Fescue killing

[PondCreekFarm]

I am killing fescue in my power line easement and a bottom land field. I plan to replace with native warm season grasses with drill rented from USDA. I have sprayed it once and got uneven kill due to use of a handheld gun (I had no boom). I am getting one and would like to spray now if possible and get more kill before spring. I am in southern MO. Is it a waste of chemical at this point?

ps: I hope I am asking in the right forum.

 

[MarkV]

I don’t think it would be a waste of time. As long as it is green Round-up or its equivalent will work. It is to late to plant warm season grasses so I wonder if it would not be better to leave the fescue for erosion control. I normally think of warm season grasses being planted in June or July here for the best germination so there would be time to kill off the fescue in the spring.

MarkV

 

[lhfarm]

I'm still fighting fisuce in an old hay field that I planted with native grasses five years ago. I decided last year to spray again. I was getting advice from the state DNR and they suggested a burn in late winter, followed by spraying soon after the first green appears. I wasn't able to get the burn done, but mowed the standing grass and then sprayed. That seemed to work very well - except in the row I missed. I didn't have a marker system and got off a row. At least I had a good sprayed/not sprayed test .

I hope to do a burn this winter and another spray early spring.

 

[ToadHill]

Spray works best when the grass is still growing. If it has gone dorment for the season, I'd wait until spring.

 

[thunderworks]

I don稚 think it would be a waste of time. As long as it is green Round-up or its equivalent will work. It is to late to plant warm season grasses so I wonder if it would not be better to leave the fescue for erosion control. I normally think of warm season grasses being planted in June or July here for the best germination so there would be time to kill off the fescue in the spring.

MarkV

MarkV:

If the grass is not actively growing, even if it's green, Roundup probably won't do much. Warm season grasses can be planted as late as early June (in Kansas where I live), but do better if planted no later than the 1st of May. The seeds need predictable Spring rains to germinate. I planted mine the first week in March, before competing cool season grasses had started to grow. We're in the midst of a 8 acre prairie restoration and have had tons of advice from experienced people. None of them recommend mid-Summer grass planting.

 

[PondCreekFarm]

Thunder: Do I have time before May 1 to kill fescue in the Ozarks?

 

[ampsucker]

just to clarify - i think there is some terminology confusion going on...

fescue: cool season grass
bermuda: warm season grass

fescue IS actively growing now. it goes dormant in july/august when drought and heat turn it brown. it will resume growing again when temperature and moisture conditions trigger it to come out of dormancy which is a protective measure it employs to survive.

fescue will remain green and growing even when covered with snow.

i do agree that waiting until about a month before you plan to plant your warm season crop is best. it will allow the fescue not only to perform erosion control in the spring but also to choke out other species (weeds) that would otherwise go to seed quickly and compete with whatever you are planting.

fwiw, i personally feel that fescue is the best choice in SW missouri for a year round green crop. no other species will provide green lawn for more months in our climate. bermuda is the other biggie but goes brown from october through april. that's about six months of brown. fescue will only brown up when hot and dry. that is only 2 months or so in the ozarks. just my .02...

also, beware of what you plant. bermuda/centipede/bentgrass/zoysia, etc are much harder to get rid of once established than fescue...

just out of curiosity, what are you considering a native missouri warm season grass?

amp

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm with Amp.

Fiscue is planted in the fall for green lawns in winter, but when it gets warm out, it all dies off and the bermuda takes off.

Can you disk it in? It might take a few times, but just turning the soil a few times should kill off most fiscue grass.

What type of warm season grass do you want to plant?

Eddie

 

[thunderworks]

just to clarify - i think there is some terminology confusion going on...

fescue: cool season grass
bermuda: warm season grass

fescue IS actively growing now.

amp

Good clarification. I was thinking of native warm season "Prairie Grass" which in Kansas, does not include Bermuda grass.

FWIW, our cool season Fescue is certainly still mostly green, and I guess is growing some, I've always believed that Roundup works best during the most vigorous phases of growth. I don't think I would use Roundup now.

 

[PondCreekFarm]

This project is in the fields and bottom land of our place. I agree that fescue is best for lawns and is also used extensively here for grazing and hay. I plan to kill it because I do not need the hay or the graze but do want to improve the wildlife situaiton. I plan to drill warm season prarie grassese with a special drill the USDA rents to restore praries. The mix will likely include little and big bluestem, some indian grass and others whose name escapes me at the moment. Errosion is an issue on part of the ground, so I will likely wait and then spray. I will not be planting any bermuda.