eden turf or turtle turf?

Twhitby – posted 03 May 2001 19:54

We are needing to reseed our lawn, we live in Utah. Heard alot about turtle turf? Then just heard eden turf was much better.? Please help unsure of what to do.

seed – posted 07 May 2001 16:22

Twhitby, I’ll cover TurtleTurf first. An informed source tells me that it is Koeleria pyramidata (= Koeleria cristata), Prairie Junegrass, a native grass especially of the northern Great Plains of North America, but widely distributed in prairies, open woods, and even alpine areas throughout the western US and Canada, and extending across the provinces and northern states as far east as Labrador. The species does not tolerate warm humid conditions.

TurtleTurf is a registered trademark of Quality Turf, Inc., of Wildomar, California. The grass is aggressively promoted on the owner’s web site www.turtleturf.com (from 27 August 2000):1. “a one-of-a-kind grass variety”2. “remarkable disease resistance.”3. “green color all year round under the worst conditions” (but see #4)4. “requires water then starts to fade to brown” (but see #3)5. “advantages that were only dreamed about before”6. “no other lawn seed or sod product offeres [sic] a similar package of benefits”7. “actually performs better without the aid of fertilizers”8. “the perfect solution”9. “dramatic cost savings” (but see #10)10. And . . . they’ll sell it to you for only $0.85 per square foot. (but see #9 above)11. TurtleTurf Inc. will “keep your confidential information confidential.” (but see #12)12. “We may occasionally use your information in conjunction with selected strategic business partners.” (but see #11)

While some of the text has changed on the web site, the tone is still very aggressive and thin on information. Unfortunately, there has been little independent assessment of this grass, exceptions being comments on Floridaturf.com:http://www.floridaturf.com/wwwboard/messages/1627.htmland Gardenweb.comObservers have described its bunch habit of http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rmgard/msg040331336541.htmlgrowth, slow recovery rate, and light green color.

There is still some confusion on the Koeleria Junegrasses including TurtleTurf. For example, there is also an Asian species of Junegrass, Koeleria micrantha, for example the variety Barkoel was developed by the Barenbrug Company http://www.barusa.com/barkoel_facts.htm as described by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden http://www.bbg.org/gardening/techniques/easy_lawns/junegrass.html but some projects such as the Rana Creek Restoration have used Koeleria cristata under the mistaken belief that it is a native http://www.ranacreek.com/grasses_seeds/seed_description.htm#junegrass

The main areas you might find Koeleria demonstrated in ornamental grass gardens include Xeriscape gardens along the Front Range of Colorado, for example the City of Loveland http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/WP/plants.htm and the Wasatch range in Utah. You might ask some of the vendors for their experience including the locations of demonstration sites. Gardner Turfgrass, Inc. had once carried it http://www.gardnerturf.com according to information on http://www.publicworks.com

Phil

Suzan – posted 12 September 2001 22:01

And the Eden Turf?

seed – posted 14 September 2001 00:28

According to the Quality Turf web site http://www.qturf.com/eden.html Eden Turf has the advantages,”truly remarkable,””easy to maintain,””breaks all of the ordinary rules,””hardworking,”

and has”unparallel freedom,””self mending repair element,””deep, strong super-roots,”

For a company which alleges that it has the registered trade mark on St. Augustine, it is not surprising that they would make such heavenly claim for Eden turf.

Phil