Planting Grass Seeds

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Planting Grass Seeds

There are many kinds of grasses used inmaking lawns throughout America. See LAWNS.Grass of some kind or other eventually seedsitself in to any plowed field, and if the weeds arekept cut down, grass of sorts eventually takesover. However, much study and experimenta-tion have been undertaken with grasses duringthe last decades, and here are some that arewidely used to make various kinds of turf in theUnited States.

Northern Grasses

Kentucky Bluegrass. This is a naturalizedgrass, widely adapted to many differing soil andclimate conditions, and because of this is one ofthe most popular of all lawn grasses. It in-creases by underground stems or rhizomes,grows late in the fall after other grasses havestopped; survives best roughly north of Tenn.Bluegrass can be reproduced by plugs, soddingand seeding but the last is much the simplest.

Over 30 million lbs. of Kentucky Bluegrassseed is sown annually in North America.Seeding rate is usually 2-3 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.It grows best when temperatures are 650-80° F.Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is largelyapomictic (nonsexual), that is, most seed doesnot require sexual fertilization, but representsthe parent plant exactly. Thus almost any bluegrass can be perpetuated as a pure line. Few"selections" are improvements over naturalKentucky Bluegrass. It is cut about 2 in. high. Merien!_Bluegrass was one of the firstselections, oiiginally found as an attractivepatch on the IvIrion Golf Course near Phila-delphia. It is noted for its comparatively lowgrowth, density, good color and resistance toleaf spot disease, but, it does have some draw-backs. It does rust, demands heavier fertiliza-tion, and because of titrowth tends to thatchmore quickly than most other bluegrasses. It isusually cut HI in. high.

`Park' is another good variety of bluegrassnoteworthy for heavy seed that sprouts readily.It is the results of combining a dozen naturalselections made by the University of Minne-sota and contains a good Measure of geneticvariability that is natural to Kentucky Bluegrass.

Canadan Bluegrass is sometimes used onathletic fields. It is more coa4se than the otherbluegrasses, tolerates shades and poor soil,and is usually cut 3-4 in. high.

Rough Bluegrass (Poa ttivialis) sometimescalled Meadowgrass, does 1, well in a moist climate, in shade. It frequently is included inmixtures sold for shady situations in cool climates. It is used only in the north' n andnortheastern parts of the United States.

Bent Grass (Agrostis tenuis). These are tvery fine grasses for northern golf greens andspecial lawns. They need extra attention, mostare probably native to Europe, introduced intoAmerica. Redtop (Agrostis alba), widely escapedin America, is used as a nurse grass in someseed mixtures. Bent grasses all grow well inspring and fall at temperatures less than 80° F.,but are not as colorful in winter as is Kentucky Bluegrass. They spread above ground by stolonsthat root at the joints.

Most bent grasses should be mowed twice aweek. They grow best in a moist atmospherewith plenty of fertilization and are tolerant ofacid soil. They are at their best on the Pacific Coast from San Francisco northward and mostof the seed is produced in Ore. They are alsowidely used on golf-course greens and smallterraces in the northeastern, north central andeastern parts of the United States. Bent grassesgrow best in full sun.

Seeded varieties such as 'Highland' and`Penneross' are planted widely in the East andWest, North and mid-South. The vegetativelypropagated varieties often do best in specificregions or where their special needs are recog-nized. 'Washington', 'Arlington' and 'Congres-sional' were selected in Washington, D.C.; 'OldOrchard', 'Toronto', `Cohansey', 'Evansville'and 'Springfield', and others are of midwesternorigin.

Bent grasses should be clipped 4-1 in. high.,too low for bluegrass and fine fescue. Onepound of bent grass seed is sufficient for woosq. ft. With vegetatively propagated varieties,several bushels of stolons are distributed overwoo sq. ft. and then top dressed with soil anddiligently watered.

FINE FESCUES. These are the red fescues for the northern states, where most are widely establish-ed. Chewings Fescue (F. rubra commutata) wasnamed in Europe and for many years wascultivated in New Zealand, but is now pro-duced in Ore. The fine fescues are more wiry inhabit, grow well under a wide variety of con-ditions and are most used mixed in with the seedof Kentucky Bluegrass.

With fine fescue, seldom is more than 2-3 lbs.of elemental nitrogen fertilizer per 1000 sq. ft.necessary annually. In a seed mixture fescues aregood insurance for the less intensively tendedlawns, for they do survive in difficult locations.

Fescues grow best in the fall and can be usedwherever Kentucky Bluegrass grows well.Between 20-30 million lbs. of seed are usedannually, much of it grown in Canada and imported simply as Creeping Red Fescue.Fescues are usually sown 3-4 lbs. of seed perwoo sq. ft., generally in blends with KentuckyBluegrass, and are mowed at about 2-3 in.high. `Pennlawn', 'Rainier', Thewings' and`Illahee' are all improved selections but appearuch the same in most lawns, with minorp siological differences. They resent too lowcutti otherwise they are serviceable grassesfor the no ern United States.

