starting a fescue lawn from scratch

[inzane]

here are some recent pictures from about 6 days ago.

[RigglePLC]

Looks amazingly good! Way to go, Inzane!

[jonthepain]

looks good!

also looks like it might have enough shade to survive july and august even.

wtg

[White Gardens]

Originally Posted by jonthepain

looks good!

also looks like it might have enough shade to survive july and august even.

wtg

That's going to help out immensely. During our drought this year, any areas with any shade almost stayed green during the nastiest parts of summer.

As for the density of it, just be patient. Fescue needs to get established, and once it does, it starts to clump and fill out nicely. Next spring is when your going to notice how nice it is.

As for mowing, I just wait until it turns a nice shade of dark green, and then use a push mower on a high setting.

....

[inzane]

i think the fescue should do fine back there, plenty of shade.. a little sun at parts of the day. there was mostly fescue back there until late spring when i killed it all off, i had some other plans to go with a warm season turf type, but changed my mind.

I broke down and mowed today, just took a little off the top.. parts were a bit over 4 inches, i just don't want to wait and it gets real tall and i have a jungle to mow. it is looking good today. might not be a bad lawn after all. not to terribly bumpy to mow either (despite the deep till) i mean, i won't be cutting at the lower limits of the recommended cutting height for tall fescue. i'm glad to have some normal turf areas back there now, before it was a nightmare to deal with and i hated to mow it.

[inzane]

i like how it looks, got the second fert down and we got some good rain.. i've mowed it a second time yesterday.. have plenty of leaves to deal with. had just picked em all up with the mower, and by the time i got mower back in garage more leaves.. lol.

[jonthepain]

looks like the trigold was a good choice for that area

[inzane]

i have not dealt with fescue in a very long time, am i gonna be good for broadleaf weed control app now? seeded this sept. 15th. its horrible looking. i've mowed over 3 times so far i got some close up pics.. (yeah i need to sharpen that mower blade) if i get rid of the weeds i might not have much of anything left.. i'd like to take care of it before it gets to cold, its a nice day here in georgia. we have got the windows open.. feels good. thinking of getting a blanket app of speedzone on it this week.

[cpllawncare]

Zane how are you looking on your yard?I am starting two fescues from scratch this year, any thoughts on to do 's and not to do's, I'm using a harley rake on both, I really don't want to use any straw either, I noticed you didn't use straw? good idea or not? what variety did you choose? I'm in the piedmont section of zone 7 Just looking for the best results, I personally like TTF I know it's a lot of work but it really looks good when cared for properly.

[inzane]

here is a picture after mowing last week, I got rid of the broadleaf now. Its actually pretty green, its just hard to get a good shot on a bright day. overall, its not so bad now.. I'm glad i didn't use straw.. In the past on overseedings where i'd use straw i remember how annoying the straw germination would get by spring.. I didn't want to deal with that. I just kept the seed bed damp everyday, and it seemed to do fine.

It is a little bumpy from the tilling, but nothing to bad.. it was the easiest route to take for me.. that soil was pretty compacted. I spent time with a landscape rake trying to level it after tilling.. it didn't settle all that uneven like i was thinking it might.. I mow it with my exmark 36 floating deck and it mows just fine, as well as with my honda 21". just slightly bumpy, but not a nightmare to mow or anything.

Originally Posted by cpllawncare

Zane how are you looking on your yard?I am starting two fescues from scratch this year, any thoughts on to do 's and not to do's, I'm using a harley rake on both, I really don't want to use any straw either, I noticed you didn't use straw? good idea or not? what variety did you choose? I'm in the piedmont section of zone 7 Just looking for the best results, I personally like TTF I know it's a lot of work but it really looks good when cared for properly.