Guide To Cool Season Grasses: Understanding The Different Grass Types

This is part one of a two part series on cool season grass. In this video I go through each grass type explaining the pros and cons of each one. Having this knowledge with help you determine what grass type best fits your yard. In my next video I will be taking what we learned from this video and show you how to actually buy grass seed.

[@Legend42427]

Great video my man.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I appreciate that! Thank you for watching.

[@stretchpropertymaintenance2561]

Excellent video! Moving on to watch the second part now.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching!

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

You, lawn amateur, Lake house lawn, pete denny, and yard brah have the nicest lawns. I love to look at those lawns. And a few others.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you! I'll have to check out those channels!!

[@zacharykorbet9690]

😯 I have some tall fescue in my lawn and boy does this stick out like a sore thumb for the longest time I thought it was some sort of weed😅 I also have a little bit of fine fescue. In my opinion fine Fescue looks good mixed with other grass types but not by itself. Can you make a part 2 of this video? I would love to learn more about different grass type for cool season lawn. I just found your channel and definitely going to subscribe this was such a amazing video glad KZbin recommended it to me.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! I have a ton of tall fescue clumps in my lawn. It drives me crazy when mowing, but people can't really see it from the sidewalk/road.haha Yeah, I definitely plan to do a follow up to that video this year. It can be very easy to mix up the differences between cool season grasses.

[@daytns]

Very well done! Excellent information! This should get a ton more views!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I appreciate that! Thank you for watching!

[@RobbC2323]

Agreed.

[@topsail86]

after seeing this video ,i will pick RTF tall fesque!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

That's a great pick! Thank you for watching

[@stellasun2959]

It took me so long to figure out what the ugly thick bunches in our lawn is! It look exactly like the tall fescue you were showing! Thanks so much for this informative video!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate it.

[@mzunnurain]

My nasty grass I thought was poa compresa might be this tall fescue. But whatever it is it's spreading underground.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

@mzunnurain Yeah it's definitely possible it is tall fescue. It can be a real pain to deal with.

[@EastCoastReefer]

Best explanation I’ve seen so far. 👍

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I appreciate that! Thanks for watching.

[@trinibk6393]

Great presentation...look forward for more videos

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate it.

[@dbproductreviews6319]

Oh wow great content!

[@dbproductreviews6319]

Always looking for some higher quality seed!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I appreciate it! Thank you for watching.

[@JL-bo2zb]

Nice video. I always wondered what that thick-bladed ratty looking grass in my neighbors yard is. Now I know - K31 it is. When I seen some invading my lawn I rip it out.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! Yeah I have a ton of those clumps and they drive me nuts!haha

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I love your channel.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you! I appreciate you watching!

[@RandomAlias1]

Very good video indeed. Thank you for the excellent work.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate it.

[@vassarian]

Well done. Good and deep explanation.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate that!

[@hakkakdeniz4820]

Thanks a lot for good and benefical information.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate that!

[@trinibk6393]

Great video..how to get rid of the old school tall fescue in my lawn?

[@ttb1513]

Great video. Two things: 1) A table showing the characteristics (spreading/clumping, fertilizer need, drought, blade type, shade/sun) of each variety would be great to refer to. 2) it would be helpful to add a link to your follow up video in the description. I’ll go search for it, if it’s out yet.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching and I appreciate the advice. I'm still trying to learn all that I can do to my videos when I upload them to youtube.lol

[@ttb1513]

@@OutoftheWeeds I’ll add that I found your grass trade off analysis very helpful. And I haven’t found a better video on the topic. I’m like most people who casually think "oh, I should overseed". Then my head gets overloaded with when, how and with what. And a table summarizing the "what" will help settle the information overload and head spinning. I already over seeded this fall, so I was looking at whether I did the right thing. Others will find a table that summarizes the characteristics of each type useful, so they can see, at once, which fits their situation (or me, if I need to try again!). Thanks again. You should have more views for this video. Add the table and you’ll be just that much better on this topic. Also, I did find your follow up video.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you I appreciate that! Will definitely keep that in mind in my future seeding videos!!

