Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Grass is Greener by Gail Wilson


..Or at least I certainly hope so!  I decided in 2010 that it was time to do some thing with my lawn.  I had only owned the property for 10 years but the lawn was 40 years old.  My decision was to over seed with Reveille, a Hybrid Blue Grass that claims to be more drought resistant.  Saving water is really important to me so I did some research and everything I read indicated that it was worth a try.

In the spring of 2010 I aerated (2 inch centers) my existing lawn, applied seed, (1 lb per 1000 square feet) and covered the seed with approximately 1/8 inch of compost.  I watered three times a day until the seeds germinated and continued watering an average of three times a week during the summer.  In the beginning of August I repeated the procedure, Reveille is started in early August no later.  I had a beautiful lawn that year.  Well of course I did with all that care and water.


  Enter spring 2011 and things were not so great.  I had aerated, applied compost and a small amount of fertilizer but the lawn was greening in a mottled fashion.  Parts looked great others parts not so good.  At first I attributed the problem to poor fertilizer application so I reapplied more fertilizer but to no avail.  As the season progressed it became evident that the greener grass was the new Reveille because new, beautifully green grass was growing in areas that previously had been with out.

What to do?  So I decided to reduce the water in an attempt to stress the KBG and give the HBG a chance to take over.  I reduced the water to one solid watering per week, nature helped a little this summer with additional precipitation and the HBG began infiltrating the KBG.  The lawn still is not beautiful but getting better.

Even though I chose not to reseed at all this year, I think I will over seed those areas that need help in the spring of 2012 (depending on weather, med to late April is suggested).

I am really optimistic about this grass and trying to be patient, which is not one of my strongest personality traits.  I will return in the future and let you know how everything turns out.   I do hope the grass is greener in my yard.

Here's a CSU fact sheet on rejuvenating the lawn: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07241.html