Clumping Tall Fescue is a grassy weed that is very common in lawns throughout the Midwest. It makes lawns look splotchy, patchy and is aesthetically displeasing. Here is what it is, and what you have to do to remove it from your lawn!
I have a Kentucky bluegrass lawn in minnesota, and every year I pull out clumps of tall fescue and fine fescue. It grows like a carpet and my bluegrass cant penetrate through it. Just pull the grass after a good rain and transplant some Kentucky bluegrass into those bare spots. I noticed the fescue only grows next to my driveway and sidewalk so it tolerates the heat better than the bluegrass
Super interesting 👍 This ends my multi-year search for identifying this annoying crap. My lawn service Co. repeatedly promised verbally that it's guaranteed to eliminate it but they never did. As said here it can only be rooted or Rounded up by myself as they don't dig nor Round up unless I pay for the chemical as an extra!
Thanks for this quick vid. The bastard clumps are all over mine as well, it sucks that you're getting the boot over misunderstandings. If you're reading this as a viewer: Few / big clumps? Dig it out, fill the hole with 50/50 soil+sand (2mm or less grain sand, play sand or cyclone works great, but stick to 1 kind of sand or you'll botch your lawn) to fix, and then overseed with your grass type. Tons of patches? Either put up (temporary), or come fall spot treat. Cheap ortho sprayer with multi-spray head, general herbicide, lazer / blue marking dye, and deal with dead patches come spring thaw. Avoid stuff like roundup 365, this will prevent your grass seed from filling/growing! This clumping grass has its place, and that's for high traffic (stepped on) or decorative in planting beds (cut it to 2" every fall/spring). Otherwise kill/pull it asap!
I fired nature scape had them for 4 years sent them photos and got the run around finally this year told them to never step foot in my yard again ,, all they had to do is be honest like you
I have the same issue. Why doesn't lawn care company just discuss the problem of the lawn upfront so the client can decide what to do with it instead of waiting and just cutting the grass. Be upfront and educate the clients so that way we can make the best decision.
Transparency is the best solution here. If they are unreasonable and they fire you, they will only hear the same thing from the next service they hire. Reasonable people will appreciate knowing what is going on.
Most lawn care companies do not train their lawn techs well enough to be able to notice the issue themselves. They teach them how to mow a lawn, spread fertilizer to spray weed control..... then send them on their way.
@parm's I think that is the issue. I am expecting the guys to give me advice on how to fix the issues but that seems to be asking too much. I decided to resolve the problem myself this year and paused my service. So far, it's working well. If it takes me a few days to learn about these basics and a few days of effort to apply the learning (result will take more time), the lawn care companies should train their people on this so they can give good advice to their clients.
Tru green told me to keep the grass cut but i could still see crabgrass this been going on more then 3 years now still i see crabgrass but guess what less work for tru green because i fired them time to get dirty and watch videos on how to get crabgrass gone for good
You have given me information I’ve been searching for for four years! Great channel! I’m in mid west Michigan and you sound like you are from upper Midwest type state?
Firing my lawn care company after this season because of all the clumping fescue. 😊. If I have to spray it with glyphosate or dig it up I’ll just weed and feed myself.
This damn thing is the reason why my lawn is bumpy. I want to dig them all out and then level the lawn. I am unsure if this is a good time to do leveling and reseeding after.
You sir are an idiot. Tall fescue and clumping tall fescue are not similar. Clumping fescue is a nuisance plant that is resistant to selective herbicides. The fescue you suggest overseeding with is an entirely different animal and will not remotely improve the situation.
Agreed. Mr. Ardisajackass obviously doesn’t know much about the subject. You can’t do it very far south in full sun as it will burn up but definitely in shade or in the zone this is in.
You won't have any KBG for long if you do this. Over the next few years, the Tall Fescue will choke out the KBG. Some people do not mind the look of a completely Tall Fescue lawn, others hate it. It isn't common practice to do this.
It does, but you also have to be careful using a single grass type. If there is an insect or disease issue it can more easily wipe out entire lawn areas. With that said, Tall Fescue in particular tends to have less insect and disease issues.
Any place where you're able to select a 100% tall fescue blend is going to be high quality grass seed (rates high in NTF trials). Looking at those leaf blades, they are far wider than anything you'd be able to buy. Likely they aren't going to be the same shade of green either. So clumping tall fescue is still going to stand out against TTTF, even when viewed from a distance.
