Monday, March 31, 2008

fine fescue

Hooray, it's raining!!!

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The 2008 lawn care season has officially begun. The hedges were trimmed, and the front lawn overseeded with Tall Fescue.

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Warning: If you do not care about lawns and grasses, today's post will be dangerously boring!

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The most common seed blends around here consist of Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass and Ryegrass. My favorite is Creeping Red, but most packages that have this seed are blended with one or more Ryegrasses. I do not like Ryegrasses. They grow in clumps; they're difficult to rake over, ...and personally, I think they're not too distant a cousin of Crabgrass, which is a weed.

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Bluegrass is very nice, but it has a wide blade. Fescue has very thin blades. Walking barefoot on well-groomed fine Fescue is an euphoric experience, which I highly recommend.

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My point is, the more of the good stuff you put in, the less room there is for other things to grow... like clovers, thistle and dandelions (grrrrr).

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But there are other benefits to good lawn care. It is good exercise, and a great way to chat with the neighbors. And since I intend to be a positive contribution to my community, the same rule applies. The more good stuff we sow, the better results we are likely to see on our streets. And less things like litter, rudeness, etc.

7 comments:

donsands said...

That wasn't boring. Actually, my wife has a "green thumb", and I help her in the yard, to a point. Dig a hole, plant shrubberies, move a stone here, a rock there, etc., etc.

imac said...

Good post, but I hate gardening haha but i like photos of them haha.

Craver Vii said...

Good man! You know Don, I have an image in my head of how I would like things to be. I'm not sure the whole family has fully grasped it, but here it is...
I take care of the front lawn and shrubs.
The kids take care of the back lawn.
My wife takes care of the vegetable garden and any flowers...
Now I will help with the garden by tilling the soil, but then I'm done with it. The kids should help with the weeds.

Imac, a critical part of gardening is to enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you should ever visit this area, can I count on your help-- just to sit out front in lawn chairs with a tall glass of lemonade? Or maybe a game of bocce ball?

L.L. Barkat said...

Overseeding! A great technique for dandelion non-lovers. ;-)

orneryswife said...

Around here the grass of choice is Bermuda. It is nice at certain times, and is extremely heat tolerant (a good feature here in the summer) and it doesn't require a lot of water, but it is a creeper, so it is a pain to keep out of the flower beds. I like fescue, but it is usually planted in shady yards here, as in the heat of the summer it is a little bit wimpy.

I am so excited it is springtime. I am all done with winter!
TM

Every Square Inch said...

Nice analogy with the grass keeping the thorns and thistles at bay. I only wish we didn't have to weed.

Lin said...

You are killing me with all this talk of green grass, you know! We have grasses here and there but mostly a lot of BIG brown spots. LOTS of big brown spots really.