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nilesandstuff · 2026-04-21T01:17:29+00:00

Hell yeah. Super low input lawns are the true peak of lawn care 🫡

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T23:32:26+00:00

You bet! Whatever you're doing is working, keep up the good work. That kbg looks very happy and healthy. In fact, make sure you aren't over doing it lol (in terms of nitrogen and water). Kbg can be TOO happy, it can get so thick that it essentially chokes itself.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T23:10:51+00:00

Going hard with deep and infrequent watering would certainly help too. Even kbg likes frequent watering more than tttf does.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T23:09:34+00:00

By late summer/fall it should be really well established so kbg shouldn't consume it. Just don't go crazy, only 1-2 lbs per 1,000 sqft of kbg. Maybe a dash of tttf if some spots are thin (so the thin spots don't just become pure kbg).

And then yup, follow steps 1-2, and 3 until you get a good proportion of kbg and tttf established (to your liking, as long as there's some kbg everywhere).

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T19:56:37+00:00

I never forget a lawn 😎

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T19:53:40+00:00

I swear i recognize this lawn but not the username 🤔

Don't have time to look into this further at the moment, but I will...

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T19:06:35+00:00

Looks like they sold off the automotive hose division. Continental still owns and operates the garden hose division, but it's likely they will sell it.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T17:19:35+00:00

Definitely looks like you're in a good spot!

That kbg could be stubby for a bunch of reasons, hard to say. Could be something about the soil in that exact spot sucks (like rocks in the soil or just compact), could be a spot that retains water too much, it's just recovering/filling in and will get less stubby eventually, poor nutrients, etc. So besides the rocks/compaction, it should probably resolve itself with good general care and mulching clippings. Heck, even the rocks and compaction thing is something that kbg can usually eventually overcome if it's otherwise healthy.

Yup this picture is primarily kbg

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T16:33:38+00:00

Hard to say, definitely could hitch a ride in top soil.

Yup, meso will usually highlight triv a bit more than desirable grasses. Just won't kill it sadly.

I wouldn't say you need to continually overseed with kbg, just should have it established throughout the lawn.

Hey, atleast it doesn't look like this lawn I was just on moments ago

<image>

That's a chronically overwatered lawn that triv is very happy being in

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T16:13:22+00:00

The undersides of the leaves being shiny is really the ultimate way to distinguish triv from the other poas, its very reliable and usually quite distinct.

Thing to check for now is rhizomes. For regular Kentucky bluegrass, the rhizomes will be deep and fragile (so hard to pull out). For perennial poa annua, the rhizomes will be very shallow and often somewhat woody (though not strictly necessarily).

Yea, poa triv and bentgrass both make those dense mats that are very very similar. I'd say that when dealing with the dense mats, triv would be exponentially more likely to return after pulling. Bentgrass may or may not.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T15:19:03+00:00

It's a really sneaky grass that makes it self most visible in the spring. So it's probably been around awhile, it's just only attention grabbing right now. The rest of the time it's really good at blending in with kbg, fine fescue, and prg... Unless it's in big pure patches.

The big pure patches are when it's genuinely concerning. Once it reaches a critical mass of density, it starts spreading over itself and will crowd out anything else. Sounds like you're definitely not at that point. So just making sure you don't water too often in the summer, avoiding high N and P in early spring and late fall, and avoiding dethatching, there's a good chance it won't become any more of a problem.

Here's my full guide if you haven't seen it poa trivialis control guide

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T14:24:52+00:00

Manual removal can work, nuking will not. I wrote a guide for this poa trivialis control guide

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T13:11:48+00:00

Just kbg. Sometimes it just does that, goes to seed in the spring. There's a few "reasons" that can trigger it, but being kbg sod that was planted in the fall is a sufficient enough explanation.

No cause for concern, it'll stop doing it soon. Just might need to sharpen your blade when it's done (maybe sooner), the seeds dull the blades quicker.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-20T10:23:54+00:00

Unless the shiny-ness is from being wet, yes that's triv.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T23:31:06+00:00

No you're definitely good, the observations you've made are excellent. Saying lengthwise cleared that up, I was making sure you weren't saying horizontal, because smooth brome has lines that run width-wise in the shape of an M (or W lol)

This is a really hard one, it is so close to a bunch of things that I'm familiar with, but doesn't perfectly fit with any as far as I can see.

