Hello,

You have two basic options for removing the undesired grass – Physical removal (dig it out) or chemical removal (apply a herbicide to kill it). Once the grass is removed, you will need to spot-seed or place sod in the area to fill in the bare spots. If you seed, when you choose a seed mixture to reseed, be careful to choose a seed product that has predominantly bluegrass and perennial rye cultivars so you don’t find yourself in the same situation again. If you irrigate regularly, you can reseed or sod now, but if you do not irrigate regularly, you should consider waiting until late summer/early fall before seeding or sodding. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/six_steps_to_fall_turfgrass_establishment

If you choose to sod instead of seeding, you can find sod at your “big box” home improvement store. Make sure you call ahead and find out what day they receive sod shipments, because you will want to buy it as fresh as possible.

The grass in the photo could be a fine or creeping fescue or it could be a bentgrass. It is difficult to identify grass species just from a distant photo. However, the only reason to seek a positive ID of the grass is the herbicide choices you will have. If the undesirable grass is bentgrass, there is a selective herbicide (Tenacity) that will kill the bentgass and leave your other grass species unaffected. If it is any other grass species, your only option is a non-selective herbicide (such as glyphosate) that will kill the undesirable grass and desirable grass as well. In this case, you will want to completely spray the undesirable grass and limit overspray on the desirable grass.

If it is one large patch, you may go the non-selective herbicide route and spray carefully to kill the undesirable grass and not over-spray onto a lot of the desirable grass. If it is many, smaller patches, you may want to have the grass cultivar positively identified so you know if you can use a selective herbicide.

Positive identification of grass species is a very complicated process. It involves identifying blade shape, structure and texture, along with characteristics of the joint between the stem and the blades. I would suggest one of these two options:

(1)

Take a sod sample of the undesirable and desirable grass and send it to the MSU Diagnostic Labs for positive identification. The following website describes the services and the fee structure for analysis performed by the Diagnostic Lab.: https://www.canr.msu.edu/pestid/

This website provides directions and tips for taking a good sample: https://www.canr.msu.edu/pestid/submit-samples/

(2)

Take detailed close-up pictures of the grass you wish to identify and send it to the MSU Pest Diagnostic Email, <personal data hidden> Here is an article that helps describe the types of photos the lab will require for identification.

Hope this helps.