Easy way to improve my lawn

[G Burton]

I have some relatively ugly grass mixed with my dwarf fescue. The ugly
grass isn't crabgrass, because it just laughs at crabgrass killer. Blades
get fairly wide -- 1/4 to 3/8 inches, and it grows in haphazard directions.
It grows fairly tall. I wish I could identify it, but I'm not that
knowledgeable.

I have been sparying it with Roundup, then planting new seed. However,
my wife is yelling at me for doing that because the brown dying grass is
uglier than the green, ugly grass. Besides, it seems to be a never-ending
project because as I kill off the worst of the bad grass, I get more and
more particular about what "good" grass should look like.

I have 2 questions::
1) What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I am
thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --
especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
better than the ugly grass, which is taller. That way, I wouldn't have to
work so hard, and my wife would yell at me less. Would it work?

2) Although my description of the ugly grass is kind of sketchy, can
anyone take a stab at identifying it? Perhaps there is a selective poison
for it.

Gary Burton

[trader4@optonline.net]

" What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I
am
thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --

especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
better than the ugly grass, which is taller. "

That's unlikely to work. You have some kind of coarse, faster growing
grass. A slow growing dwarf fescue isn't likely to be able to drive
that out. I'd take a sample of it to an agricultural extension service
that many states have. If you can identify it, there may be an agent
that can selectively eliminate it. Otherwise, if you have a lot of it,
I'd use Roundup to whack the bad areas all at once, then over seed the
whole lawn. If it really is everywhere, and there is nothing that will
selectively treat it, then you may need to whackthe whole lawn

[trader4@optonline.net]

" What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I
am
thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --

especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
better than the ugly grass, which is taller. "

That's unlikely to work. You have some kind of coarse, faster growing
grass. A slow growing dwarf fescue isn't likely to be able to drive
that out. I'd take a sample of it to an agricultural extension service
that many states have. If you can identify it, there may be an agent
that can selectively eliminate it. Otherwise, if you have a lot of it,
I'd use Roundup to whack the bad areas all at once, then over seed the
whole lawn. If it really is everywhere, and there is nothing that will
selectively treat it, then you may need to whackthe whole lawn

[trader4@optonline.net]

" What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I
am
thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --

especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
better than the ugly grass, which is taller. "

That's unlikely to work. You have some kind of coarse, faster growing
grass. A slow growing dwarf fescue isn't likely to be able to drive
that out. I'd take a sample of it to an agricultural extension service
that many states have. If you can identify it, there may be an agent
that can selectively eliminate it. Otherwise, if you have a lot of it,
I'd use Roundup to whack the bad areas all at once, then over seed the
whole lawn. If it really is everywhere, and there is nothing that will
selectively treat it, then you may need to whackthe whole lawn

[trader4@optonline.net]

" What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I
am
thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --

especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
better than the ugly grass, which is taller. "

That's unlikely to work. You have some kind of coarse, faster growing
grass. A slow growing dwarf fescue isn't likely to be able to drive
that out. I'd take a sample of it to an agricultural extension service
that many states have. If you can identify it, there may be an agent
that can selectively eliminate it. Otherwise, if you have a lot of it,
I'd use Roundup to whack the bad areas all at once, then over seed the
whole lawn. If it really is everywhere, and there is nothing that will
selectively treat it, then you may need to whackthe whole lawn

[trader4@optonline.net]

" What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I
am
thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --

especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
better than the ugly grass, which is taller. "

That's unlikely to work. You have some kind of coarse, faster growing
grass. A slow growing dwarf fescue isn't likely to be able to drive
that out. I'd take a sample of it to an agricultural extension service
that many states have. If you can identify it, there may be an agent
that can selectively eliminate it. Otherwise, if you have a lot of it,
I'd use Roundup to whack the bad areas all at once, then over seed the
whole lawn. If it really is everywhere, and there is nothing that will
selectively treat it, then you may need to whackthe whole lawn

[John Crichton]

G Burton wrote:

> I have some relatively ugly grass mixed with my dwarf fescue. The ugly
> grass isn't crabgrass, because it just laughs at crabgrass killer. Blades
> get fairly wide -- 1/4 to 3/8 inches, and it grows in haphazard directions.
> It grows fairly tall. I wish I could identify it, but I'm not that
> knowledgeable.
>
> I have been sparying it with Roundup, then planting new seed. However,
> my wife is yelling at me for doing that because the brown dying grass is
> uglier than the green, ugly grass. Besides, it seems to be a never-ending
> project because as I kill off the worst of the bad grass, I get more and
> more particular about what "good" grass should look like.
>
> I have 2 questions::
> 1) What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
> like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I am
> thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --
> especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
> better than the ugly grass, which is taller. That way, I wouldn't have to
> work so hard, and my wife would yell at me less. Would it work?
>
> 2) Although my description of the ugly grass is kind of sketchy, can
> anyone take a stab at identifying it? Perhaps there is a selective poison
> for it.
>
> Gary Burton
>
>

