[Green]

I was at an establishment the other day, and I have to say this is one of the nicest non-home, non-athletic field, non-golf course, non-University lawns in my area. Comments on it are welcome, but If you happen to recognize where this is, please don't post the location publicly...they probably wouldn't like that!





And yes, in the 2nd shot, those are cars parked on the lawn for an event.
There really aren't that many well-landscaped lawns in the Northeast, especially at businesses.
The lawns at this place are primarily TTTF/KBG. There is some FF and some PR mixed into it in some areas, making it a true Northern mix (such as PR in the last photo).

 

[Green]

Or feel free to tag along and post your own photos of nice non-residential lawns that you've spotted!

 

[social port]

In my area it is not at all uncommon to see businesses with lawns that are very nicely maintained. You tend to see this especially with fescue lawns. Some businesses even have their fescue striped.

But yeah, I agree: that shot with the tree and grass is amazing.

 

[Green]

In my area it is not at all uncommon to see businesses with lawns that are very nicely maintained. You tend to see this especially with fescue lawns. Some businesses even have their fescue striped.

But yeah, I agree: that shot with the tree and grass is amazing.

I wish more establishments were like that up here! It's not uncommon for shopping centers to be a mix of weeds and brown stuff, and the ones that do have actual grass and have it fertilized often don't do maintenance on it when it gets damaged. I'd say only around 25-30% are maintained halfway decently, with maybe 15% that look pretty good, and very few (1%?) of the caliber I posted above (using elite grass cultivars, nice landscape design, and weekly edging along curbs).

Maybe the owners of this one are from the South!

 

[g-man]

Am I the only one that was in pain after seeing the cars parked in the grass?

The lawn looks very well cared for.

 

[Green]

In my area it is not at all uncommon to see businesses with lawns that are very nicely maintained. You tend to see this especially with fescue lawns. Some businesses even have their fescue striped.

But yeah, I agree: that shot with the tree and grass is amazing.

Have you seen any nice KY-31 lawns at businesses near you? Because someday when I have my own business I was thinking of trying a Ky-31 monstand for my business lawn, and mowing at 4+ inches. Everyone's always got negative things to say about that type of grass, but I think it can be made to work, and has some advantages over other types, including TTTF.

 

[Green]

Am I the only one that was in pain after seeing the cars park in the grass?

The lawn looks very well cared for.

No! I saw it in person when I was waling through the area, and had a pretty strong reaction!

 

[Delmarva Keith]

Have you seen any nice KY-31 lawns at businesses near you? Because someday when I have my own business I was thinking of trying a Ky-31 monstand for my business lawn, and mowing at 4+ inches. Everyone's always got negative things to say about that type of grass, but I think it can be made to work, and has some advantages over other types, including TTTF.

That's a pretty good idea. K-31 is still a baseline reference cultivar in turf trials and always does well in terms of disease resistance, low input fertility persistence, shade tolerance and drought tolerance. It's a lighter green with wider blades. So what. Still looks as good or better than many elite cultivars suffering from nitrogen deficiency if they're not regularly fertilized :nod: . Should work fine for super low maintenance turf.

 

[pennstater2005]

Have you seen any nice KY-31 lawns at businesses near you? Because someday when I have my own business I was thinking of trying a Ky-31 monstand for my business lawn, and mowing at 4+ inches. Everyone's always got negative things to say about that type of grass, but I think it can be made to work, and has some advantages over other types, including TTTF.

That's a pretty good idea. K-31 is still a baseline reference cultivar in turf trials and always does well in terms of disease resistance, low input fertility persistence, shade tolerance and drought tolerance. It's a lighter green with wider blades. So what. Still looks as good or better than many elite cultivars suffering from nitrogen deficiency if they're not regularly fertilized :nod: . Should work fine for super low maintenance turf.

Agreed. A grass mix I've been using in the front yard is easily available to me. It's not elite cultivars by any means but where I've used it it's done well with minimal maintenance.

 

[social port]

Most of the lawns I have in mind are TT; Green, I just may take some pictures if I can create the opportunity.
I think we need a TLF sticker for our vehicles that reads: caution: this vehicle may stop suddenly to look at lawns and used lawn care equipment.
I can't tell you how many times I've taken way too long driving by a nice property. Right now, someone has a used ExMark for sale sitting in their yard. It's on the other side of town, but I drive by at least twice per week.

Re Ky 31: does anyone know if there are varieties of Ky31? I've always assumed that it is a single cultivar, but I've noticed that some ky31 lawns look much better than others. Could be differences in input and maintenance.

