Best grass seed for North Georgia (Atlanta: how much, contractor, maintenance)

[spearhead3]

I have a small yard and need a low maintenance green grass.

[cmills]

Bermuda. We have it out front and it needs to be cut half as much as the fescue does. If we could keep the weeds out of it, it could probably go a month before cutting.

[cmills]

Oh, but Bermuda will turn brown in the winter. Don't know it that suits you. We have Titan fescue in the rear yard and it's nice, stays green, but grows like mad and needs a trim once a week during the growing seasons.

[LovinDecatur]

How much shade does your yard have? Large trees?

[netdragon]

This is an interesting Kentucky Bluegrass experiment: Kentucky Bluegrass in Georgia at 11 months + pics - Lawn Care Forum - GardenWeb

Our assoc. requires Bermuda, so haven't had a chance to experiment with anything else.

[spacelord75]

My understanding is that every landscape contractor in Atlanta uses Lesco brand seed for fescue, as they have a wholesale location somewhere nearby and it is cheaper (plus it actually grows). I personally use Rebel brand seed and have had good results with limited watering (basically just a couple times the first two weeks, then let the rain handle the rest). It's really important that you till up 4-6" of earth before throwing the seed out there to try to conjure up the nutrients in the soil. Also, although it is not necessary, I would still recommend throwing straw on top of it, just to keep the seed from washing away and to keep moisture near the ground. As an FYI - any seed you throw out now will likely die in August or so b/c the roots won't have developed enough to survive drought/heat of late summer. This is fine, though, b/c you can just do it again in the Fall, which is optimal growing time for fescue. Good luck.

[plessthanpointohfive]

OK, I'm going to kinda hijack this thread. We have a very small area in the back, about 20X30, that we'd like to sod. It's got dappled sunlight, but never direct full sun.

Any recommendations? I don't care so much about grass getting brown in the winter (back in New Orleans all grass stayed green year round so having grass turn brown is novel to me). I like grasses that are "bluer" in color, though. And it should be a nice barefoot grass.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

OK, I'm going to kinda hijack this thread. We have a very small area in the back, about 20X30, that we'd like to sod. It's got dappled sunlight, but never direct full sun.

Any recommendations? I don't care so much about grass getting brown in the winter (back in New Orleans all grass stayed green year round so having grass turn brown is novel to me). I like grasses that are "bluer" in color, though. And it should be a nice barefoot grass.

Fescue or Kentucky bluegrass. Bermuda needs more sun than you have, and it's what I consider a "barefoot grass" unless you can fertilize the crap out of it and get ot growing very dense/tall (doubtful given your sun situation).

[plessthanpointohfive]

I'm not a big fan of fertilizers, tree-hugger that I am. I was thinking I'd seed it with Dutch white clover to get the nitrogen into the grown. I actually like the way clover looks when it's sprinkled in with regular grass. I guess I am not a true lawn enthusiast...

Thanks for the suggestions!

[RainyRainyDay]

I've been overseeding our fescue lawn with a blend of heat-resistant Kentucky bluegrass and fescue, the last couple of years. I think the bluegrass is surviving and spreading.

Coming from the north, I'm used to bluegrass lawns which are planted once and then maintain themselves. Well, you have to de-thatch, fertilize, possibly aerate, but not reseed/over-seed!