The Grass Doctor

what advantages and disadvantages are associated with growing cool season grasses with cool season legumes? (cool season grasses such as ryegrass)

Why is rescuegrass generally an inferior forage crop compared to the other cool season annual grasses?

Which of the following cool season annual grasses is grown on the widest range of soils conditions? oat, wheat, rye, annual ryegrass, perennial ryegrass?

When cutting cool season grasses...? When cutting cool season grasses, should i bag the clippings or use the side discharge?

What time of year do most of our cool season legumes fix N at an optimum rate? What time of year do most of our cool season legumes fix N at an optimum rate? How would this affect fertility management when cool season grasses and legumes are seeded together?

When is the best time to plant cool season grass? I live in eastern Virginia and currently have Bremuda Grass (with a little of this and that mixed in) and I want to plant a grass that is nice and dark green all season long. Hybrid Fescue turfgrass (I think, please correct me if I am wrong). I know that I SHOULD have dethached and pulled up as much as possible in the fall and reseeded then. Well, I missed it. Am I SOL until next Fall?

how late in the autumn can you plant most cool season grass seed? and how early in the spring can you plant most grass seed? how many weeks before or after frost time,,,does the seed need to have sprouted and be a seedling? and why? how depends? please explain what you can. thanks for your answers!

When Should I Fertilize Cool-Season Grasses?

will cutting cool season grass too low in summer heat cause it to die? how and why?

Will cutting cool season grass too low in summer heat cause it to die?

How come some grasses smell really good when cut and other grasses smell horrible when cut? I noticed that certian types of grass smell really good when cut like Floratam St. Augustine. There is a type of cool season grass that smells really bad when cut it makes me nauseous. What causes the diffrences in smell?

does cutting both cool season and warm season grass at a higher setting increase their root growth? why cutting the grass high stimulates long er root growth? would this this is opposite?

What is the best type of overseeding grass? i want a warm season grass type of grass for my lawn and backyard.. and for a cool season grass... im not really looking for a price range since im planning to save up for this.. just give me your ideas please

how deep do most grass roots grow down into the soil? how is the average depth of warm season grass, such as bermuda compared to cool season grass such as fescue? Also, is aeration only 1 inch deep or even 3/4 of an inch deep sufficiant when overseeding? or how deep and how depends? (if have clay or nice soil) and why?

how does cutting grass too low when it is warm or hot,,cause the grass to die? have heard that you want to rais the blades on your mower ,,especially in summer time..why is this? how different if have warm season vs. cool season grass such as fescue?

why do some cut their grass short..and others cut their grass higher..? have heard that it is BAD to cut the cool season grass especially short..and that it will "Burn it out"? but if cut it high..if you have weeds or broad leaf weeds..it looks not nearly as "Cut" if cut it high? why so?

Best way to eliminate patch grass? My lawn is cool season fescue and blue grass mix in Northern California. Each year the patch grass enlarges. I'm told to kill it with a herbicide, then re-seed. Would residual herbicide prevent germination, and if so, how long should I wait? Please share your experiences. Thanks My herbicide will either be Roundup or generic glyphosate

does it really do any benefit to core aerate a lawn with warm season lawn? (Such as bermuda grass, etc)? how often should do this for a warm season grass and should do it earlier than you would a cool season lawn? why for that and how come some say it really doesnt do the warm season lawn any good? how true or not true? WHAT IS PURPOSE OF AERATION TOO? please explain what you can thanks for your answers!

which grass seed can be used for reseeding? i want to reseed my lawn. my zipcode is 10598, i think im cool season grass, i need hifh traffic seed

Overseed or Not to Overseed? I live in a cool-season grass climate (Ontario, Canada) and during this season i have noticed yellow spots on my lawn. First of all, the yellow spots are NOT caused by Grub (professional confirmed this), nor is it caused by lack of water, or overfertilizing...From closer inspection it seems that the grass is dead. My guess is it was caused by winter damage to the point that the grass in those patches have died. My question: Do you think i should just overseed my entire lawn by way of using a spreader and just broadcasting the seeds over the entire lawn and then just use my sprinkler system to water them in to start the growth? My hope is that some of these seeds will land in the yellow regions and grow out conceiling these yellow areas. Just to let you know, these yellow areas are small and numerous intermixed with green grass. They are yellow straight down to their base. Resembling hay. If anyone can give me ideas that would be FANTASTIC! Chris: thanks for the reply...When the professional looked at it he mentioned it was fine and would just grow in, in time. He did take a shovel and pulled up a big heap of soil of one of these areas to look for grub and mentioned to me that the soil was very rich and had quality worms but nothing bad. If i can get a camera i will take a picture. In the mean time i will msg you my email so i can stay in contact Robert: Thanks for the reply! You know, i never thought about it being a Fungus...that is a good point. The pro didnt bring that up though. I tried pulling on the yellow grass part and it just came up easily..i didnt have to pull on it all that much...its dead. *sigh* Wish it was fungus. You know i did have some moss growing on this lawn last year but i did kind of overwater it last year. Also, i did NOT winterize my lawn and so maybe some of these blades just sufificated during winter?!? Thanks so much for your reply. You guys are very knowledable! --------- "keep sharing": I was pondering the thought of cutting my grass to the lowest height my mower can go (maybe 1 inch) which would definitely conceal the yellow spots when the greener areas grow back...HOWEVER, doing such a thing might damage existing grass since ive read that cool-season grasses should be cut to no lower than 2.5 inches

Planted Grass Seed In Fall? I overseeded with cool season grass seed in September which is supposed to be the recommended time for seeding. I have a state of the art sprinkler system and sprinkled the lawn every day 3 times for 5 min for almost a month. Now I see a lot of little ~2 inch seedings but the lawn is not thick yet. If I fertilize late October and Early December can I expect a thick lawn in Spring?

