I am lucky in that I have a small lawn. I want to make it look really nice and I am prepared to weed and water and fertise it.
I'd like to over seed it with a some nice fine grass that does not grow too high.
But all the lawn seed I have seen in shops and online is a blend of this and that.
There are so many grass seeds it is hard for me to find good information on them.
Fescue, Kentucky Blue, Rye grass.
I don't want a blend that will grow quickly as they all seem to offer. Or a hard wearing blend, as I don't have children.
I want a nice fine grass seed. Any suggestions or advice?
vickyh1,
Oct 5, 7:10pm
Fescue is probably what you want. Really fine and dark green.
Browntop (and kaikuia) are more common as lawns certainly in Auckland, if you currently have that then the fescue may stand out somewhat, which could be annoying if you want a really uniform lawn. In that case you might want to go "scorched earth" first with some roundup.
maclad,
Oct 5, 10:29pm
Fescue and browntop mix is a lovely fine lawn but you will need to get it in soon to beat the weeds. However you can deal with weeds later, you sound just like me I weed my lawn as well. The seed will not be cheap and will take time to grow but well worth the result
digmen1,
Oct 5, 10:59pm
Yes I bought my house exactly one year ago. The lawn was full of dandelions, daisies and a few thistles. I pulled most of them out by hand - slowly trying to get the roots. It also had a lot of clover and hydroctyle (what a stupid name for a weed) (Plus one other weed that I have not been able to identify. These I worked on a bit by spraying and then re-seeding. And one area was taken over by kikiyu (aarrhh). I weeded virtually every day for half an hour. I also fertilsed every two months.
This spring the lawn looks a lot better. Some nice lush lawn growth in some areas. Only one or two thistles. Quite a few dandelions again, but I have now just about pulled them all out. And quite a few daisies, but once again I have nearly pulled them all out. I also pulled the flowers off the dandelions and daisies as soon as they came out. My idea being that they will not be able to spread seeds for next year. So now this year I can just concentrate on the clover and hydrocytle areas and I will pull out as much of the kikuyu area by area and re-sew as I can. So I would like to get some nice fine lawn seed so that next year my lawn should look like an English country garden.
golfdiver,
Oct 5, 11:14pm
Fescue is actually quite a coarse leafed grass. Try to get some fine rye. It isn't great in the hot BOP summer however. http://www.specseed.co.nz/ I got what I need from these guys. The Legacy blend sounds like what you need. They are superb to deal with and courier to you at little cost.
brigette6,
Oct 6, 1:49am
i have a fescue and browntop mixed seed lawn. it looks like readylawn. doesnt like too much dry weather though
macandrosie,
Oct 6, 3:45am
If you have a problem with daisies get a salt shaker & sprinkle each plant with a little salt. ½-1 tsp is plenty. They will brown off within a day or two & will die for good!
fordcrzy,
Oct 6, 2:23pm
PERRENIAL RYEGRASS! we had our lawn sewn by a firm the sprays on a seed mulch, they use perrenial ryegras and it looks AMAZING. seriously people walking past our house stop and bend down and feel the grass! im half expecting to find someone rolling around on it one day. its a nice fine blade and deep dark green. you do need to fertilise it more than the broader bladed grasses but the results are worth it. you have to mow it taller than most grass so NO SCALPING. seriously i wouldnt consider any other grass for a small ornamental type lawn i think that you can buy the seed from the usual places and its called "turf mix" or similar which is 70% ryegrass and 30% something else. if you want to get it sprayed on contact Paul at Lawntech in Tauranga
fordcrzy,
Oct 6, 2:55pm
pretty sure the spray guys use the specseed legacy mix. thats the one to get IMO. although by the sounds of your lawn, you may need to just cut your losses and roundup the entire lawn, then do a complate resow. the results will be better in the end than trying to overseed and existing lawn with weeds and kikuyu which will mar the end result
golfdiver,
Oct 8, 4:01am
Paul is from Te Puke. I booked him to do ours but canceled after he hadn't showed up after 5 months. Went with a TGA outfit in the end. You can get whatever seed you like in your hydro seed job.
digmen1,
Oct 8, 1:57pm
Thanks for the tip on the hydro seed shop (But it would be good if you gave me their full name,and city etc are they a chain or website etc etc)
I will do it myself. I don't want to rip out the whole lawn. I like doing this bit by bit.
I just wonder why all the garden shops sell blends of lawn seed? Is there a good reason for this?
If I went with just one variety then I know what I am getting.
golfdiver,
Oct 8, 2:07pm
No need to give you the name of the Hydro seed company if as you have stated you are going to do it your self. the reason they blend is to get some tall grass and some lower thicker grass so you get a nice dense lawn so I was told. If you are going to do it, do it all at once and spray out the existing then prepare it thoroughly then sow.
fordcrzy,
Oct 8, 2:36pm
specseed are in CHCH. they supply a lot of hydroseed places but sell to the public. 45 bucks for 5 kg delivered to TGA (not sure how much 5kg actually covers) the problem is that the ryegrass is nice fine dark green and the weeds/kikuyu are totally different and cant be killed off by broadleaf weedkiller so youll have these weird patches of nice dark green lawn and the kikuyu which youll never really get rid of if you do it in patches. do a google for "lawncarenut" on youtube for some great lawn videos
fordcrzy,
Oct 8, 2:38pm
yes Paul is VERY slack at getting back to you. we had to hound him. he did a good job in the end but communication isnt his strong point.
vickyh1,
Sep 7, 4:52am
I think it's also so that you have nice looking grass year-round. Most species have something they don't tolerate so you need a variety to give good coverage - shade tolerant for shadier areas in winter, drought tolerant for summer etc. Also shade tolerant grass competes well with weeds, most of which are not.
I agree going scorched-earth and starting from scratch will give you the fastest result, but it is quite enjoyable rehabilitating a lawn over time too. I get props on our lawn from the neighbours who I know spent way more than I have. Sadly lawns are about the only plant I can grow well!
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