On 9/9/2012 6:47 AM, HeyBub wrote:
Oren wrote:
"The grass is always greener on Jackson Madnick's lawn in Wayland,
Mass.: green in a drought and green when it emerges from under the
snow. Yet, he barely waters and mows it, and he never uses chemical
pesticides or fertilizers."

Read mo
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/...#ixzz25vCWnmIB

Before you start salivating, check the prices.

Hmmm. It's a mixture of taller-growing varieties, so you have to mow
it to a minimum height of 3 inches. Doesn't surprise me, since tall
fescue is in the mix. For those who aren't familiar with what tall
fescue looks like, an awful lot of people confuse it with quackgrass:
fast-growing, long stem, coarser blade than bluegrasses. That longer
stem is one major reason why you have to mow it higher. Folks who like
a shorter, tidier-looking lawn won't care for that.

Recommended seeding rate is nearly 3 times that for most grass seed
mixtures (8 lbs/1000 sq. ft. versus 3 lbs./1000 sq. ft.).
Understandable, since it is mostly a variety of fescues, and fescues
don't multiply and spread the way bluegrasses do. Fescues tend to
clump, so you have to seed more thickly for good coverage.

Overseeding an existing lawn with this is asking for trouble, not to
mention a hell of a lot of work. It claims it will (eventually)
outcompete existing grasses and weeds, but to be on the safe side they
want you to undertake a significant amount of prep work. Even so,
grassy weeds/undesirable grasses are notoriously persistent.

Whether you overseed an existing lawn or start a new lawn, it calls
for another round of lawn prep and overseeding the following season. I
wouldn't be surprised if these lawns need periodic overseeding, as
fescues simply don't spread the way bluegrasses do (which is why you
tend to see patches or tufts in grass in shady spots, where
bluegrasses don't thrive).

Conclusion: this is a possibility for the highly-motivated and/or the
owners of small lawns.

Me, I'll stick with my traditional American mongrel lawn: blues,
fescues, clover, and bentgrass. As long as it's green, I'm satisfied.