Tall fescue in Sun and Shade mixes

[CreepyPurpleFescue]

All lawn seed companies have "Tall Fescue" blends, as well as specialty (such as shade) "for Tall Fescue Lawns."

However, Scotts is the only one (at least mainstream one) that doesn't have TTTF in the Sun and Shade mix. And even Scotts now has Tall fescue in their dense shade mix (I think it used to be chewings, creeping red, hard and sheep).

Pennington and Greenview Sun and Shade have TTTF in them, without denoting the blends at being "for tall fescue lawns." This could imply that the TTTF cultivars they selected are fully compatible with PRG/KBG/FF. There'd be a lot of unhappy people if the TTTF in those products was noticeably unsightly in a northern-mix lawn.... yes, no, maybe?


Revisiting a question I made a thread about a while ago, is it really the end of the world if such seed mixes are incorporated into a lawn that is mostly PRG/FF/KBG? Sure, I know maybe the lawn would get laughed at by a golf course superintendant, a rich person, and/or a turf horticulturist... but I remain concerned how bad it would look, straight-up.


Before I knew what I was doing, I did overseed/repair/etc some areas of my lawn with seed mixes that had TTTF, and those areas look fine. It is my sense that those areas have quite a bit of TTTF, and they are not thin, and I think have more KBG. In an area that is a mix of bentgrass (ok, long story) and I believe PRG and a little FF, I can see the blades where I overseeded a mix with TTTF, and it looks atrocious.


LOL, I understand common sense and guaranteed grass advice can't be delivered over the internet. But that said, I want to overseed with a mix that happens to have TTTF in it (because I've used it before and it happens to grow well on my soil).


What I am worried about is (see above) the areas where the TTTF seems to stick out like a sore thumb.


Any general comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[Green]

Almost every Northern mix lawn in my neighborhood (which is every lawn, practically!) has some Tall Fescue in it, even if it's not a major component of the mix. Even lawns that are predominantly other specie(s) have some Tall Fescue, and I can tell this from the sidewalk without bending down when I'm doing my neighborhood walks. (If the grass is allowed to grow out a bit between mowings, you can readily spot the 4 major species almost at a glance.)

These lawns that have a little Tall Fescue here and there do not look bad at all; they look, well, average, because people probably just buy whatever seed they find when they need it, and don't really care what type it is as long as it works well.

In my opinion, a patch of Fescue sticks out more than a patch of Tall Fescue, unless the Tall Fescue is something like a KY-31 and most of the other grass is finer.

Jonathon Green, too, includes 40% TTTF (and 40% FF also) in their Dense Shade mix (careful...they have two shade mixes...one has Poa Triv, and the other one--the one I mentioned--does not).

Most people simply don't care if they're buying TTTF, TTPR, or KBG or whatever percentage mix of those. The average person who does some gardening but isn't into lawns specifically, might be able to tell the difference between Fine Fescue and everything else, but they likely don't care much beyond that, what's in their mix, unless they're really particular.

When you overseed with Tall Fescue into a lawn with a mix of mostly other stuff, the advice is usually to use predominantly or solely Tall Fescue, and to do everything possible to have a successful overseed. Why? Tall Fescue is not particularly competitive in the early years following an overseed. It seems to take a good number of years to get a firm foothold. It can easily get crowded out by other grasses during this time. After five years or so though, it seems nearly indestructible and quite competitive, though.