Advice needed - bewitched

[BrianJE]

I'm trying to decide if I would like to add a couple of seed varieties to my bewitched monostand or stick it out for one more year. Here the situation:

I have a bewitched monostand that I mow at 1". We play soccer on it and golf on it daily. Bewitched has held up amazingly to divots and cleats. Now for the negative

Disease. I've had some pretty bad fungus issues (brown patch or summer patch). This is largely my fault as I didn't start any type of preventative fungicides till I saw some fungus in late may or June. I'm also new at all this and still honing my watering / fertilizing / cutting / fungicides .

One more note: Looks are not as important to me as functionality. If I can give up some looks for some disease resistance, I'm all for it. The purpose of this grass is for my kids and I to play hard on it.

Shall I attempt the monostand one more year with better cultural practices? Or should I mix in a few variates of kbg that tolerate close mowing? Any advice or seed recommendations are much appreciated.

Picture from this morning during a scorcher :

[llO0DQLE]

Well, seeing as the idea of a blend is to increase disease resistance and the major warning about monostands is having the whole stand wiped out due to disease....I guess there's your answer.

As to whether you should incorporate other varieties or stick with the mono for now... maybe other more experienced members can chime in as I've. Never had a mono.

[Green]

I think the toughest thing is going to be getting a blend to "take" in a uniform way. If that grass is thick, there's no room for seeds to germinate in an overseed. I'm not sure you could do it without using a verticutter (which will disturb the soil and the roots of the grass that's there right now, but will make room for more seed).

[Leifcat1]

I think monostands are beautiful.....but I prefer a blend. I have a Blueberry monostand on one of my hell strips and a Bewitched monostand in another hell strip. Both are less than a year old. The other 90% of my lawn is a KGB blend. Honestly, the monostands didn't look much different than the blend. They looked great in the beginning...but have thinned out over time due to increased disease pressure. The blended area has not seen any disease with the exception of a few small signs of dollar spot. Most likely due to uneven watering. Others on this site have had great luck with monostands so don't let my own experiences deter you from pursuing on with yours.

[LawnDonut]

How old is your Bewitched Monostand? First year KBG lawns are not fully established and need more care.

[turf_toes]

I'm not sure I'd agree that KBG lawns are not fully established at one year. It's not like you can't walk on it or it will die from foot traffic.

It's just that the lawn will continue getting thicker and darker as it ages. KBG is a spreading grass; you won't see the full benefit of that trait (turf density) until about the two year mark. TTTF and P. Rye are bunch-type grasses. So their turf density will not show similar turf-density improvements over that same two year period (at least without heavily overseeding).

KBG's spreading makes its turf density hard to beat over time. But the flip side of that is it can have thatch issues (like other spreading grasses) if not cared for properly. P. Rye and TTTF don't tend to have that issue because they don't spread.

My bewitched monostand has gotten thicker every year, despite getting roughly five-to-six hours of sunlight during the summer months. I've had zero problems with lawn pathogens in the monostand. But I've seen spot fungal issues in the front yard blend. Your own mileage may vary.

The growth habit of the bewitched monostand is dramatically different from the KBG blend. It (the monostand) shows much slower vertical growth. That's translated into once a week or so mowings vs three times a week with the blend.

I'd never tell anyone to grow a monostand. There is serious risk involved. But there can be benefits too.

If your main concern is lawn disease resistance, I'd suggest trying to overseed it with cultivars from other classifications (see NTEP).

[Paul]

The growth habit of the bewitched monostand is dramatically different from the KBG blend. It (the monostand) shows much slower vertical growth. That's translated into once a week or so mowings vs three times a week with the blend.

I wish I was seeing this in my Bewitched Monostand. I still need to mow at least 2 times per week. Just last week I went away for four days. I mowed on Wednesday and knew I couldn't mow again until after work on Monday. When I mowed on Monday, the lawn was basically out of control. I always mulch so the lawn had trailings from the wheels of the mower. When I got home from work on Wednesday (2 days later), It needed to be mowed again.

I have fertilized twice this year: June 1st, at 1 pound N/1K sqft, and July 3rd: 4 bags of Milo (0.6 pounds N/1K sqft).

I'm not complaining, but it definitely grows fast!!

[jglongisland]

How old is it?

