# What's Happening to my Tall Fescue?



## jweedman87 (Apr 25, 2019)

Should start by saying, I seeded brand new Tall Fescue on April 20th. Spring seeding ... I know, I know ... it's not the best time. And I know my chances getting through a TN summer aren't great. But honest to God I just wanted to learn more about my lawn, and not have to mow dirt & weeds another year. I would say, honestly, that it came in much better than I expected it to, thanks to some great timing with a ton of rain and agreeable soil temps.










Starter Fert, trying to get better at watering, got a better mower (mowing high), N-EXT Bio Pack, Brown Patch Fungicide, I really got into it. Not all at once, but over time. Then I went on vacation and temps went up. Uhhg. I came back to a yard that had dead spots (brown patches of grass that died together, pretty sure it's not brown patch but could be). But my bigger concern is that, my fescue seems to be wilted out. It's not "standing up" and doesn't seem to be growing much, even after watering (1.5"-2" a week) and mowing every 3rd day (again, about 4" mow). You can kind of see it in these photos:


















It just seems matted down, or wilted out. Is this what is being referred to when you say the lawn is "Melting Out"? I'll post one more picture of the seed I used. It seems to be more of a "fine" fescue, so maybe the blades themselves aren't meant to be mowed as high, due to the weight / structure of the blades?










Again... I'm not sure so I'm just kind of guessing. Any pointers or advice is very much welcome!


----------



## tgreen (Oct 20, 2018)

Doesn't look bad for a spring seed. Mow it. Overseed in fall


----------



## Tsmith (Aug 11, 2017)

New grass should be mowed and kept at 2" until established so even with the heat I'd recommend lowering your height of cut to 3" to try and prevent it from falling over. Might be a good idea to go around with blower or lightly rake with leaf rake to get it to stand up before cutting

Ideally you would have kept it at 2" and gradually went higher to prepare for the heat

I'd recommend cutting back on your watering too at this point


----------



## ScottW (Sep 16, 2019)

I agree with Tsmith. Drop the HOC to about 2.5"-3" and see if you can get it to stand up more. Run the mower in side discharge (not mulching) to create a little more vacuum to pull the blades up as they're cut.

As the fescue matures the blades will thicken a little and it will gain some strength from root & crown development and be able to hold a higher HOC. The problem is if you let it grow too long before it matures a bit, it will flop over and it can be difficult to get it to stand up again.



jweedman87 said:


> It just seems matted down, or wilted out. Is this what is being referred to when you say the lawn is "Melting Out"?


No. "Melting out" is a specific fungal disease.


----------



## jweedman87 (Apr 25, 2019)

Tsmith said:


> New grass should be mowed and kept at 2" until established so even with the heat I'd recommend lowering your height of cut to 3" to try and prevent it from falling over. Might be a good idea to go around with blower or lightly rake with leaf rake to get it to stand up before cutting
> 
> Ideally you would have kept it at 2" and gradually went higher to prepare for the heat
> 
> I'd recommend cutting back on your watering too at this point


That makes sense. I'll do a couple of mows this week to take it down to 3". I had been using a blower _after_ the mow to try and get it stand up a bit, but that makes sense to try it before hand, as well.

This Fall, I will aerate & overseed. Then I should do the same approach correct? Once the new grass is up to 2" try and keep it around there the first few weeks then take it up to 3"? Or should I try and keep it all around 2" before winter?

Really appreciate your advice.


----------



## jweedman87 (Apr 25, 2019)

ScottW said:


> I agree with Tsmith. Drop the HOC to about 2.5"-3" and see if you can get it to stand up more. Run the mower in side discharge (not mulching) to create a little more vacuum to pull the blades up as they're cut.
> 
> As the fescue matures the blades will thicken a little and it will gain some strength from root & crown development and be able to hold a higher HOC. The problem is if you let it grow too long before it matures a bit, it will flop over and it can be difficult to get it to stand up again.


Got it ... so it is the mowing height. Makes total sense. And thanks for the tip about running a side discharge. I had been mulching, but hadn't got it stand up much that way. Side discharge makes more sense to pull it up. Appreciate the advice!