[@JRHatJRH]

Great video! TALL FESCUE is without question the worst grass. It has the same value as weeds. I wouldn’t plant it in a trailer park. I too have random patches and clumps. The blades are course and like little razors and it looks almost like quack and crab grass it’s awful. I pull it but in larger patches it’s too much. How can I nuke it? I am not anti chemicals and will hit it if there’s something that will take it out.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Haha I am with you on your dislike for the fescue clumps in the yard. Unfortunately, there really isn't much you can do besides dig them out. The only chemical that would knock it out would be glyphosate, but that would kill all the good grass too. I just try to dig a out a little bit at a time each year. Thanks for watching!

[@dianagault8474]

Excellent presentation!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate that!

[@augenmaugen]

Great info sir! Yeah man that K-31 is terrible stuff (or at least it is for people who use their lawns). I’ve been trying to get rid of it for 4 years and its gone from maybe 50% to 25% coverage. It’s a 3 steps forward, 2 steps back process.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Haha yeah I know the feeling. Every fall I dig out a few spots that are driving me nuts. Maybe in another 20 years I'll finally get it all!!haha

[@joetakayama1866]

Great job explaining cool season grass types for the novice. My challenge comes with getting the tight blend with roughly 50/50 sun shade yard. I’m in a rural area with about 30K Sqft and no irrigation. So many brands and suppliers I can’t seem to choose. Thanks for explaining the wide blade tall fescue. I always wondered where they came from and now I know. I over seeded several years ago with Kentucky 31. Spot spraying with Tenacity seems to work but is this good or bad? Looking for a recommendation for over seeding and the RTF TTT Fescue sounds good. Source? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! With that size of lawn and no irrigation I'd probably stick with something more drought tolerant which is going to be your tall fescues. They also do well in shade so you get a little bit of everything. As far as RTF grass seed, the kind I used was from Barenbrug. It's call Turf Saver RTF. This is the first year I've ever tried it so I can't speak yet to how good it is but I'll definitely update once I see the results!! For that large of a yard it may be pretty expensive to overseed with a newer variety like that but the rhizomes would help fill in bare spots compared to traditional TTTF. They also make lots of varieties of TTTF that don't spread but give you a nice color and thin blade compared to Kentucky 31.

[@joetakayama1866]

Thanks for taking the time to respond.I’ll give your recommendation a shot.

[@Brett_Nebraska]

Can I ask you two different questions. My first question is , I live in Omaha Nebraska which i think if I researched it right we're cool season zone. I'm wanting to know what's the best grass that I can get in my zone that you can mow short ( say 2" or even less maybe). I'd also like a grass that would be as low maintenance as possible. From the research I've done, I think probably kbg is probably by best option but...I want to know if something else is better? Hot summers freezing winters but I want to keep it short. My second question is, I can tell that there are some tall fescue bunches throughout my yard. Can I kick these out just by overseeding with kbg or how would I do this process of kicking these out and replacing with kbg? Again it's just random bunches here and there, not entirely throughout the lawn. Thank you for your help, I'm a total beginner.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Hey thank for watching! So in general I normally tell people to mow higher for cool season (like 3in-3 1/2in) but it can definitely be done well. Just know the lower you go the more on top of it you need to be with watering and mowing. That being said kbg and perennial rye if you are mostly full sun and do fine fescue if you have a lot of shade. Turf Type Tall Fescue is the most low maintenance but likes being cut the highest of all the cool season grasses. So in your position if you have mostly sun then I'd do a kbg perennial rye mix. As for the tall fescue clumps the best way I've gotten rid of mine is to just dig them out and seed over. You can also kill them but it's not a great idea if you have good grass around them. I would not just try to out compete them with seed because they will be too hardy and well established so any baby grasses won't have a chance. I hope that helps! If you have any other questions feel free to email me at [e-mail]. Thanks again for watching!

[@Brett_Nebraska]

@@OutoftheWeeds Thank you!

[@gaewing]

What do you recommend for cut height rtf tall fescue?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Tall fescue is usually kept on the taller end of the cool season grasses. I oftentimes like the strategy of starting it at 3in during spring while everything is growing rapidly. Then once summer hits, I'll let it grow up to 4in when it slows its growing. This helps it to hold in moisture better and share itself from the summer heat. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!!

[@travb6997]

Where to buy the RTF TTTF? I am in Idaho and starting an all-new lawn, approx. 8300 sq ft. Great video! Thanks.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I used Barenbrug's version. If you go to Barenbrug 's website you can hit "locate a dealer " to find a supplier near you. This is the first year I've ever used this seed and I have been really impressed with the results!!

