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Kentucky bluegrass, a cool-season grass commonly used for lawns, athletic fields, and pastures.
Planting, growing, and maintaining Kentucky Bluegrass
From lush lawns to lively pastures, Kentucky bluegrass brings beauty and brawn. Here’s what it looks like, why it’s called bluegrass, and how to grow and care for this vibrant, durable turf grass.
What Is Kentucky Bluegrass?
Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is a cool-season perennial grass known for its rich color, dense sod, and versatility. Often found in lawns, pastures, and prairies, it’s one of the most recognizable and widely used turf grasses in the U.S.
The PennState Extension calls it “the most important lawn grass in America”—for good reason. It holds up well under foot traffic, making it a top choice for active families, sports fields, and even golf courses.
Thanks to its underground rhizomes, Kentucky bluegrass spreads quickly and greens up early in the season, long before many other plants. It’s a reliable, attractive option for those looking to boost curb appeal while enjoying a durable, lush lawn.
If you let Kentucky bluegrass grow in a meadow or pasture, it not only yields forage for horses and livestock but also provides a habitat for ground-nesting birds, reptiles, and small wildlife—some of which also feed on the plant.
Why is it Called Kentucky Bluegrass?
Despite its name, this grass isn’t native to Kentucky—it was brought to North America by European settlers. The “bluegrass” name comes from its delicate blue-purple seed heads. That said, letting your lawn grow tall enough to produce them isn’t recommended. Left unmown, bluegrass can reach 1 to 2 feet in height, with leaf blades stretching 2 to 7 inches long.
What Does Kentucky Bluegrass Look Like?
Kentucky bluegrass is sometimes mistaken for tall fescue or perennial ryegrass, but it has a few distinctive traits if you look closely.
- Its narrow, V-shaped leaf blades feature subtle, light-colored lines along both sides of the midrib. The leaf tips are uniquely boat- or canoe-shaped—a classic identifying feature.
- Leaves typically range from 1 to 7 inches long. The seedhead is a loose, branching panicle measuring 2 to 8 inches long.
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Planting
Kentucky bluegrass likes sunshine, fertile loam soil, and sufficient moisture. It is not drought-tolerant because of its shallow root system, so it requires some care from the homeowner. The plant propagates itself in several ways: by seed, via rhizome, and by tillers (shoots). Here are a few points to consider:
When to Plant
- Plant Kentucky bluegrass seed in late summer or fall. It’s also possible to plant in spring, but best results are typically achieved by planting later in the year. This is typical of most cool-season grasses.
- Planting during the height of summer isn’t conducive to germination and establishment.
How to Plant
- There will be directions on your grass seed bag to guide you in the amount needed for the square footage of your lawn. For bluegrass, this could be 2 to 3 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet—though you may need more or less depending on whether you’re establishing a new lawn or re-seeding an existing yard.
- Be sure to prep the lawn properly. If you’re re-seeding a tired lawn with plenty of dead patches, plan on loosening the soil and removing old dead grass with a rake first.
- For small lawns, you can probably do this aerating and clean up with hand tools. For large lawns, renting, borrowing, or purchasing aerating/seeding machines quickly becomes economical.
- Plant seeds ¼-inch deep. A seeder will do this automatically; all you have to do is set the proper height. If you’re seeding by hand, you’re basically looking to scuff up the surface slightly, sow the seeds, and then lightly rake a small amount of soil back over—but never too deep.
- Soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0 is considered ideal, according to the Kansas State University Extension.
- Water, water, water when first establishing a new lawn or patch of bluegrass. Once the seeds germinate, you can ease up on the watering, but be generous at the start.
- If you’d like, you can fertilize your new lawn with a “starter” fertilizer in the beginning, followed by seasonal nitrogen applications in the fall of each year.
- Since bluegrass likes full sun, you can blend other, more shade-tolerant grass species—like fescue—into your mix if you have some areas of shade in your lawn.
Types
There are “turf types” and “forage types” of Kentucky bluegrass, and while there are more than 100 cultivars in all, turf types are a little more complicated to grow. Here are some cultivars to consider:
- ‘Midnight’ is a turf type that’s admired for its rich color and suitability for producing sod.
- ‘Ginger’ is a very popular forage variety.
- ‘Troy’ is a forage type that’s suitable for grazing.
Note: If you’re growing Kentucky bluegrass for pasture for horse and livestock forage, it needs to be part of a forage mix. While it withstands close, frequent grazing, it doesn’t produce large quantities of forage.
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