For a given leaf area, do trees or turf use more water? Assuming the following: suburban area, cool-season turf grass species (e.g. Poa pratensis), intermediate-age broad-leaved trees (~20-30 years), semi-arid environment (e.g. Denver, CO), irrigated using "normal" schedule (i.e. average Joe watering his yard usng a sprinkler, w/out restriction)

Recovering from vacation - scalped lawn? I was on vacation for 2 weeks and returned to a scene from George of the Jungle. There were Viet Cong hiding in my lawn, that's how long it got. Now, I normally mow once per week to 3" long. I have a cool season lawn and live in a mild temperature area (70F to 80F daily). This grass grows about 2 inches per week. With this regimen, the lawn has been in great shape all Summer long. Very green, very thick and strong. Like I'm supposed to, I set my mower to its highest setting (5") and immediately mowed after returning from vacation. Each week, I reduced the setting 1". I just finished the 3rd mowing since coming back from vaction, so it is back to 3". My goal was to gradually reduce the height of the lawn back to 3" where it belongs over the past 3 weeks. However, at each mowing the lawn looked pretty bad and now it looks totally scalped. Based on all I've read on the 'net, I've mowed the lawn back to 3" too quickly. How do I best recover from this scalped lawn?

if even plug the ground a 1/2-3/4 inch with a core aerator..is this going to benifit the existing lawn at all? why some say that the cores need to be 3 INCHES DEEP? ! as if you are going to get any germination if a grass seed floats into a hole this deep? how depends on existing grass type too? (warm season,,such as bermuda vs. cool season, such as fescue) how will benefit the lawn at all to have 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch holes in it? (if has been dry( and why?

Need Help About Lovebirds, please.? I have two lovebirds, and the female already laid an egg yesterday, I already placed some bedding this morning that I got from our back and front yard, they consisted of grass, dried leaves, some leaves from a shrub, and some ferns. All moist to perfection because it rained here yesterday. I cut them into bedding-sized pieces and placed them inside the nesting box, making sure NOT to touch the egg out of fear that the birds might not sit on them anymore. But I did surround the egg with the bedding, so the eggs is probably cushioned. I also added boiled-egg in their diet, and some egg-shells, because I have heard that eggshells provide calcium. And plenty of green veggies. I change their water every now and then. And I secured the door of the box so the risk of the egg falling out when the birds peep out will be lessened. I still put them out to enjoys some fresh cool air. What more should I do? HOW LONG TILL ALL THE EGGS ARE LAID. Is it possible that ONLY ONE egg can be laid? This is my lovebird's first time to lay eggs, can they be successful on the first time round? Do I have to wait for their second time to have babies? And when is the breeding season for lovebirds, I guess it's the autumn or the cool season. Because when it started to get cool around here my birds laid an egg. I'm so excited of having an egg and I'm keeping to point to NOT peek at the box all the time. I peeked this morning to put some bedding and that's that. How long do I have to wait till I can peek inside again to put some more bedding? Please answer me seriously. I need straight answers. Thank you very much.

How can I tell what kind of lawn I have? I bought a house last fall, and am trying to repair the lawn, and make it uniform. Its tough, because its almost like the former owner was some kind of deranged horticulturist bent on experimenting with different grasses. The front yard is a uniform emerald green, but in one place where they replaced a sewer line, the grass grows much, much faster and taller. No, its not because of what's under it, they just chose yet another kind of grass! In the back, I have patches of deep, lush dark green grass (much darker then the front), and it also grows very fast. But most of the back is occupied by a light green, slow growing skanky, mold infested nasty, but tough grass. Though ugly, that stuff is very durable. I have scoured the web and found all kinds of sites advising me on what to grow, but how do I determine what I have? I live near Portland, OR so I think I must have all cool season grasses. Easy ideas, or even just links most appreciated!

how long does it normally take warm and cool season grass as well as weeds to die from herbicide? and if this is done at the end of the summer..when temperatures are around 70 or below at night..is this ideal time to spray to kill a lawn for replanting? is it best to do this when not TOO hot ,,? please explain why too if you can as well as is it best to spray the bermuda or warm season grass as well or is it best to leave it? if planning on killing grass and tilling up everything? will it come back anyways even if do spray it and the ground is tilled up after? please explain what you can how to prevent weeds and unwanted things growing after tilling for the next spring? thanks for your answers!