----------



## Old Hickory (Aug 19, 2019)

ScottW said:


> I agree with Tsmith. Drop the HOC to about 2.5"-3" and see if you can get it to stand up more. *Run the mower in side discharge (not mulching) to create a little more vacuum to pull the blades up as they're cut.*


What? This is great to know. :thumbup:


----------



## badtlc (Aug 22, 2019)

jweedman87 said:


> That makes sense. I'll do a couple of mows this week to take it down to 3". I had been using a blower _after_ the mow to try and get it stand up a bit, but that makes sense to try it before hand, as well.
> 
> This Fall, I will aerate & overseed. Then I should do the same approach correct? Once the new grass is up to 2" try and keep it around there the first few weeks then take it up to 3"? Or should I try and keep it all around 2" before winter?
> 
> Really appreciate your advice.


You may just have to keep it lower until the grass matures and thickens. I have areas that have never tolerated cuts over 3" and would layover every time. I finally came to the realization that I need to keep my cut below 3" and water as necessary to keep it green.


----------



## jweedman87 (Apr 25, 2019)

badtlc said:


> You may just have to keep it lower until the grass matures and thickens. I have areas that have never tolerated cuts over 3" and would layover every time. I finally came to the realization that I need to keep my cut below 3" and water as necessary to keep it green.


Wow! I just finished a cut @ 3" and I can't believe the difference that makes once over. It kind of stinks, though, as I was looking forward to a higher cut, for the aesthetic, and the fact that my yard is so full of dips & uneven spots, the higher cut hides it better.

Maybe I can train it as we get into the fall months. But right now, this helped a ton. Some of those area that were laying down are much better. I'll lightly rake prior to the next few cuts, and then use the blower afterwards. The side discharge hint above seems to have helped too.

Appreciate the feedback, for sure!


----------



## Old Hickory (Aug 19, 2019)

Funny thing. I also used the blower (before cut) to stand-up the blades then cut (at the same HOC, 4 inches) with the side discharge. And my lawn looks more uniform now. So I'm pleased.

I also appreciate the suggestions.


----------



## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

Old Hickory said:


> Funny thing. I also used the blower (before cut) to stand-up the blades then cut (at the same HOC, 4 inches) with the side discharge. And my lawn looks more uniform now. So I'm pleased.
> 
> I also appreciate the suggestions.


This is exactly what makes this community great, good solutions to solve problems.

If you also wanted to look at getting a high lift Gator blade from Oregon, you could get some additional lift to help out more. I run Gator G5' on both my mowers and have convinced all my friends to do the same. Much better lift than even the high lift OEM blades.


----------



## jweedman87 (Apr 25, 2019)

Jconnelly6b said:


> This is exactly what makes this community great, good solutions to solve problems.
> 
> If you also wanted to look at getting a high lift Gator blade from Oregon, you could get some additional lift to help out more. I run Gator G5' on both my mowers and have convinced all my friends to do the same. Much better lift than even the high lift OEM blades.


Checking out these blades! If I'm reading this page correctly, though, it doesn't look like these are compatible with my mower (Toro Recycler 21"): https://www.oregonproducts.com/en/p/98-631. Bummer.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Look the part number of your toro blade and then search in the gator website. I'm pretty sure they have a 21in for it.


----------



## dleonard11122 (Jun 24, 2020)

I was having issues with TTTF/FF mix laying over at 4" when I was running the JD mulch kit on my JD X320. I removed the mulch kit and switched to the aforementioned Gator G5s and have had a much better cut this year. I can even see the grass getting sucked into the mower deck.


----------



## badtlc (Aug 22, 2019)

Just checking on your seed specs and it appears your recommended mowing heights for your 3 TTTFs is 2"-4", 1.5"-4" and 2-4" respectively. IMO, I would not go above 3" HOC with this since that is right in the middle.

Also note the new grass requires 6lbs/1000sqft of nitrogen instead of the 3-4lbs for mature grass.


----------



## behemyth (Jun 8, 2019)

I keep my TTTF at 2.5, it looks really good and stays standing straight up as long as I keep it watered. It does cause me wife aggro, since she thinks long grass looks stupid. She can't argue with the results tho...


----------



## 1028mountain (Oct 1, 2019)

Same shit happened to my reno. In the end I couldn't save those spots and they ended up dying and I had to reseed a fair amount of my lawn.


----------

