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Dormant lawn

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From: Larry Newton
City:
Plainfield, IL
Does tall fescue go dormant in dry periods like bluegrass? It seems like my entire lawn is sleeping, but there is a weedy grass that is thriving along the driveway and in my pakway. Can I pull this out of the aw? Will it leave any rhizomes or seeds behind?

 
Extension Message
From: Richard Hentschel
Extension Educator, Horticulture
DuPage/Kane/Kendall Unit
hentsche@illinois.edu
Thanks for sending images outside of this system. The Jpeg ending in 207 is Tall Fescue, a bunch type perennial grass. In a Bluegrass lawn it would be considered a grassy weed. Because it is perennial like your preferred lawn grass the only way to remove it is to dig it out hoping to get all the roots or an spot application of a non- selective systemic herbicide. This will take out both your desired grass and the tall fescue. You can re-sod or reseed per label instructions.

The Jpeg ending 156 is crabgrass, an annual grassy weed. If you grasp it at the very base as it enters the soil, you can usually pull it out, better when younger, but you can still do it now. It will die at the first frost if left alone, yet crabgrass is prolific in producing seed (seed heads are there right now in the picture). You can prevent crabgrass pretty easy with a pre-emergence annual grass preventer.

 
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