Luck!

[Murph]

Get a Bad Boy with a Cat diesel.

[jaxson50]

Looks like you have some form of "clump" grass taking over your lawn.

There is Maiden Grass, or it could be some other type of clump grass, Oat Grass, Liriope Spicata, there are hundreds of varieties.

It makes a terrible lawn, as you see when cut the blade shreds, there are some desirable forms that are used in flowerbeds as accent plants, where they will grow 5 to 20 ft tall depending on the type...and that is what makes them undesirable in a lawn.

You may want to look up Jonsongrass;

 

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/johnsongrass.html

[jaxson50]

Look like this?

http://www.invasive.org/browse/subthumb.cfm?sub=3075&start=1

[Tman5293]

GET A FLAMETHROWER!!!

 

 

 

problem solved...

[Flight959]

Smoke it! See whats happens!

 

That looks weird!

 

[Bluemoon]

Looks like the hair that is starting to grow on my back...one of the many benefits of growing older.

[GibsonAlmighty]

Maybe it's medicinal...try to roll a couple of joints and smoke it.

And please let us know what you think.

[eallenb]

Looks like the hair that is starting to grow on my back...one of the many benefits of growing older.

 

;)

[TommyK]

Could be a fescue, but I've never seen it fuzz up like that. ;) I have seen dull blades do that to grass, but not to that extent. Usually you get a few millimeters of unevenly sheared grass blade ends. But this looks like you cut it with a baseball bat.????

 

I'd suggest spot treating it with Round-Up or pulling the clumps out, replacing the divots with good soil, then re-seeding with bluegrass in the fall. If you seed now you're wasting your time and money. September in the North, October in the south is the best time. Less heat and more rain. Water it good until it begins to look good then water it some more. Most people's mistakenly stop watering before they should.

 

Most grass seed mixes have some red fescue that gets up in a couple days. Bluegrass doesn't come up for a couple weeks. The Red Fescue (not what you have) does provide cover but doesn't spread like bluegrass. If youstop watering too soon the bluegrass won't get established and will die out, leaving you with a thin stand of scrawny red fescue that will eventually die out. I would get nearly 100% bluegrass and use straw as a mulch to shade the bare ground until the bluegrass gets up.

 

I'd check your mower blade again. Sometimes, depending on what your lawn is made up of and other non-grass paraphernalia littering the lawn you may hit with the mower, sharpening could be a couple to three times a year chore. I'd suggest getting a new blade, then getting the old one sharpened. Then swap it out when it gets dull. This gives you time to get the other one sharpened. And it's more likely you will swap out a dull blade when it's dull if you have a sharp one handy.

[jaxson50]

It's defiantly not red fescue or any turf type of fescue, I doubt it is any kind of fescue although there are a few clump grasses that are in the fescue family, buffalo grass is a fescue....Round up is a option it will kill the root system of the undesirable grass, but the problem is...where did the infestation come from? Killing this crop doesn't mean you won't get another...so what I would do is figure out what it is and where it came from, and then figure out what to do...it may mean killing off the undesirable grass with roundup, removing it after it's dead and re-seeding, or re-sodding.

If this stuff came in from seed, you have to find out how. Did it blow in or was it in some bad (cheap) seed?

1. Was this a pasture before you seeded it? It could have already been there.

2. Is there a nursery near that raise's exotic grasses? The seed could have blown in or was carried in by birds.

3. Did you get bad seed? Easy fix there...

Just be glad it isn't Bent grass......even round up won't kill that stuff. Grasses can be brought in by seed or by rhizomes or stolon, so if new top soil was brought in that could be the source...

Another little trick to killing undesirable weeds and plants, if you don't want to use herbicides, use steam...it isn't practical on a large area, unless you have the right equipment, but for spot killing use a steam iron,,about a 20 second blast of steam will do the trick. It works by taking the waxy cover off the leaf, the plant will then expire and the roots will die.

[Rocky4]

Could be a fescue' date=' but I've never seen it fuzz up like that. [blink'] I have seen dull blades do that to grass, but not to that extent. Usually you get a few millimeters of unevenly sheared grass blade ends. But this looks like you cut it with a baseball bat.????

 

I'd suggest spot treating it with Round-Up or pulling the clumps out, replacing the divots with good soil, then re-seeding with bluegrass in the fall. If you seed now you're wasting your time and money. September in the North, October in the south is the best time. Less heat and more rain. Water it good until it begins to look good then water it some more. Most people's mistakenly stop watering before they should.

 

 

I'd check your mower blade again. Sometimes, depending on what your lawn is made up of and other non-grass paraphernalia littering the lawn you may hit with the mower, sharpening could be a couple to three times a year chore. I'd suggest getting a new blade, then getting the old one sharpened. Then swap it out when it gets dull. This gives you time to get the other one sharpened. And it's more likely you will swap out a dull blade when it's dull if you have a sharp one handy.

 

I've pulled a few clumps out and wound up with bare spots. I think this will be my only option, though. It does look like I need to sharpen my blade, but that is the result I get. My weed whip wont cut through it either. A very knowledgeable co worker said to try Ortho Max Weed Be Gone. I'll probably give it a try.

[TommyK]

I've pulled a few clumps out and wound up with bare spots. I think this will be my only option' date=' though. It does look like I need to sharpen my blade, but that is the result I get. My weed whip wont cut through it either. A very knowledgeable co worker said to try Ortho Max Weed Be Gone. I'll probably give it a try.[/quote']

 

While this product kills some grasses, it may not kill this grass. It's not supposed to most kill lawn grasses, which means it leaves some grasses alone.

 

Round up will kill anything green. It has a harder time on woody plants, but what you have isn't a woody plant.

 

Round-up's active ingredient is Glyphosate. Look for this on the bottle.

[TommyK]

VT to the rescue:

 

Virginia Tech has an on-line weed key. For those unfamiliar, 'keys' are a written way to identify items like weeds, grasses and trees by answering questions, then going to another question based on the previous answer:

 

http://web2.ento.vt.edu/servlet/wid

 

Give that a try for identifying your weed grass. You may need to get your strong glasses out to see the auricles and ligules.

[Laaz]

AXE has a new business going, he'll hook you up. Discount to all forum members !