Achieving a stunning lawn isn’t as simple as some might think. Planting grass seed or laying sod are time-consuming projects that can cost hundreds of dollars. So, it’s no surprise the folks do their research and want to get it right the first time.
Perhaps you’re starting from scratch, or maybe you need to fill in bare spots on your lawn. You want a thicker, healthier lawn, so you’re considering adding a variety of grass seed. But which one should you use?
Maybe you have centipede grass seed, or perhaps you have fescue grass seed. Either way, you’re considering mixing in the other variety. Do they mix well? We’re here to answer this question, so continue reading to learn more!
Fescue Grass
Fescue is a type of perennial grass popular for its climate-tolerant nature. It’s a cool-season grass and thrives in areas with cold winters and hot summers. It offers decent heat, cold, and drought tolerance, which makes it a popular pick for many northern homeowners.
There are several varieties of fescue grass, including:
- Tall fescue: This variety is known for its coarse appearance and hardiness. It’s commonly used in high-traffic areas, like commercial sites and baseball fields, because of its durability and shade tolerance.
- Creeping red fescue: This variety of fescue features fine, dainty blades. Many homeowners add it to other grass seeds to promote shade tolerance and limit fertilization demands.
- Chewings fescue: This variety has fine, thin leaves and is similar to tall fescue. It flourishes in northern portions of the United States and lower parts of Canadian provinces.
- Hard fescue: This variety is often mixed with a blend of grass seeds in an effort to increase fertility and lower the mowing frequency. It’s commonly used in golf course roughs.
- Sheep fescue: This variety flourishes in various climates and is often used to improve soil conditions and curb erosion.
Centipede Grass
Centipede grass is a type of perennial grass that thrives in southeastern portions of the United States. It’s a warm-season grass that is exceptionally heat-tolerant, so it performs well in hot, humid climates.
Centipede grass is popular for its low maintenance and nutrient requirements. It has a moderate shade tolerance and is sensitive to alkaline soil. Since it’s considered warm-season grass, centipede grass doesn’t perform well in cold weather and is more sensitive to cool temperatures than other warm-season grasses.
Common cultivars of centipede grass include:
- Centennial
- TifBlair
- TennTurf
- Oaklawn
- Covington
Can You Mix Centipede Grass With Fescue Grass?
Yes, you can mix certain varieties of centipede grass with fescue grass. Centipede grass pairs well with Dwarf Fescue, which helps correct some areas where centipede grass falls short. We’ll discuss the pairing a bit more in the following sections.
What Grass Can You Mix With Centipede?
The best grass to mix with existing centipede grass (or centipede grass seed) depends on your concerns. The following types of grass will help by improving the shade tolerance, aesthetic appeal, and wear-hardiness of your centipede lawn.
Bermuda Grass
This fast-spreading turf grass is a popular addition to centipede grass lawns. It’s one of the most compatible turf grasses with centipede grass lawns, as it offers benefits that compensate for areas where centipede grass falls short.
Bermuda grass is stoloniferous and rhizomatous, so it spreads rapidly. Centipede grass, on the other hand, only spreads via stolons, so it grows slowly. This means it recovers slowly from damage and stress, so correcting bare patches with centipede grass seed is a slow process.
On top of that, Bermuda grass offers solid wear-hardiness, whereas centipede grass can only tolerate light to moderate traffic.
Dwarf Fescue
Fescue grasses are a variety of cool-season grasses that hold up well in cooler weather, keeping your lawn green late into the year. Centipede grass, however, doesn’t go dormant as most warm-season turfgrasses do in the wintertime.
Because of this, centipede grass generally experiences significant frost damage to the shoots, and the grass doesn’t usually recover until later the following spring, which isn’t ideal. Adding fescue grass can help correct this issue, as it remains green until late in the year.
Taller varieties of fescues can delay centipede grass’ greening in the spring, so it’s best to stick with dwarf fescue if you want to combine the two.
Dwarf fescue offers solid shade tolerance, so it can thrive in shaded areas of your lawn. On top of that, it’s a hardier grass with better wear tolerance than centipede grass. So, if you have a few kids or pets that frequently play on the lawn, these two types of grass are a solid pick.
Saint Augustine
Like centipede grass, Saint Augustine grass thrives in full, direct sunlight. However, while it flourishes in full sun, St. Augustine grass is decently shade-tolerant and can be mixed with centipede grass, which isn’t particularly shade-tolerant.
Each grass type has different shades, with St. Augustine colored slightly darker than centipede grass. If you want to add dimension to your lawn, combining the two is a great way to do it. Adding St. Augustine to the mix also helps improve the overall salt tolerance standard in coastal regions.
It’s important to note that St. Augustine grass can’t be propagated using seeds. So, you’ll need to plant St. Augustine sod pieces in bare patches of your lawn.
What Can You Mix With Fescue?
If you have a fescue grass lawn, you can incorporate a few alternative varieties for a better, healthier lawn. Certain fescue varieties can be overpowering, so it’s essential to select an appropriate grass seed to pair it with.
The best grass variety to mix with fescue depends on your area and the type of fescue you have, so it varies. If you’re unsure which combination is best for your scenario, check with a local agricultural expert.
Kentucky Bluegrass
Combining fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass is a great way to get the best of both types of grass while mitigating the negatives of each. Kentucky Bluegrass grows slower than fescue, which reduces the necessary mowing frequency.
Kentucky Bluegrass resists cold quite well, remaining green into the fall and early winter. Its underground rhizomes reclaim damaged areas of the yard, lessening the likelihood of unsightly bare patches.
While Kentucky Bluegrass doesn’t thrive in shaded areas, fescue thrives in shaded or sunny areas. The combination ensures your lawn will remain full, even in shady areas.
Centipede Grass
- For zones 8 and colder, it’s too late in the year to safely grow Zenith TifBlair Centipede lawns…
- Coated Seed (no mulch) – the seed is coated to improve germination
- A turfgrass for full sun to partial shade. It’s also drought tolerant.
- Tolerant of extreme heat and cold; it’s a well-adapted lawn from the southern coast to the upper…
As mentioned earlier, you can combine centipede grass with certain fescue varieties. The two work well together, providing you choose a shorter fescue variety. Taller fescue varieties can overtake centipede grass, towering above it and hindering its growth.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Much Grass Seed Do I Need?
Overseeding is a great way to fill in bare patches and create a thick lawn, but using too much grass seed is wasteful. So, it’s essential to determine how much grass seed you need for your yard. To determine how much you’ll need, measure your lawn and multiply as necessary to find the square footage.
After you figure out the size of your lawn, check the label on the product bag to find out how much seed to use per X square feet.
Last update on 2024-10-06 / Affiliate links / Somes Images and Data from Amazon Product Advertising API