# KBG varieties



## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Thinking of using 100% KBG elite varieties for a reno this year.

I'm not interested in a monostand. I want the most consistent dark color and compact growth habit, without having to worry as much about disease taking out sections of the lawn.

I'm looking at getting a mix of these.

Bluebank - compact midnight type
Midnight - compact midnight type
Mazama - compact america type
Bewitched - compact type

Yard is mostly hit by sun, but it's a bonus having Mazama and Bewitched for areas near trees that receive a bit less sun.

Would anyone have any other ideas of cultivars that could be added that would improve general disease resistance? (While maintaining a compact dark look )

Living in southeastern South Dakota


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

Ben4Birdies said:


> Thinking of using 100% KBG elite varieties for a reno this year.
> 
> I'm not interested in a monostand. I want the most consistent dark color and compact growth habit, without having to worry as much about disease taking out sections of the lawn.
> 
> ...


My FIL renovated his lawn last year and he wanted the same traits as you. I got him a mix of Bluebank, Mazama, and Bewitched. So far so good. 2 years ago I seeded my new construction lawn with Bluebank and I am very happy with it. We are an hour and 15 minutes SE of Sioux Falls. I don't think you would need MIdnight in the mix since Bluebank is a midnight type and I believe that Mazama is as well. If you're looking for dark color, most will have midnight lineage.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

I had been looking at the seed superstore ss1100 mix that has bluebank, midnight, and mazama. I figured I had heard so many good things about it, as well as bewitched, that a combo of all 4 would be nice.

Is 3 cultivars all you need to help prevent major disease issues?

Are there no other types worth considering adding to bluebank, mazama, and bewitched?


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## lbb091919 (Apr 26, 2020)

Have you taken a look at Award? It scored well in color and disease resistance.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Award looks like a promising option as well.

Would there be a downside to having 5 elite kbg cultivars instead of 3?


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

Everest is a really nice cultivator too FWIW.

I don't see a downsize to adding several different cultivators. The cultivators are all elite varieties and should perform well. The only downside of creating your own mix with several cultivators could be cost. SSS's SS1100 Mix would be a great option with very good disease resistance.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

So here is what I have narrowed it down to.

*Option A*
33% Bluebank (swellseedco.com)
33% Bewitched (unitedseeds.com)
33% Mazama (cdford.com)

*Option B* (seedsuperstore.com)
20% Bluebank
20% Bewitched
20% Mazama
20% Midnight
20% Award

Price will be in the same ballpark because sss is rather expensive, but so is the cost of shipping from 3 separate places.

It sounds dumb, but I'm leaning towards Option A because then I have the ability to grow each cultivar in separate pots (or even a small test plot) and be able to see how each cultivar compares.

Option B is currently a custom blend, which would become more expensive to try and purchase all the cultivars separately.

As far as the end result of the lawn, I do like both options. Maybe I'm leaning towards Option A because I get a higher percentage of bewitched and mazama.

What do you guys think of these options? Your input has been valuable.


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## Budstl (Apr 19, 2017)

Any reason you don't want to do a monostand? Between your 2 options, I'd go with option A.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Budstl said:


> Any reason you don't want to do a monostand?


Stated in the first post - I have no desire to have to worry about disease taking out chunks of the lawn.

The main reason I even came up with Option B was thinking that more genetic diversity could perhaps improve resistance to disease.


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## Budstl (Apr 19, 2017)

@Ben4Birdies gotcha. Well bluebank, midnight, and award are all compact midnights. So you really only need to pick 1 out of that group. I have plots of mazama, bluebank, and bewitched. They are all in full sun and do fine. These 3 combined will be plenty fine for you.


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## jskierko (Sep 5, 2020)

Option A would be a beautiful blend!


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## Sfurunner13 (Feb 26, 2019)

Option A sounds great.