RYE GRASSES. These are of two kinds, Domesticor Italian Rye ss and Perennial Rye Grass.The former is an afinual, the latter a perennial.The Domestic or ItalianAkye Grass is usuallyused as a nurse grass in mixtures with slowergerminating seeds, for in cool clitha(es it makesa quick greensward. By the time the'Ke,ntuckyBluegrass appears, the Rye Grass hailiedout. It has also been used in mixturesBermuda Grass and even Centipede Grass togive a green turf in the winter, but its ability todie out suddenly after a quick freeze is dis-appointing and Kentucky Bluegrass and somefescues are being substituted more and more inthese mixtures. It is sown at about 2 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.

Perennial Rye Grass makes a very coarse,tough turf, and can die out suddenly. Its bestuse is not as a lawn turf but as a green manure.See sons.

Southern Grasses

Bermuda Grass. This is as successful over awide series of conditions in the mid-South as isKentucky Bluegrass in the North. It is probablynative of Europe and Asia, certainly Africa,and now is widely established in the southernUnited States. There have been literallyhundreds of selections under observation atvarious experimental stations. In the DeepSouth (southern Fla., the humid Gulf Coast),Bermuda Grass does passingly well but there areother grasses even better adapted there. North-ward to the Carolinas and Kan., Bermuda Grassis at its best.

In warm weather, if water and fertility areadequate, Bermuda Grass grows rampant.With the frosts it turns brown usually until aboutApril (whenever warm weather comes again).Dormant Bermuda Grass restrains winter weedsvery little, so that there are often spots ofdiscordant green in the brown of a BermudaGrass lawn, the reason why it is advantageousto sow other grasses (Rye Grass, KentuckyBluegrass, and fescues) in the fall so the lawnwill be green all winter.

Bermuda Grass increases by both runners andrhizomes. It should be mowed at least twice aweek for best appearance. It is not a "low-maintenance" grass requiring more fertilizer than most species. It will not grow in the shadeor under trees. Seeding the genetically mixedcommon form is easiest, about 2 lbs. per 1000sq. ft. The named varieties are started asexuallyby plugs, sprigs or chopped stolons. The latterare scattered on the top of a prepared seedbed(1-6 bushels per 100 sq. ft.) and top dressedwith soil or compost.

\The species is Cynodon dactylon. The follow-ing selections are much used at present:`U. 3'—a denser, more cold-tolerant selection,widely planted in middle latitudes for golf-course fairways.. ‘Sunturf'—this is actually a natural hybrid (C.magennisii) from South Africa. It is a sterilet "ploid.

'4Tifgreen'—the most widely used grass forgolfgreens in the South. This also is a hybrid, asterile\ triploid. A natural mutant from -Cif-green" is ‘Tifdwarf'.

`Tiflaiyu'—a tough hybrid suited for athleticfields.

`Tifway'1,-a hybrid of fine texture alsotriploid, excellent for golf fairways.

Carpet Gr4ss—Axonopus furcatus is tall andcoarse, used ':,,in some parts of the southernUnited States Where better lawn grasses can notbe grown. It is sight green and disease-resistant,but should be 'grown in a moist acid soil. Itreaches 8-to in. in height, and is sown at therate of 24 lbs. per tom sq. ft. Since it hascreeping rootstalks it can also be planted bysprigs or plugs. Other grasses should be mixedwith it if a green'•color in winter is desired.

Centipede GraSs—Eremochloa ophiuroides isreported an erratic grass sometimes off to afine start, then siring down suddenly or dyingout in spots for teeming trifles. It is called the"lazy man's grass," for under optimum con-ditions it grows readily and requires little care.The species was introduced from China in 1919.It is at its best oh the Coastal Plain from N.Car.south to northern Fla. and west into Miss. Itgrows well on sandy soils or clay soils. It colorsyellow easily front lack of available iron in thesoil, usually a -e6ndition of alkaline soils. Ingeneral, it is one of the better grasses for lawnsin the South where poor soils prevail.

It is slow in growth, needing to be mowed onlyevery 10-20 days, and this is done at a height ofabout t4 in. for if let alone it grows only 3-4 in.tall. It is dense in growth and so is comparativelyweed-free. The quality of a centipede grass turfis not up to that of the finer-textured BermudaGrass or Zoysia.

Centipede Grass is propagated by sprigs orplugs about 6-12 in. apart or from seed. Thesprigs could be 1-2 in. in the ground with mostof the foliage left above ground.

St. Augustine Grass—Stenotaphrum secunda-

turn is supposed to be native to subtropicalAmerica. It is a fairly low creeping grass,spreading by stolons, preferring a moist climateand mucky soils. It is one of the better perform-ing grasses near southern seashores. It iscoarse and of loose texture, and so is notconsidered an elegant turf grass, for the leafblades may be as much as in. wide, (althoughnewer selections may have a much finer texture,something like Centipede Grass). A distin-guishing feature is a curious constriction andhalf twist where the blade joins the sheath. It islimited to vegetative propagation by means ofsod, sprigs or plugs and these if placed even afoot apart may grow into a well-knit turf in afew months in suitable weather.