I do still have some Ky 31 bordering my house. The Ky 31 and TT differ considerably in appearance, though during various points this spring, the color difference was minimal. I think the Ky 31 near my house looks nice on its own-it's beautiful, in fact-just not so much standing next to TT. Also, the ky31 does not look good when overgrown.

 

[Green]

That's a pretty good idea. K-31 is still a baseline reference cultivar in turf trials and always does well in terms of disease resistance, low input fertility persistence, shade tolerance and drought tolerance. It's a lighter green with wider blades. So what. Still looks as good or better than many elite cultivars suffering from nitrogen deficiency if they're not regularly fertilized :nod: . Should work fine for super low maintenance turf.

So I'm not the only one who doesn't think it can't be used as a turf grass. I'm surprised how much support I'm getting from you all!

Here's how I'd explain it to someone who thought it was a bad idea: Someday, when I have my own business and own the property (long time away), it's going to have a lawn, and I'm going to take care of it myself to save money (mowing, watering, etc.). I don't want to have to water often and would like it to do well in the heat, but still want it to look really good. I also want high mowed turf. Ky-31 seems to score pretty well with brown patch, too. I think it'd be perfect. When I spent time in Florida, there were a lot of really nice St. Aug lawns and median strips, etc. What does St. Aug look like? Ky-31. People there don't complain about the texture of the grass. So, why should I? It can be made to look good. I'm not going to mix anything else in...just Ky-31. No KBG. It'll have that monostand look with just the one type of grass. I really think that's the key. I might even consider using a PGR on it, if the mowing were likely to get out of control (I'd want to mow once a week).

 

[Green]

Re Ky 31: does anyone know if there are varieties of Ky31? I've always assumed that it is a single cultivar, but I've noticed that some ky31 lawns look much better than others. Could be differences in input and maintenance.

I do still have some Ky 31 bordering my house. The Ky 31 and TT differ considerably in appearance, though during various points this spring, the color difference was minimal. I think the Ky 31 near my house looks nice on its own-it's beautiful, in fact-just not so much standing next to TT. Also, the ky31 does not look good when overgrown.

Nice testimonial! I'd love to see photos of some of the landscaping and lawns around your general area.

As far as genetic subtypes...that's a good question. If it happens with TTTF, it probably happens with Ky-31, too. That's why sometimes I cringe when people do complete renos...what if you had some sort of grass in there that was unique, that you could've given to a turf breeder for study before you killed it all?

 

[social port]

FWIW, my Ky31 grows much faster than my TT. The KY 31 is a year older than the TT, so that might be a contributing factor.

 

[Green]

FWIW, my Ky31 grows much faster than my TT. The KY 31 is a year older than the TT, so that might be a contributing factor.

That makes sense. I find TTTF to be a relatively slow grower in general. Some of my KBG grows faster than it.

 

[social port]

OK, @Green , I don't want to bomb the thread with pictures, but on the other hand, this is a lawn forum. And I took a bunch of pictures of some lawns of businesses in the area :ugeek: Here are a couple.
First, some Bermuda properties, which, to my eye, are well maintained. One from a gas station. The other from a shopping center.





Fescue property from the same company (credit union) at different locations




It doesn't look too great now, but this is from one of the best TTTF properties in the area. It's at a dentist office


Fescue at a nursing home


And these are from county govt properties, if you can believe that. Primarily fescue, but with a little Bermuda in the mix, I believe








Finally, this final one is, I believe, KY31. The lawn has some weeds, and it is not perfect, but someone is trying hard. They've even striped it, but I couldn't get a great picture of them. In the impossible parts of my imagination, I like to think that the LCN secretly comes to maintain this church property-while also shooting a video to demonstrate his hybrid organic lawn program

 

[Green]

@social port, looks good!
Do you think many of those places have irrigation?

 

[social port]

@Green
I don't know. But I would bet money that the church (last pic, ky31) does not water--either via irrigation system or sprinklers.

 

[Green]

@Green
I don't know. But I would bet money that the church (last pic, ky31) does not water--either via irrigation system or sprinklers.

Is it me, or is the Bermuda at the Mall or shopping center in the first shot mowed high? Or is that just the grade?

 

[social port]

@Green
I don't know. But I would bet money that the church (last pic, ky31) does not water--either via irrigation system or sprinklers.

Is it me, or is the Bermuda at the Mall or shopping center in the first shot mowed high? Or is that just the grade?

I can't tell, but I do know that the property isn't maintained like a TLF bermuda lawn, at least with respect to HOC.

 

[Green]

@social port, I finally took some more photos.

Here is a business lawn that's representative of a lot in our area. Actually somewhat better than average. So this gives you a good frame of reference.

As you can see, there's a lot of crabgrass, and lack of overall density.