Temporary grass recommendation for full sun, zone 7A

3 years ago

I sprayed all of my lawn with weed killer last year, in preparation to sow new grass in September. But then the guy dropped the tree on my house, and that took a back seat to everything else. So now I mostly have a 1 acre mud pit :-/

The grass I bought is really too expensive to sow in March and it not survive the summer, so I think I'd rather hang on to it until September.

Can you all recommend a grass that I can sow in March that would come up quickly, look good for this year and prevent erosion, but then when it's gone it's gone without casting seed? I'd like to be able to cut it short in September and overseed with my permanent grass.

I'm in zone 7A, and most of the lawn is in full sun with underground sprinklers. A smaller section is in dense shade, but the grass has never grown there so I won't cry too much if this temporary grass doesn't grow there either.

An added bonus would be if I could sow it in June, too. I have a specialist coming in June to work on the drainage, so I'll have to sow over about 500 sq.ft that they'll be digging up.

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Comments (6)

krnuttle
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Have you thought of spreading what some refer to as Contractor's grass? It is a fast growing mixture of seeds that was created exactly for the situation that you have. ie construction work that leaves a bare are that can not be properly planted because of the weather and time of year.

I have never looked into it so do not know the mix of grasses.
dchall_san_antonio
3 years ago
A little farther south, hybrid bermuda is considered to be a contractor grade turf due to mass production, supply and demand.

You could just use the cheapest stuff you can find at Walmart for something to get you into June.
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charles kidder
3 years ago
My hunch is if you do nothing, crab grass and other weeds will take over in short order and do what you want. This is what happened to my next door neighbor after they cut down some trees. You just need to keep it mowed so it doesn't look terrible. In August, spray everything with roundup to get ready for September seeding.
Xavier Lemos
3 years ago
Perennial Ryegrass without a doubt, but you'll have to water and fertilizer during the summer months.
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
3 years ago
Oh well, @Xavier Lemos, I literally JUST ordered annual ryegrass 2 days ago! I had considered perennial rye grass since it's in the permanent grass's mix, but it was more than twice the price of the annual :-/ I didn't know if it would even come up, and I didn't want to waste that much money.

Assuming that it does come up, do you think I should spray it with Round Up in August? Or does it match perenniel rye closely enough that it doesn't really matter?

FWIW, I have sprinklers in place, so water shouldn't be an issue. And I'd gotten into the habit of spreading corn meal gluten monthly.
Xavier Lemos
3 years ago
Annual ryegrass is the wrong choice this time of year, it will germinate and die shortly after. Perennial ryegrass is more permanent, but without water during the summer months, it will die also.

You don't need to spray Round Up in August if you use perennial Ryegrass, it's very compatible with Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass.

Annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass are visually VERY different, annual is light green and wide bladed and perennial is dark green and fine bladed.