Creeping bentgrass... confirmed?

So I did some sleuthing and to the best of my grass identification skills (which admittedly are extremely poor), I believe I have successfully identified the front lawn turf invader to be creeping bentgrass. It has really grown quite a bit since a year ago and continues to spread. Something must be done. But before I get to that, here's how I went about identifying it.

I went off of my initial guess made last year as a starting point and searched for how to identify creeping bentgrass. This led me to this very useful and informative site from North Carolina State University's TurfFiles which has a profile page for creeping bentgrass describing it's various plant characteristics, including photos.

This led me out into the lawn with my macro lens to see if I could gets some photos of these key plant parts to help identify it and hopefully confirm or deny the identity by comparing with this site.
I was only able to get photos of some of parts as I didn't have much time. However, after inspecting the plant a bit and the photos compared with the TurfFiles photos it already looked like a match to me, but I'll get to that in a sec.

I also remembered a handy tool for identifying grass that I had tinkered with from Purdue University in the past. This tool helps to narrow down an identification based on some of the plant characteristics: vernation, ligule, auricles, leaf tip, leaf surface, mid-rib, collar, growth, and seedhead. I'm certainly still learning about these little plant details (never would have guessed that there'd be so many parts to grass), but I found the tufgrass identification guide linked from the tool to be a good introduction. Using this tool, I entered the characteristics that I was the most certain about (and by certain, I mean not at all certain):

1. Membranous ligule
2. Absent Auricles
3. Pointed leaf tip

At this point the tool had already filtered the possible contenders with a 100% match to just two: creeping bentgrass and colonial bentgrass. Additionally, I entered the leaf surface as ridged, but this didn't change anything as they both have that as well (and it turns out all but growth habit are the same between the two). Here are my photos that show these things:

A bit of a plant that I pulled

Shows the logn membranous ligule (the white
part) and the lack of auricles

After pulling back the blade

Rotated and even closer.

The blade tip pointed (the boat-shaped tip of a blade of kentucky bluegrass can
also be seen to the right)

So, the next step is to discern between colonial and creeping bentgrass. The nice thing about the tool is that you can view photographs of each of the parts for each specific type of grass, in addition to more specific information about it. It further states that colonial bentgrass has a short membranous ligule, while creeping bentgrass has a long ligule, with photos showing each. So even without knowing anything else other than these 3 or 4 attributes, the long ligule distinguishes the two.

But there's more. For colonial bentgrass it states:

"Technically possesses rhizomes and stolons they are generally absent and this species assumes a bunch-type growth habit."

 And creeping bentgrass:

"Bluish-green color, very fine leaf texture, tall membranous ligule, tolerates close 1/2 inch. Leaves may appear slightly rough along the edges, strongly stoloniferous."

So furthermore the two can be distinguished by their growth habits. One of the first things I noticed about the grass when I saw it was how it appeared to grow "horizontally" (likely via stolons, but I've yet to confirm this). It doesn't sound like colonial bentgrass would grow like this.

So there you have it: a positive identification... ?

Assuming so (and I feel confidently enough), the next step is to take action; and Tenacity herbicide sounds like the best available option. More to come.

A plant I can easily identify

I found a most unwelcome visitor in our yard this weekend:

(in focus behind the other plant)

Poison Ivy. Nasty stuff for those who are allergic, like me.

I have found poison ivy in and near our property before, but not very often (only 4-5 times in the several years since we moved in), so I don't frequently look out for it specifically.

This past week I got an itchy rash on my arm, feet, and leg - just small areas, nothing serious. I had no idea what caused it at the time, but it looked very similar to poison ivy rash that I'm all too familiar with from past encounters. Still it didn't make sense since I hadn't been out in the yard other than mowing.

But this morning I noticed the rather large poison ivy plant in the first photo above and that confirmed it for me. I went on the hunt for more and found several others throughout the yard. In our backyard, most of the yard is very shaded and instead of mulching we just leave the leaves that fall during the fall and more or less leave it as is. Throughout the year various weeds and plants inevitably grow here. I occasionally will spray them with Round Up when they get out of control, but I don't go crazy over it as it takes quite a bit of time and herbicide to spray them all. I'm not out in that part of the yard very often, but our dog is, and I presume that is how I was somehow exposed to it.

