What Type of Grass Has a Brown Stalky Blade?

Weed Grasses

• Some weed grasses turn brown in summer and develop long stalks if allowed to grow to their full heights untrimmed. Examples include bentgrass (Agrostis spp.), which is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2 through 10 and often used for golf courses but not desirable in home gardens. When taller, blades emerge from stalks at various points along the stem. Nimbewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi), a true weed, turns brown or tan in fall and winter, and has a similar growth form to bentgrass, with blades emerging along stalks.

Unhealthy Turf Grass

• When turf grass of any type suffers from diseases such as melting out, it may turn brown or rust-colored in patches. Normally thick growth thins out, giving the lawn an overall brown, stalky look instead of a full, green carpeted effect. Fusarium blight also turns leaves brown, then tan, then straw-colored before dying. Dead and brittle blades might have a stalk-like appearance as well. Additionally, mowing with a dull blade can tear up lawns, leaving brown patches and torn, jagged edges that might rip off leaf blades and expose the short grass stalks below. Grasses of all types that go too long without water and mowing can get tall and brown in summer and fall.

Ornamental Grasses

• Many ornamental grasses are perennial but deciduous, meaning that while they grow back anew every year, they do not maintain evergreen color. Instead their tall green foliage -- or sometimes silver, blue, gold or striped foliage -- turns brown or tan in wintertime. This stiff, stalky effect is beloved by many gardeners, as it adds color to a less interesting cool-weather landscape. Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), for example, hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8, turn a coppery color before fading to brown in wintertime.

Flower Stalks

• Flower stalks, especially before their heads have appeared, are sometimes easy to confuse with stalkier leaf blades. If you see brownish blades and eventually tassels emerging from the middle of grass clumps, especially of the ornamental variety, this is most likely the plant’s flower, which usually emerges in summer or fall. Northern sea oats, for example, have a bronze-purple cast in late summer and fall, while “Morning Light” eulalia grass (Miscanthus sinensis “Morning Light”), hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, has tan flower stalks with tiny blooms.