Still holding off on the watering.Have been cutting at 3 inches.Can I cut it a little longer as the temperature is in the 80s now and starting to dry out a bit .Is it okay to cut it at 4or 5 inches ?

Sure, you can cut at any height you like, as long as it's "long enough." Three inches is fine. If you prefer four or five inches, that's also fine.

Is there any advantage at cutting at 3 inches as apposed to 5 inches. I am just thinking about the summer heat coming up.I noticed cutting back on the watering has really started to kill off the Poa A . But Iam getting some some brown in the fescue and rye.

It's purely a matter of personal preference. P. annua and P. trivialis feature shallow root systems, whereas your fescue and rye will go wide and deep with the roots if you let the grasses grow taller.

Three inches is enough for that. Four or five inches simply increases the root depth and armors them better against hot and dry weather.

If the lawn is going brown, by all means--water!

Lawn is coming in great.Today I got some alfalfa pellets just wanted to give it a light fertalizing what rate would you put the pellets down at?? I want to prepare to soil for a fall overseed .

Ten to twenty pounds per thousand is more than sufficient right now--July feeding isn't any great shakes, and the root growth hormone isn't particularly effective when temperatures are this warm.

At the time you overseed, you can apply another 10-20 pounds per thousand to very gently feed the new sprouts when they come in. Or use bag rate of Milorganite, or anything up to about 15 pounds of soybean meal. Whatever's handy, in other words, is just fine.

(If you're detecting there aren't a lot of rules when it comes to organics, you're right. The only reason I'm limiting amounts is to keep it from stinking up the place, really).

I have a Kbg fescue rye lawn now. What would the best mix to overseed with? I was thinking of going straight KBG in the fall . Then doing a straight Rye winter seed when it freezes over for winter. Or would it be best to go with a 50%KBG 30% RYE 20% FESCUE Mix. ?

Don't do the rye overseed at ground freeze, it won't survive. Rye, like any other grass, has to be planted in late summer or very early fall to survive!

If you have a tri-mix, I'd go with either the same tri-mix (KBG, fescue, rye) or with pure KBG (for the spreading ability). But choose a KBG that looks similar as you don't want different colors, growth rates, or blade widths. For most off the shelf seed, it'll be extremely similar.

This is one case where I don't recommend overseeding with an elite like Midnight II. It'll be very dark green, slow growing, and extremely fine-bladed. Which will stick out like a sore thumb amongst your older cultivar (probably Kenblue or Abbey or something like), which is medium green, fast growing, and medium blade.

Morph I think you are absolutely correct with the Ken blue as it was a Scott's brand trimix. Iam getting seed from a different place now . They have different Pure KBG seed. Could you give me a few different types of KBG seeds that would blend in with this.

Morph I guess I misunderstood your last post.I guess what you are saying is buy a Pure KBG seed that has medium green fast growing medium blade. And most off the shelf KBG seeds will blend?

Exactly. Most of what you'll get will feature relatively standard KBG.

There are a bunch of considerations and warnings here. A pure Kenblue lawn wouldn't be a great idea. It's an older cultivar, not very resistant to many diseases, and if you get hit by the right disease it'll wipe the whole lawn pretty easily. For that reason, we recommend one cultivar from each group when planting an elite KBG lawn (mine is Midnight II, Moonlight, and Bedazzled).

That's harder to do with less-tailored cultivars. However, if you choose an off the shelf KBG seed, you should get at least three cultivars in it. That will help. And said off the shelf seed should be fairly average in its characteristics.

Today I bought 20 lbs of grass seed for my fall overseed.It was a mix of 15lbs of common KBG 3lbs of perenal RYE 2lbs creeping red fescue.Was wondering if this would blend in with the turf I have now?

It depends on the cultivars of each grass, and what your existing is (if Kenblue is correct, it's likely that most off the shelf cultivars will match well enough).

Rye is allelopathic, which means it exudes toxins to kill surrounding grasses. Mixes tend to tilt toward ryegrass over time, although small amounts (<20%) will generally be OK. Just keep that in mind for the future; your 15% rye should be fine.

It's not like KBG and fescue aren't also allelopathic, they're just not quite so nasty about it.

Iam on a corner lot that gets road salt on it in the winter.As a result of this I get 3 foot strip of grass out to the pavement that's doesn't do good.I put down a heavy feeding of alfalfa pellets and raked in any good ideas on this?

Is that the three foot strip between the sidewalk and the road? There's a reason we call this the "heck strip." :-) I even have some issues in mine, and we have no sidewalk on our side of the street.

There are ways to abolish sodium, but without a soil test it's hard to know if this is a good idea or not. Still, if you wanted to drop 10 pounds per thousand of gypsum (calcium sulfate) in that region early in spring just as the ground unfreezes, I wouldn't object.

The calcium will stay behind, the sulfate part will bind with the sodium to produce sodium sulfate, a very soluble salt, that will wash out in the spring rains.

Raising your organic matter levels in that area was a good idea, so keep going with the feeding. That will also help you with water retention, which is always a challenge in that area due to the heat from the pavement. This also holds true around the driveway.