Possibly its most useful characteristic isability to grow well in the shade, better thanalmost any other grass in the South. Otherwise, itis mediocre. It is one of the least expensivelawn grasses of the South. However, chinchbug infestations are proving a serious problem,and where Chlordane proves ineffective, spraysof "Trithion," "Ethion" and "Aspon" at 7-tolbs. per acre, "Diazinon" at 4-8 lbs. per acreare being recommended every 6-8 weeks.

Brown Patch disease has proved mosttroublesome also and may be controlled byspraying with mercurials like "Thiram" and"Kromad" as well as PCNB, at least 2 sprayingsabout 14 days apart. Hence St. AugustineGrass is certainly not "low maintenance."

Experiments have shown that fertilizing withlb. of a complete fertilizer spring and autumnwith organic nitrogen in the summer is about aminimum. It should be mowed about 2 in.high and is not tolerant of 2-4-D weed killersbut will withstand "Atrazine."

Current varieties include `Roselawn', a tall-growing pasture variety, `Floratine', a recentintroduction from the University of Floridawhich tolerates lower mowing (than 2 in.) and isdense and finer textured than some of theothers.

Bahia Grass—This grass (Paspalum notatum)has been a pasture grass but is fast becoming avalued ornamental. It is used in the DeepSouth where it is basic in most seed mixtures. Itmakes an inexpensive, easily maintained lawn,not necessarily as beautiful or as fine in textureas Zoysia and improved Bermuda grasses, butnevertheless serviceable. It is native to tropicalAmerica. Selections include 'Pensacola', 'Para-guay' and 'Argentine'.

Bahia Grass can exist sporadically as farnorth as Tennessee, but basically it is a grass forthe Deep South. It has great tolerance and canstand neglect and lack of fertility, produces deepvigorous roots which make it one of the bestsouthern grasses for sandy soils, withstanding droughts well. It grows welk in either acid oralkaline soils, and tolerates shade. Mowing canbe done with a rotary mower. \

This grass spreads by horizontal stems eitherabove or below ground, so it can be propagatedby sprigs or plugs, although plantiri by seeds ismuch simpler. However, the seed •oes notgerminate well and amounts up to to . per100 sq. ft. must be sown to get a good • wnstarted. The variety 'Pensacola' seemsgerminate best.

Winter Grass—The term winter grass is usedin the South for lawn grasses interseeded into thepermanent turf (usually Bermuda Grass) toprovide attractive green cover during thewinter. Lawn grasses adapted to growing in coolweather are chosen. They are mostly sown asannual grasses in the fall, dying out in the hotsummer, resown the following autumn.

Zoysia is best planted in spring or earlysummer. Seed is available only of the species,Z. japonica, usually sown at 2 lbs. per woo sq.ft. Runners of 3 joints (sprigs) of namedclones are planted with t joint in the soil, theother 2 above. Also plugs are planted, withspacing between them not more than 6 in. Theplanting must be kept moist to encouragegrowth which is always slow in starting, usuallytaking 2-3 weeks.

Zoysia has been given tremendous publicityduring the past to years. Actually, Z. japonicahas been grown in the United States since 1906when it was first introduced from the Orient.Now there are many varieties, all to be propagat-ed vegetatively, all "warm-season" grasses thatturn brown in winter and hence are less satis-factory than cool-weather grasses in the North(which remain green much longer). However, inthe South, Zoysia grasses have their troublesalso. The 'Meyer' variety discolors in wintermore readily than some local types. Zoysiagrasses do have diseases and insect pests(especially the billbug in Fla.) which are begin-ning to preclude its widespread use in someareas. Also a heavy-duty mower, which isexpensive, is needed to mow Zoysia satis-factorily.

Nevertheless, among the Zoysia grasses aresome of the finest lawn grasses for the South.They wear better than Bermuda Grass, althoughthey will not grow as fast. They withstand shade,and require but little fertilizer.

Zoysia spreads by above-ground runners orstolons, and by underground runners or rhizomes. It needs from 1-3 years to establish asod. Once established its slow growth becomes avirtue. Mowing need be only every to days or so,and no grass makes a thicker carpet of foliage.It should be mowed at a height of i-2 in.

Z. matrella or Manila Grass grows 3-4 in.high, forms a ruglike turf and grows well inmany soils, in sun or shade. It stays green longat temperatures above go° F. and is resistant tomost pests and even to weed encroachment.`Emerald Zoysia' is similar but is faster in growth and is slightly more resistant to frost.

Z. japonica and its improved form MeyerZo is are the ones which have been over-recoMmended for northern lawns. They areeven more coarse than Z. matrella and slowergrowing. They do turn brown in winter, but aredrought-resistant. For those living in the North,who wish the' lawns to be green as long aspossible in the la fall and winter, Zoysia shouldnot be selected.

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