[social port]

I have half an acre. Putting down seed, fert, and peat moss is one heck of a workout. If you do a full acre, you are going to be all kinds of motivated to keep the seeds and sprouts moist!

Are impact sprinklers an option for you? They would save a lot of time.

How thin is the line between letting fescue be dormant and fescue dying off? Is there a moderate watering schedule he could use to maintain dormancy during the summer and minimize losses from the grass dying off?

I've always heard old farmers and grass enthusiast around here say just leave your Fescue around 4 inches in the summer. Taller grass equals deeper roots. Obviously disease and fungal treatment comes with taller grass but that's manageable IMO.

Yes, that's what I hear as well. From what I understand, mowing at 4 does not further stress an already heat-stressed lawn and the longer blades allow for better exposure to sunlight.

 

[social port]

What kind of KBG could survive our heat? I haven't looked them up much. Would a 10%kbg 90% tttf be worth a shot?

Then there are also hybrid bluegrasses. Lots of mixed reviews there, but I've read that one benefit, at least, is its ability to spread. Also, they are heat tolerant, but tend to be no more drought tolerant than TTTF. That's probably not sufficient for most people to make hybrid bluegrass their top choice among competitors.

 

[Vols_fan08]

I'm just worried it's too hot here for kbg. Unless it's shaded. And my trees are still young and small. My house does shade most of my front yard from 3p to dark.

 

[j4c11]

I've always heard old farmers and grass enthusiast around here say just leave your Fescue around 4 inches in the summer. Taller grass equals deeper roots. Obviously disease and fungal treatment comes with taller grass but that's manageable IMO.

While it is very much true that root depth is proportional to grass length, fescue roots stop growing in the summer as the soil warms up. Once it gets hot enough, they actually begin to die back. Cutting high will help root development during spring and fall, but not during summer - we typically cut high during summer to "shade" the soil underneath and preserve moisture.

I'm just worried it's too hot here for kbg. Unless it's shaded. And my trees are still young and small. My house does shade most of my front yard from 3p to dark.

The claim of fescue being more drought resistant is based on the fact that fescue roots can go as deep as 36", while KBG roots only about 12". Under normal lawn and soil conditions with frequent mowing, they both won't go deeper than 6" so that advantage gets wiped out. Thus far, I have not seen any significant difference in drought resistance between bluegrass and fescue. I wouldn't recommend you go to KBG thought - grow fescue which is easier to establish for 3-4 years to gain some experience.

 

[Vols_fan08]

Yeah I bet it would be hard for me to pull off some KBG with my lack of water supply. I could probably sing some around my trees and start a small area. Everglade looks interesting.

 

[Vols_fan08]

I've always heard old farmers and grass enthusiast around here say just leave your Fescue around 4 inches in the summer. Taller grass equals deeper roots. Obviously disease and fungal treatment comes with taller grass but that's manageable IMO.

While it is very much true that root depth is proportional to grass length, fescue roots stop growing in the summer as the soil warms up. Once it gets hot enough, they actually begin to die back. Cutting high will help root development during spring and fall, but not during summer - we typically cut high during summer to "shade" the soil underneath and preserve moisture.

I'm just worried it's too hot here for kbg. Unless it's shaded. And my trees are still young and small. My house does shade most of my front yard from 3p to dark.

The claim of fescue being more drought resistant is based on the fact that fescue roots can go as deep as 36", while KBG roots only about 12". Under normal lawn and soil conditions with frequent mowing, they both won't go deeper than 6" so that advantage gets wiped out. Thus far, I have not seen any significant difference in drought resistance between bluegrass and fescue. I wouldn't recommend you go to KBG thought - grow fescue which is easier to establish for 3-4 years to gain some experience.

Sounds like a plan. I really like the look of it. Just kinda intimidated by the long germination time. Thanks!

 

[Vols_fan08]

Picked up my TTTF seed today. $85.00 for 50lb Bags. Got blue tag this time. Excited to see this stuff grow!

 

[social port]

Picked up my TTTF seed today. $85.00 for 50lb Bags. Got blue tag this time. Excited to see this stuff grow!

What happened with speedway? Were you unable to find it? (Nothing against Defiance--just curious).

 

[Vols_fan08]

Picked up my TTTF seed today. $85.00 for 50lb Bags. Got blue tag this time. Excited to see this stuff grow!

What happened with speedway? Were you unable to find it? (Nothing against Defiance--just curious).

I asked around. It's pretty hard to get right now. I was told by the guy that's been selling this for 10 years that these varieties are basically "siblings" to speedway from DLF/SRO. I know the old blend is very dark green and stripes awesome. So I'm sure the new blend is very good.

