Grass Color

[picframer]

For the past three months we have been using the same grass seed, it's supposed to be Bluegrass which seems to handle our climate the best. We only have around 20 mow clients, have landscaped and seeded around 50 this year, balance has been sod. Something clients are starting to ask and I see it in a new area of my own lawn is why is the grass so many different colors, it goes from lime green to a very dark almost black green, I even see this on clients lawns we haven't overseeded. I have looked at the blades very closely and to me they look exactly the same, just a different color. We only use Organic sprays so too much in one area is out. I could send samples off to the department of agriculture just to see what is up, I contacted the manufacturer several times but no replies. Driving home today I started looking at lawns and saw at least 20 the same way, it's very strange and something I have never noticed before. Any thoughts?

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[StartALawnCareBusiness]

Lawn care business tips

A guess... Soil pH variations through out the lawn are reducing or increasing availability of base nutrients to be taken in by the grass' root system thus affecting its rate of photosynthesis. Do two soil tests per yard. Test #1 includes several samples in areas where grass is the 'unnatural' color. Test #2 includes several samples of more uniform coloration. You're a pro at excavation. Your problem may be as simple as slag in the ground or buried building materials (i.e. cinder blocks - think limestone) from when the house was build or the yards were first installed affecting the pH. Keith

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Start a profitable lawn care business.

[swstout]

Originally Posted by picframer

For the past three months we have been using the same grass seed, it's supposed to be Bluegrass which seems to handle our climate the best.

We only have around 20 mow clients, have landscaped and seeded around 50 this year, balance has been sod.

Something clients are starting to ask and I see it in a new area of my own lawn is why is the grass so many different colors, it goes from lime green to a very dark almost black green, I even see this on clients lawns we haven't overseeded.

I have looked at the blades very closely and to me they look exactly the same, just a different color. We only use Organic sprays so too much in one area is out.

I could send samples off to the department of agriculture just to see what is up, I contacted the manufacturer several times but no replies.

Driving home today I started looking at lawns and saw at least 20 the same way, it's very strange and something I have never noticed before.

Any thoughts?

I found this exert on http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/tips/2008/05_19color.html
Color Variation in Residential and Commercial Lawns

Species and cultivars: Perennial ryegrass is always the first of the desired cool-season grasses to green-up, followed by tall fescue and eventually Kentucky bluegrass. Within a species, different cultivars may green-up faster or have inherently darker green color. Though Kentucky bluegrasses selected for sod are usually dark green, sodded lawns tend to green-up a little slower than adjacent seeded lawns. This is a typical complaint with sodded front lawns with all bluegrass greening-up slower than seeded side and back lawns that contain some perennial ryegrass. Furthermore, a blend of cultivars of the same species may segregate over time as each cultivars may dominate their own niche in a lawn. For instance, shaded or damp areas may be dominated by one cultivar while sunny or dry areas may be dominated by another. When blended together, these cultivars usually cannot be distinguished from one another until time allows them to separate into visible patches. Recommendation: a light fertilization of 0.5 to 0.75 lbs N/1000 sq ft might help to mask color differences.

Steve

[mark123]

Every lawn is a mixture of species. Parts die out and other species sneak in by various natural means. Each species has different heat tolerance, different optimum heights and about 1000 other differences. As Steve said, the best you can do is maximize the green to mask the differences.