Lawn Care Thread

[Dr J]

Anyone else have to build a lawn from scratch? I've never really cared much for a lawn until we bought our house about a year ago. Prior to that, I lived in a town home with a patch of grass in the front that took 5 minutes to cut with a manual push mower. We purchased our house last May while living out of state, but we couldn't move into the house until the end of June because of our jobs. Needless to say, the company that built the house and was maintaining the lawn called it quits. The lawn was dead when we got there. They had put down brand new fescue sod that had been less than 3 weeks before we bought it. Within a couple months, it looked horrible. There was no soil, just hard compact sand on the ground with small patches of grass lying around. Laying seed in the fall didn't do much given there wasn't any nutrients or soft ground for the seeds to root, and the winter killed the last of it.

Since spring rolled around, I've been laying bags and bags of soil, lime, fertilizer, and seed. I've been watering it daily, which has been very time consuming. The grass is much greener and much more full, but many of the patchy areas have yet to grow grass. I'd like to chalk it up to poor weather--laid the seed about 4-5 weeks ago, but mid April we started seeing temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. It's been a complete pain, and I'm not looking forward to having to lay more soil in the fall, especially since it didn't take in so many of the bare areas. I mowed today and kept it a bit longer, which cosmetically covers up many of the bare spots, but I'd like to fill them in with grass--it's almost become a frustrating challenge at this point. I have to get rid of all the weeds growing in the lawn, as well.

Anyways, anyone else put in a concerted effort to build or maintain a yard? Please feel free to share any stories, tricks, tips, or product recommendations.

 

[scrubido]

You should roto till it before laying down sod or seed. Mix the fertilizer in while you do it.

 

[HARRISON_3]

Currently in the process of landscaping my front yard and xeriscaping my back yard.

Looking to put in a ton of river rock, mulch, some fertilizer on the existing St. Augustine, and do a little pruning of the trees/bushes here and there.

I'll most likely hire a landscaping company for most of it.

I mostly just keep up with the mowing and edging.

 

[HenryFlower]

water 20-30 minutes in the morning as the sun rises if you can. watering too late into the day will open up the possibility for fungal diseases. the soil will also remain moist for longer when you water earlier. fertilize every 4-5 weeks. don't go too heavy with the fertilizer, especially in the hot summer months. also, mow high in the hot summer months. you only need to lime once a season, twice if your soil has really fucked up ph levels; once in the spring and once in the fall. seed in the fall, before the frost comes. aerate if possible, then overseed.

 

[Dr J]

water 20-30 minutes in the morning as the sun rises if you can. watering too late into the day will open up the possibility for fungal diseases. the soil will also remain moist for longer when you water earlier. fertilize every 4-5 weeks. don't go too heavy with the fertilizer, especially in the hot summer months. also, mow high in the hot summer months. you only need to lime once a season, twice if your soil has really fucked up ph levels; once in the spring and once in the fall. seed in the fall, before the frost comes. aerate if possible, then overseed.

Thanks. I am going to get a timer this weekend and find some sort of hose splitter. Unfortunately, I have to move the sprinkler 9 times to get the back and side yard and 4 times to get the entire front. It's been a pain.

 

[HenryFlower]

Thanks. I am going to get a timer this weekend and find some sort of hose splitter. Unfortunately, I have to move the sprinkler 9 times to get the back and side yard and 4 times to get the entire front. It's been a pain.

Pretty much the biggest downfall of not having an irrigation system, but plenty of people make it work without one. Plus, installing irrigation is both expensive and a major pain in the ass, especially for your lawn. If, or when, the warm weather is consistent, and the nights don't drop off in temperature significantly (unfortunately I don't have an exact temp for you), you can get away with watering in the evening as the sun goes down. you really just want to avoid watering during the peak of the day because disease + less time the soil remains moist.

 

[Dr J]

You should roto till it before laying down sod or seed. Mix the fertilizer in while you do it.

Won't that tear up the grass I just grew? Never used a rototiller before.

