[SJ Lawn]

Anyone here have experience with Bella bluegrass plugs ? I have a small section of the yard that was invaded by Poa Annua heavily this year. I was thinking about digging up the poa patches and planting some Bella plugs.

The plugs cost about 49 dollars a tray for 70 plugs.

 

[chrismar]

Why not make your own plugs from other areas of your yard that are thriving? A pro plugger, or any type of blub planter should work.

 

[SJ Lawn]

Hi Chrismar,

I have a Pro Plugger. It seems that the plugs spread slowly when I used it last fall. I am not sure if it is due to a higher percentage of TTTF in my lawn or the very hard soil that makes it difficult for the rhizomes to spread. The topsoil was scraped off by the builder when they built the houses 13 years ago.

 

[probasestealer]

I think the soil problem you've described is the issue (why Poa a. took over and why desirable grass didn't establish).
I would work on the soil. Use a soil surfactant and tons or organics in the area to "soften the soil". I can elaborate/provide links if you're interested.
I'm not sure Bella is worth the money, but it can't hurt. But regardless it sounds like the soil needs work..

 

[Thick n Dense]

Old post but I got some because I was intrigued. It is very compact in the northeast however plug spaced 12" apart haven't filled in within a year and probably wont completely until next year.

That being said the grass is gorgeous and I prefer ir over the other elite varieties i have.

I can verify that the roots go deep and do not stop unless they-cant penetrate which should help when hot times come.
To
Other pros,stays green year round unless dormancy hits in summer heat.

I think the longer the roots have time to develop, the faster it will spread like an exponential function... i may Try To slowly propogate throughout My yard using a manual sod cutter... as a stretch objective.....

Also, it wont match your existing yard, it has a unique look To it...

 

[RobS]

Can you post pictures of the Bella grass? Very curious to the unique look.....

 

[Thick n Dense]

Can you post pictures of the Bella grass? Very curious to the unique look.....

 

[RobS]

I've been thinking about trying this. I like the look.

 

[Thick n Dense]

I've been thinking about trying this. I like the look.

Problem is that its far more expensive than a reno and youll still need to wait for a while for it to fill in. It spread faster id consider (still am) slowly propagating throughout my yard. Pro plugger works but a sod cutter will be faster.

If you go down this route dont Spread them out that far, Id buy as much as you can afford and pack them in densly so you can get to a sod Od quality plot. At that point you can use a manual sod cutter and move ro different areas. Once you double the first plot in size the third one will cover more area. Literally the exponential function.

I didnt so this, I spread about a foot apart an its going to take 2 years in total to fill in. Which means I cant use a sod cutter until then.

I also was a bit Sloppy and some plugs had died on me... so propagating with sod(opposed to plugs) is easier in this regard as well.

But I agree, I love the color and texture of the blades. Ive mowed 6 times this year and havent Cut a single blade, after the monsoon, warm weather and fert, my next mow will get a few blades.

 

[RobS]

I plan on growing kbg/prg in 4" pots, just like last year. I really like the look of Bella. Trying to decide if I want to pay for it since I'm already committed to growing plugs.

 

[Green]

The look is really interesting...it almost looks like a high quality Poa annua var reptans/Creeping Bluegrass in terms of color and how it reflects light. Would you say the blades are wide? Also, are they floppy?

I'm surprised that you said it goes dormant more readily than most regular KBG. I thought the selling point of deep roots was that it stayed green better. Is there much difference? How deep did the roots get so far?

How about the growth rate versus something like Bewitched? Is it a bit slower?

I have to wonder if they crossed KBG with something else to get this...like Canada Bluegrass, Alpine Bluegrass, or something. Not even sure if that's possible genetically.

In any case, I remember seeing these articles in the past:
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cwel_pubs/93/
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.910.7509&rep=rep1&type=pdf

 

[Thick n Dense]

Would you say the blades are wide? - some yes, the ones in these pictures were really wide but honestly not that normal to see.

Also, are they floppy? Kind of, It's not on the FF level of floppy.

