Tall fescue Problem

Marv69ca – posted 21 June 2001 11:27

Hello I live in San Diego Ca and I have recently planted a tall fescue lawn I bought the seed from Home Depot it was called Water Saver Turf Type 2 blended tall fescue. Well It has now been 12 days since the planting and I have had growth in alot of areas but I have patchy large areas that have little to no growth. Im concerned if the seeds are dead there or do I just need to wait longer. I used roundup on what little bit of lawn that used to be there and then I tilled it all twice. I used a starter firtilizer and then hand sown the seeds. I did not roll the soil before planting and I only raked the soil after planting I did not used a covering. Well that is the history of what I did and the concerns I have, if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it. Than You,Marvin Church

seed – posted 08 July 2001 08:27

Marvin, it’s taken so long to get back to you, I’m sorry, but you probably already know some of the answers.

Seeding can sometimes come up patchily due to poor seed incorporation in areas. If it still hasn’t come up, but you have good stands elsewhere, it is by now time (1 month after planting) to interseed the thin areas. If you are unhappy with the overall stand, however, and you have been watering it regularly, it might be better at this point to consider redoing it. I wouldn’t say the same for all grasses, for example, bahiagass which is notoriously slow, and has postharvest dormancy to slow it down even more, but for tall fescue you should have a visible stand everywhere, if there’s ever going to be one.

Seed can be incoporated by planting on a rough seedbed, and lightly raking. A thin mulch, e.g. 2 tons of straw per acre, or about one bale per 2000 square feet, is helpful to any turf seed establishment.

Phil