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I recently planted tall fescue in the shaded, wet areas of my lawn (mostly around the patio) as the couch grass simply would not grow there. I noticed there was a fine, long, dark green clump grass starting to grow in this area as I was throwing the tall fescue seed down. It has since grown into lush, dark green ground cover that blends in perfectly with my blue couch lawn. It grew fast too.

I need to find out what this is and replace the tall fescue I laid down with this! I'm going to take a guess and say it's Bluegrass or Buffalo Grass.

Photo 1: comparison between the grasses, showing that this mystery grass isn't tall fescue

Photo 2: shows the clump formation and the length of the leaves (20cm)

Photo 3: shows the clump formation and beautiful blue green colour

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  • Hey luke! What the heck is 'couch grass'? Fescue is the one grass I know that grows semi-well in shade...NOT Bluegrass or Buffalo. Why do you not think it is fescue? Why do you feel you need grass in the shade? Why isn't this grass mowed? When you DO mow, please be very careful not to mow more than a couple of inches. You'll stress this grass out and those weeds will take over. Use your weedwacker if necessary. No more fertilization...gotta fertilize but fertilizing shaded plants creates big problems!! How about defining an area and creating a gravelled surface?
    – stormy
    Commented Aug 26, 2015 at 0:46
  • A quick google search would have shown you that couch grass is "Cynodon dactylon", which is also called "Bermuda". However, I have Queensland Blue grass, otherwise known as "Digitaria didactyla" or "Blue Couch". The main reason I don't believe that it that it is tall fescue is that it was already growing there before I put fescue seed down. The other reason is depicted in the photos - it looks completely different. Perhaps it is a Ryegrass of some sort? It's ridiculously healthy and grows fast. I haven't mowed as I'm waiting for the fescue seedlings to be firmy rooted in the soil.
    – Luke Allison
    Commented Aug 26, 2015 at 1:28
  • From the habit, it appears to be a tall fescue. Remember, because it was developed for turf, there are now many heights, blade widths, and shades of green out there. Two tall fescues can look quite different. Your 'mystery grass' actually looks more like tall fescue than your 'tall fescue'. lol
    – J. Musser
    Commented Aug 26, 2015 at 2:14
  • Check my answer. Do you still think it is Tall Fescue?
    – Luke Allison
    Commented Aug 27, 2015 at 1:20
  • Yes, I still think it's tall fescue.
    – J. Musser
    Commented Sep 13, 2015 at 0:35

2 Answers 2

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Actually, what you have in that patch appears to be tall fescue. I have some that looks quite similar (see pic below), but tall fescue comes in many shapes, colors, and sizes nowadays, and that makes it harder to identify. The blade habit and tillering structure in your picture fit well, though. I'm not sure what you have in the back, but it doesn't look like tall fescue (at least not matured).

As you can see, my specemin is suffering from some drought in this picture. enter image description here

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Well after some google searching I have decided that it is Perennial Ryegrass. Anyone object? I found these links useful in determining this:

http://www.smartforage.co.nz/1970/01/ryegrass-continuum-2/ http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf/extension/factsheets/cool-season-turfgrasses-id

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