I'm surprised that you said it goes dormant more readily than most regular KBG. I thought the selling point of deep roots was that it stayed green better. Is there much difference? - As far as I can tell, the roots will go down as deep as the soil lets it. I grew some indoors and in planters when I first got it and the roots grew to the bottom of 2 different containers about 4 and 5" deep. A cool test would be to grow in a long PVC tube and see how far down they'll go. Obviously a clear tube would be better.
Also, the plants grow less vertically, like Provista as well, there's less surface area for the plants to allow water to evaporate through cell walls.

I'd also add that it doesn't seem to have a different level of heat tolerance, it's about the same but the grass acts very different when it reaches it's breaking point. all the blades wilt and die, then re-establishes from rhizomes. Sound like something we all know and hate...?
I'll take some pictures tomorrow of how shitty it looks right now.

How deep did the roots get so far? - Not sure, some of the originals are probably pretty deep, I may mess around after the recovery and try to determine.

How about the growth rate versus something like Bewitched? Is it a bit slower?
Tough to tell as I've also had a mixed yard, I can't make a 1 to 1 kbg to bella comparison let alone bewitched, also cause my kbg overseed was a mix of 4 types.
But I'll say that this year, I probably have only cut off a single inch in total (maybe if that)... keep in mind that it did go dormant some time in July...
Many times I'll cut my entire lawn then get to that section and it takes off nothing.

I have to wonder if they crossed KBG with something else to get this...like Canada Bluegrass, Alpine Bluegrass, or something. Not even sure if that's possible genetically.
-Haven't heard of those but I think the story is that they found it in the wild... IDK if that's true.
It does have a POA A type look to it.
I think that some of the "Atlantic" type grasses that tolerate heat better have deeper roots so they're out there.
The interesting part is that it doesn't go to seed often and I agree, I saw maybe a couple seed heads in total.

I'd add one more thing and that is that it looked fantastic from Fall to the following spring, handled cold weather like a champ.

 

[Thick n Dense]

Look at this ... Itll will all be back probably by the end of September.
Also note that I did note water reguarlary.
Also theres seed and peat moss down. I didnt kill during the reno but threw seed down.

 

[Thick n Dense]

Look at this ... Itll will all be back probably by the end of September.
Also note that I did not water reguarlary.
Also theres seed and peat moss down. I didnt kill during the reno but threw seed down.

 

[Green]

That's crazy. Maybe partial shade and damp conditions would be good for it. I guess I could try it in the low input area if the other grasses don't work.

But maybe it browned so bad because it wasn't fully established yet?

This grass really reminds me of Poa annua and Triv. I'll bet you it won't tolerate Certainty herbicide. I just have that feeling. Have you tried Tenacity on it?

 

[Green]

You know what else it looks a bit like? Don't laugh...
Seashore Paspalum, but the Bella is darker and coarser.

 

[Green]

@Thick n Dense

Does it do better in sun or shade?

 

[Thick n Dense]

@Green

I can't really say, I planted in between houses so it gets less sun than full sun depending on time of day and seems to do fine but no where near full shade.

I don't think that I've used tenacity on it either, since not seed, I used Prodiamine.

PGR really stunted it's growth as well, it's like a super low mowing grass if that's a thing.

 

[Thick n Dense]

You know what else it looks a bit like? Don't laugh...
Seashore Paspalum, but the Bella is darker and coarser.

Also, yea, I see some sort of resemblance.

There 100% are 0 Stolons though.

Rhizomes are aggressive... it seems like a cycle where the mother plant always dies in the summer and are replaced by new plants from the rhizomes.

If you look at the picture of the plants all destroyed, the rhizomes present have been there the whole time but have tillered a bit.

The first year I planted, after the heat hit, I thought that they all died... but then they all came back LOL....

 

[Thick n Dense]

In short... same thing this year gorgeous in the spring. Takes a beating in the summer and looks like shit until october.

Still hasnt spread all the way.
Ill be gly-ing and moving the provista in.

I will say though that at its peaks- bella has the PV beat in looks but that onlt lasted while temps were below 70*.

Avoid unless you live in northern canada lol