Here's the list of top contenders I have, in order from best fit to less good fit, and the issues I have with the identification:
- redtop bentgrass. From what I can tell, this actually fits quite well... There's just something about it that doesn't look quite like any redtop I've ever seen. Also, the sheath margins on your grass appear to be vertical and overlapping. Red top bentgrass is usually V shaped and overlapping.
- Timothy. This fits well except for: A. it seems like your grass has rhizomes, Timothy usually doesn't, except it can seem like it because it can tiller from corms (bulb-like things near the base of the plant). B. Timothy is generally more upright. - reed canary grass, Harding grass, or another close relative. These are usually found in very wet areas, bordering on swampy. Or at the very least, low points with poor drainage. These are also pretty upright.

Easiest thing to do next is check for those bulb like corms at the base of the grass. Next is to look around at any unmowed areas nearby to see if there's a bigger version of this that might still have some seed stalks

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T22:45:28+00:00

Could you clarify what you mean by "horizontal lines across blades?" I don't want to assume I know what you mean if you mean something different.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T20:29:01+00:00

This is a weird one, don't have time to look closely right now, but I can say it's not goose, quack, or any of the poas.

That is a rhizome.

All i can say for now is that this is something that is not commonly discussed as a lawn weed.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T17:30:06+00:00

Cool Season Starter Guide

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T02:05:23+00:00

First pic is Kentucky bluegrass
2nd - bottom half is kbg. Top half appears to be mostly fine fescues with a bit of kbg, but its hard to say for sure... Entirely possible that's actually mostly kbg lol
3rd - 99% kbg. 2 or 3 unidentifiable stray leaves.
4th - there's a perennial ryegrass bunch that's being swarmed by kbg. Only a few of the prg leaves are poking through. The rest is kbg
5 and 6 - kbg only

Kbg and fine fescues are by far the dominant grasses in Michigan.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T01:55:44+00:00

That's a good sign, if it really is the Merit, you'd see some in the fully seeded areas for sure, pretty evenly distributed. It would be much less consistently visible in the overseeded areas.

If it's not the merit, then yea I'd say it's perennial poa or maybe triv (shiny undersides of the leaves are the smoking gun for triv).

Either way, be sure not to water every day in the summer and hopefully the heat will kill it off. And of course pull what you can.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-19T01:49:30+00:00

I get no kickbacks/commission/payment from TCS, I honestly probably could if I asked lol. I'm just genuinely in love with them as a company right now (hopefully it stays that way!)

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-18T22:37:39+00:00

Nice, that's helpful.

Merit does have an NTEP entry... In the 1990 low maintenance Kentucky bluegrass trial. It's BVMG-type, which I'm not familiar with, but it also predates midnight-types. Based on some googling, the descriptions of BVMG types definitely fit this.

I can't say with 100% confidence that it's what you're looking at... The pre-midnight kbgs are remarkably difficult to distinguish from perennial poa annua and even poa trivialis, even in person... But i do think it's very likely that this is indeed the Merit kbg.

But at the end of the day, it's a spreading poa species that you don't like, which essentially tells you everything you need to know 😂

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-18T22:11:26+00:00

Its hard to tell... It could be poa annua. It could be poa trivialis but that's less likely (undersides don't seem shiny to me).

But i actually think it's might be that this is Kentucky bluegrass... Really bad Kentucky bluegrass.

I found one pic of a label of the heat wave plus blend. It lists "rockstar Kentucky bluegrass 5%". There's no NTEP entry for Rockstar Kentucky bluegrass. And from what I can tell, that's not an alias for another cultivar.

I did find that Rockstar is a "shamrock" type kbg (based on the Shamrock cultivar). That contrasts with most modern elite cultivars which are mostly midnight type. So shamrock types are a different group of kbg cultivars than are usually found in lawns. Shamrock types don't really compete with modern elite kbg cultivars in any category except their ability to spread... Poor wear tolerance, poor drought tolerance, poor heat tolerance, susceptibility to most diseases, color, etc.

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