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## Wile (Sep 17, 2020)

I went with SS1100 from SSS with Bluebank 33%, Midnight 33%, and Mazama 33% for its shade and disease tolerances. I did see some DS and BP/NSR pressure after my mini reno in Oct. We had a really wet summer and fall and I probably over regulated it too. Overall, color, appearance, texture, and compact growth pattern were excellent so far. I would go with option A because Bewitched is just an awesome cultivar to me. I wanted it for my yard, but I had trouble finding it at the time I bought.


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## BH Green (Apr 9, 2020)

Hey @Ben4Birdies nice to see a fellow lawn enthusiast from the Sioux Falls area. You can't go wrong with any of those options.

For my TTTF/KBG renovation a couple years ago I went with a custom blend of 40% Mazama, 30% Bewitched, 30% Bluebank for my KBG and I'm happy how it performs. I wanted more Mazama because there are some parts of my lawn that don't get a ton of sun.

While my TTTF sometimes experiences disease pressure in our muggy summers, I am yet to notice any disease in the KBG plants that are in my lawn, although it has been super dry here so that could change.


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## JerseyGreens (Aug 30, 2019)

Vote for option A


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

I would swap out the Bluebank from swell seed, personally. Nothing against the cultivar but they list the seed analysis as 0.01% weed seed and you could get another great midnight from united seed that is cleaner. My two cents.


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

Thank you all so much for the valuable feedback. I did decide to go with Option A. Bluebank, Mazama, and Bewitched - 10 pounds each.



Now that I've got the seed, I'm considering whether I can pull off a reno of a small area this spring. I know it wouldn't be ideal, but if I do a small enough area, I could handle pulling some weeds by hand. 🤔


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## BH Green (Apr 9, 2020)

Yeah!!! Congrats on getting your seed. Great selection.

If you are thinking of doing a small area with this spring, I might suggest starting with an area that gets some shade protection from trees in the summer if you have any. And you'd still get sun in those areas in spring before trees grow leaves.

Honestly, I don't think most of my KBG made it through summer after my spring reno (KBG/TTTF), but I do notice a higher percentage of KBG plants in the shadier half of my yard now. It might be wise to wait until fall, and if this summer ends up being anything like the last two years here in SE South Dakota, baby KBG will have a tough time surviving. I guess the only thing you have to lose if it doesn't work out is expensive seed lol.


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## aug0211 (Sep 5, 2017)

Ben4Birdies said:


> Thank you all so much for the valuable feedback. I did decide to go with Option A. Bluebank, Mazama, and Bewitched - 10 pounds each.
> 
> 
> 
> Now that I've got the seed, I'm considering whether I can pull off a reno of a small area this spring. I know it wouldn't be ideal, but if I do a small enough area, I could handle pulling some weeds by hand. 🤔


Planning to go with the same mix!

Also, great to see the quality on Bluebank from Swell. gm560 had concern there (understandable!) and it looks like what you got is better than what was marketed. Fingers crossed the same happens for me!


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## Ben4Birdies (12 mo ago)

aug0211 said:


> Planning to go with the same mix!


Awesome! Let me know how yours ends up turning out 😃

If all goes according to plan, I could be getting my seed down potentially this week. I've got a bumpy slope that needs quite a bit of leveling.

I'm gonna talk to an agronomist about my soil test and see what I should be adding to help fix my soil. I've got too much magnesium, and not sure if I need to use elemental sulfur or gypsum or both to get things back into balance.


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## jcs43920 (Jun 3, 2019)

I have all those varieties in my lawn with the addition of Award. Started as Midnight, Bewitched, and Award, then over-seeded and repaired spots with Bluebank and Mazama. Two years in never had an issue with disease. I just do one preventative fungicide in June. The side yard with perennial rye in it is another story though.

Good KBG cultivars overall just seem to have so much better disease resistance compared to Rye and even Tall Fescue. I think you'll be fine with the blend you have. Honestly I prefer only three varieties in a KBG blend just to ensure consistency. But if you want to really ensure a broad spectrum disease resistance those 5 should be great.

Blue Note is about the only other thing that would help give you some more diversity but you may sacrifice a tad bit of super dark green color, if that is your main goal. It would give you a slight bit better color in April though.


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