By: Tyler Snook

North Dakota State University

Ketucky Bluegrass

Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky Bluegrass, is one of the most abundant turf grasses used across the United States; it is one of the most reliable and all-around best grasses one can plant. Kentucky Bluegrass can be found in all 50 states in the U.S. and spans throughout the entire globe in most places. It is the primary grass used on golf course fairways and roughs on the majority of the northern half of the country.

Introduction to the United States

The first bluegrasses in North America were brought over by European settlers and their animals. Instantly, it became popular for what most people knew very little about back then; it is very lush, has a great texture, and is still one of the most diversified types of grass on the market. Kentucky Bluegrass is not the most aggressive grass out there, but is definitely not too passive; it will contend with weeds and, for the most part, keep them out of the lawn if it is kept well. This grass is very drought hardy due to its dense and deep root system; this great attribute allows it to be planted in many places where other species of turf could never grow.

Identification

Poa pratensis is by far one of the easiest grasses to identify just by looking at it with the naked eye. Kentucky Bluegrass has a very, very prominent midrib running all the way down the blade. This characteristic, like nearly all other species and cultivars of bluegrass, is a tell-tale sign that you are dealing with a bluegrass lawn. Kentucky Bluegrass, if left uncut, can grow from one to two feet in height; and it will keep coming back year after year because of the fact that it is a perennial grass. Kentucky Bluegrass reproduces by rhizomes as well as by seed; new tillers, with their roots, grow from the nodes along the rhizomes, continually filling the spaces left by the death of the older tiller tufts. Each tiller tuft may only survive for two year periods. Along with the prominent midrib, Kenucky Bluegrass also has adhering and parallel veins running alongside of the midrib; these are not quite as noticable as the middle one, but are still another good hint that one is handling Poa pratensis.