Grass in Colorado (or just Kentucky Bluegrass in general)

That looks very full and beautiful. Good job!!

 

Thanks. Bluegrass in the Bluegrass

 

Are you doing anything different than what was discussed in this thread already?

I would like to point out that OP and myself both live in the high desert where getting lush green grass like yours is extremely difficult so we may never see our yards look like yours. Still, your yard and others like yours are incredible and I’m sure great to look at.

 

I think where I live is considered the Great Plains. I’m way up north, a half hour from Wyoming. It’s not easy to get that grass here, but may be slightly easier than in AZ. There’s a lot of natural grass here, obviously not that lush dark green though.

 

I think our environments are very similar (I just used ft Collins as a quick example) and I think grass would react very close to the same. We’re both at about 5,000 ft and have an annual precipitation of about 16 inches. I was at Ft Carson and lived in Colorado Springs for a few years and the high desert there is very similar to where I’m at... except Colorado has much better mountains. I’m a little biased, I love Colorado.

 

These things are blooming in the dark green parts of the grass, that is what is concerning me.

Edit: Maybe this is normal? I just noticed it while cutting with polarized sunglasses. Now I really see it.

 

Good morning, I'll split these up and hit them one by one.

Sod farms are huge fields with plenty of sunlight and they grow grass on a rotation. This means that some grass on the pallet might have been pulled from a different part of the same patch. Some sod farms lay their grass flat, others roll it into a grass burrito. With that said, sod farmed grass needs to make it from the farm to the final resting place in about 24 hrs or less preferably. The process of moving the sod puts the plants under stress which is why it is imperative they get set in their final resting place and watered heavy. I'm assuming that the photo was from the previous owner or realtor, I wouldn't worry too much about the differences in color. Different areas on the sod patch may handle the stresses of being relocated better than others, as long as the final product is healthy and green, I wouldn't worry about it.

So 6 zones for your lawn? Was your coverage even across your entire yard? I'll start that some water is better than no water so don't stress yourself out wondering if you're watering your lawn enough. You can supplement weekly watering if you are getting rainfall. I'm uncertain of the weather in your area so you can account for annual rainfall into your weekly watering schedule. Additionally, your sprinkler controller might allow you to rotate zones across multiple days. For example, Zones 1-2 on Monday starting at 5 am - finished at 7 am, Zones 3-4 on Tuesday start 5 am - finished at 7 am, 5-6 on Wednesday. Then, start again with zones 1-2 on Thurs - ending with zones 5-6 on Sat. That may help to prevent you from running your sprinklers all day twice a week.

I started with the most unrealistic scenario first, this one might be more up your ally. You might want to look at swapping out your sprinkler heads for nozzles that put more water out for better coverage, this will be dependent upon how much static water pressure you have. Be in mind that you'll typically have higher water pressure early in the morning before the neighborhood wakes up and starts taking their showers. If you think of it this way, let's say for example that one sprinkler spraying 360 degrees in a circle, at the edge of that circle you'll have another sprinkler head for complete overlap. If you can widen that circle through a change in sprinkler nozzles, you can run less sprinkler heads for the same coverage. Unfortunately, I'm not that well versed in sprinkler systems or best practices and layout but there are some delicious reading materials out on the internet like this article. I'm going to lean out on a limb here and guess that you have Rain Bird in-ground sprinklers. Check out this pdf for zone coverage on different rain-bird sprinkler nozzles. My thinking is if you're using 3 sprinkler heads spraying each at an 8 ft radius in a straight line, that's only 16 ft of full coverage with 8 ft of overlap on the ends. If you can push those same 3 sprinkler heads out to a 15 ft radius each, you're getting 30 ft of full coverage utilizing the same number of sprinklers. This is ultimately driven by your water pressure at the line. If I understand correctly, water pressure comes off of the main at the front of the house and will typically branch to your house feeds (tubs, sinks, washer, etc ..) and your outside feeds (hose bibs, sprinklers). There will be a sprinkler valve box outside somewhere that's directing water out to your sprinkler zones. You can measure the water pressure entering that valve box to determine how much pressure you'll have for your individual heads. Stepping down from a 3/4 in pipe to a 1/2 in sprinkler line could increase your pressure slightly, something something Pascals law of fluid dynamics or some shit. See if you can't verify if you're running 1/2 in pipe to your sprinkler heads. Also, check the main pressure. Go to your closest hose bib (as long as it's not hooked to your house water) and hook up one of these pressure testers. That should give you a ballpark reading of your water pressure at your sprinklers. It would be better to check right at the valves though to weed out the possibility that your hose bib is hooked up to the regulated house pressure. Whew.

Lastly, you could put down a product called Hydretain RTS. This product, however, is more designed for the areas of the country that have watering restrictions so this might be more up @svdude ally. I don't know the science behind it but it acts like a little sponge for water and holds water at the plant for longer. For instance, if you were watering every 4 days, you could push it out to every 7 or 8 days. I would describe it as a Surfactant for Dirt.

To me, that almost looks like the Poa Annua that I'm familiar with. However, it may also be Kentucky Blue seedlings. Grass grows through a few different states from initial sprouting, to actively growing, and when it starts to get stressed, it will go to seed. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that what you have there is the grass going to seed. I don't really have a good solution for you to prevent your grass from growing to seed. I can suggest a few things though. First, looks like you need to sharpen your mower blade based on the cut ends of the grass blades there. They are browning and in distress. I would recommend sharpening your mower blade after every 4 - 6 mows or once a month, whichever occurs first. Second, if you applied an application of fertilizer in early in late March/ early April, you might want to apply another run of fertilizer at the end of May. There are some schools of thought about allowing the grass to go to seed then use that seed to reseed your lawn. Not all grass varieties have valid seeds so the plant expends energy making lame seeds when it should be spent pushing root growth. I wouldn't lower the mowing height to try to cut them out but since you are in the active growing season, you can push the plant into growth mode by mowing twice a week.

