Kentucky Bluegrass
Variety Comparisons
Disease & Insect Resistance Comparisons |
| Scientific Name |
Poa Praetensis |
| Seeds/LB. |
2,000,000 |
| Seeding Rate |
2 lb./1,000 sq. ft. |
| Heat Tolerance |
moderate |
| Cold Tolerance |
high |
| Mowing Height |
high |
| Nitrogen Requirement |
high |
| Drought Tolerance |
moderate |
| Shade Tolerance |
low |
| Wear Tolerance |
moderate |
| Establishment Rate |
slow |
| Growth Habit |
rhizomes |
| Adaptation |
cool season sun |
Bluegrass is the most important and widely used cool season species.
Adaptation
Kentucky Bluegrass is a long-lived perennial that is widely adapted throughout the cool season growing areas. It can also be used in the cool semiarid and arid regions if irrigated. Kentucky bluegrass is capable of surviving extended drought periods and can initiate new shoot growth when moisture conditions improve. Summer dormancy may occur with the above ground foliage becoming brown.
Use
Kentucky bluegrass is a general purpose turfgrass, commonly used on lawns, parks, athletic fields, cemeteries, golf course roughs and fairways. With good recuperative potential and vigorous rhizome (below ground lateral shoots) development, bluegrass is well suited most turfgrass applications.
Culture
Kentucky bluegrass requires medium to high nitrogen fertility. One half pound of actual nitrogen per growing month is not unusual. Establishment is slow, with some elite cultivars requiring 3-4 weeks for germination in warm soils. When properly cared for, a Kentucky bluegrass lawn will heal itself, spreading to fill in a dinner plate size area in one growing season. Kentucky bluegrass should be the primary component in any cool season sunny lawn mix.
