New to NC and confused as to grass selection

rheise – posted 25 August 2004 10:12

I recently moved to NC and have little to no experience with grass-type selections. My front yard is plagued with the typical clay found here, and has a large amount of sun exposure. Last fall, I overhauled the front yard by bringing in sand, and loam mixture, and planted Rebel 3 Tall Fescue. It took really well, and I had a lush green yard. Come this past May, I lost all of it. I think it has gone past dormat, and the weeds have taken over.

For a medium to high sun exposure lot, what is the best type of grass to plant in this area? I dont care about color, texture. I only want something that stays alive

Any advice would be helpful.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 03 September 2004 11:28

Did you water your lawn? Why did it die?

ted – posted 05 September 2004 19:47

use tall fescue- consult your ncsu university web site for great turfgrass advice!

rheise – posted 06 September 2004 16:29

I watered off and on during the month of May, but it became pointless. I clearly have the wrong type of grass and need something more drought and sun tolerant.

rheise – posted 06 September 2004 16:30

quote:Originally posted by ted:use tall fescue- consult your ncsu university web site for great turfgrass advice!

I looked very hard on NCSU web site and couldnt find anything.. do you have a URL which youve found relevant?

ted – posted 06 September 2004 18:38

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/lawn/index.html—great stuff.

F6Hawk – posted 06 September 2004 19:10

Bad link, Ted. At least, I can’t get it to open.

Try this, for turf selection & information: http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/

Oops, I just noticed your link was more than you intended…. try this: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/lawn/index.html

F6

quote:Originally posted by ted:http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/lawn/index.html—great stuff.

rheise – posted 08 September 2004 18:39

quote:Originally posted by F6Hawk:Bad link, Ted. At least, I can’t get it to open.

Try this, for turf selection & information: http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/

Oops, I just noticed your link was more than you intended…. try this: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/lawn/index.html

F6

Thanks for the assistance!! I still dont see any relevant information in the above link that will assistn me in determining what type of grass to plant. Guess Im looking for a more definitive piece of advice or shared experiences relevant to this region.

ted – posted 08 September 2004 21:05

www.turffiles.ncsu.edu—i just cut and pasted the main page—all you need to do is link to the main page- lots of extremely relevant info.

Buck – posted 09 September 2004 09:03

Well, you have already seen that tall fescue does not really get it all that well in the warm, humid summers we have here in NC. If you want a great summer lawn, you want a warm season grass, and I think bermuda is really the choice here. Of course you will have a brown lawn during the winter, unless you over seed with rye. I used to do that, but frankly mowing grass in December is not my idea of a great outdoor activity. So I live through the winter months with a brown lawn, take advantage of that period to lay to waste any weeds that may pop up, level out a few spaces, and live with it. Confident that when a great lawn really counts, i.e. the summer, my bermuda will be at it’s peak while all that tall fescue is gasping. There is no 12 month turf for NC – so it all depends on when you want your lawn performing at it’s best. If you want it performing best when it’s warm, go with a warm variety. Frankly, I think tall fescue would likely be more attractive if it just went dormant rather than struggle through the summer wilting in the heat and humidity and not doing anything at all to run over all the weeds that thrive in those conditions.

For great turf when it counts, and one that will control weeds when they are most active bermuda is a solid choice. Oh yeah, they have an Ag school over at state college, but I know what works well for me 25 miles west of there. By the way, as you may have discovered, do not expect their site to be of much help with your decision, and they are really focused on cool season varieties. If you want a good assessment of bermuda in NC contact one of the several turf farms in the state. NCSU is focused on grass seed you pick up at your local store.