Colonial bentgrass
Agrostis capillaris
Scientific name: Agrostis capillaris
Common name: Colonial Bentgrass
Colonial Bentgrass is adapted to cool coastal regions (cool-season grass). It is not heat or drought tolerant and requires moderate to high maintenance. It has a very fine texture to it. It has partial shade tolerance. It is from Europe. When allowed to grow tall, it reseeds heavily. It should be mowed low once or more a week. One unique problem for bentgrass is the development of ‘false crowns’. Turfgrass species have the real crown at the bottom where all the leaf blades grow from, so a false crown acts like a crown but grows above the crown (usually at mowing height). This is usually due to cutting high. Including colonial bentgrass in seed mixes may exacerbate the issue of false crowns, since other grass types prefer higher mowing than colonial bentgrass. Colonial bentgrass needs less fertilization than other turf species, but will need more water due to its less shallow root system. If drought conditions do become a problem, bentgrass will survive by going dormant.