Looking for good photos to help identify grass species in my lawn...

[BeamGuy]

I will admit I'm pretty much a beginner, and I have sinned. I reseeded a patch of my lawn with the wrong type grass seed, and now I have a bright, almost lime green island of stuff that I would swear is crab-grass in the middle of the rest of my dark green lawn with tiny little blades that stand straight up. Assuming grass was grass I used several bags of different seed, I'm not even sure which bag contains the offending seed.

I've searched the web, and found some seed companies that have photos, but those photos are just a little larger than a postage stamp on my monitor and usually are taken from about

6 feet up, with no scale... not much help. Is there a good site that has large photos, close up, with scales so that I can identify both the culprit and the desired species?

Thanks...

[RamblinOn]

island of stuff

lawn with tiny

taken from about

photos, close

I would cut a plug of each, including sod, and take it in a plastic bag to the county extension agent. Blue grass is fine and dark bluish green, so mebbe the good stuff is blue grass. Narrow it down by going back to where you bought the light colored stuff and check the labels. If the light stuff is just emerging, it may be too soon to tell whether it is a different grass. How long since you seeded it? Mixed throughout the lawn, or just a couple of patches? Crab grass has long runners beneath the surface, as does quack grass, and both are usually yellower than lawn grasses.

If the lawn was put in by a contractor, fairly recently, they can probably help you out depending on how badly you've mucked it up. If you scattered a different lawn grass seed throughout the entire lawn, and it is all up, there might not be much you can do. Most weed killers, atrazine for crab/quack and other grassy weeds and the kind intended for broadleaf weeds, carry a warning not to use them on newly emergent grass. Using a weed killer might keep down the unwanted stuff but I would ask an expert.

Or, start taking walks around the neighborhood, and find the guy who has a similar lawn and spends all his free time on the lawn. He will know what to do :o)

[Joseph Meehan]

Better yet look around for the guy who has a great lawn and you never see working on it.