Kentucky Bluegrass Woes 2020

Hi everyone, its Christine here with Randazzo design and Associates and I wanted to talk to you today about some observations I’ve had regarding bluegrass lawns and the drought we experienced in 2020. One epic fail that I saw was with Kentucky bluegrass lawns and sod just quitting.   People spend a lot of money on good seed and sod and wonder what happens when things go a-muck because they’ve started off with a great stand. Understanding what grass type you have and the maintenance requirements that are needed are just as important as the up-front costs.  Kentucky bluegrass is a high maintenance grass and considered the gold standard in lawns.  It is a cool season grass meaning it’s at its best in the spring and fall in New England.  In the summer months it needs some TLC to keep it looking its best.  The majority of sod grown up here in the northeast United States is primarily bluegrass. Other types of sod are available but you really need to look to find them.  If you buy sod at a big box store it’s bluegrass.  Bluegrass requires a lot of input.   From fertilization, insect & weed control to watering & mowing height. It needs full sun and needs to be cited correctly.  It has a threshold for lack of water at about 6 weeks and then starts going dormant.  When it’s in a state of dormancy for over six weeks it will start dying.  People who have areas of their yard that are complete sod or seeded with primarily bluegrass need to provide supplemental water in the summer months if they do not have irrigation. Watering needs to begin when the lawn is starting to look stressed. Waiting too long, you may miss the window for reviving your lawn if you are not watering and rains are not in the foreseeable future.  Kentucky bluegrass also needs regular aeration and dethatching. It’s a rhizomatous  grass that creates a thick netted web of thatch (decaying roots) that needs regular maintenance/removal or it will not allow water or fertilizer or insect control to penetrate and can harm the health of your stand of grass.  There are many types of grasses you can use in residential and commercial lawns from blue grasses to perennial rye grasses to tall fescues and fine fescues. It’s best to pair the grass with its conditions and the level of input that it’s going to receive to provide you with years of enjoyment. We’ll talk about these other varieties in our next episode. Talk to you soon!