# New to lawn care. Need help with ID



## GSauceman (Jul 26, 2020)

I am new to this site and to lawn care. Normally I would just mow, weed eat and done. I've lived at my current location for bout two years now and I'm really getting tired of the way my lawn looks. When fall rolls around my yard turns brown with some green spots here and there. I recently had 380' of field line replaced in my back yard and reseeded it with K31 Fescue about 6 weeks ago. Right now in East TN the heat is in the 90's and hardly any rain so I'm watering my K31 daily to every other day. My front and side of my yard has like a low lying vine like grass. I was told it's crab grass but I'm not sure. Could someone with more knowledge be willing to help me ID these grass/weeds. I'd really like to Dethatch, aerate, fertilize, and overseed with K31 this fall with hopes of having a more uniformed lawn


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@GSauceman 
1st picture is Bermuda and the third picture shows what could be dallisgrass, but it's hard to ID at that distance. The broad leaf weeds are typically easy to control. I'm curious why you would choose K31 though. That just might be the least desirable grass that could be considered a lawn grass.

My suggestion would be to decide if you want a warm season grass or a cool season grass. In E Tennessee, you could probably grow bermuda, zoysia, or tall fescue. If you want fescue, I would kill everything and seed with a quality Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF). That should buy you a much nicer lawn than K31 with better qualities to include color, texture, drought and shade tolerance, and best of all a slower growth rate. If you have enough bermuda, you could simply spray out the fescue and get the bermuda to take over.


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## GSauceman (Jul 26, 2020)

I went with the K31 recommended by a friend because he said that it's easy to establish, tolerant and is green year around. I've never kept up with keeping a lush pretty lawn but lately I've became tired of my yard looking awful. My lawn appears to have an array of grasses/weeds. I'm not picky on which grass to use, I'm open for a good grass. I just want it uniformed and green.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

GSauceman said:


> I went with the K31 recommended by a friend because he said that it's easy to establish, tolerant and is green year around. I've never kept up with keeping a lush pretty lawn but lately I've became tired of my yard looking awful. My lawn appears to have an array of grasses/weeds. I'm not picky on which grass to use, I'm open for a good grass. I just want it uniformed and green.


Do yourself a favor and check out ntep.com for turfgrass evaluation. The fescue evaluation typically includes K31 as a "standard" entry (I believe), and you can see how other fescue varieties compare with it. I would recommend reviewing the results from the closest location to you (likely UT) as that might help you determine what type of seed to get.


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## GSauceman (Jul 26, 2020)

I went back out and looked at my yard again. If that is Bermuda grass then maybe I should stick with it. It covers the majority of my lawn. Reading up on Bermuda, it's supposed to be cut low. I've mowed my lawn at 3.5 inches like I have my previous lawn before moving here. I must be mowing to high. The picture is of the stolon I think that runs along the ground with the crown or whatever it's called growing upward. I've seen some pretty lawns with Bermuda online but mostly Deep South.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@GSauceman yep, that's bermuda! Mowing low and frequently will also encourage the bermuda to stay healthier and thicker and it will help to choke out weeds. It will be brown (dormant) from the first heavy frost until temps come back up in the Spring, but it requires very little water compared to the K31.


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## GSauceman (Jul 26, 2020)

Ok thanks for replying with that information. Now I'll just study up on Bermuda and how to mow and care for it. This saved me money because I was fixing to dethatch and overseed with K31 this fall. From what I read, Bermuda with just over take the k31 and smother it out.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

GSauceman said:


> Ok thanks for replying with that information. Now I'll just study up on Bermuda and how to mow and care for it. This saved me money because I was fixing to dethatch and overseed with K31 this fall. From what I read, Bermuda with just over take the k31 and smother it out.


Help choke out weeds and smother out K31 are different. I meant that a good healthy bermuda lawn will help to prevent new weeds. K31 in this case will likely need to be sprayed out. Celsius is a great all around herbicide for bermuda that is safe to apply in heat. Two consecutive apps 14-21 days apart should take out the fescue.


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