Kentucky Bluegrass
The most recognized cool-season turfgrass in the northern US. Kentucky Bluegrass has fine, dark green blades with a distinctive boat-shaped tip and spreads underground via rhizomes, allowing it to self-repair. It produces a beautiful, dense lawn but requires more water and care than other cool-season grasses.
- Season
- Cool-season
- Mow height
- 2.5–3.5 inches
- Spreads by
- Rhizomes (underground runners)
- Blade width
- Fine
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Shade tolerance
- Medium
- Regions
- Northern US, Pacific Northwest, Transition Zone
Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis) produces some of the most attractive turf in the country — fine-textured, dense, and a rich blue-green color. Its rhizome-spreading habit allows it to recover from damage and fill in bare spots. The tradeoff is higher water demand and susceptibility to summer heat and drought.
Best use: High-quality home lawns, sports fields in northern US climates.
Mowing: Keep at 2.5–3.5 inches. Never cut more than 1/3 of the blade at a time. Raise to 3.5 inches in summer heat.
Fertilizer: Moderate-to-heavy feeder — 3–4 lbs nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft per year. Fall is the most important feeding time.
Watering: Needs 1–1.5 inches per week. Goes into summer dormancy (brown) if not watered — it will green back up in fall.
Identification tip: Look for the distinctive "boat-shaped" blade tip — it curls to a point like the bow of a boat.
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