Tall Fescue Grass Seed by Pennington does not mean it is tall grass but that it stands upright and the Pennington Smart Seed will change the way you think about your grass!

Pennington’s SMART SEED produces healthier, thicker grass that…

* Requires up to 30% LESS WATER every year * Maximizes fertilizer [...]]]>

Tall Fescue Grass Seed by Pennington does not mean it is tall grass but that it stands upright and the Pennington Smart Seed will change the way you think about your grass!

Pennington’s SMART SEED produces healthier, thicker grass that…

* Requires up to 30% LESS WATER every year
* Maximizes fertilizer performance
* Grows a Denser, Deeper root system than grass grown without using Pennington’s Smart Seed

What a great advertisement, right?  What is great is that it is true!  It is my goal to help people find the right product for their needs and when it is an “easier to use” product, it is just that much better for them.  Now you just need the facts about Tall Fescue Grass Seed to determine if that is the right grass seed for you and when the best time to plant would be.

Pennington’s Seed Planting Zones

Tall Fescue Grass Seed maintains a deep green color throughout the growing season.  It grows into a beautiful fine textured lawn.  This blend of Fescue Grass Seed contains improved heat, drought and disease resistant varieties.

Smart Seed™ with MYCO Advantage™ produces a healthier, thicker lawn that grows a deeper, denser root system, requiring up to 30% LESS WATER and maximizes fertilizer performance.

The planting zones for this type of grass seed are 1-8 on the above zone chart and upper sections of zones 9 & 12.  This grass seed needs 4-8 hours of sun to maintain a good stand.  This Tall Fescue Grass seed contains lower growing blend which requires less mowing than common Fescues.

This cool season, aggressive, perennial bunchgrass develops a uniform sod as it matures.  One of the Tall Fescue Grass blends best features is that it adapts to a wide range of soils, including poorly drained areas.  It has good traffic tolerance for those of you who have children and pets.

You now know more about this type of grass seed to determine if it is the best for your lawn’s environment.  Do yourself a favor and go buy a bag of Tall Fescue Grass seed now so you will be ready to plant when the time is right!

We have looked at the best way to plant grass seed and how to know if you have high quality grass seed.  Equally as important is knowing how to pick the right type of grass seed you need to plant for the conditions of your lawn; i.e., shady, sunny [...]]]>

We have looked at the best way to plant grass seed and how to know if you have high quality grass seed.  Equally as important is knowing how to pick the right type of grass seed you need to plant for the conditions of your lawn; i.e., shady, sunny or wet and the particular area of the country.

Pennington Smart Seed grass seed is available in several varieties.  Let’s look at the different grass seeds and the conditions that will produce that lush lawn you are wanting.

Pennington’s Seed Planting Zones

Kentucky Bluegrass:

This produces one of the highest quality, most desirable looking lawns.  It is an aggressive, self-spreading grass which reproduces by seed and spreads by underground stolons.  It is naturally more disease and insect resistant than other grass varieties.  It contains both Pennington’s exclusive MYCO Advantage & Penkote technology.  This is a terrific variety but let’s see if it is suited for your zone and lawn environment.

The planting zones are all of 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and upper parts of 5 and 8.  Look at the map above to determine if your home falls in any of those zones.  Now it also requires full sun to partial shade (at least 6-8 hours of daily sun). It has excellent traffic tolerance so if you have children, for instance,  and the first 2 requirements are met, this is the grass seed for your lawn.

The recommended planting time for this grass is Early Spring or Early Fall.  For new lawns you will need 3 pounds per 1,000 square feet and for over-seeding you will need 1 1/2 pounds per 1,000 square feet.  This is a fine textured, dark green grass that has a good drought tolerance and very good disease resistance.  This knowledge will help you pick the right type of grass seed.

This is the first of 8 varieties that are excellent choices for the gorgeous and easy to care for lawn you have been desiring.  If you live in one of the planting zones for Kentucky Bluegrass, and have the 6-8 hours of light required, don’t delay in getting this type of grass seed.  Your neighbors will wonder how you had the time to grow such an outstanding lawn and you will know it was because you knew how to pick the right grass seed.

The next grass seed to find out if it is the right one for you will be Tall Fescue Grass Seed.

