What Type of Grass to Grow in Maine?
Maine has a cool climate and relatively short growing season. The soil is usually moderately drained at best. Grass is grown in Maine for both lawn use and forage. There are a variety of grasses grown in the state, offering a wide variety of options whether farming a crop, grazing livestock or simply seeding and maintain a healthy lawn. Identifying and understanding the most common grasses of Maine can help homeowners and farmers select the best variety for their needs. Does this Spark an idea?
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Identification
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When selecting a lawn grass, Maine residents are encouraged to obtain a soil test kit from the local county office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Soil samples can then be sent to the Main Soil Testing Lab for a detailed report and fertilizer recommendation. The most commonly found lawn pests in Maine are white grubs and chinch bugs. The Pest Management Office of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension is available to help residents identify any lawn pests. These services can help prevent unnecessary and excessive use of pesticides and other lawn chemicals (see Resources below).
Lawn Grass
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For the best lawn grass, you should seed in late summer. This time of year provides warm days, cool nights and a minimum of weed competition compared to springtime. Kentucky bluegrass, also known as Junegrass, is popular throughout New England. This lawn grass grows back well even after frequent cuttings. For lawns, bluegrass is sometimes seeded with red fescue. Perrenial ryegrass is another popular choice for lawns. This grass prefers full light and is a darker green in color than bluegrass.
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Types
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The Maine Grass Farmers Network promotes growing grass as pasture for livestock. The five most popular forage grasses in Maine are Kentucky bluegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, smooth bromegrass and reed canarygrass. Farmers are encouraged to grow these forage grasses to sell as livestock feed. The Maine Grass Farmers Network helps actively promote and support this goal (see Resources below).
Considerations
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Some of the popular forage grasses in Maine can still present growing difficulties due to poor drainage. Orchardgrass is a good forage grass for Maine, but it requires a well-drained field. Orchardgrass provides a higher yield than many other forage grasses, such as timothy. This grass is also well suited to seeding with alfalfa. New seedings of orchardgrass will do best with a variety such as pennlate or rancho. Smooth bromegrass is also popular in many areas of New England. The drawback to growing smooth bromegrass in Maine is that this grass also requires deep soil that is well-drained. It is a very hardy grass and provides a high yield of pasture, silage or hay. On the other end of the spectrum, reed canarygrass grows very well in Maine as it can withstand both flooding and drought. This grass grows very densely and is most commonly used as a conservation grass. Reed canarygrass can be used for forage, but requires careful management.
Most Common Grasses
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Though it is most commonly used in lawns, bluegrass can also be used as a forage grass, but offers a low yield and is therefore better for grazing than harvesting. Timothy is one of the most popular forage grasses in the state. Timothy is frequently grown with clover, though chazy is a variety of timothy that can be grown with alfalfa as well. For beginners or those wanting grass with minimal maintenance, these favorites are ideal choices.
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