Recently, I had some visitors at my home and in the course of conversation we ended up talking about lawns. One of the fellows asked me how I managed my lawn to keep it so thick and green. My answer surprised him…and disappointed him as well. 

My grass is green...and it isn't bluegrass.

Here’s my secret…do almost nothing! Plant a good quality fescue mix with a little perennial rye and Kentucky bluegrass thrown in, fertilize once a year in September, put down crabgrass preemergent in early spring, and water only if you really can’t tolerate a few weeks of browning during the peak summer heat. Reseeding every fall until the lawn is as thick as a carpet is the best way to keep weeds out.

 After explaining all of this I pointed out that the net result is a lawn that is beautiful, functional, and care free. That was the clincher for him…care free. He told me that  using high maintenance bluegrass was the only way for him to go because he could spend a lot of time caring for the lawn and it looked like a golf course. Yes, I said, and this means extreme water usage, higher cost, endless work, and more potential for disease. Not a problem, he said.

We all have to make choices, I suppose, but being green does not mean being blue.