My previous post described how to plant grass seed whether you are planting new or over-seeding your lawn.  If you are going to do that work, then make sure you have purchased high quality grass seed.

Pennington’s Smart Seed has been carefully selected to ensure you grow the best lawn. [...]]]>

My previous post described how to plant grass seed whether you are planting new or over-seeding your lawn.  If you are going to do that work, then make sure you have purchased high quality grass seed.

Pennington’s Smart Seed has been carefully selected to ensure you grow the best lawn. The varieties were chosen not only for their ability to produce a thick, lush, healthy lawn, but also for their improved drought, disease and insect resistance versus other grass seed varieties.

The Penkoted® seed technology contains a fungicide that literally seals and protects each seed while in the ground, improving its ability to grow into a healthy plant. This technology is used in every bag of Pennington’s Smart Seed along with their newest exclusive technology MYCO Advantage™.

Pennington’s Smart Seed MYCO Advantage™  is Pennington’s newest seed enhancement technology.  MYCO Advantage™ also literally seals each seed and when planted reintroduces beneficial, all natural micro-organisms.  The micro-organisms in MYCO Advantage™ attach to the emerging seed roots, helping the grass grow a denser, deeper root system.  And the result is a healthier, thicker lawn that utilizes available moisture and nutrients more efficiently.  Now that sounds like a smart seed!

Naturally occurring soil micro-organisms can become destroyed or depleted over time, from either environmental stress, the use of harsh chemicals or today’s construction practices, including grading of home and building sites. This can cause a  lifeless, compacted soil that makes it very difficult to grow grass much less a thick, lush, healthy lawn.

A “picture is worth a thousand words” is so true with this comparison.  Personally, I want the extra help to have a successful and beautiful lawn.  I simply do not have the time in my busy schedule to baby a lawn past getting the ground prepared, seed planted and keeping it watered.

You have the information you need to buy the quality grass seed that you need to have a successful and lush lawn.  Next you need to know which type of grass seed would be best for your lawn.

Pennington’s Smart Seed is one of the best grass seed products you can find on the market that explains how to plant the grass seed and uses MYCO Advantage™technology that results in more success. I have sold several types of grass seed and am more pleased with this [...]]]>

Pennington’s Smart Seed is one of the best grass seed products you can find on the market that explains how to plant the grass seed and uses MYCO Advantage™technology that results in more success. I have sold several types of grass seed and am more pleased with this product than any other.

What means the most to me when picking the right grass seed? The ease in planting, the quality of the seed for germination and grass seed developed to resist diseases.

4 Easy Steps to Planting Seed

1. Prepare The Soil

Bare Spots & New Lawns
Remove all debris from planting area
Till or rake to loose top 2″ to 3″ of soil
Rake smooth to create a flat, level planting area

Overseeding
Mow the lawn as short as possible & remove clippings
Rake thoroughly removing thatch (dead grass) and debris to expose the soil
Aerate lawn if possible to allow better air and water penetration into the soil

2. Fertilize Planting Area
Apply a starter fertilizer
Lime may need to be added in some areas to ensure proper soil pH levels

3. Plant The Seed
Using a drop-type, rotary or hand held spreader, apply the seed evenly to avoid skips, overlapping & streaking
Gently rake, working seed into the soil about 1/4″ (using a drag chain would work also)

4. Water Seeded Area
Water daily to keep soil moist
Do not allow the top 1/2″ of the soil to become dry until seedlings have completely emerged
Once grass becomes established, reduce watering to 1/2″ twice a week

You now have the instructions for how easy it is to plant grass seed or overseed your lawn.  Let’s look next at how to know if you have  high quality grass seeds.

Coming back from NW Arkansas after a college football game, I became aware of the immense fall web worm infestation along the highway. You need to get the information on how to identify and control these web-forming [...]]]>

Controlling fall web worms…before they damage your trees, shrubs and some vines.

Coming back from NW Arkansas after a college football game, I became aware of the immense fall web worm infestation along the highway. You need to get the information on how to identify and control these web-forming insects.

