# Identify this fast growing grass?



## Meds613 (Aug 12, 2018)

Hello all,

Can anyone identify these little patches of quick growing grass? I live in the North and I believe the majority of my lawn is KBG, but there are these little patches of grass that are clearly a different variety. I mowed this lawn 2 days ago and these little patches grew about 3 inches since, and clearly at a much quicker rate than the KBG. it's really annoying because it takes away from the uniformity of the lawn.

Does anyone know what this is and how to potentially remedy it?

Cheers,
Alex


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

I can't tell you what it is exactly (probably Kentucky 31 or another TTTF), but the way to kill it is to dip a sponge into Roundup and wring out well. Carefully apply to the tops of the blades only, it will spread to the roots if it is actively growing. It is easy to over-apply and have dead KBG spots all over the yard, so err on the repeated application side.


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## jjp2222 (Jul 19, 2018)

First picture looks like nut sedge


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## MichiganGreen (Aug 7, 2018)

Gotta be yellow sedge right there. Sedgehammer or some other sedge killer.


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

I don't think it is nutsedge. It doesn't look triangular enough and the blades are pretty wide. @Meds613, pick one and roll the stem between your fingers. If it feels triangular, I am wrong and Sedgehammer is a better choice. If round, go with the Roundup instead.


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## Mozart (Jul 17, 2018)

First picture does look like nutsedge but the closeup looks different to me. More fiberous looking. A better quality picture would help ID.

My guess is annual ryegrass.


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## MichiganGreen (Aug 7, 2018)

Orchard grass?
https://goo.gl/images/RfxmLH


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## PA Lawn Guy (Jul 2, 2018)

Second close-up looks like k31 fescue to me....


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

We need better pictures. It looks like quack. The round up method described by @Miggity will for sure get rid of it. Since it is growing faster than the rest it should be easy to apply the round up.

By the way, you could also use some nitrogen.


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## Meds613 (Aug 12, 2018)

thanks all for the input. I will try to upload a better picture today.

@g-man that's the plan. i'll be aerating soon and dropping some fert. I'm in Canada so I've been trying to find an alternative for Milo. I did peruse the other thread on this forum and found some good info there. Since we're on the subject, I have several patches of purple grass... is this also a symptom of low nitrogen?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

@Meds613 I wouldn't worry about a Milo alternative this late in the season. You are better off going with a fast acting source of N like Urea. Fall is the best time for weekly or bi-weekly spoon feeding apps.

I think the closest we are going to get to a true milo alternative is the stuff from Brett Young. It is 5-1-2 and is a biosolid product, like milo. I had mine delivered last week but won't be using it until next year. @cfinden has also used the BY and would be a good source for more info - just don't ask him about the smell!


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## Meds613 (Aug 12, 2018)

@Harts thanks for the info! I'm really trying to stay organic considering i'm on well water and want to avoid contamining my acquifer with synthetics.

My plan for this week was: aerate, overseed, home hardware natural fert 9-2-2 + Iron. I might also add in some starter fert just to get things going. Any comments?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

The HH fert is good stuff. I used it this year.

What are you over seeding with? Are you doing all 20k?


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

mountainview turf might also be a good source of organic fert (from the Canadian milo sub discussion). they carry sustane line which has some fast-acting natural ferts like the 5-2-10+Fe.

I have a bag of that to try out... im interested to see how I can turn my lawn around in the front which is just what the previous homeowners have had that we have been ramping up with.


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## Meds613 (Aug 12, 2018)

@Harts 
Yes, i'm doing all 20,000 sqft! I was planning on overseeing at a rate of about 3lbs per 1000sqft using a mix of : 20% KBG, 20% Creeping Red Fescue, 30% Sienna LS Perennial Ryegrass, 30% Insight LS Perennial Ryegrass.

There is a very good deal on another mix right now but i';m not sure whether it;'s appropriate for my situation. It's 5% KBG, 35% Creeping Red Fescue, 25% Intermediate Ryegrass, 30% Annual Ryegrass, 5% Turf-Type Perennial Ryegrass


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

Ok, a couple of thoughts:

1. Get your seed down as quickly as you can. It is getting late in the season for the turf to have enough time to establish. I don't know when your average first frost date is (in the GTA it's early to mid Oct). You want to give the new turf time to harden off before the soil temps get too cold. The fescue and rye might have enough time since they are quick to germinate but the KBG may not make it through Winter

2. I just over seeded 10 days ago with a PRG blend that included both Insight and Sienna. I had germination on Day 4

3. I wouldn't go with your second blend option. Annual rye is a grassy weed. You don't want that

You can check out my journal to see how quickly the Sienna and Insight have germinated. I took a picture last night on Day 10 and my patches have filled in nicely.


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## Mozart (Jul 17, 2018)

Annual Ryegrass is also pretty ugly and would have some similarities to the weed problem you are asking about (lighter color, grows faster than Turfgrass).

What you have in the closeup somewhat resembles K31 tall fescue in shape but the color is off. Definitely closer in color to quack, nutsedge (which it is almost certainly not) and annual rye as far as color is concerned. Not sure if annual rye blades are as thick, but here is a picture, pretty ugly right?


http://purdueturftips.blogspot.com/2013/04/annual-ryegrass-showing-up-in-lawns.html?m=1


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## cfinden (Aug 7, 2018)

@Harts @Meds613 
The Brett Young Milo is awesome. 
-Green grades prill size
-25KG for $34, not bad for Canada (cheaper than the HH organics)
-Apparently it comes from the same source as Milo

I applied it 2 weeks ago, and I have a beautiful dark green with tons of growth.

It does stink terrible.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

cfinden said:


> @Harts @Meds613
> The Brett Young Milo is awesome.
> -Green grades prill size
> -25KG for $34, not bad for Canada (cheaper than the HH organics)
> ...


That's pretty good.
The Sustane (5-2-10+FE) is very similar in that its greens grade (micro) but 50lbs was ~$60 with sales taxes. It is a turkey waste product.

I threw my bag down last night and it didn't smell THAT bad but I also cant smell very well.... My wife didn't know I put it down and didn't say anything about it so I expect it isn't that bad. It was a 2%Fe I believe so I expect a little darker green....
I put it down as a full 50lbs over 4200ft... so its about 0.6lbs/n and it is a water soluble N so it should green up pretty fast being a starter fert.


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## cfinden (Aug 7, 2018)

I ordered 2 bags of that stuff to my local Home Hardware, and choked over the price. They're still calling me to come pick it up. :shock:

I forgot to mention the details of the Brett Young Milo:


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## Meds613 (Aug 12, 2018)

@cfinden do you order the BY fert online?

@Mozart @Harts @g-man I took a close up picture. Is this nut sedge?


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

You would order it through the rep in your area. I don't know who handles eastern Ontario. Check out brettyoung.ca. There is a list of contacts for the different regions.

The rep will have it shipped to them and they will deliver it to you.

Hard to tell from the picture but either a clumping fescue or quack grass would be my guess. Either way, glypho is your product of choice.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Looks like Quack grass to me.. I am dealing with this in my back yard now...


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## Mozart (Jul 17, 2018)

Can you try to take a focused closeup of the auricles and collar?

It's blurry but the auricles look clasping where I circled below.


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