Fescue Variant?

ReggieT · June 03, 2021, 08:11:00 PM

Greetings guys,

Can any of you lend your expertise to what this is growing in small bunches in my backyard which is about 85% shaded?

My interest is based on this grass's ability to thrive under these conditions.
I would like to seed my entire backyard with it...if I have a proper ID.
At this point seeding my heavy-shaded backyard with Johnson grass or Crabgrass is appealing!! ;D :

:-\...BTW....would that work?

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Warm regards,

Reggie T

btulloh · June 03, 2021, 08:22:29 PM

I don't recognize that but I would recommend a shade tolerant grass that thrives inheavy shade. Seed is available at Southern States or most seed stores. It can be pricey but it makes a really nice lawn.

From what I've seen, zoysia does well also and squeezes out all the undesirables as well. St. Augustine grass is good in your climate and I think it does well in the shade also.

Southside · June 03, 2021, 08:30:54 PM

Assuming you took those photos today that is definitely not any type of Fescue, which is a cool season sod type, not a bunch grass. By now Fescue has all gone to seed or dormant. That's in the warm season group.

As far as Crab or Johnson Grass. Yes it would work. I buy Crab Grass from Dalrymple Farms in Oklahoma every year for my pastures. It's an annual, but will re-seed if you let it go to seed, awesome cattle feed in the dead of summer, a tiny bit of water and BOOM it grows.

I also grow a ton of Johnson Grass and let it go to seed, but that spreads by rhizome as well. Again, loves the heat, but it would make for a rough lawn that would want to go stemmy on you if you mowed it. We will get 5 or 6 grazings out of the Johnson Grass every year and with each one the stem to leaf ratio improves - BUT in the late summer / early fall I let it go all the way to seed so it has a chance to fully recover. Might have to fertilize it in a yard / mowed setting to keep it thick.

mike_belben · June 03, 2021, 10:14:35 PM

let a spot grow a seedhead and youll be able to ID it.

ReggieT · June 03, 2021, 10:20:37 PM

Kinda favors Bahia Grass... :P ???

btulloh · June 03, 2021, 10:25:56 PM

Jim, I almost choked on my kudzu salad when I read your post about crabgrass for the lawn.

I'm sure it's the first time I've ever seen it recommended for a lawn! The latest figures I've seen show that in the U.S. people spend 12.46 gazillion dollars a year on products to keep crabgrass out of their lawns. I think I account for at least a third of that! :D It does like hot weather, and it doesn't seem to mind dry weather when everything else has turned brown or just plain died, but a crabgrass lawn would be completely bare in the winter and need to be mowed twice a week in the summer and it grows sideways when closely mown. But other than that it's GREAT for lawns!

Southside · June 03, 2021, 10:56:00 PM

Well, a crabgrass / ryegrass lawn would work and stay green about all year in Alabama, of course like you said, mowing would be non stop.

Yea - I go against the tide. Folks spend to fight Crab Grass as much as they spend to fight Sweet Gum, me I turn both into money.

ReggieT · June 04, 2021, 12:36:59 AM

Quote from: Southside on June 03, 2021, 10:56:00 PM
Well, a crabgrass / ryegrass lawn would work and stay green about all year in Alabama, of course like you said, mowing would be non stop.

Yea - I go against the tide. Folks spend to fight Crab Grass as much as they spend to fight Sweet Gum, me I turn both into money.
I like your logic!
Where might I find some the above mentioned grass mix, ASAP?

Thanks

SwampDonkey · June 04, 2021, 02:50:39 AM

Must be different crab grass then we have. Ours grows as individual as a corn stalk. I pull it at every opportunity. A billion seeds per head finer than black pepper. :D I'd rather grow barn yard grass. ;D

Southside · June 04, 2021, 07:25:49 AM

In case you want some interesting reading. ;D

https://www.dalrymplefarm.com/crabgrass-seed-varieties/variety-descriptions/

mike_belben · June 04, 2021, 10:48:41 AM

Seems i mow my lawn once a year, with a bulldozer. Weedwacker for the edges. :D

Gravel parking lots are expensive upfront but the maintenance is a breeze.

btulloh · June 04, 2021, 11:12:15 AM

What's your favorite recipe for a gravel parking lot Mike? I'm going to be doing one next year and I want it turn good. I see some interesting info on enzyme additives for improving road bases and parking lots but so far I haven't talked to any contractors around here that have even heard of it, much less used it.

mike_belben · June 04, 2021, 11:39:12 AM

Im just an amateur but im sure a lot of pros will show up to help if we arent hiding in a derailed fescue thread. ;D

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=115542.new#new

btulloh · June 04, 2021, 11:42:38 AM

Good plan. I really didn't want to derail the fescue thread, even though we know it will turn to food pretty soon. :D

mike_belben · June 04, 2021, 10:33:42 PM

:D

Southside · June 04, 2021, 10:39:12 PM

Well - if you think about it the Fescue, and the Crab Grass, feeds the cows - and not to be left out at times the chickens - which one way or another become food.