What actual species is clumping tall fescue? Would it just be called "common" by the experts? I feel spoiled living in Western WA and being blessed by a yard that is full sun all day. Only ever have to water from late June to early August, and all cool season grasses do great here.
The momma fescue, and the poppa fescue, seen that there was a place that they could live. Then, they loaded up their U-Haul, and moved right on in. The end...
If you dig it out you want to be sure you get into the soil so the crown is completely removed. For this reason, we recommend spraying to completely kill it, then remove the dead Clumping Tall Fescue. This helps ensure it's not coming back. Much of the time it gets in home lawns via birds.
I have had 3 different lawn companies treat my lawn. I have told them what my final goal is. None of them have went above and beyond to achieve my goal. And I have fescue grass. Why are they not offering to get rid of it. You didn’t even act like you wanted to mess with it. I know it may be a extra cost, but shouldn’t you at least be offering the service. The company’s around here just want to spray and move on.
@@d6mlgpjs294 They probably would, but it wouldn't be a standard service. $220 for a month of lawn care is a much easier sell than $1600 to create a perfect lawn. If a homeowner wants a perfect lawn, but they want to hire a company to do it, there is almost 0% chance the owner is willing to spend the time and effort to properly irrigate the seeds after planting. And some may be willing, but of course they would overdo it and wash away or drown the seeds. Basically, any homeowner that already knows how to properly care for new grass seed probably is going to want to DIY and won't be hiring a company. Your best bet is to go around your neighborhood and find the person with a really nice looking lawn then just offer to pay them to take care of yours: He'll actually want to do it; will be fun for him. And he will probably know what he's doing. If you see someone mowing with a reel mower, or using a dethatcher or aerator then definitely make good friends with that person.
Dealing with this problem now, after trying to fill in gaps between sod strips. I used some seed to fill gaps, and the seed appears to have introduced clumping tall fescue. When seeding, do I need to avoid any type of fescue whatsoever? Or are there only certain types of fescue that cause this problem? Will commercial turf-type tall fescue cause clumps? Does fine fescue have the same issue?
My back lawn is 100% clump grass, but I want to build a putting green using bentgrass. If I eliminate the clump grass, will my green still be in danger of being overtaken?
I just sprayed to kill it, then dug it up today, 3 big holes of it. A few more to go. I put grass seed down in the hole then filled it up with dirt. What a pain, 3 in deep thick. Nothing prevents as I've been researching :( Any way in preventing it again??
You typically want to put your soil in first and then your seed on top of the soil. Then lightly rake the seed into the very top layer of soil. Putting the seed under soil will not allow it to germinate. There is no real good way to prevent clumping tall fescue. Best thing you can do is remove it before the clumps get too big.
I just brought a house and the lady did not take care of her yard. I killing ever thing and starting over this fall. There is every weed known to man growing in my front and back yard. I have to cut the weed once a week to keep from having a jungle
I had a bunch of this as well, I never what it was until now. I waited about a month. I let it die, kept watering to make sure nothing else was growing, then I scalped and re-seeded a month ago. It has re-grown, only to find I have rough blue grass growing. i bought the seed from a sod farm, it's usually good but I have a feeling the cable company has been running new lines and they are dropping down contractors grade seed. Getting too cold to re-seed again.
Tall fescue weed is the worst. I've lived in my home for ten year a and noticed it was different from the get go. I dug it all out then noticed one summer it was coming back. A friend mowed my lawn as low as possible when I was on holiday then it was all back again. Arrgh. It's a nuisance. I'd much rather have creeping Charlie, clover, crab grass galore than this shit lol
Clumping Tall Fescue and Poa Trivialis are different. Often a quick way you can tell the difference, even with a quick glance is poa trivialis usually is lighter whereas clumping tall fescue is usually darker than the surrounding lawn.
Even if tenacity would work, it would not matter in this case since the Clumping Tall Fescue has choked out all the other types of turf in these areas. So, whether a non-selective herbicide (like roundup) is used once or a different type of herbicide which has results is used multiple times with success... the end result is the same. That is, these areas will need to be reseeded.
I killed and reseeded about 30 of these spots last fall in my front yard. Doing the backyard this year which is less but still a nice chunk. If I’m that homeowner I’m just straight killing that lawn and starting over.
