[Lawndad]

Hey everyone,

It's that time of the year here in Nj where we are in full swing of things and the battles begin again.

I found a few patches of this coarse grass in my lawn. It seems to be in a patch, stalky and firm, a paler green than the rest with no visible seed heads at its height like poa.

Any ideas what it is? I've heard people refer to it just as mutated fescue or coarse fescue. Either way I don't want it. 👍🏼

 

[Green]

Assuming that's definitely Tall Fescue (and I'm not saying it is)...

Sometimes grass will behave like that right before it starts throwing out seed heads. So, that's one possibility.

Another possibility is what you called "mutated Fescue", I guess...though that's not really the right term...it's more of a humorous nickname for what's happening. I think what actually happens, is that Tall Fescue has some genetic diversity in it as a species, and some plants are just coarser than others, even in the same cultivar. Their heritage is from the coarse types like Ky-31 and Meadow Fescue anyway, so it's really not surprising that it happens sometimes.

How much of your lawn is affected? And is that affected area in shade most of the time, by any chance?

 

[LawnNerd]

That's just OrchardGrass. You can tell by the folded vernation and the Mega Ligule coming up the sides. Glyphosate or hand pull since there is no rhizomes. I've have learned from my own expeirance that if you hand pull, the crown is just under the soil surface and it roots in pretty good. Take the claw part of and old hammer for easier removal.

Edit: I said Auricle instead of Ligule.

 

[Lawndad]

It's in small patches and not in shaded areas. I think it does fit that orchard grass description though. Looks like I'll have to dig it out.

Thank you fellas.

 

[Green]

Boat-shaped tip...sort of like KBG? If so, yes to Orchardgrass. Also, you know what Fescue feels like...stiff. Orchardgrass isn't.

I hope that helps.

 

[Lawndad]

Boat-shaped tip...sort of like KBG? If so, yes to Orchardgrass. Also, you know what Fescue feels like...stiff. Orchardgrass isn't.

I hope that helps.

Hmm I dunno now because this is stiff very similar feeling to TTTF and not soft like crabgrass.

 

[LawnNerd]

@Lawndad Pic!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

The good news is i suppose that it seems to be fairly easy to spot, you could probably glypho each one manually on a few of its leaves and let it die off. That way theres no doubt it wont come back(at least that plant).

 

[Lawndad]

The good news is i suppose that it seems to be fairly easy to spot, you could probably glypho each one manually on a few of its leaves and let it die off. That way theres no doubt it wont come back(at least that plant).

Yeah that's exactly what I was doing. Basically soaked a cotton ball in round up and wiped the leaves. 👌🏼

 

[Lawndad]

@Lawndad Pic!

I posted two pics with my first post. Where you looking for a different shot of something closer?

 

[LawnNerd]

Just that you said it was crunchy. What was crunchy? The stems or the leaves? Orchardgrass is not crunchy in the slightest, so i'm wondering if there was something else.

 

[Lawndad]

Just that you said it was crunchy. What was crunchy? The stems or the leaves? Orchardgrass is not crunchy in the slightest, so i'm wondering if there was something else.

It actually seems firm and crunchy. The stems really...

 

[kds]

I feel like I might have the same weed, or grass, or whatever... I pulled these out over the weekend in my TTTF mutt lawn. It's not soft, it's kind of crunchy. Kind of like what OP is describing. I'm not sure what it is. It grew way faster than the rest of the lawn. There were 3 patches of this. I was going to post it in the weed thread but this sounds similar.

But I could be wrong, it could be something completely different. I don't mean to hijack or complicate the thread...