Identifying what type of caterpillar you have is a little easier by where the web is located. The fall web worm builds at the tip of the branch while the tent caterpillar makes its home in the fork of the branches. Just as the tent caterpillars are completing their nest, the fall web worm tent-like structures begin to appear. It seems like this happens overnight because the fall web worm does most of its work during the evening hours.

The fall web worm caterpillar is about 1″ long, is very hairy and pale green or yellow, with either a red or black head. They overwinter as pupae in cocoons that are hidden in either the bark of the tree or in the soil. The moths emerge from mid-March to mid-late April. They are satin white with brown wing spots.

The first generation of caterpillars start to feed sometime in mid-spring to early summer. After feeding, they pupate in the soil and a second generation of web worms will be seen during August or September. The second generation is more destructive with defoliation of the plant than the first generation.

Controlling these pests is important. You can destroy the tents, especially when they are small. Best time is around dusk or early morning when the larvae are in the tent. On smaller trees, they may be pruned and destroyed. But on larger trees and trees with several nests, you need to spray.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and bifenthrin (Bug Blaster) are effective against the fall web worms. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a microbial pesticide that can be applied as a dust or spray. It kills many types of caterpillars but has no effect on warm-blooded animals or bees. Always use Bt with care, because it also can kill the larvae of non-pest moths and butterflies.

Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid which has a long lasting residual. Rule of thumb…application should be made when the larvae are small and easiest to control, not when they are full grown and have already done their damage.

Inspection for the greenish egg masses of the fall web worms can be accomplished by looking on the underside of leaves anywhere from spring to late fall. A little extra work inspecting the trees will go a long way in reducing the infestations later in the fall.

Wildflowers…think back to when you were young…remember seeing the beautiful flowers in the fields and meadows? What child didn’t want to pick flowers for their mother? Today wildflowers can be planted for enjoyment in your own garden areas and will benefit the environment for the bees, birds, [...]]]>

Wildflowers…think back to when you were young…remember seeing the beautiful flowers in the fields and meadows? What child didn’t want to pick flowers for their mother? Today wildflowers can be planted for enjoyment in your own garden areas and will benefit the environment for the bees, birds, butterflies and, yes, the bugs.

Native or naturalized? Wildflowers that are indigenous to the continent are “native” of which, by expert estimates, there are over 20,000 species of flowering plants in North America, belonging to about 300 different families. “Naturalized” refer to flowers that may be common, but not indigenous to the continent, which have been introduced from other parts of the world. One thing that they share in common; however, is that they do just fine growing on their own in nature.

Now that you know you want to plant wildflowers, determine where is the best spot. Do you want to add to existing landscape or start a new area? Is this for your own enjoyment in a private landscape or do you want it to be seen from the road for all to enjoy? Is the look you are trying to create more formal or randomly scattered like in a meadow?

You want to prepare the area where you are planning to grow the wildflowers. Wildflowers don’t need to compete with the grasses and weeds in the area so you will want to begin spraying with a generic RoundUp to clean it up. For fall planting start in September while they are still actively growing as the RoundUp is taken down to the roots of the plant through the leaves. In another week rake the area again, wait a week, then spray again to clean up any emerging weeds. You may need to do this process a few times depending on how “weedy” your area is for planting.

Toward the end of October, rough up the area of the soil so that all the seed comes in good contact (but don’t go any deeper than 1″ or you will bring up more weed seeds). You can roll over the seed or use a drag chain to make sure all seeds are just covered by the soil. You may find it easier to use sand or another medium to mix with the seed at a ratio of 8 parts medium to 1 part seed to get a uniform coverage. If needed, cover with straw and not hay as hay has weed seeds in it and wheat or pine straw does not!

In the spring your diligence in the fall will have paid off as the beautiful flowers will begin to erupt through the soil. Germination time will depend on the type of flower but is anywhere from 6 days to 28 days. You will then have flowers coming on at all different times.  Also, planting seeds that germinate faster than others will cause them to act as a support group to keep the weeds down until the other flowers can germinate and begin growing.

There are different combinations of wildflower seeds for different effects.  Try Wildflower Garden Seed Mix, Hummingbird & Butterfly Garden Wildflower Seed Mix, Cottage Garden Wildflower Seed Mix, or Daisy Garden Wildflower Seed Mix. 

Add a new dimension to your outdoor space with wildflowers and enjoy!