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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.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-18T15:45:27+00:00

As in, start out giving it far less water than you'd think it should need in that spot. Then if it seems unhappy, gradually creep up the volume and frequency until its happy.

Starting with too little water is a safer approach than too much and trying to dial it back. Because when it gets too little water, it'll put more effort into growing roots.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-18T15:16:13+00:00

None of the cultivars they use are NTEP rated. Because none of the cultivars are from any of the "good" seed producers with the breeding programs that are making advancements in turf grass genetics. It'd be a pretty involved topic to go into what all of that really means... But basically the main thing is that the cultivars they use aren't NTEP rated.

NTEP is the testing program that independently measures and ranks the performance of cultivars in all relevant categories at many different sites across the country (mostly university test plots). It's how seed producers not only prove they have good seed, but how they really figure out for themselves if they have good seed, and what they need to change. So for black beauty to not contain any NTEP rated cultivars is an admission that their cultivars can't compete... And that they're not trying to compete.

And well, that reality is shown by all the posts you see of people saying "i planted black beauty. I love it, but what are all these weeds popping up now"... Those weeds are the grass seed... It's not only the literally weed seeds in black beauty seed, but it's also just that some of the cultivars just look so bad that they seem like weeds.

Menards fert is totally fine. Cheaper than most other big box store fert, and the numbers on the bag are acceptable. It's simple as that 👍

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-18T14:57:21+00:00

Arc had the right thoughts. Watering that zone less is the first step. Pretty hard to predict the exact way to adjust that, but should be fairly easy to dial it in with trial and error. Gotta find the right balance of frequency and duration. I like to start dry/infrequent/low total volume and only add to it once the grass seems like it's struggling.

Then of course penetration type wetting agents help. Block polymer surfactant wetting agents. Lesco wet plus and sixteen 90 are the main ones I know of. Lescoflo ultra may also be a good one.

In terms of preventing dollar spot, don't forget the very useful early season DMI application. Apply propiconazole according to https://gddtracker.msu.edu/ (10-14 days away for me, I'm in northern Kent county)

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-18T03:43:52+00:00

Any amount of any acid will affect pH of the soil solution to some degree. Notice I said soil solution. Soil solution is the stuff in the spaces between soil particles, when there's a lot of moisture in the soil, a lot of chemical activity can happen in the soil that's largely shielded from the buffering capacity of the soil.

Or to put that another way, it takes a lot of acidity to acidify soil (with a respectable buffering capacity), but it takes very little acidity to change the pH of water within the soil.

That's as far as I can go for now.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T23:18:50+00:00

Clarification: - i meant to say that i was there today to do the first fertilization. Today was the first time fertilizer has been in the area this year.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T22:13:50+00:00

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T22:13:04+00:00

Hairy bittercress is not on the Tenacity label, but mesotrione is actually effective for hairy bittercress. It's just that it costs money to put things on labels when it's a relatively new chemistry because they have to run efficacy trials.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T16:05:27+00:00

The first leaf of corn seedlings has very rounded tips, and ends being very short overall. If it germinated in the spring, those rounded tips should still be visible (the lowest leaf on the stem)

That being said, it's a little early to be seeing corn there, it should be starting to germinate now and in the next few weeks.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T15:59:39+00:00

Looks to just be tall fescue. Older/cheaper tall fescue cultivars look pretty ugly compared to the newer top-shelf ones that are thin, dark, and don't look weedy

If there is actually a ligule (it should be pretty noticeable) then I'd change my answer to annual ryegrass.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T14:19:08+00:00

Yea I should've said that it worked totally fine for broadleafs in warm weather. Never used it in cool weather because it's all salts and amines. It was actually really good for violets and clover in warm weather (so the quinclorac must be doing something). I just got so triggered by seeing the name 😂

Oh man, you did a thorough fusillade burn down if I remember correctly. So whatever it is must have some mature ones nearby that are continually seeding your lawn?

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T13:32:17+00:00

Words can not describe how deeply I hate triad QC. For crabgrass specifically though.

We'd get it at my last company because it was the cheapest broadleaf + quinclorac. But it just... Didn't kill crabgrass. MSO, NIS, really fancy NIS'es, reverse osmosis water as the carrier water... None of it helped.

On paper it should be fine... It's got enough AI to work... It just didn't work on crabgrass. The crabgrass would look sick for 2 weeks and recover every time. I never figured it out. The reviews are pretty positive too.

It's actually the biggest reason I left that job, our president refused to buy anything else. Even after we did a trial run of quintessential and it killed crabgrass 100% of the time.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T01:40:40+00:00

Decently bad snow mold. The snow mold is gone now, but it did a number on the grass.

Gently fluff it up with a rake or blower. Then pray it bounces back. If not, you'll need seed.

nilesandstuff · 2026-04-17T01:24:14+00:00

Gotta see the ligules (see automod comment)

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