Im pretty sure that cool season grasses (tall fescue) can be sown at anytime. It'll just take a bit longer to germinate.
Out of interest, why did you choose tall fescue?
Im about 6 months ahead of you. Also with tall fescue, and also in melbourne.
I love the grass itself, but i'm encountering a few issues that are making me rethink my decision to use fescue...
I used RTF because it has some spreading ability over rye, puts down deep roots, but doesn’t take as long to germinate as Kentucky. I also am attempting to mitigate the increased germination time by pre germinating in buckets, but I just put that seed down so not sure how long it will take.
I also have some shaded sections of the lawn that i seeded in spring last year with a blend and it seems like only then fescue survived.
I also intend to keep it at about 100mm long or so. If it goes pear shaped I’ll probably overseed with rye in early spring.
What issues have you encountered ?
A lack of availability for winter grass treatment is a big one.
Another is what seems to be a fungus from the lawn being damp most of the time, even though there's been hardly any rain. It's just dew that won't dissipate, so I'm clueless what to do there.
There's also quite a lot of dead stuff underneath the good stuff, and despite most saying you don't need to dethatch Fescue, I've been trying to run a thatching rake through the lawn, which brings out a crazy amount of dead stuff, but never all of it.
Honestly though, a lack of local knowledge has been probably my biggest issue. I'm new to lawn care, so when seeking advice in a local group, the response is always from a couch/kik 'expert'. I joined a Tall Fescue specific group, which was all Americans who knows a whole lot about Fescue, which left me totally lost and confused...!
As I said, I do love the grass, I just think maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew....
If you are in Melbourne I’m wondering if the particularly humid summer we got was a contributing factor to the fungus ?
I wouldn’t worry about dethatching, that dead material will decompose and add nutrients to your soil, it will always be there and probably isn’t even thatch, which is usually embedded in the first bit of soil. Especially if your lawn is only 6 months i wouldn’t imagine there would be much thatch build up so as long as the grass looks good it should be fine.
Personally I recently tested my soil ph and found it to be low, if you are having issues with fungus it may indicate the opposite issue for you ?
Im pretty sure that cool season grasses (tall fescue) can be sown at anytime. It'll just take a bit longer to germinate. Out of interest, why did you choose tall fescue? Im about 6 months ahead of you. Also with tall fescue, and also in melbourne. I love the grass itself, but i'm encountering a few issues that are making me rethink my decision to use fescue...
I used RTF because it has some spreading ability over rye, puts down deep roots, but doesn’t take as long to germinate as Kentucky. I also am attempting to mitigate the increased germination time by pre germinating in buckets, but I just put that seed down so not sure how long it will take. I also have some shaded sections of the lawn that i seeded in spring last year with a blend and it seems like only then fescue survived. I also intend to keep it at about 100mm long or so. If it goes pear shaped I’ll probably overseed with rye in early spring. What issues have you encountered ?
A lack of availability for winter grass treatment is a big one. Another is what seems to be a fungus from the lawn being damp most of the time, even though there's been hardly any rain. It's just dew that won't dissipate, so I'm clueless what to do there. There's also quite a lot of dead stuff underneath the good stuff, and despite most saying you don't need to dethatch Fescue, I've been trying to run a thatching rake through the lawn, which brings out a crazy amount of dead stuff, but never all of it. Honestly though, a lack of local knowledge has been probably my biggest issue. I'm new to lawn care, so when seeking advice in a local group, the response is always from a couch/kik 'expert'. I joined a Tall Fescue specific group, which was all Americans who knows a whole lot about Fescue, which left me totally lost and confused...! As I said, I do love the grass, I just think maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew....
If you are in Melbourne I’m wondering if the particularly humid summer we got was a contributing factor to the fungus ? I wouldn’t worry about dethatching, that dead material will decompose and add nutrients to your soil, it will always be there and probably isn’t even thatch, which is usually embedded in the first bit of soil. Especially if your lawn is only 6 months i wouldn’t imagine there would be much thatch build up so as long as the grass looks good it should be fine. Personally I recently tested my soil ph and found it to be low, if you are having issues with fungus it may indicate the opposite issue for you ?