For most residents in Canada, there isn’t an ideal lawn until it has Kentucky bluegrass.
It is a type of grass that creates a thick and healthy lawn when given optimal care.
However, even with the best grass seed, you can’t achieve a thriving lawn in a day.
It is a time-consuming process that requires making changes and consistent lawn care.
If you are keen to know more about Kentucky Bluegrass, this blog will cover the pros and cons and other important details.
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What is Kentucky Bluegrass?
Kentucky Bluegrass is a fine, tine-textured turf flourishing in direct full sun.
If we look at its characteristics, Kentucky bluegrass highlights include a strong drought dormancy mechanism, excellent winter tolerance, and the capacity to spread fast.
Due to its tolerance for cold temperatures, the best times to plant Kentucky bluegrass are in the early fall, from mid-August to mid-October, or in the spring, from mid-March to mid-May. This gives Kentucky bluegrass ample time to grow and germinate.
When planting this type of grass, the soil temperature should be 50 to 65°F, and the air temperature should be 60 to 75°F.
Many people have the question: why is it called Kentucky bluegrass?
The answer can be divided into two parts. First, let’s look at where the term Kentucky came from.
Back in the day, early European immigrants brought this grass seed particularly adapted to the fertile soils of Kentucky. The temperature and soil type gave the grass the ideal medium to grow densely.
Because it grew so widely in pastures and meadows, it gradually became one of the common grasses of the region.
The term bluegrass describes the bluish color of the seed heads. In some lighting situations, the flowering panicles on unmowed grass that has gone to seed take on a faint blue hue.
If you look at Kentucky Bluegrass from afar, you will notice a blue glow. These two distinct reasons combine to give it a name.
If you want to know how to find the best grass seed for Ontario, visit our blog.
What Does Kentucky Bluegrass Look Like?
A medium-textured, dark green turf. The young leaves are folded in the bud, with no auricles.
The tips of the leaf blades resemble boats, and their parallel sides give them a rigid appearance.
This grass spreads through underground rhizomes that can self-heal worn, damaged, or injured areas. Therefore, over time, it is able to grow a dense turf.
List of Kentucky Bluegrass Pros and Cons
Now that you know the fundamentals of the grass, let’s go through the advantages and disadvantages.
Pros
1. Fantastic For Busy Lawns
Apart from making your lawn look beautiful and healthy in cold climates, it tolerates foot traffic pretty well.
If children and pets frequently walk on your lawn, bluegrass is a smart choice.
Normally, for lawn owners with pets or in places like sports fields, Kentucky bluegrass is the best option.
Because its rhizomes develop underground, bluegrass can withstand damage and regenerate itself, helping to ensure the plant’s longevity.
Even when you think that the grass blades have been completely ruined, the rhizomes will stay underground and continue to grow.
The rhizomes help ensure the plant’s existence because they grow beneath the surface.
Bluegrass is resistant to injuries that would destroy other grasses. Because of the subterranean growth sites on the rhizomes, it can regrow even if it is cut down to the ground.
2. Tolerates Cold Spells
Of all the cool-season grasses, Kentucky bluegrass has the best winter hardiness. It resists extended cold spells in Canada that ordinarily decimate ryegrass or fescue lawns.
As it is an adaptable cultivar, it also endures hot spells that can happen in Canada during the summer. However, the heat tolerance is not exceptionally high.
3. Fast Spreading Characteristics
Kentucky bluegrass spreads fast naturally, making it an excellent option for covering up the barren spots.
This is because the grass rhizomes grow nodes below the soil’s surface and spread horizontally beneath.
4. Capable of Self-Regrowth
Kentucky bluegrass’s self-healing capacity is superior to that of other cool-season grasses. It readily recovers when there is substantial irrigation or rainfall during the dormant periods caused by drought stress.
Related Blog: Best Drought-Resistant Grass Canada for Low Maintenance
Cons of Kentucky Bluegrass
Here are the cons of the cultivar that you should know before plantation:
1. Has Low Tolerance to Temperature Transitions
Planting Kentucky bluegrass has many advantages, but it also has some disadvantages, one of which is that it needs full sun to partial shade to survive. That means it has little to no tolerance for shade.
It has a shallow root system, which makes it less drought-resistant.
