Grass Seed for Outside Perimeter

[WVH1977]

Good morning. I have been clearing land around my property and want to plant some type of grass on the clearings. I dont waant to use the expensive fescue that is around my house yard. Is something like alfalfa a good choice? Just not sure what to put out. I dont have any animals yet, but might in the future. I just want to have something green that is good for the ground that can be rough cut every couple of months.

I am in Virginia with soil that is somewhat sandy.

Thanks for any and all resposnes.

 

[jyoutz]

Check with your university cooperative extension service. I would use a native grass species.

 

[DJ54]

As jyoutz mentioned check with your County Extension agent for suggestions. I'd have to guess something like a Rye grass, or tall fescue is what you are looking for. If you let it head out and go to seed and mature well before you mow it the first time it will reseed itself. Sparingly sow some Cereal Rye with it as a cover to hold everything in place until your grass gets established if it will be sown now. Cereal Rye will survive the Winter, it's deep rooted too. Wheat will work too, and probably as inexpensive as you may be looking for. If you wait until Spring, Oats will make a good nurse crop too, but not this late in the season as it will frost kill.

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[scootr]

Reseeding my lawn now. Surprised at the price for good seed. But did end up getting some coated seed that resists rot (and something) giving a much higher germination. Fall is the time to plant in warm climate

 

[jyoutz]

As jyoutz mentioned check with your County Extension agent for suggestions. I'd have to guess something like a Rye grass, or tall fescue is what you are looking for. If you let it head out and go to seed and mature well before you mow it the first time it will reseed itself. Sparingly sow some Cereal Rye with it as a cover to hold everything in place until your grass gets established if it will be sown now. Cereal Rye will survive the Winter, it's deep rooted too. Wheat will work too, and probably as inexpensive as you may be looking for. If you wait until Spring, Oats will make a good nurse crop too, but not this late in the season as it will frost kill.

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Agree with everything except the oats. I have seen oat cover crops persist for decades. If you want a good cover crop for native grass species, cereal wheat or barley are short lived and don’t reseed for too many generations, allowing the native grasses to become dominant. Barley is probably the best because it will winter kill and just persist long enough for a cover crop for the grass seed if you are spring or summer planting. For fall planting consider winter wheat as the cover crop. Co-op extension will know the best native grass species for a particular area.

 

[WinterDeere]

Tall fescue is going to be the most durable species, but as you and Scootr both noted, not the cheapest thing you can buy. I personally wouldn't bother with perennial rye, the regular heat and draught VA gets most summers will kill it, and you'll be re-planting the stuff every year.

A pasture mix that contains a majority fall fescue is going to be your cheapest bet for something really durable. These are cheaper than clean tall fescue seed, as pasture mix will contain other cheaper seed and even weeds, whereas pure mono-culture tall fescue seed has to guarantee a very low threshold of weeds. The idea in all of these (even the expensive 80/20 Tall Fescue / Annual Rye blends that are preferred for a new lawn) is that seeds like annual rye blast off in about 4 days, giving structure to hold, protect, and keep shaded the expensive tall fescue seed, which can take about 6 weeks to fully germinate. Pasture mix works the same, it's just not exclusively 20% annual rye with 80% tall fescue, it's a mix of many other grasses and weeds.

But you have missed planting season for this year. Planting season in southeast PA is mid-August to mid-September, any later than that and your tall fescue (the real money crop in the blend) won't have time to germinate before soil temps drop. I suspect you're a good week or two behind us in most of VA, maybe late August to late September, but either way, you're looking at next fall to plant. If you plant in the spring, you can get a beautiful lawn for a month or two, but most of it will die off in July without constant watering. Young grasses just don't have the structure to survive your typical heat and drought, without watering.

 

[KennyG]

You might want to see if hard fescue would work well in your area. I have used it around my pond and found it to be a really good choice. It really doesn't need to be mowed and is very tolerant to drought and poor soil. It is sometimes termed a clumping grass but i have found that if it is sown evenly, it gives a uniform turf. I mow mine a few times a year but it really doesn't need it. It gets about 6 inches high and doesn't seem to grow more.