[@lazylearner967]

@@OutoftheWeeds How is the color of Barenbrug's RTF TTTF compared to a Kentucky Blue?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

@@lazylearner967 Typically RTF will be slightly lighter than some of the darkest KBG but with Barenbrug RTF they have several varieties of fescue with some of them known for their dark green color. So far at my house and my parents house it blends very well with the existing grass which is mostly KBG.

[@lisah6076]

​@@OutoftheWeedsGCI Turf Tall Type Blue on you tube

[@OutoftheWeeds]

@lisah6076 I have never used his grass seed, but I bet it's really good quality. His yard is always beautiful, and he seems like a really good guy!

[@segapena5033]

I got the 90/10 tall fescue Kentucky blue grass blended sod installed last November. I like tall fescue because I don't have to mow it low and it stays green in our winter. So far I have only pulled like 3-4 little weeds that somehow grew in the thick blades. Maybe it came from the chicken manure compost I spread on it who knows. Meanwhile the perimeter flower bed has weeds growing everywhere right up to the edge of the grass but not crossing over into the lawn. It's starting to really darken now that the days are longer but I don't expect it to stay dark green through the summer. Our summers get really hot in the Sacramento valley and this grass is going to be receiving mostly afternoon sun so I'm expecting it to lighten or even yellow once we get into July no matter how much I water.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Yeah it can really be a challenge keeping the lawn green in summer. The tall fescue should help you out and do way better than the KBG. Typically if I see 3 or 4 90° days coming in a row with full sun, I know I'm in for a battle. It has always helped me to just accept the fact that spring and fall my lawn will be peak color, but in summer I just compare my lawn to those around me instead of to how it looked in the spring. Haha

[@segapena5033]

@@OutoftheWeeds 3-4 90f days? Man that's a mild summer here. By July and August our daily average is like 94 or like with our labor day heatwave last year 4 straight days of 110+ days within a 10-11 day streak of 100+ days. Unshaded cool season lawns just take a beating. Hopefully within 5-7 years the trees I planted will provide it more shade which is why also went with tall fescue.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Dang, you have it way worse than I do in Indiana with the temps. It's always interesting how everyone is facing completely different challenges.

[@RandomRads]

What about Zoysia?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I don't have any personal experience with zoysia, but it is a really good grass. Depending where you live, it could be a good option. If you live in a transition zone then I think it could work great, but I don't think I'd choose it in a cool season area. It is a slow developing grass that is pretty low maintenance. It's just in the cool season area I think there are better options. It will do excellent in the heat since it's a warm season grass, but in cooler temps it won't thrive as well.

[@mistersinister2043]

I don't see a part 2 to this video.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5-UpKOBeamBbM0 In this video I break down how to read the seed sheet to know exactly what's in a grass seed bag. Thank you for watching!

[@awperonline6576]

I actually prefer the wide tall fescue for my lawn. It looks amazing and remains green even in November.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! Yeah it really depends on the use of it. If it's the whole lawn then it doesn't look out of place and has a lot of strong characteristics. It just won't blend well with the other grasses and typically won't get as dark green.

[@awperonline6576]

@@OutoftheWeeds I do have a question I cannot find the answer to if you don't mind. Does it take a long time for the Kentucky 31 grass to become wide and darker? Because I bought my current house last year and this is my first time overseeding, and the Pennington Kentucky 31 fescue looks tall , thin, and bright green whereas the fescure that is there are wide and really dark. Perhaps if is there is a way I can send you a picture it would make better sense.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Yeah you can send me pictures at [e-mail] Typically it will take a little bit for it to match in color. As the grass matures it should get wider and darker.

[@awperonline6576]

@@OutoftheWeeds wow thanks so much I will do just that

[@bigbotno1]

As every lawn has different areas (specs), I think it's better to (over)seed with the best suitable grass type for that area instead of using a mix.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! Yeah that can definitely be a good strategy for people to implement who have drastically different sun exposure in certain areas of their yard. My side lawn next to my neighbors house enjoys lots of shade while the side by the road bakes in the sun all day long.haha

[@mtnbikerva1]

You forgot to compare traffic/ wear on the different grass types, and sub types.