 

[Dr J]

Pretty much the biggest downfall of not having an irrigation system, but plenty of people make it work without one. Plus, installing irrigation is both expensive and a major pain in the ass, especially for your lawn. If, or when, the warm weather is consistent, and the nights don't drop off in temperature significantly (unfortunately I don't have an exact temp for you), you can get away with watering in the evening as the sun goes down. you really just want to avoid watering during the peak of the day because disease + less time the soil remains moist.

Yeah, they wanted like $4K for the irrigation system, and we were looking to put in a fence and a patio at the time.

It definitely cools off at night here. Unfortunately, I've been commuting an hour each way every day for the last few weeks, and I just don't have it in me to wake up at 4:30 to take care of the lawn.

 

[Zer]

I gotta sort out my weeds. They've grown again now, even though last year I drowned them in killer. I dunno how to deal with them permanently though, I gotta spray them with bubonic plague or some shit. It's annoying because my neighbors have no weed problems at all

 

[mushishi]

 

[mushishi]

I gotta sort out my weeds. They've grown again now, even though last year I drowned them in killer. I dunno how to deal with them permanently though, I gotta spray them with bubonic plague or some shit. It's annoying because my neighbors have no weed problems at all

Maybe ask your neighbors what they do.

 

[Zer]

Maybe ask your neighbors what they do.

We're estranged.

 

[Dr J]

I gotta sort out my weeds. They've grown again now, even though last year I drowned them in killer. I dunno how to deal with them permanently though, I gotta spray them with bubonic plague or some shit. It's annoying because my neighbors have no weed problems at all

That's my next step. I had good luck with the Scotts lawn food for heat and drout. I'm considering the Scotts Weed and Feed--just nervous I'll end up killing what I just busted my ass to grow.

 

[Krav McGraw]

water 20-30 minutes in the morning as the sun rises

Did you mean 2-3 minutes? 30 minutes a day would be ridiculous.

I water my lawn 4 minutes a day at 6am - 6 times a week - and it's perfect. I fertilize with ammonia a few times a year and we're good.

 

[HenryFlower]

Yeah, they wanted like $4K for the irrigation system, and we were looking to put in a fence and a patio at the time.

It definitely cools off at night here. Unfortunately, I've been commuting an hour each way every day for the last few weeks, and I just don't have it in me to wake up at 4:30 to take care of the lawn.

If the nightly temperatures are similar to the early morning temperatures, you should be good. Just keep up to date on the weather n shit. I know here in MA we have had some random pitterpatter frost alerts here and there, but I feel as though you should be much safer in NC. Anywhere from 5pm-7pm should be aight. Probably.

 

[HenryFlower]

Did you mean 2-3 minutes? 30 minutes a day would be ridiculous.

I water my lawn 4 minutes a day at 6am - 6 times a week - and it's perfect. I fertilize with ammonia a few times a year and we're good.

I definitely meant 20-30. 20-30min per zone, even.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

I'm about to get a house and will definitely go grassless. Anyone else have this?

Something like this is what I have in mind:

Lawns are a waste in just about every sense, IMO. They waste your time (I live in Houston where mowing every 2 weeks is an absolute must from May-October), waste your money, pollute the environment, etc.

All that green space does look nice though.

 

[mushishi]

We're estranged.

Dat restraining order?

 

[Dr J]

I'm about to get a house and will definitely go grassless. Anyone else have this?

Something like this is what I have in mind:

Lawns are a waste in just about every sense, IMO. They waste your time (I live in Houston where mowing every 2 weeks is an absolute must from May-October), waste your money, pollute the environment, etc.

All that green space does look nice though.

Completely agree. Life was much easier in the town home. We wanted a bigger yard for the kiddos to play, and the homeowners association says we have to maintain a lawn. To be fair, the dead lawn made the house look pretty bad, and I wanted it fixed. I was also pretty pissed it was dead on arrival.

 

[Dr J]

This was the back yard when we moved in--before July and August did their damage.