 

[j4c11]

I haven't heard back from my Speedway guy either. They're harvesting right now, and they still need to test the seed for weeds and germination before they can sell it.

I did buy some Midnight seed from Outsidepride, it's fresh off the field tested 6/2017.

 

[social port]

1501605910[/url] user_id=337]

1501575320[/url] user_id=388]
Picked up my TTTF seed today. $85.00 for 50lb Bags. Got blue tag this time. Excited to see this stuff grow!

What happened with speedway? Were you unable to find it? (Nothing against Defiance--just curious).

I asked around. It's pretty hard to get right now. I was told by the guy that's been selling this for 10 years that these varieties are basically "siblings" to speedway from DLF/SRO. I know the old blend is very dark green and stripes awesome. So I'm sure the new blend is very good.

I'm not familiar with those cultivars; that will give me something else to look into.
Hogan's has tons of TTTF right now and won't be running out anytime soon. He doesn't stock speedway, though. He mentioned that he could order it, but couldn't guarantee the seed quality.

I found a Crop Production Service (mentioned by you in another thread, I believe) nearby, but I haven't been able to learn about speedway availability yet.

 

[social port]

I haven't heard back from my Speedway guy either. They're harvesting right now, and they still need to test the seed for weeds and germination before they can sell it.

I did buy some Midnight seed from Outsidepride, it's fresh off the field tested 6/2017.

Midnight, you say? You are going to get me thinking about a KBG experiment again.

Interested to know how the midnight does. You are our last great hope for KBG in the transition zone! Use the force. (Watched Star Wars Rogue One last night).

 

[j4c11]

I haven't heard back from my Speedway guy either. They're harvesting right now, and they still need to test the seed for weeds and germination before they can sell it.

I did buy some Midnight seed from Outsidepride, it's fresh off the field tested 6/2017.

Midnight, you say? You are going to get me thinking about a KBG experiment again.

Interested to know how the midnight does. You are our last great hope for KBG in the transition zone! Use the force. (Watched Star Wars Rogue One last night).

I'll keep you posted. I have a 1,000 sq ft strip along the driveway that I'm going to re-do with 100% Midnight. Curious myself to see how it holds up, it always tests very well in Raleigh NTEP tests. If it does well through next summer and it looks much better than the Barenbrug blend I'm going to renovate to 100% Midnight next fall.

 

[social port]

I haven't heard back from my Speedway guy either. They're harvesting right now, and they still need to test the seed for weeds and germination before they can sell it.

I did buy some Midnight seed from Outsidepride, it's fresh off the field tested 6/2017.

Midnight, you say? You are going to get me thinking about a KBG experiment again.

Interested to know how the midnight does. You are our last great hope for KBG in the transition zone! Use the force. (Watched Star Wars Rogue One last night).

I'll keep you posted. I have a 1,000 sq ft strip along the driveway that I'm going to re-do with 100% Midnight. Curious myself to see how it holds up, it always tests very well in Raleigh NTEP tests. If it does well through next summer and it looks much better than the Barenbrug blend I'm going to renovate to 100% Midnight next fall.

Do you know what is in the Barenbrug blend?

Midnight does very well in Knoxville, too, but apparently the soil in Knoxville is quite different from the soil in middle Tennessee

 

[j4c11]

Do you know what is in the Barenbrug blend?

Sure do.



Barvette HGT scores in the top 3 in many categories. It's top in the transition zone, top in traffic recovery, top in summer patch resistance, and so on and so on. Dead last in genetic color :lol:

We'll see how it looks this fall.

 

[Vols_fan08]

1501605910[/url] user_id=337]

1501575320[/url] user_id=388]
Picked up my TTTF seed today. $85.00 for 50lb Bags. Got blue tag this time. Excited to see this stuff grow!

What happened with speedway? Were you unable to find it? (Nothing against Defiance--just curious).

I asked around. It's pretty hard to get right now. I was told by the guy that's been selling this for 10 years that these varieties are basically "siblings" to speedway from DLF/SRO. I know the old blend is very dark green and stripes awesome. So I'm sure the new blend is very good.

I'm not familiar with those cultivars; that will give me something else to look into.
Hogan's has tons of TTTF right now and won't be running out anytime soon. He doesn't stock speedway, though. He mentioned that he could order it, but couldn't guarantee the seed quality.

I found a Crop Production Service (mentioned by you in another thread, I believe) nearby, but I haven't been able to learn about speedway availability yet.

They're pretty expensive (Hogan's) for the most part in my opinion. But I'm buying 5 bags so.... Theyre pretty big on pro seeds and burlingham seeds. Honestly these are all scoring around the same in trials and it really depends on if it's a good plot. I've seen Falcon and bullseye score really good then score bad next time.