How to tell what type of 'grass' you have?

[clevere]

Hey guys, I am thinking of reseeding my lawn. But looking at all the varieties of grass available, how in the hell do you tell what kind of grass you have? I live in Washington State ..

[JerryL]

I would pull some blades out and bring it to a nursery. They will be able to tell you.

[Curt Martin]

[Peter H]

This is not an easy task. It is doubtful that the people at the nursery will be able to identify your grass as normally it is a blend of different grasses and not many know enough about the subject to make an intelligent statement. Best to buy a seed from a reputable garden centre in your area and then just overseed the entire lawn. The stronger grasses will eventually take over.

Peter H

[Blue]

Try this:

[KLM]

The advice is to see what they plant in the schoolyards and public parks. If the grass used is hardy and looks OK that's the grass best suited for your area.

I live next to a schoolfield cum public park. I don't know what grass they seeded the field with but their grass took over my "fancy" sodded lawn over the years (10 or so.) Unhappy? On the contrary I love it because its low maintenance. It blends right into the neighboring field.

Its not as dense as the sodded lawn and therefore easier to mow.

I don't add fertilizer unless they are on season-end clearance (therefore rarely).

I don't water it. Should there be a dry spell it will get somewhat shrivelled looking and brown. But it comes right back after the first rainshower, grows green and shoots up by 3 inches almost instantly. At an earlier time I had the usual problems with dandelions, stinkweed, thistle and so on. I finally did three whole lawn treatments with a broad leaf herbicide bought froma farm supply house. The herbicide I applied by mowing the lawn just before forecasted rain to injure the weeds then apply the herbicide after the shower when there is plenty of moisture for the roots to absorb it. Works great. The grass is quite successful in choking out most of the new weeds and what few weeds I have can be kept under control by spot applications of herbicide.

[Stuart Krivis]

Your State Dept of Agriculture may be a good place to get more info too.

I live in a condo and I'm lucky because I don't have much lawn. But some of my neighbors do and they've been "reminded" to water their lawn.

One of my neighbors spends time on his lawn and swears by the Gardens Alive products (weed control, fertilizer, and seed). I'm skeptical after looking at the catalog, but I will say that his lawn looks good.