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Brad Lechner
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
2001-09-01 11:37:00
Different kinds of grass growing?
Question: I have a very large patch of grass in my yard that looks different from the rest. It's spreading and getting larger. My neighbor says it is a different type of grass than the rest. What can i do to solve this problem and have all the grass the same?
Answer: Thank you for the question. Different types of grass in a lawn area are becoming very common.The first step is to identify what type of grass you prefer to have in your yard; fescue, bermuda, zoysia, etc. The second step is to identify what type of grassy weeds you would prefer to eliminate out of your yard. In my professional experiences I have found that most homeowners in this region prefer to have a beautiful deep green fescue lawn. Although a fescue yard requires more time in maintenance than your basic green bermuda or zoysia lawn, its appearance is well worth all of the hard work.There are several things to consider before choosing the grass you install in your yard;1. Fescue will require more mowing than bermuda or zoisia per season.2. Fescue will require more lawn applications of nitrogen.3. Fescue will need a lot of water: I would recommend a automatic sprinkler system.4. Fescue lawns do not spread. Bermuda & zoysia lawns will spread to help maintain a dense lawn area. This helps to keep the weeds out.5. Fescue lawns will need to be over-seeded every fall to help maintain a thick lawn to prevent any broadleaf or grassy weeds from invading you lawn.6. Bermuda & zoysia lawns will need to be scalped and dethatched.7. Bermuda & zoysia lawns will only be green during the warm to hot months.8. Bermuda & zoysia lawns do not require a lot of nitrogen or water.The best way of deciding which lawn would be best for you is your schedule and the type of grass your neighbors have. Bermuda & zoysia are considered to be a low maintenance turf. Fescue is considered to be a high maintenance turf. As a professional lawn maintenance owner I would recommend a fescue lawn, not only for the beauty but for the convince for your neighbors (bermuda and zoysia will spread into their yards and cause them to battle problems that you may be experiencing yourself. I will have to agree with your neighbor about the different types of grass. More than likely the problem is bermuda grass or crabgrass. So lets take a little time to explain some basic ideas on how to prevent the grassy weeds from coming and taking over your yard. The key ingredient of fescue grass is knowing what your lawn needs and when it needs it. For example: (watering, fertilizing, aeration, over-seeding, weed control, insect control and most of all broadleaf weed control.WATERING:Water is a very important key to your success. A fescue lawn is a wonderful cool season lawn. They always look nice in the spring time with all our spring showers. A fescue lawn start having some problems when the season start changing into summer. The problems is the rising temperature. The hotter it gets the more water your going to need to maintain a healthy green lawn. A fescue lawn has a shallow root system. A bermuda lawn has a root approximately 3' deep and has a better chance of finding its own moister in your soil. The problem with a fescue lawn is the more abundant the water in the spring, the root system will be closer to the surface. Thus, making it even harder to keep enough water on your nice lawn. This is the reason why I would highly recommend a sprinkler system for a fescue lawn. In order to keep your fescue lawn healthy in the summer it is recommended to water six days a week. When your lawn gets stressed from lack of water or nitrogen a fescue yard will start to thin in high stressed areas. Fescue being a non spreading grass, will recover the thinning areas with many problems. The problems that can occur are: broadleaf weeds, grassy weeds & bermuda grass. All or one of these may fill in the stressed area and cause you as the home owner to notice different looking grass areas or what may seem to be grass in your yard. FERTILIZING:Fertilizing fescue lawns properly is on the top of your priority list. Fescue lawns will require a lot of nitrogen, for example: fescue needs fertilizer approximately ever 45 days. If we were to put all the nitrogen needed for the year in 1-2 applications we would completely destroy your yard. I would highly recommend hiring a professional lawn applicator. Any body can rent a spreader, buy some fertilizer and put on your yard to give it a lush green appearance. But, a professional lawn applicator has the knowledge to identify & correct diseases and insects problems. Also, helping your lawn by preventing lawn problems before they accrue. AERATION & OVER-SEEDING:The best way to keep all types of weeds out of your yard is to maintain a thick healthy lawn. This can be obtained by aerating and over-seeding every fall. Just remember keeping a thick dense turf is the secret to a weed free healthy lawn. WEED & INSECT CONTROL:Weeds weeds weeds, how nice it would be if they would stay out of our lawns.(ha,ha,ha !!) Ok, lets stop dreaming. If your to keep a healthy dense deep green lawn, weeds are not really a problem. But, the minute something goes wrong with your lawn their always there ready to take over. I recommend hiring a professional lawn applicator to prevent these weed problems before they occur.Waiting for them to come and say "hello!" is not the best way of maintaining your lawn.Hopefully, these basic tips will help you maintain a healthy deep green lawn.Watering maintenance, fertilizer programs, aeration & over-seeding will be explained in more detail in up coming Q & T articles. Don't forget... water... water... water!!!!!!!!
 
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