You got it, tenacity or kill it all, I ve been killing some with tenacity and it takes some time. I don't have a ton of it like you.

If you are going all bent grass then you do need a reel mower, and a level lawn.

 

Thank you for the reply. I'm gonna have to do some more research, but I'm thinking it's going to be cheaper/easier to do a full reno at this point versus tenacity as the bentgrass is everywhere.

I have a small, level area that is primarily bentgrass at this point ~600sq.ft. Do you think the existing bentgrass could be gradually taken from 3.5-4" down to sub 1" over the next few months into the fall? Not sure how it will fare, but at this point I have little to lose.

 

Here at my own house (NJ) bentgrass is a weed. I used tenacity and hand pulling to clear a lot of it. I see a couple spots right now that have popped up in other places, but its mostly controlled.

At my father in law's house in PA, he has practically a full bentgrass lawn. Not by choice mind you. The last seed he put down was 30 years ago. He cuts to 'abusive' heights with a ride on tractor when he gets around to it. When I was there last winter I noticed how green his grass was despite it being 30-something degrees and middle of winter. After looking a little closer, most of it was bentgrass. I'm going to tell you that its possible to have a bentgrass lawn cut to 2". In his case, he has a stream running through the back yard and the entire yard is generally soft due to the high water table. BG needs a lot of water. And it like shade (probably because of the extra water). In your case, I would take whichever of your mowers has the must suction/lift and start cutting your 600 sqft at 1.5-2". Feed it, water it, cut it weekly or more. Give it a month of that and if it turns around to what you want then great. If not, you still have time for a renovation this fall.

 

Thank you for the reply and a bit of hope regarding your father in law's lawn. Wouldn't be my first choice either, but going to see if I can work with what I've got before making any drastic changes. The more I learn about lawn care the more I dislike what I have.

I am located at the bottom of a hill, have a creek across the street about 200ft away, high water table. During heavy rains the town's stormwater system is usually overwhelmed and backs up on our street, even backs up into a shared french drain system between multiple properties that has an easement through our property line. Has gotten worse in the past 5-10 years with neighbors on both sides of me cutting down all their trees and seemingly heavier rain events.

I'll start using that small section as a test area and see how it goes.

 

Some of mine is in almost full sun and it stays green but I water a bunch, all my grass is on sand. If you don't water it will go dormant fast, it has shallow roots. It spreads but doesn't go deep.

In my opinion looks best cut low, like an inch or less.

 

Do you think I'm wasting time trying to bring this test strip down to 1-2" gradually versus scalping and maintaining that height? My Honda HRR has .5" increments and the JD Rider does .25" increments. Been two days since last mow with the push at 3.5", was planning on either tonight or tomorrow bringing it down again an increment have to get the bagger on the ride on.

Most of my lawn is full sun 8+ hours a day. The one section that is lowest and is most shaded (4-6hrs of sun) looks the best out of my entire property, but stays very soft and is majority bentgrass. I put down about .5" of water every 3 days of so with irrigation using Rachio controller which I've had to dial in over the past year of ownership. Had to start manually running some zones during the past month as it couldn't keep up in the heatwave due to forecasted precipitation that never came. Learned a lot about how poor my coverage and efficiency was. Did a mason jar test on the front lawn came out with silty loam. Might as well do do another one in this backyard area. It conversely has the best irrigation coverage.

This is a better photo of test area last Labor Day weekend (2023) for planned dethatch/aerate/overseed with JG Black Beauty Ultra. This was after lowering to ~2" HOC bagged and then running over with dethatcher at lowest setting in a cross hatch pattern. Thought it was thatch and the time, but now realizing it was probably just all the bentgrass which I guess was thatch since I had a 4" HOC all summer. Looked great last fall, but has been all but completely overtaken by the bentgrass again. I may have actually done the bentgrass a favor by doing all that.

 

If its fully bentgrass there, then I would take it straight down to 1.5-2" like I said above and then feed it. When you cut it you're going to get into the crowns quickly but it will grow back quickly, especiall if you feed it. You're going to need at least a month of steady cuts at the height you know what you're working with. I'd go straight there now.

On the flip side, you have a very small area right there which has irrigation. Its a perfect candidate for a renovation. If the bentgrass doesn't work you can easily renovat that with minimal effort.

 

Thanks for the encouragement and info.

Took it down to 1.75" this evening with the Honda rotary bagging it all. It has one more lower setting which is 1.125", but don't think the area is as level as I thought to try that. Tried the ride on mower first with bagger, but too much material to get it up the chute. Put down .6lb/1ksq.ft of Milorganite since I saw that recommended in the Cool Season Lawn Guide here. Not sure if that was the right move or not.

I guess we will wait and see what happens. Height of cut looks nice even though the grass doesn't. Would be nice to see it thrive. If I screwed up it's only a small area, albeit right out the kitchen window, and it's that much closer to being ready for a renovation. The front lawn was looking rough after taking it from 3.75" down 3.5" today, really shows where all the bentgrass is when the green comes off the top.

 

You need some fast release nitrogen. Milo would have been good to put down 2 months ago but it takes a while to break down. Something like a scotts turfbuilder (not with weed and feed or halts) or straight up urea granules and water whichever one in. I'd put down 1/4# of nitrogen now and then again in a week.

rick