So there - food and chickens in one post. @btulloh if you want to come by in a month or so you will be able to see a field or two of 30" tall, thick, crab grass. Of course, that might be a bit much for you I suspect. :D

btulloh · June 04, 2021, 10:52:55 PM

:D :D :D

I figure it's too far from my yard for the seed to blow down here. I'll just have to stop and power wash the truck before I get back.

(Fescue -> crabgrass + (chickens&cows) ) ^2 = food

ReggieT · June 05, 2021, 01:40:16 AM

Quote from: Southside on June 04, 2021, 10:39:12 PM30" tall, thick, crab grass.

mike_belben · June 05, 2021, 08:25:22 AM

I read that link .. All i can say is 6ton per acre is pretty incredible even if it is under perfect conditions.

kantuckid · June 06, 2021, 08:20:33 AM

FWIW: In Birmingham, AL where this thread began, one of our sons plays golf at a golf course which I've been on with him. I was a golf caddy for much of my early life and know golf course real well but I had to ask -what's the deal with these huge industrial fans on the greens?
In that are it gets too hot for the type of grass greens they have on that CC course so certain greens (solar position) get these huge high velocity fans on them to keep the greens from burning up.
That same son redid his yard in an old neighborhood/town in Brimingham called Homewood, AL. He went with Bermuda from his FIL's recommended choice as it takes the heat well. That FIL is a school trained plant guy from MS St who owns a landscaping business and farm in N AL. He's the kind of guy to ask-or a golf course or park lands turf expert.
I'm allergic to Johnson Grass so it'd never be my choice but then I have plenty of it anyway... ;D

Another sort of weird fescue tidbit:
The very well known K-31 Fescue was found in my KY county, growing wild on a woodsy hill maybe 3-4 miles from me. This county is very rural, and known for nothing else, except having nothing to be known for :D but we do have a fescue monument over there on the entry road to that branch. The monument names the guy who told the U of KY about this drought and heat tolerant stand of grass found in 1948-called KY-31 fescue. We call it locally the "Suiter monument". I had a guy in tech school class, an AF vet, who's yard has the monument is how I heard about it when I was newish here.

btulloh · August 22, 2021, 08:31:52 PM

Well @Southside, this is some amazing crabgrass weather this summer. I hope you're happy! 8) Heat, rain, humidity, sunshine - it's perfect for your DanG crabgrass. Wiregrass too.

It's a jungle here and I can't beat it back fast enough. It's either raining, too wet to cut, or too hot and humid for humans. :( Been bushogging around the edges of the fields. Mostly crabgrass and wiregrass. Tough stuff. Not cutting well. I could use some of your cows for a while, or maybe just send the disc mower and square baler over here. I just can't guarantee it'll get dry enough to bale though.

Southside · August 22, 2021, 08:44:09 PM

Funny - I just came up from checking the cows and on the way walked by some crab that was grazed about a week ago. They will be on a paddock for no more than 24 hours and I try to leave 4" of residual behind when they leave. Anyway I just told my wife that is already up to the top of my boots!!! For sure I am loving it!! Big improvement over last year fore sure - things were hot, dry, and dusty right now and somehow it was still humid out. Even still - I HATE August. ;D

btulloh · August 22, 2021, 09:14:18 PM

Yeah, it's odd. August is usually hot and dusty with no rain but plenty of humidity. Everything is dried up and brown. Mowing the lawn is sporadic, but dusty. I hate it. This year there's rain every few days, hot and really humid, lush fast-growing grass, lawn, weeds, corn, etc. Mow the lawn every four days just to keep up. I hate it. I guess no matter what, there's no way to like august. But at least you've got good grazing down there at your place.

Southside · August 22, 2021, 09:31:15 PM

Makes up for June this year - that was getting scary. May was dry, June just made it worse. Even the Johnson Grass didn't show up until almost July - and I usually see it about late April. I have been told that over in the valley they are feeding baleage already - looks like the middle east there, no rain for a long time.