blue grama

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

blue grama

Post by bpgreen » August 2nd, 2017, 3:07 am

I debated where to post this. I live in more of a cool season area and KBG is king here.

But I'm trying to conserve water, so my lawn is a mixture of the traditional cool season grasses that are predominant here and a bunch of native/naturalized grasses that do well here.

My lawn is about 4k sq ft. About 1k is dormant or dead. So I just ordered some blue grama seed. I'll be planting it in the dormant/dead areas as soon as it arrives. I've been watering once or twice a month for the past 10 years or so, but I'll need to water several times a day to get this to establish. In the past, I've dormant seeded, but I want to get better establishment this time.If the blue grama takes off, I'll stop watering altogether and let it take over (seeding as needed, but hoping for natural spreading).

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: blue grama

Post by Green » August 2nd, 2017, 7:21 pm

How long until the blue grama establishes itself to where it won't need supplemental watering? Is that period shorter than with KBG or Fescues? (You know how, for example, they say to water KBG more often for the first or even to some degree the first two years.)

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: blue grama

Post by bpgreen » August 2nd, 2017, 11:38 pm

In the wild, it drops seed in the fall, and since it's a warm season grass, it won't germinate until it gets warm enough, so it's basically dormant seeding. And there's a pretty short window between warm enough to germinate and basically no precipitation. Seeding now with watering should give it a pretty good jump start so I don't think it'll need any water next year.

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: blue grama

Post by bpgreen » August 12th, 2017, 9:58 pm

I had one sprinkler head break. It was gushing water into the gutter and none of the other heads in that zone had any pressure until I discovered it and fixed it.

In the rest of the lawn, I've got pretty good germination. That section is a little behind, but I'm seeing some germination there, now, as well.

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Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3341
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: blue grama

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » August 18th, 2017, 1:12 pm

bpgreen wrote:
August 12th, 2017, 9:58 pm
I had one sprinkler head break. It was gushing water into the gutter and none of the other heads in that zone had any pressure until I discovered it and fixed it.
That's a common problem. Is that why you have so much dead/dormant grass? Do you know which of your grass varieties went dead/dormant?


bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: blue grama

Post by bpgreen » August 18th, 2017, 2:06 pm

I think the dead grass is mostly some of the remaining KBG and/or tall fescue.

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Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3341
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: blue grama

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » August 21st, 2017, 5:29 pm

Wasn't that your final objective, 10 years ago when you started this conversion project?

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: blue grama

Post by bpgreen » August 22nd, 2017, 12:15 am

Yep. Looking back, I should've just killed the lawn and started from scratch.

User avatar
Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3341
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: blue grama

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » August 28th, 2017, 10:39 am

Do you see progress in the germination department over the past 2 weeks?

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: blue grama

Post by bpgreen » August 28th, 2017, 1:21 pm

Yes. There are still a few spots with no germination, but I'm still seeing a little germination going on, so I'm still running the sprinklers a couple of times a day.

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