NJ Lawns Community

Hey folks, new to the forum but have been lurking for a while. Really hoping someone who's been through multiple Julys in Paramus can help me out here. I have a blend of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass (I think it's like 70/30 or something, the previous owner seeded it before I moved in). My lawn guy swears the whole lawn needs about 1 inch of water per week and treats it all the same. But I'm reading online that KBG is supposed to be more drought-tolerant than ryegrass and shouldn't need as much water. This is driving me crazy because my water bill is no joke and I want to do right by the lawn without overwatering. Has anyone tried splitting the difference or is my lawn guy just trying to keep it simple? Running a sprinkler system on a timer currently. Thoughts?

Your lawn guy isn't totally off base but he's also not giving you the full picture honestly. I've got a similar blend in my yard in Ridgewood and here's my take after messing with this for years: Ryegrass is basically a greedy drinker - it'll tell you it's dying the second it gets stressed. KBG has that deep root system thing going on once it's established and can handle slightly dryer conditions. Problem is when you water for the ryegrass, you're probably overwatering the KBG. I'd shoot for around 3/4 inch twice a week instead of hitting the full inch every time. Your lawn might go slightly dormant in august but it'll come back. Check out the soil probe method - pretty reliable way to actually measure what you're putting down.

Thanks Mike, that's exactly the kind of real-world experience I was looking for.Out of curiosity, do you adjust your watering as we get into late summer? Like mid-august when it typically gets brutal here? I've read some stuff about deep watering less frequently vs light watering more often but everyone seems to have a different opinion.

Wait did this thread get cross-posted or am I missing something? Either way, ignore the deep watering advice if you have ryegrass in the blend. That's more of a tall fescue thing. Rye needs consistent moisture or it turns yellow so fast it'll make your head spin. I'm in Englewood so similar climate. What I do is run my sprinklers 20 minutes per zone, twice a week during normal summer, then bump it up to three times if we're going on a week without rain. The KBG won't love it but it survives. The rye keeps things green while theKBG plays hard to get.

Wait which Mike is responding now? There's two of you apparently lol. Appreciate both perspectives though - this is helping me realize my lawn guy is prob playing it safe by giving me the "one size fits all" answer. Curious, have either of you had issues with brown patch fungus? I've heard that's a thing with overwatered KBG blends in this area. My next door neighbor in Paramus lost a chunk of his backyard last year and he's convinced it was from watering at night.

Brown patch is your neighbor's problem not yours - that's fungal and spreads, so watch out. And yeah DON'T water at night. Early morning is the move, before 6am if you can. That gives the grass a chance to dry out before evening. I've got a Rain Bird controller set to 5am and it's been solid. Got it from irrigateusa in Little Ferry if you need a local place that stocks controllers. Better than the big box stores for advice honestly.