Rhizomatous Tall Fescue

OKay, bout 2 years ago I was reading some of the posts on this forum and there was discussion about this topic.  Wouldn't it be great to have the benefits of TF along with something that spreads with Rhizomes.

The general consensus was that anything to that date wasn't worth the effort.  Well I received a flyer today with a company wanting to see your lawn with RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue)  It has a website www.aboutrtf.com

I was about to seed some bare spots and I was wondering if anybody has experience with this?

I checked out the website, then did some googling to see if there was anyone who liked it.  Some do, some don't. 

Can't say i would want to use it myself and then have to be disappointed and start all over.  I'm having enough trouble figuring out how to get my present patchwork of lawn to improve.

Here is a link comparing RTF to Jonathan Green's Dakota Tall Fescue.  Interesting, even though it is from the manufacturer.

http://www.jonathangreen.com/pro/files/techsheets/Dakota%20TF%20compared%20to%20RTF%20or%20Labarinth%20TF.pdf

sounds like it's still not worth the trouble.

Today it is raining in NY and it looks like that Shady Nook grass I planted is taking hold.  It has almost 20% of the Dakota Tall Fescue in it.  You might want to use that "Black Beauty" grass that JG has. 

Two things I have noticed today.  One of which is that I do have some low spots that are filling with water.  Guess I'll have to fill those in and reseed.  The other is that some of the bare spots are filing in with established turf from last year that just seems to have just popped up from the ground.  It is not the new seed as it is thick and mature looking.  I don't know if some of the grass had gone dormant and went under the soil from this past winter or not.  Usually, because of the shaded area it always takes longer for my lawn to fill in anyway, but this year it looked like a disaster before the trees even filled in to offer any shade.

One thing I can tell you is that the JG Fescue blend I am using takes a long time to germinate.  Been almost 3 weeks already and it continues to newly pop up in places.  We had a real warm spell when I seeded and I thought summer was here already and got anxious and seeded a little to early I think. 

I'm feeling better about my lawn now, and I hope you can come up with an answer for yours.

The tips on this forum are great for creating a less labor intensive green zone around the house.  As I get more into organics and permaculture, I am sure I will be enjoying our property more.



Good luck.

Al

what are you covering the seed with.  I too had the same troubles and then I started to lightly cover with a compost / topsoil mix that just covers the seed.  It does wonders.  I went from being really disappointed with a seed I used to very happy.  Took Seven days before I stared seeing germination as opposed to 14-21 days I saw without.  My guess is that it's easier to keep wet which I believe is the key?

Charles, 
At first, I just pressed the seed into the soil as the directions indicated and kept the seeds moist.  I used compost later on as they started to sprout but only a very small amount.  The germination was slow because it had gotten colder after I sowed the seed.  It started with the temps in the high 70s, and a few days later it dropped into the 50s, with overnight lows in the 30s and 40s, and stayed that way for 3 weeks.  It is still in the 50s and has been raining for 2 days.  I am seeing water puddled in the low spots and many places where the clay has moved up to the surface due to erosion.  The soil is worse than I thought.  The only place there is decent soil is under the existing fescue that is about 8 inches tall. The problem is that there are only a few places where this is happening.  The other places are only showing an inch or so of old growth with about 2 inches or less of topsoil.

I am thinking of waiting for fall, tear it all up, add topsoil and start all over.  I am tempted to try the post hole treatment if anyone here thinks it will work.  I've spent a few bucks and a lot of time trying to get this going and I wouldn't want to start all over if I can salvage what I've got. It is just the more I look, the more disappointed I am getting. I have the patience to stick with the program if it has any chance of success. 

Al

All tall fescue will reproduce with rhizomes.