I think it will be hard to get anything to germinate in there. At 1" your roots are pretty shallow; you might need to water daily in the peak of the summer. Those patches do indeed look like summer patch and the odds are you'll have an issue with most varieties of KBG if you are mowing that low (even Midnight).

I would increase the watering frequency through the next 4-6 weeks, then feed it pretty heavily and let it spread in. Next year I would pro-actively treat for Summer Patch.

In my old lawn I found Blueberry extremely susceptible to it with Bewitched less so.

The key is try to getting the roots protected from the disease and get them to go low enough so they might grow lower than the infected area.

[BrianJE]

Sorry for the delayed reply. Thanks for the advice everyone!

I've decided to try one more year of a monostand with a pro active fungicide program. As was stated, I believe I wasn't watering enough and wasn't diligent enough with my fungicide program.

I've also thrown around the idea overseeding once a year with PR but that's a different discussion

[maynardGkeynes]

....At 1" your roots are pretty shallow... the odds are you'll have an issue with most varieties of KBG if you are mowing that low (even Midnight)...

JG raises a good issue IMHO. At 1inch, and the kind of sun you seem to have, I'd expect a patchy look, unless your irrigation is perfect. Summmer patch? Unless you had a lab test, it's hard to tell summer patch from plain ol' heat stress by just looking at it, and the two seem to go together anyway. Hate to be the glass half-empty guy, but I don't see this going away at 1inch, even with a vigorous preventive fungicide program. Those roots are getting fried.

[Jackpine]

....At 1" your roots are pretty shallow... the odds are you'll have an issue with most varieties of KBG if you are mowing that low (even Midnight)...

JG raises a good issue IMHO. At 1inch, and the kind of sun you seem to have, I'd expect a patchy look, unless your irrigation is perfect. Summmer patch? Unless you had a lab test, it's hard to tell summer patch from plain ol' heat stress by just looking at it, and the two seem to go together anyway. Hate to be the glass half-empty guy, but I don't see this going away at 1inch, even with a vigorous preventive fungicide program. Those roots are getting fried.

Agree, the 1" HOC is placing too much stress on the grass. Raising it to 1-1/2" when the heat kicks in won't be much help as you are still dealing with shallow rooting. Cutting at 1-1/2" during spring through early summer will increase root depth and go a long way toward better summer performance.

[jglongisland]

Although 1" is low, I disagree that the lawn can't be maintained at that height during the dog days of summer; 95-98% of that lawn looks great. It's certainly more of a challenge and any stresses, whether they be grubs, summer patch, etc. will certainly be exacerbated by the shorter roots, but its certainly possible - just look at all the sports fields that are used throughout the summer.

I'd place my bets on Summer Patch and pro-actively treat that for it next year (read my thread; the key are the first two applications and make sure you use enough water to get it to the root zone) before giving up and trying a different seed type.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Sorry for the delayed reply. Thanks for the advice everyone!

I've decided to try one more year of a monostand with a pro active fungicide program. As was stated, I believe I wasn't watering enough and wasn't diligent enough with my fungicide program.

I've also thrown around the idea overseeding once a year with PR but that's a different discussion

Man, I would totally suspect that turf needs more water with lots of heavy traffic, sun, and that 1" height. Water, water, water.

I think fungus and irrigation can be a bit of a chicken and egg discussion. Which came first - the drought which led to a weakened plant susceptible to fungus, or a disease that led to plant death? Maybe both.

[BrianJE]

I was not watering enough, that's for sure. Since the outbreak I've been more on top of watering and preventative fungicide. Also, my reels needed some adjusting as they were tearing some blades rather than a clean cut.

Going above 1" HOC is not an option. I would for a period of time but I would like the turf to remain at 3/4" to 1" year round. I believe with all the right practices I can be successful. Time will tell.

[Pete1313]

Sorry to hear about your struggles. The good news is it is KBG and once the weather turns, feed it and it will start recovering. JG and HLG gave great advice. I agree that 1" is more of a challenge, but you need to be able to do the basics well to succeed. Improper watering, fertilizing, and not cutting the grass cleanly are all extra stresses that can be avoided. Combine that with cutting low and you will have more problems.

I would recommend performing an irrigation audit to check coverage and how much water your system puts down. Then keep a log of how much and when you irrigate. Stay on top of watering, make sure those reels are cutting paper, and look at the info JG put together on summer patch. Keep the bewitched mono for now, see how it is next year at this time, you can always add a different cultivar then. You can do it Brian!