Years ago I got a pretty bad rash in places all over my body. I unknowingly got into some and likely got it on my shoes, then my hands and/or under my fingernails, and proceeded to spread it everywhere I touched. Needless to say it wasn't fun and wasn't something that I wanted to go through again, so I proceeded to spend many hours researching it on the Internet to learn not only how to treat it, but also identify it. I forget what I ended up using to treat it (I don't remember it working particularly well), but I do remember very well how to ID it. These days it sticks out to me like a sore thumb and I can spot it very easily. I feel like this post wouldn't be complete if I didn't provide some of my tips, so here are my general identification guidelines (nothing scientific here):

1. Location. Look for it at edges of grass fields, or just into a shady area/forest, under and growing up trees that are in the open or receive some sunlight. I've also seen patches growing in unmowed overgrown areas in the middle of fields. They generally seem need some light, but not necessarily full sun (they seem to like a bit of shading). They certainly don't get anywhere near full sun where they are in our yard.
2. Leaves. Look for three leaves to a stem (generally). The leaves can be very large or small (I generally see the large leaves most frequently on vines). The leaves sometimes don't look very symmetrical and can take on various irregular shapes. The leaves are very brittle, so in a more  trafficked place look for damaged leaves.
3. When in vine form, look for external roots on the vine (looks "hairy").

That's about all I've got, I think. Some other factoids:

1. Dogs aren't allergic to it. Not all humans are allergic to it either.
2. Once a rash has broken out on the skin it has been absorbed by the body and can no longer be spread. But it can spread if it's under your fingernail, on your shoe, etc.
3. The plant has to be broken in order to be exposed to it, but as mentioned the plant is extremely brittle. I've never tested to confirm this.

Source: internet research from years ago and my own observations over the years since then.

Anyway, I sprayed all the poison ivy I found in our backyard with Round Up Poison Ivy - just regular Round Up is not enough to kill it (I tried when I first found some in our yard and it came right back). Perhaps this is more indication that there is enough light to grow supina bluegrass back there!

Front Lawn Update

Quick update on the front lawn. I think it's doing great. I'll let the photos show, but I'll note that the Ortho Weed B Gon seems have mostly taken care of the (possible) chickweed - it has taken several weeks, but slowly but surely the grass took over. And the 2011 grass finally greened up - guess it's just slower? It certainly seems significantly darker green than the surrounding kentucky blue grass... All in all I'm really happy with it! It's quite lush and thick in many more places than I remember and I see no tall fescue (however, I will mention that I pulled a good amount back around the first mowing from the north side of the lawn). I'd say the lawn looks the best it ever has since we moved in!

This area finally greened up!

Some patchiness, but generally pretty dense!

This has been the slowest to green up, and some areas still
aren't growing too much for some reason. Also the area of
lighter green is where I pulled the tall fescue from.

Freshly edged!

Note the striking difference in color despite both being kentucky
blue grass. Oh well, can't have everything!

Fairly patchy here. Recovering from the drought and weeds.

I think all my work has finally starting to pay off! Wish there wasn't the two color tones, but I'd rather that then have tall fescue and orchardgrass!

Actually I'm not so sure

That should be the new title of this blog.

I went out to take a closer look at the weed that has infested our lawn and I'm not so sure that it is prostrate knotweed. The flowering in particular seems different. Here are some photos:

Mystery weed - chickweed?

In any case I sprayed it with Ortho Weed B Gon Max (I bought it in concentrate because it was on sale).

I'll have to see if I can figure out what it really is. In the mean time I'll see if the weed killer can do the job.

Prostrate knotweed?

I haven't actually gone out to take a closer look to confirm, but it's very possible that the weed that has infested the front lawn this year and last is prostrate knotweed. Purdue Turf Tips had a post about the weed last month and it looks and sounds like what I see in our lawn:

Prostrate knotweed in grass?

I'm trying to figure out what to do about it (assuming this is what it is). The blog post suggests some chemical treatments:

2,4-D by itself will provide only fair control of prostrate knotweed, but when combined with triclopyr (Turflon Ester Ultra or Triclopyr 4) or dicamba (Banvel, Vanquish), it should provide excellent control in cool-season turf. There are many combination products that contain 2,4-D and dicamba, including Trimec 992 and SpeedZone. Combination products that contain 2,4-D and triclopyr include 4-Speed XT, Chaser, Chaser 2 Amine, Momentum FX2, Turflon II amine, and TZONE.

Most of these are professional products that aren't typically sold in stores and are often sold in bulk.

The Ortho Weed B Gon Max label lists the weed and (I think) shows 2,4-D and dicamba as active ingredients, so I may give this a try since it should be easier to get a hold of and not in mass quantity. It appears that Bayer Advanced All-In-One Lawn Weed & Crabgrass Killer and Spectracide Weed Stop for Lawns plus Crabgrass Killer also have similar labels.

Last year I sprayed it with Ortho Weed B Gon and they eventually yellowed (making them stand out even more) and died off. It took some time, though.

First step will be to confirm that this is in fact the weed in our lawn. Will report back.

First Mowing

Lawns have greened up quickly in the last week or so with the warmer weather. So I got out and mowed for the first time of the season yesterday. Although most of the lawn didn't need it yet, I mowed the front lawn anyway to mulch up some leaves from the oak that fall and gather on the lawn during the winter.

Here are some photos of the front yard (after mowing):

Most of this grass didn't need mowing

Lots of weeds

Note the patch of the dubbed "new invader" on the left (patch of lighter colored grass).

