Grass seed for lawns
Of the 150 - 160 pot specie line up in England , but only about six are used for lawns . Proprietary lawn seed mixtures consist of the merchant ’s especial commixture of some or all of these seeds and are sell according to the eccentric of lawn required and , of track , price . In purchasing proprietary seed mix it is of import to buy from a fair and lettered firm . It is advantageous if the provider states the constitution of his mixtures . Under the Seeds Regulations Act it is not required for suppliers of lawn dope to disclose the constituents of their mixture , but many do .
A very significant factor in approximate a given species or variety of eatage is the permissiveness of cutting at any given altitude . This agent must be understandably understood ( eg perennial ryegrass will not thrive if cut stuffy than 2.5 atomic number 96 ( 1 in ) and unsatisfying results are incur if over - grievous mowing is imposed on a concoction .
The chief species of skunk used in lawn mixtures are as follows :
Perennial ryegrass(Lolium perenne)
Some miscellanea of recurrent ryegrass have small tolerance for regular mowing at all . The varieties most suited to turf organization are those pick out as late florescence , leafy , unyielding character of which the Aberystwyth strain S.23′ was the first reliable example . This variety maintains a high criterion so that it continues to be pop although new Continental varieties are now useable which liken very well . These include the varieties Heraf,`Sceempter ’ and ‘ Melle ’ .
inseminate alone , even the good ryegrasses seldom take shape a sufficiently heavy sward to suppress weed invasion and none will persist when pout at 1 cm ( 1/2 in ) or less . Perennial rye grass is best suited to conditions of reasonably gamey fertility and put up that this adroitness is maintained , the stature of cut kept at about 2.5 atomic number 96 ( 1 in ) and mowing is frequent throughout the growing season , ryegrass will prove suitable for a second or third quality lawn , ie the drying flat coat character of lawn .
Timothy(Phleum)
There are new leafy miscellany of this valuable agricultural grass , the exceptional characteristic of which are good wintertime colour and ability to find after vesture . regrettably establishment from seeded player is rather slow , so that the dope does not contend very successfully with other pot in a mixture , specially repeated rye grass .
The British diversity , ‘ S.50 ’ , the Swedish variety , ‘ Evergreen ’ , and the Dutch smorgasbord , ‘ world-beater ’ , are very good but are all rather expensive and since Timothy is desirable only for second - class lawns ( or first - lineament playing fields ) this is not an attractive lawn grass at the present time .
Rough-stalked meadowgrass (Poa trivialis)
A reasonably dwarf supergrass , this is sometimes employed in the cheaper , second - class lawn mixtures . There are no good new multifariousness of this .
Smooth-stalked meadow grass(Poa pratensis)
This is receive the attention of the breeder and there are some very good varieties , particularly the Dutch one know as ‘ Prato ’ which is likely to seem in quite good lawn seed mixtures . Slow in instal , tranquil - stalked meadow gage in the end form a very thick , long-lived , drouth - repellent greensward if not mown too closely and the vigorous rhizome evolution allows good retrieval after wear . unluckily , bland - stalk hayfield locoweed does not thrive under close mowing and in fact is well kept at 2 - 2.5 cm ( 3/4 1 in ) in height so that its use for fine lawn is rather limited .
Annual meadow grass(Paoannua)
An one-year , or short lived perennial , this is rarely seeded but often found , since it invades strongly into lawns . It is a pasture which is not very resistive to either drought or severe wintertime weather condition and is prone to disease , but because of its prolific seeding habit it keep on to form a considerable balance of most lawn .
Crested dogstail(Cynosurus cristatus)
It is quite a good bottom smoke for 2d - class ; quality lawn mixture but again there ‘ are no new selected varieties available as yet . This grass is tolerant of low fertility and has good wintertime color and hard - wearing caliber . choose varieties might , therefore , show extremely utile .
Creeping red fescue(Festuca rubra var. rubra)
This is suitable for inclusion in good lawn mixtures but does not stand very nigh mowing and so is not suited for really high course of study lawns . There are selected varieties of this green goddess uncommitted , in cluding ‘ S.59 ’ , a fine - leaved wintertime ggreen selection , which forms an excellent ‘ turf either alone or in mixtures . There are also young Continental assortment of creeping reddened fescue which are good , eg ` Oasis ’ and ‘ Brabantia ’ .
mastication ’ fescue(Festuca rubra sub . spp . commutata)is the fescue which ( usually assorted with browntop hang ) is used to form good quality all right turf in Britain and which is also included in less fine mixtures because of its excellent turf - form characteristics . Very just quality seed is on the market these days from America ( no longer from New Zealand ) and there are raw selected varieties from Holland , namely ‘ Highlight ’ and ‘ Brabantia ’ , which are very good indeed . One of the main disadvantages of all Chewings ’ Festuca elatior is , of course , that their winter colouring material is piteous .
Bent grass(Agrostis species)
The o.k. dead set grass used for forming fine greensward ( usually mixed with Chewings ’ fescue grass ) is normallyAgrostis tenuis(browntop hang ) and the principal reference of provision is America since New Zealand has more or less go out of this market . The brown - top forms a very fine , dense turf , large-minded of close mowing , while as a constituent of all turf admixture it is a very valuable bottom grass .
It is , perhaps , interesting that in the part of the United States where weather conditions are like with those in Britain , browntop bent(Agrostis tenuis)is not as pop as crawl bent(Agrostis stolonifera)of which there are many name variety , almost all establish vegetatively rather than from seed . There is , however , at least one middling acceptable multifariousness of creeping hang which in America is established from seed , this being cognise as ‘ Penn - cross ’ .
Other grasses
From fourth dimension to time other fine - leaved grasses such as surd fescue(Festuca longifolia)are used in lawn seed potpourri but their value is believed to be rather limited except possibly in relative to price .
A demand for grass source mixture suitable for shade shape continues to exist despite the fact that there are really no worthy grasses for growing fine lawns under nuance conditions .
Generally speak the grass farm on the non - shaded area of a lawn are fairly worthy for growing under the shade if the height of baseball swing is increased . There are no grasses which both tolerate mowing and really thrive under shade conditions .