For summer, sawdust horse bedding pellets at anywhere from 10 to 50 pounds per thousand square feet in the region will also help mulch the soil a little bit. Over the years, those will decay in and seriously improve the soil quality (sawdust has a high transfer rate to humus, much higher than grains).

Or, if you know a carpenter or have a local supply, just use sawdust from untreated wood. That's often exceedingly cheap or free, just make sure the wood was not treated as the chemicals used will damage the lawn and soil.

Morph ya I have no sidewalk just the road also. I am just getting the soil ready for the fall overseed now.Would it be okay to rake in sawdust now? And what did you mean by sawdust horse bedding pellets?

Sawdust is never an error in the 10-50 pound per thousand range, but it takes ages to decay so you don't want to (or have to) repeat it terribly often. Yearly is fine.

Tractor Supply, among many others, carries horse bedding pellets that are made of pure pine sawdust compressed back into a pellet. They're designed to absorb horse urine, swell, and be easy to remove and compost.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/equine-fresh-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb

Historically, I've used the Equine Fresh, but the price seems to be rather high on those from this listing. Still, that bag would cover a minimum of about 1,000 square feet, so that's actually not expensive for modest areas.

Morph went to the feed store today they where sold out of alfalfa pellets. I ended up coming home with a 50lb bag of alfalfa Timothy cube mix for horses.12%protein 2% fat 32% fibre12% moisture. These are big cubes I just want to put them down along my ( heck strip ) would they be okay as Iam just trying to get the soil ready for the fall overseed.Will try to get sawdust pellets as well.

How big are we talking? The cubes do swell a bit, so they can be fairly hefty.

What might help is either shred them beforehand (tedious) or put them down and go over with your mower set to mulch (easy). The mower may or may not pick them up and shred them, but it's certainly not going to hurt.

Not a problem breaking them apart and raking them in. Just wondering if they would make a good soil amendment?

Quite nice! Alfalfa's a good organic. Timothy is slightly weaker feeding than alfalfa, but since we're looking for soil improvement, that's actually to your advantage (stronger feeding means more protein and more nitrogen, which means less left over after decay is complete).

Morph Today I got some Gypsum for my ( heck strip). Would it be okay to rake this into the soil right now at 10lbs per 1000sq ft? As I am still preparing the soil for fall overseed along the strip ?

We're coming up on fall overseeding time very shortly (the window should open in about two weeks and stays open through early September). As such, I'd hold off on the gypsum until after the seeding is complete and the lawn's growing in.

It probably wouldn't cause any issues, but higher sulfur levels can delay or completely stall seed germination until the sulfur dissipates into the soil. Bound into gypsum, that's unlikely to be an issue, but let's not risk it.

Morph would be okay to rake in some peat moss now? And did you mean to wait till the gras does come up this year then put gypsum down or wait till the very early spring next year?

You can safely drop the gypsum once the germination period is complete and the grass has about another couple weeks or so to grow--figure around October first. Paling out of colors isn't very likely, but could happen. It's harmless.

I'd hold the peat moss until you seed and then put it down at that point. It'll help mulch the seed, and the watering will help move the peat into the soil a bit before winter.

Morph would use gypsum as a yearly thing after that? And how do you winterize your lawn at that very end?

I suppose you could if you wish, but I'd either get a soil test at some point to see how the sodium level is doing, or discontinue when you don't have a problem any longer (then pick up again if the problem starts back up).

The gypsum is not only dispelling sodium, it's also kicking out a little magnesium and a touch of potassium, plus increasing calcium levels. Over time and with continuous use, Ca levels will rise while everything else will drop. You don't want that to get too out of whack.

Ten pounds per thousand is a pretty safe level, but still shouldn't be repeated more than two or three times without a test for that area in-hand.

Winterize when top growth stops but the grass is still green (Thanksgiving for me, with wide variance), using any good high nitrogen, low everything else, fast-release synthetic. I have a personal preference for Vigoro Lawn Fertilizer (29-0-5 or so).

Morph cut the grass today looks great.But along my shaded fence looks like Poa t is growing in. Grass is laying down . Have to rake it to get it to stand up to cut it.Should I slam it with tenacity?

I guess so, although it's a little early for resuming Tenacity use. If it's in big patches, I might be tempted to use Round Up in this instance. If tufty stuff, then yes, Tenacity.

Morph I guess I should hit it at the bottle rate this time eh?

I'd actually stay gentle but go every 2 weeks. Absorption in August isn't great, the triv's not really that awake.

The stuff will start to reactivate when temperatures drop (and normally when rainfall resumes, but it never really stopped in most of the Northeast this year).

Ya we have been getting our fair share of rain here too. That triv seems to be growing good in the shaded area around my fence as it is a heavy vine growing on it stays moist around there! When is the better time to use the tenacity again?

September is superior, as a general rule, and October is great.

Tenacity's optimal working months are March-May, September-November on P. triv and P. annua. On most other treated weeds, any time is fine.