Not much growth here

Overall, not looking too great. Lots of weeds again due to thinned turf. And it seems like the new grass planted in the fall of 2011 is again being slow to green up. This lead to the fungus problems last year. I'm not about to let that happen again, so I decided to be more proactive this year and applied a generous portion of fertilizer along with a pre-emergent crabgrass application (which also contains fertilizer). I ended up putting down about 4 lbs of Endure Crabgrass Preventer Plus and about 6 lbs of Espoma Organic Lawn Food which in total comes to roughly 1.15 lbs N/1000 sq. ft. (0.475 from the Endure and 0.675 from the Espoma). I applied more liberally to the younger grass. In addition the Espoma also contains some Phosphate and Potash (8% and 6% respectively). Lots of rain is in the forecast, so we shall see how this turns out.

On to the backyard:

Still a sad sight in the backyard considering how nice it was last spring and early summer, but I have hope that I can get it back, even if I have to plant more seed this fall. It's knowing when to fertilize that's the tricky part.

In other news...

The phlox is sprouting:

I trimmed back the hydrangea tree again:

The hybrid tea rose bush is growing:

The hydrangea bushes are growing:

The Sedums are sprouting:

And it appears that the Boxwoods are doing just fine after last years drought as I see new growth on most of them (and flowering on some):

The second from the right is the most iffy.

I guess I haven't mentioned this before, but I lost one Holly bush due to the drought last summer (despite watering them). It's visible in the last two photos above (the middle Holly in the upper right of both photos). I'll have to replace it this year. I don't think I lost anything else due to the drought, thankfully.

That's all for now.

Spring on my mind

Whoops! It's been a while. I got a little lazy toward the end of last year - actually more like busy. I don't quite have the time that I used to, but I'll try to make time this year.

I was going to title this post "Spring is in the air", but that'd just be a flat out lie because it's not. It is, however, just around the corner and I know it'll be here before I know it. I'm excited! All recharged from the always much needed winter season break.

Things I'm looking forward to this year:

1. Seeing how the Kentucky bluegrass that I planted last fall does this spring
2. Seeing how vigorously the Supina bluegrass grows in the backyard. Will it recover from the near devastation last year or will I need to replant this fall?
3. Seeing if some weeds in the front lawn that I sprayed way late in the season last year (unblogged until now) will die despite not having much time for the herbicide to set in before the colder weather set in, or will I need to respray them?
4. Seeing if the lawn will remain tall fescue and orchardgrass-free (I'm hopeful which is why it's in this list and not the list below)
5. Perhaps finally finishing the landscaping project

What I'm not looking forward to:

1. Replanting a blue holly bush that died during the drought last year (oops, the other two next to it survived just fine, however).
2. Fighting the moles. They invaded the front lawn toward the end of last year (also unblogged). They frustrate me so much.
3. Fighting bristly rose slugs and black spot disease (inevitably)
4. Figuring out how to fight the new turf invader that seems to be happily spreading.

Indestructible

This past weekend, I spent the majority of the afternoon squatting around the front yard pulling up the wheat that was growing obnoxiously about. But, in doing so what I soon discovered was that 1) there was what appeared to be "wheat" in areas where I didn't have straw, 2) this "wheat" was in fact the indestructible grass I spent so much time trying to get rid of last year (I thought it to be tall fescue, but I'm not so sure, so until I know what it is, I'm just going to call it the "annoying indestructible grass", or "evil grass" for short - UPDATE: it is Orchardgrass). Seriously, this grass has shown its ability to survive everything, including being pulled up multiple times! I can now spot this grass very easily in our lawn. It has a flat stem which is lighter yellow in color and the blades are thick and smooth (also more yellowish than Kentucky bluegrass).

Evil grass

It's incredible. I pulled up all that I could find, but I have no doubt that I'll see it again soon. Next time, I think instead of pulling it up, I'll dig it up along with a 2 feet diameter hole around it just to be sure I get it all. But really, pulling it up has has to work eventually, right? No plant can survive if there's nothing left of it, right? Right??

Anyway, this is how much I ended up pulling up of the wheat and evil grass:

To the compost pile!

And this is what the front yard now looks like (as of 3/17):

This area wins the best grass award this year (so far). It's the area
on the right in front of the sidewalk in the previous photo.

As usual, the photos make it look worse than reality. The bright green/yellow patches are the weeds that I sprayed earlier in the week. I think they're dead and/or dying and have turned more yellow, making them stand out more. At least I hope so. I do see a few patches that I missed, though, so I'll have to go spray them. I'm hoping that the grass can recover from this weedy invasion, and I think it will.

The new grass that I planted last year has yet to really green up (I wonder if that'll happen every year or if it's just because it's young or something - I'm hoping for the latter!), but I'm excited for that to occur!

Ok, that's enough blogging for one day... time to sleep.