Bottom line, sharpen your mower blade and mow twice a week. I need to get back to work.

-J

 

I don’t know how you know so much about grass, but it is awesome. You have no idea how valuable these posts are, they’re like a manual that I can refer to whenever. So far, I changed my watering from 15 minutes per zone, 3 days a week, starting at 6 AM ... to 25 minutes per zone, 2 days a week, starting at 5 AM. I’ll keep cutting twice a week, probably lay another round of fertilizer next month. I think it might actually look decent soon.

 

You're definitely right about this. I lived in Phoenix for a few years, so whenever I think of Arizona, that's what I picture. As I said before, my parents live in Chino Valley, which is close to Prescott and very different than Phoenix. My sister lives in Flagstaff, which isn't even comparable. It has been a while so my mind defaults back to the desert when I picture that area. I love Colorado so far, it's been a great place to live!

 

I bought my first house in the Northern part of Texas when they were under a Stage 5 national emergency for drought conditions. The water shed around the town I lived in was down to like 5-10% capacity and we were recycling our gray water. It was scary. So long story short, for 4 years, I stared at a yellowish green lawn not really giving a shit about lawn maintenance other than making sure the lawn was mowed when it was tall and fixing a broken sprinkler head or two. Fast forward to now, smaller yard patch in an area where I can actually take care of my lawn and I vowed to be the best lawn on the street, hell the best lawn in the neighborhood if I can so I just started researching and watching plenty of youtube videos on the subject. That's where I am now, I don't consider myself an expert by any means because the patches of dirt with no grass in them are testament to that. I blame it on the Centipede grass germination time and not my skill at lawn care because my Tall Fescue for the side yard with minimal sun grew in nicely (before I killed it with a weed killer specifically designed for Centipede lawns ) and the Tall Fescue is coming back nicely the second time around again. I'm really thinking about nuking my yard this year and completely renovating it to a Zenith Zoysia grass variety for something a little different in the neighborhood. Ill baby this Centipede lawn in the interim while I get the nerve to tackle that project.

-J

 

Grass experts, I have another question. The pic below shows what is definitely a dog pee mark. The grass around these marks was a very dark green, so the nitrogen in the pee fertilized these spots. I noticed one of these in the front yard pretty much repaired itself and it’s almost gone. Some of them in the back yard are getting better but still there. My question is, do these dead spots normally repair themselves over time? Or should they be dug up and seeded? Or something else? I am just giving them time right now, but was wondering the proper fix for them. Thanks!

 

My routine varies a bit depending on what the climate and weather have been during the on and off seasons. But typically I'm pretty close to this:

Late December: Light application of palletized lime.

Around the 3rd week of February: Scotts Halts (crabgrass preventer).

Around April 1st: Scotts Weed and Feed.

We have a lot of Nutsedge around here. So if it's visible in March/early April I apply a spray concentrate via the garden hose a few days after the Weed and Feed.

Early June: Scotts Turf Builder Southern formula.

Early July: Bayer disease/fungus.

Mid July: Grub control.

Early September: Scotts fall/winterizer.

I seed in early October

I use all glandular products except the Nursedge treatment.

Tips:

Mow high. The top 1/3 of the grass blade is the greenest. Don't scalp it. Plus the taller grass can help shade the ground helping to slow down moisture evaporation during hot months.

When you can, mulch. This returns nutrients back into the soil. If the grass is tall and/or wet, bag it. Clumps of grass laying on the lawn are not good for it. Sharpen your blade at least once a year. I do it in the spring and again in the fall (I mulch leaves when I can). A sharp blade will help to mulch the grass clippings better and cleanly cut the grass as opposed to tearing it.

And make sure the lawn is getting 1-2" of water a week. This might vary depending on the temperature and soil conditions in your particular yard.

Bluegrass and Fescue will not thrive in shade. Even dense shade mix grasses will need at least 4 hours of sun to thrive.

 

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For some this may sound like a lot of work. But really it's not bad because the applications are spread out over 8 months or so. Once you have an established lawn it will naturally choke out weeds. I do very little weed removal and spot treatment most years. Just my preemergents in the spring.

There is some cost though. But I buy my Scotts products when they're on sale. But I don't necessarily use Scotts exclusively. But I've found it tends to be of good quality and effective. And expect a higher water bill during hot dry summers.

EDIT: I guess I should have said....we see all 4 seasons in my region. That certainly plays a factor in a treatment plan.

 

Female dogs will burn the hell out of grass. Water it heavy and it will generally heal itself in time, unless it's a frequented spot. I like to hit stress spots with my Miracle Grow applicator. I grow a lot of flowers...so I always have it ready. Just attach it to the garden hose and soak it down.

 

@Plain Jane Taco
What region are you in? Even though us in a high desert climate may have to work a bit more, I think the same rules apply.

 

Central Ky....Bluegrass region....ironically

 

I had a house in Tennessee when I was at ft Campbell. Grass grew great naturally and I barely had to do anything to it. I did fertilize and water it regularly but that was it. The soil there was pretty good and the weather was great for grass.

 

How much less were you watering it there? I’d imagine you wouldn’t need to give it that 1-2” per week.

 

Mama nature gave it a lot of water already, I probably watered it myself once a week and mowed twice a week since the grass grew fast.

 

I am originally from Florida and don’t remember ever watering grass.