You need to water it more than other cool-season grasses, especially during the summer. It will go dormant if it gets too hot outside or doesn’t get enough water.
2. Excessive Thatch Issue
Kentucky bluegrass lawns frequently suffer from excessive thatch, particularly the heavily fertilized ones. When excessive amounts of stems, roots, and other organic materials are between the soil’s surface and the grass, they turn into thatch.
While some thatch is good for the roots, too much prevents air and water from reaching them, which attracts insects and can cause illness.
You should dethatch when there is ½ inch or more of thatch because it will typically start to cause issues.
Once you remove the thatch, bag the leftover material and compost it. Don’t leave it on the grass, as it can create more problems for your lawn.
When core aeration machines remove plugs of soil from lawns, they also remove part of the thatch.
Dethatching and aeration are necessary if your lawn has soil compaction issues and has thatch.
You may have to use either of these two methods to care for the thatch in the lawn before it turns everything green.
3. Slow Germination Time
The germination time of Kentucky bluegrass is slower than that of other cool-season grasses. Kentucky bluegrass germination takes 14 to 30 days. Most cool-season grasses, such as perennial ryegrass and tall fescue, germinate in a week or two.
4. Susceptibility to Diseases, Weeds, & Insects
Although disease tolerance varies greatly by cultivar, Kentucky bluegrass can be sensitive to various illnesses, especially if you don’t have an ideal growing environment.
Some of the common ones that may affect Kentucky bluegrass are Necrotic ring spot, summer patch, rust, powdery mildew, fairy ring, and the list goes on.
If you want to protect your lawn from fungus, give the grass as much sun as possible, aerate compacted soils, reduce excessive thatch, and permit adequate air circulation.
Normally, these practices are useful in promoting the healthy growth of Kentucky Bluegrass.
The important lawn care practices may include mowing at the appropriate height, watering deeply, and applying fertilizer according to the results of your soil test.
In order to reduce the number of dangerous insect infestations in your lawn, early detection is essential.
Yet, if you suspect a disease outbreak, applying a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer can help get rid of rust.
A fungicide treatment is required for leaf spot. Again, dealing with these kinds of illnesses is an uncommon event for a Kentucky Bluegrass lawn that is kept up properly.
Also Read: Lawn Care Schedule: Bring Out the Green Side All Year-Round
5. Needs More Upkeep
Compared to other cool-season grasses, Kentucky bluegrass requires more care and patience, which may discourage some people from planting it in their yards.
Kentucky bluegrass requires more water because of its shallow root system than most other cool-season grasses.
Maintaining a consistent watering plan will keep Kentucky bluegrass from going dormant, especially in hot weather. To help Kentucky bluegrass develop deeper roots, give it a weekly deep watering of at least one to two inches.
Additionally, the fertilization routine will look like this:
Spring: To encourage greening up, lightly apply nitrogen.
Summer: To prevent overgrowth, apply a slow-release fertilizer.
Fall: To get the grass ready for winter dormancy, use a high-nitrogen fertilizer.
If you think that you can’t dedicate time to the maintenance of the soil, it is frequently blended with perennial ryegrass to provide a better disease-resistant turf with beautiful color and year-round performance.
FAQs
How long does it take for Kentucky bluegrass to germinate?
Kentucky bluegrass germinates in 14–21 days. Despite developing longer than other grass species, it eventually forms a dense turf due to its underground rhizomes.
How frequently should I mow Kentucky bluegrass?
Mow the grass in spring and fall to keep it between 2.5 and 3.5 inches high during the active growth season. To reduce stress, try not to cut more than one-third of the blade at once.
Where to buy Kentucky bluegrass seed?
There are plenty of sellers that offer advice based on the sort of soil you have, the region where you live, and your goals. For instance, you can check out Quality Seeds, Dragonfly Landscape Supply, and many more.
Contact Lawn Care Services in Canada for Assistance
Kentucky bluegrass stands out because of its exquisite beauty. It has perfect growth pattern and resistance to heavy traffic, making it the first choice of sod growers nationwide for use on sports fields and as sod.
From the list of Ketucky bluegrass pros and cons, you can decide if you still want it or not.
Get in touch with Falcons Landscaping right now if you want any assistance related to Kentucky Bluegrass seed or sod for your lawn. For many years, we have offered premium quality, timely delivery, and exceptional service.