Grass going to seed before it's long enough to be mowed?

[GreenGranolaGirl]

One section of my lawn is growing at a very slow rate. It's going to seed before its even long enough to be trimmed by the mower. The rest of the lawn is doing well and is nice and green and uniform looking. My husband fertilized in early spring (not sure what he used - some sort of granular lawn fertilizer that he got from the big box store). It's just this one 4' by 12' section that is having problems. This is the second year we've owned this home and I don't remember it having this problem last year. I'm not sure what kind of grass it is. Is it lacking a nutrient or something?

[bullthistle]

It could be a couple things. Hard packed soil or too much moisture. In the fall rake the area deep and topdress with manure and Scott's. Big box stuff could be mostly sand.

[The Helpful Gardener]

You have Bermuda, bentgrass or possible buffalo grass (native to your area). But I am betting on the bent; it often escapes golfcourse greens.
Properly high cuts discourage bent and encourage the taller grasses...

Porperly means three to four inches. Yup. Three to four.

HG

[garysallred]

I doubt your grass is going to seed. You most likely have plantain weeds in your lawn that make it look like the lawn has gone to seed. Get a good liquid systemic weed killer like Sprectracide or Weed-B-Gone. Mow your lawn about 1 1/2" high and then apply lawn weed killer according to directions. After a couple of applications and mowings these 'seed stalks' should stop coming back.

[The Helpful Gardener]

While I know it is not always safe to assume things, I generally find people are smart enough to know broad leaf weeds from grass...

And most folks smart enough to come here for advice are also smart enough to avoid chemicals for their lawn. It is just not important enough to risk your health or that of your kids or pets to get rid of a few weeds you could mostly eliminate with some thoughtful care instead.

Mowing a lawn at 11/2 " is simply asking for weeds. Using chemicals like [url=https://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Product.jsp?REG_NR=00968800139&DIST_NR=008845]Spectracide[/url] is just asking for issues like cancer, Parkinson's disease, or problems passed on to your offspring... 2,4,D is currently undergoing it's first ever EPA review, so the jury is still officially out, but we've been pretty sure about the nasties in that particular product for a while... the Dicamba is ugly stuff as well, and so is Mecoprop. A nasty little cocktail...

Slightly different mix in the Weed-B-Gone, some newer ingredients without the body of testing the last batch has had (which is damning it with faint praise indeed). Still has the Dicamba, which is pretty clearly a reproductive issue.And the newer stuff? Who knows?

Canada and Europe have enacted the Precautionary Principle as law, which means you must prove your product harmless before bringing it to market. Neither of these products would pass muster; there are serious concerns as to their long term effects on both humans and the environs in general...

It never ceases to amaze how quickly people are to recommend possibly deadly chemicals as solutions to issues not even clearly established. I would not mind so much if these folks were just poisoning themselves, but they cannot keep these products in the confines of their property and pollute our communal water and air. So I completely disagree with Gary; he has got it completely wrong. His is a prescription for long term issues of health, both of turf and of people.

S