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robbolson

Grass help!

10 years ago

I'm a new homeowner and new to lawn care. There were two tall pine trees that had dead branches down to the ground, we trimmed them all up to about 7-8 feet off the ground and put some compost down on the bare ground where the pine boughs had killed off the grass. Then we seeded it with Scott's grass seed: sun & shade mix. It grew in quick but looks nothing like the original grass elsewhere. A lot of it, to me, looks like weeds. This first pic is of the existing grass, any idea what kind it is?

this is the grass that has grown in: as you can see, the blades are a lot wider, it also grows incredibly fast. I just cut the lawn a day ago and these wide blades are already 1/2" taller than the regular grass.

I pulled up a few pcs for a closer look. Is this stuff really grass? Crab grass? Weed? Etc?

How do i fix this to make it look consistent with the nice, existing grass?


thanks in advance!!

Comments (15)

  • 10 years ago

    Possibly nutsedge? I have some coming in now on Long Island.

    robbolson thanked dhakanjin
  • 10 years ago

    Looks like nutsedge. Ortho Nutsedge Killer or another sulfentrazone based product will kill it. Test it on a corner of your lawn and give it 3-4 days to make sure it's safe for your grass before your blanket spray.

    robbolson thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    I haven't seen any flowers or anything when I let this stuff get long but I'll try the nutsedge stuff. Where would this stuff have come from? There has not been any grass growing in 15' radius's around these trees for the last ten years I'd say. And this 'weed' is only growing where there was no grass previously, there is none of it outside the newly planted zone in the established grass. Just a little confused, thank you all for your help!

  • 10 years ago

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Can you post a closer picture of the offender in your lawn, it might be orchardgrass that came in with your seed as weed seed.

    robbolson thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    I will tonight when I get back home, you want a closeup of a few blades where they meet the ground or what would you like to see? Thanks again for the help!

  • 10 years ago

    Just take a picture from 2-3 inches away of a clump of the weed where the blades are clearly visible.

    robbolson thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Orchard grass would get seed heads. So would crabgrass. Nutgrass is usually darker green.

    Where do you live? It's hard to guess what kind of grass you have, but knowing where you live helps to eliminate some possibilities. Does the offending grass have a pointed tip or rounded?

    robbolson thanked dchall_san_antonio
  • 10 years ago

    Nutsedge probably wouldn't get enough water that close to a tree, but anything is possible. I was thinking Poa triv

  • 10 years ago

    I live in Minnesota. Hard to say on top shape as I just cut it but I would say it's more pointed than it is rounded when long. Here's a few more pics.

    Thanks again you guys for taking the time to help!

  • 10 years ago

    I'm going to stick with orchardgrass. It's a common contaminant of seed mixtures and it falls under "other crop seed", not "weed seed". Nutsedge has more prominent center ribbing. It's also not as wide and more glossy.

    robbolson thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Agree with j4c11.

    robbolson thanked dchall_san_antonio
  • 10 years ago

    Ok, thanks guys, so what's my best course of action?

  • 10 years ago

    There is no selective herbicide available for orchard grass, sorry. Roundup is the only option. You could take a paintbrush and paint some only on the weeds to save the grass, but that looks like a lot of work.