Morph I pulled out a blade of grass in that area that the grass is laying down in it's about 6inches long and boat tipped. Iam thinking maybe I should go with a higher lift blade on my lawn mower or am I just grasping at straw??

Maybe. My mower is very low-lift, actually, but does fine even if the grass is long.

We should point out that I use a robot that repeatedly patterns, so the average number of cuts in any one locale is usually six from a variety of directions. Not too many grass blades will manage to escape that, although long grass will certainly drain the batteries fast.

Where grass is longer, however, patterning with your lawn mower is also a good idea. Hit it from two or three different directions--if you can--to cut the blade properly. For areas right against fences, I don't object to using an edger to chop it. That minor a break from the one-third rule won't matter.

Morph Looks like it was just bad lawn mowing habits.used my old lawn mower with a high lift blade raked the grass so it stood up and cut in different directions .Guess the growth just got away from me.I can see why you use a robot to cut your grass . I have never seen grass come in as thick as that with just with just (cow feed ) alfalfa pellets and soybean meal . At this time of the year! Thanks very much for your help!

>>I have never seen grass come in as thick as that with just with just (cow feed ) alfalfa pellets and soybean meal

Wait. It's early days yet on the organic feeding cycle.

Morph grass is coming in great along the heck strip that I seeded. I would like to give the whole lawn a blanket spray of tenacity. But not do the heck strip as I gave that area a hit when I seeded. What rate would you blanket spray the rest of the lawn at?

Bottle rate for your grasses; 1 tsp per thousand square feet in 2 gallons of water should be just fine. It's still kind of warm for P. trivialis or P. annua to be terribly active, but that'll also give you some pre-emergent shielding as temperatures drop a bit in September.

Morph lawn looks great .Is there a way to use tenacity as a pre m.? As I don't want that bright white colour. The lawn just looks to good right now but I have fine blades of Poa starting all I have is tenacity to work with . Next year I will get prodicane 65 .

Yes and no. Apply Tenacity at 0.6 tsp per thousand square feet for 30 days of pre-emergent effect. In this instance, don't use a surfactant (spreader sticker) and you'll reduce the whitening.

It's still going to lighten the lawn somewhat, however, as Tenacity has pretty good root activity. I only ever used it as a fall pre-M once, and then discontinued it because the lightening color wasn't tolerable.

But I'm extremely picky. It lightened maybe two or three tones, which was enough to make me rather unhappy. Most people probably wouldn't be bothered by that.

Morph Iam still trying to treat it for Poa t as well.Should I water it in as well without the surfactant?

Morph lawn looks great. Gave it three blanket sprays of tenacity at one teaspoon per 4 gallon per thousand sq feet no surfactant ended up with about 7 spots of bleached white circles.Can I dormant seed these areas with kbg just before the first snow fall?

Sure, if you like. The Tenacity will have long since faded out by then!

Which assumes the bleached white stuff doesn't recover. Often, it does.

Morph what would the best treatment be to rid these last few spots of Poa be?

Morph Iam thinking now the few patches of bleached white is not Poa as I did a spring seeding there witch is a no no.But the lawn looks the best I have ever seen. The tenacity seems to be working for me.Just seems to take patience. Can you explain the steps to dormant seeding.And thanks a lot for the great lawn!!!

Sure, those could be older lawn sprouts that whitened from the Tenacity. They made it through summer, they'll probably survive this with no problems!

Sorry I missed that on Wednesday. I'd say keep after the patches--you can even dig them out if they're small and few, then spray over the top with Tenacity, then dormant seed those in winter.

Dormant seeding is really easy! Wait until either just before a good snowfall or, if it doesn't snow this winter, February just as temperatures start to rise off their winter cold point and before some minor precipitation event. Seed anywhere from overseed rate on partial lawn to new seeding rate on blank areas.

Ignore. No topdressing, watering, or other care is necessary, but you can scatter peat moss on blank spots if you want to. The seed will sprout in the damp spring soil as soon as it can (usually sometime in March, but April isn't unheard-of).

Dormant seeding is the second best time to seed (fall being first), but even so, the grass will be somewhat weaker than a fall-seeded lawn the first summer. Watering will be necessary if the season is at all dry--but that's true of a fall-seeded lawn as well, which just doesn't have the root systems yet to go through the first summer reliably.

Morph when you dormant seed do you mean you put the seed down just before the first snow fall of the year at ground freeze ? We get snow here mid November and stays till march will the seed survive that long snow covered ?

It'll be fine! The clock essentially stops at the freezing point, which will be true under the snow until it melts.

About the only case where I wouldn't is if you expect that the snow will be melted or scoured off by winds, and temperatures will typically drop really, really cold in your area. In that case, I'd wait until after the temperatures rebound (February for most of us) and start to rise for spring.

Seeds are entirely tolerant of conditions that would kill a plant, and the plant can easily survive -10° sustained...so my adjustment above is complete overkill.

Morph I put down a pre M down in August 1 at the full rate can I dormant seed this November ? Will this affect the spring sprout ?