Creeping Bent Vent

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
Post Reply
FirstAction
Posts: 8
Joined: March 16th, 2015, 4:57 pm
Location: Northern Virginia
Grass Type: KBG
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Creeping Bent Vent

Post by FirstAction » September 19th, 2019, 10:06 am

Okay, this is probably just more just venting than anything else, but I have to get it out. I normally don’t care about the neighbors’ dandelions or their nasty crabgrass, but the creeping bent is killing my lawn vibe. My one year old monostrand of bewitched is coming in SUPER nicely in central Indiana (Carmel), but it is beginning to set in that there is going to be a constant battle against the bent coming in from the neighbors’ yards.

We have small drainage areas between yards here for lateral runoff, so the edges of the lawns stay pretty moist unless we go without rain for a while. Wouldn’t you know these are the perfect conditions for bent. Argh! Looks like I’m going to be sending Sygenta a bit more money for Tenacity, but I’m probably going to max out my yearly allotment every year, which sucks because I also don’t want to encourage resistance. I hate bent so much. Unless I’m putting on it anyway.

Is there anything else that I can do to make the bent stay off my lawn?

I’m afraid that asking my neighbors about it will make me come off like a lawn nut a-hole (hopefully that hasn’t happened yet-ha!) and it’s not worth it to me to give them that impression.

User avatar
Othertime
Posts: 751
Joined: July 30th, 2012, 11:00 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Grass Type: Bewitched KBG
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Creeping Bent Vent

Post by Othertime » September 19th, 2019, 11:26 am

First, you shouldn't have moved from Nova. We miss you here.

Secondly, controlling it is your best bet. You should only be spraying for the kill in the spring and summer six weeks apart. Studies have stated that around the 8 oz/acre you get 90% control and moving up to 99% control at 32 oz/acre.

You can also do two week applications at a lower rate 4 or 6 oz/acre and obtain >93% control also.

http://www.greencastonline.com/tenacity ... nacity.pdf
Last edited by Othertime on September 19th, 2019, 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

TimmyG
Posts: 2244
Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
Location: Dracut, MA
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Experienced

Re: Creeping Bent Vent

Post by TimmyG » September 19th, 2019, 11:27 am

Amen, brother.

I'm going to assume that you're familiar with my long-standing hatred for and battle with creeping bentgrass. Just when I finally got it mostly under control, we moved five years ago to a property that was close to 50% bent in places because the prior homeowners watered every day. Fortunately, the one short border I share with a neighbor isn't plagued too badly by bentgrass even though it remains quite wet. So wet, in fact, that I converted my side to a wetland garden. Unfortunately, that neighbor's lawn, both wet and bone dry (they don't water...or even live there right now), is absolutely plagued by false green kyllinga. You think bentgrass is fun? Bentgrass is child's play compared to dealing with kyllinga. At least bentgrass isn't a big seeder when mowed.

Are you not friendly with your neighbors? None of my neighbors have ever been big on lawn maintenance (even the one that worked for TruGreen), so I've been quite open with them over the years about extending my treatments into their yards, be that 5 feet or 50 feet, in order to keep their undesirables at bay. I even mow well into their yard(s) to keep the seed heads under control. Obviously, that doesn't fly when you have small yards or distinct property lines.

With unending pressure from your neighbor's lawn, yes, you're stuck with applying Tenacity every year, if not both spring and fall, to keep the bentgrass at bay. But I don't see any reason that you should be hitting your yearly allotment every year, even if you choose to attack it both spring and fall. Only your first application should be a blanket spray to highlight where the patches are. Spot spray your next couple applications.

And, of course, being diligent with pre-M both spring and fall should help mitigate new patches from forming. Most of my bentgrass appears randomly throughout my lawn, so seeds are blowing in from somewhere or being pooped by birds if that's a thing.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests