 | Brad Lechner
owner and operator of Lechner’s Landscape & Lawn Service, LLC, has been in the lawn maintenance & landscaping industry since 1984. He is a certified Kansas Nursery Dealer & Certified Lawn Pest Control Applicator. Brad also maintains memberships in PLCAMA (Professional Lawn Care Association of Mid-America), Project Living Green, The Wichita Lawn, Flower and Garden Show, and The Better Business Bureau. Lechner's Landscape & Lawn Service does landscaping, lawn maintenance, lawn fertilization programs, tree & shrub insect and disease programs, tree & shrub pruning, seeding and sodding, and positive corrective drainage. You may contact Brad by e-mailing him at: lechnerslawn@aol.com, or by phone at (316) 729-2600. |
Lawn, Garden & Landscaping
2007-04-01 09:11:00
What kind of grass should I plant?
I was thinking of putting in new grass in my lawn. Could you please tell me what different kinds of grasses there are?
As you already know, there are many types and kinds of grasses... too many to list at one time... but perhaps we can talk about a couple of them this month, and a few more in future months. One of the first things you need to know is the different climate of the U.S. as climate means a lot when it comes to grass. Bluegrass is a cool season, perennial ground cover; forming a beautiful, high quality, dense sod when grown in pure stands. Grass color ranges from bright green to deep bluish green. Bluegrass is often used in low to medium traffic areas and often incorporated with other grass species to produce a better multi-purpose lawn. Bluegrass is often sold as a blend of similar improved varieties for greater versatility. This blend can result in improved lawn appearance, earlier green, with better disease and insect resistance.
Fescues are cool season grasses that are adapted to the transition zone and into Canada. The fescue species are easily seeded and include the sub species of tall bunching grasses named Tall Fescue and fine shorter fescues named Creeping Red, Hard, Chewing’s and Sheep Fescue. All of the fescues share the same variety characteristics with the three dominant ones being shade tolerant, staying green all year, and having very good drought resistance. Fine Fescues are more cold and shade tolerant than Tall. The majority of cool season grasses (besides Fescues) are not shade tolerant nor do many perform well in the lower areas of the transitions zone where the season is too hot for the cool grasses and in the area of the transition zone that is too cold in the winter for the warm season grasses. Fescues fill a large gap in the grass field created by the climate differences that are not fully defined by zone. Fine Fescues are readily used in mixtures with the Kentucky bluegrass varieties for summer northern lawns and with the warm season grasses in winter lawns. Both Fine and Tall Fescues can remain green all year long in the cooler climates. They usually will become dormant in the areas too hot during the summer or too cold in winter and will
show a paler green color at these times. Fescues are also used in over seeding warm and cool grass lawns.
