Help picking seed in TN

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Hello everyone.
Thank you for all the information you share...

I am finally ready to start the revitalization of the landscape on my newly purchased home (likely a multi-year project). I need to get some seed down on the coming weeks (and I will over-seed again in the fall with the same seed) and am looking for some advice from the smart people around here.

Let me start with a little background info.

Home is outside of Knoxville, TN
Want to use tall fescue on approx 2 acres (approx 60k sf lawn), Fully irrigated,
Have 3 main "zones" to deal with... (a) front and rear lawns (east and west facing - full sun), (b) side lawn (South side of house) with row of 23 Bradford Pear trees (recently trimmed by 1/3 so perfect time to plant grass) and (c) side lawn (North side of house) limited sun, dog run, need very strong grass that can withstand dog urine
lawn was neglected for past few years..heavily weed infested (treated with SpeedZOne for past few weeks...really knocked the weeds down)and appears to have some Bermuda and other warm season grasses mixed into the remaining grass stands
Plan to seed at around 5#/1000sf now and again at 3-5#/1000sf in the fall

I have a few choices of seed available locally OR I can purchase from Hogan Seeds in Nashville. I am looking for some opinions or ranking of my possible choices. The possible options are....

(1) Purchase a blend from the local CO-OP - Winning Colors Blend (Picasso 39%, Divinci 30%, Monet 19%, Van Gogh 9%) - $100/50#

(2) Purchase one of the following quality seeds from the local Nursery
(a) Speedway - $100/50#

(b) Falcon IV - $105/50#

(d) Grande 3 - $100/50#

(e) Defiance XRE - $80/50#

(3) Follow the recommendation of Hogan Seeds and purchase the Hogan's Blend (currently mixed with Turbo, Bullseye, Faith, Falcon) - $130/50# delivered

So here are my questions....
- I would love to hear which option you guys think is best...and why?
- If you think option (B) is best, which seed do you prefer?
- Should I use the same seed for all 3 "zones" or do you think they require different seeds?

Featured Answer

User

11 years ago

I'm definitely not a fescue person, but I'll try.

Rather than go with a monoculture (one cultivar of one species) of grasses, a mix is generally better. Disease is less likely to wipe the deck. One cultivar may do slightly better in one microclime while one does better in another, so better average coverage results.

I'd go with your local mix--assuming that the cultivars are good. I don't know. And in that case, use the same seed everywhere for consistent color and growth rates.

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Comments (7)

tiger275
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you for the prompt reply. I assumed a blend would be better but I really have no experience to back that up. Recently moving from Texas, puts me at a huge disadvantage because the turf grasses in TN are so different.

There is no such thing as a "local mix" that I have found. The Hogan Seed mix uses many of the same seeds I could buy locally but in a blend that is crafted in Nashville TN using seeds from Oregon. While the Winning Colors is made in PA from a mixture of very highly rated seeds.

I am like you...just learning about fescue.

Thanks again..
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tiger275
Original Author
11 years ago
Edited the original post to add a few additional notes
forsheems
11 years ago
I went with The Hogan Co. tall fescue blend in the fall of 2013 for a full reno here in central NC. The blend was equal amounts of Bullseye, Turbo, and Hemi. So far I have been extremely happy with it. I have areas of full sun and mild shade and it's held up well there. My back lawn is somewhat shady and it's fenced in with 3 small dogs. Not sure anything outside of artificial turf is going to stand up to heavy dog traffic. It has worked ok so far but will need overseeding every fall to repair the "doggy damage". Pee spots haven't really been an issue but the traffic has. Around here there are no local suppliers that sell good quality seed which is mainly why I ordered from Hogan. Their customer service is excellent and they are just plain good folks to deal with.
tiger275
Original Author
11 years ago
@ forsheems - Thanks for the feedback. I really liked the Hogan guys. Seem to know what they are doing. My only hesitation is that I assume I will need to overseed regularly and was really liking the idea of being able to buy local.

I guess at this point, it really seems that I should consider narrowing to (A) hogans blend or (B) Winning Collors Blend.
PRO
Morgan landscaping
10 years ago
Can I ask how the yard is doing now? I am about to travel down the same path.

Did you pick the titan? If so, how did it do?
darktower00844
10 years ago
I went with Titan Rx I live about 150 miles south of you. Suppose to be heat resistant. Well.. It's still 95 degrees isn't Tn so my application last weekend was wayyyyy to early. :(