Just wanted to make sure you didn't put any extra fertilizer on just the spots you reseeded.

 

Nope, not even starter fertilizer when seeding.

 

For such great cultivars of kbg, you should have a darker color than that. Here are some things to consider.

How much N have you applied since your reno? Is the kbg underfed?

It’s relatively new kbg, so it can’t be a thatch issue, right? Is the kbg overcrowded compared to the prg?

Is your yard drought stressed and the kbg is going dormant first?

Have you done a soil test? Is there some imbalance that is favoring the prg over the kbg?? (this one seems a stretch)

I would try to work on the kbg and make sure you get it to thrive as much as you can. Figure out why it isn’t performing up to its potential.

 

One thing to note those previous pictures where taken at about 1 in the afternoon will make it look much lighter than 90% of the pictures on here people take at dusk. Also I have just been getting through the seed stalk phase which makes it tough to get a clean cut and robs it of color as well. This picture was the last one before I sharpened the mower blades so the tips are lighter.

Yeah soil test done 16 months ago. PH was at 5.9, Nitrogen was in optimum range, phosp was a bit high, potassium was in optimum range. I applied 50 lbs of lime last fall. Got the Kelway meter on it in the spring and it said 6.2 Ph. Ideally I’d like 6.5 but I don’t think that’s the problem.

I put down .9lb N per 1k of Nitrogen with my starter fert with mesotrione at the beginning of the year (early april) as a short term holdover for my ph until the rye established. Then put down Lesco stonewall at 1lb N per 1k in mid May. Then 1lb N per 1k Milorganite in mid June. So 2.9lb of N should be plenty,(arguably too much) but since it’s KBG and the pre-emergent apps were at bag rate I let it rip.

As for the watering I watered it at least 1” of irrigation per week throughout May as we had a drought, and have supplemented irrigation in June as we have had some weeks with about an inch of rain.

Also already applied two apps of fungicide. One app was liquid propicanizole because I noticed rust starting in the neighbors lawn and I know young KBG can be susceptible. Then after about 2 weeks put down a round of Azoxystrobin as a preventative for other disease.

I’ll show some other pictures at various times and different lightings.

 

Ryan Knorr's perennial rye section at his old home was darker green then his elite kbg areas. He had similar rogue spots of rye that stood out in the kbg.

He has some good drone footage of his new test plots (several cool season grasses side-by-side) at his new place in the country. The rye generally looks slightly darker than the kbg. Planted same time, mostly same maintenance inputs. I know kbg takes longer to mature, etc.

He uses his own grass seed mixes. Typical elite cultivars that seem to be commonly discussed here. Different pros and cons of course.

 

Yes. Perennial Rye really responds with dark color to:

-Nitrogen
-Heat

And they've gone crazy making it darker green than ever the past 10-15 years (I started using it 12 years ago). The front side of the grass blade gets blue-green during Summer heat, and the back side is dark green and shiny. It also gets clumpy in the heat. So you can get these dark blue-green clumps in a lawn that doesn't have much Ryegrass.

 

I have noticed this as well in in my backyard. Spots where I put down Twin City's "Fielders Choice" PRG Blend are as dark or maybe even a shade darker than the 365ss next to it.

 

PRG has come a long way it can get a deep green color and with that shine it really stands out. Years ago I did a renovation with PRG I was stunned with the outcome. No irrigation and full sun it collapsed by mid July

 

I agree with what Ben said above. It's a KBG problem.

You won't have significant thatch in KBG is you have sufficient microorganism. Managing microorganisms is the biggest benefit to using organic fertilizers.

 

Looks like I found part of the problem with the KBG. Looks like summer patch? Something else? Fortunately I already have some fungicides down. Waiting patiently to do another app.

 

Looks like I found part of the problem with the KBG. Looks like summer patch? Something else? Fortunately I already have some fungicides down. Waiting patiently to do another app.

Summer Patch is a root disease and shouldn't have any lesions on the leaves - the areas just wilt and die. Dollar Spot will have leaf lesions. Fungicides are different for the two.

 

What are the kill spots in the latest photo?

 

Those were areas of orchard grass or Triv that I had to glyphosate and re-seed.

 

My reno involved a KBG/PRG mix of elite-only cultivars. The PRG had the same, beautiful, deep blue-green as yours -- deeper than the KBG it grew with. This isn't uncommon. Nothing to worry about with your KBG, especially if it's only a few years old.

I wouldn't waste time killing the PRG spots. Give it two summers with no irrigation and it will all die off. Mine did. I barely have any left anywhere in my lawn, even shady areas. It's a notoriously weak grass, so I would recommend just letting nature take its course rather than wasting time/energy killing it.

 

Does the appearance of the rye outweigh the pros of the kbg? Are the grasses closer in appearance during spring and fall? The kbg is still new so it may darken up as it matures.

With irrigation, the rye appears to be doing just fine in your area as of right now. See how it handles the rest of the summer. If it can hang with the kbg, disease and drought tolerance wise, with your level of lawn maintenance, then your answer for a reno should be a little easier.

I hate back to back renos but if that rye can make it through summers in your area, then I'd do it.

Follow your heart, don't let the kbg fanboys sway you into keeping it if that's not what you really want. Pray about it. Maybe seek out some counseling if need be. I know with time that you will make the right decision.

 

I hate back to back renos but if that rye can make it through summers in your area, then I'd do it.

We have a lot of East Coast members from Maine to Virginia and Midwest members in similar climates with Ryegrass mixed into their lawns, and in most cases, most of it probably survives the Summer (and Winter). Of course most of these lawns are getting some irrigation (but not all are).

 

I am still torn on mixing rye into spots of an elite KBG mix. The lack of uniformity AFTER doing a reno, especially into a grass that will self repair, just confuses me. All of the pictures further point to that.

I see fungus in the KBG.

 

What do you mean by lack of uniformity after a 100% KBG reno? And are you talking strictly about blends? There are two main possible causes I can think of, personally, at this moment, that might cause that in a mono (assuming contamination in the seed stock is not one). One is other grasses popping up from seed in the soil or from animals/birds (since it's impossible to stop it totally). The other has to do with genetic variation that exists in the seed of the cultivar itself. Some KBG varieties have more of this than others. (Pretty sure the Bermuda people deal with this on a much larger scale.) If you read the USDA spec sheets, it becomes evident that it's a real thing.