It sounds like nutsedge (also called nutgrass). If the blades look
something like monkey grass (mondo grass) but somewhat smaller and
usually come up in three blade shoots in mid-summer then it is probably
nutsedge. Nutsedge will normally grow significantly faster than any
fescue so that halfway between your normal mowing interval you have
perhaps 4 to 6 inch blades towing over your slower growing fescue.
There is a product called Manage that does an excellent job of
controlling this weed grass. Mix per directions and wait until about 4
days after you mow (long enough to give the nutsedge time to grow much
taller than your fescue). Use a pump up sprayer and add a "sticker" (a
type of detergent that breaks the surface tension of the water and makes
it coat the leaves more effectively). I normally use a table spoon of
High Yield Sticker (High Yield is a brand) in a gallon of water with a 1
gallon packet of Manage. Coat the nutsedge leave throughly but do not
drench the dwarf fescue around it too much. If you get a lot of Manage
on your fescue it will brown it out (but it will normally come back).

Good luck

BTW, here are some pictures of various kinds of nutsedge:

http://weeds.ippc.orst.edu/pnw/weeds?weeds/id/Yellow_nutsedge--Cyperus_esculentus--s.html

http://www.oisat.org/pests/weeds/sedges/nutsedge.html

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/purplent.htm

http://weeds.ippc.orst.edu/pnw/weeds?weeds/id/Purple_nutsedge--Cyperus_rotundus--m.html

[John Crichton]

G Burton wrote:

> I have some relatively ugly grass mixed with my dwarf fescue. The ugly
> grass isn't crabgrass, because it just laughs at crabgrass killer. Blades
> get fairly wide -- 1/4 to 3/8 inches, and it grows in haphazard directions.
> It grows fairly tall. I wish I could identify it, but I'm not that
> knowledgeable.
>
> I have been sparying it with Roundup, then planting new seed. However,
> my wife is yelling at me for doing that because the brown dying grass is
> uglier than the green, ugly grass. Besides, it seems to be a never-ending
> project because as I kill off the worst of the bad grass, I get more and
> more particular about what "good" grass should look like.
>
> I have 2 questions::
> 1) What if I stop using Roundup and just overseed the "bad" areas
> like crazy with new dwarf fescue, and mow at about 2 and 1/2 inches. I am
> thinking the thick Fescue would eventually choke out the ugly grass --
> especially if I mow a little shorter, which the Fescue would tollerate
> better than the ugly grass, which is taller. That way, I wouldn't have to
> work so hard, and my wife would yell at me less. Would it work?
>
> 2) Although my description of the ugly grass is kind of sketchy, can
> anyone take a stab at identifying it? Perhaps there is a selective poison
> for it.
>
> Gary Burton
>
>

It sounds like nutsedge (also called nutgrass). If the blades look
something like monkey grass (mondo grass) but somewhat smaller and
usually come up in three blade shoots in mid-summer then it is probably
nutsedge. Nutsedge will normally grow significantly faster than any
fescue so that halfway between your normal mowing interval you have
perhaps 4 to 6 inch blades towing over your slower growing fescue.
There is a product called Manage that does an excellent job of
controlling this weed grass. Mix per directions and wait until about 4
days after you mow (long enough to give the nutsedge time to grow much
taller than your fescue). Use a pump up sprayer and add a "sticker" (a
type of detergent that breaks the surface tension of the water and makes
it coat the leaves more effectively). I normally use a table spoon of
High Yield Sticker (High Yield is a brand) in a gallon of water with a 1
gallon packet of Manage. Coat the nutsedge leave throughly but do not
drench the dwarf fescue around it too much. If you get a lot of Manage
on your fescue it will brown it out (but it will normally come back).

Good luck

BTW, here are some pictures of various kinds of nutsedge:

http://weeds.ippc.orst.edu/pnw/weeds?weeds/id/Yellow_nutsedge--Cyperus_esculentus--s.html

http://www.oisat.org/pests/weeds/sedges/nutsedge.html

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/purplent.htm

http://weeds.ippc.orst.edu/pnw/weeds?weeds/id/Purple_nutsedge--Cyperus_rotundus--m.html