Lawn Care Thread

Ring Shark98 said:
I hear ya man, mine used to be too. What was the worst was we had a dog (I'm not a real big dog guy) that would dig and fucking destroy everything. So I had no ambition to set out to do a project, because I knew it would just get destroyed. Couldn't even have a fucking garden.

But now that dog is gone, and I'm actually kind of enjoying restoring the back yard. Filling in dig holes with fresh soil, actually trying to make it look nice.
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I'm pretty mellow when it comes to how my yard looks, ie as long as it's cut every 2 weeks or so, I don't care. But the problem areas seem to be a small garden in the back that's been overtaken by this weed turned soft-wood that fucking grows outrageously, and then weeds in the flower beds that go across the front of the house. I've never been one to have a green thumb or try to keep the yard/landscaping manicured, but the idea of having one of the worst yards in the neighborhood makes me sad lol.

Oh, and fucking critters. I mean wtf, over the past 2.5 years, I've caught 2 skunks, 3 groundhogs, 2 rabbits, a squirrel and 2 possums in my live trap. Called animal control to get the skunks and had 2 different people show up. The second guy basically told me he could shoot it. Somehow, I think the airport (one of the runways is about a good 3 iron away from the border of my backyard) wouldn't think too kindly of a gunshot nearby.
 
I need the best weed killer that is safe for grass, my yard has been taken over this year.
 
I'm a golf course superintendent.

Fertilizer- don't waste your time with using P. you should match the N & K. Also go at half the recomended rate and do it twice, in a checkerboard patter. also you should have just a tiny bit of overlap. the concentration of fert on the outside of your pass is lower than closer to the middle.

Water- water as late as you can in the morning!!! don't water at night because it lengthens the leaf wetness period giving pathogens a longer opportunity to infect the plant. 1" of water per week should be plenty (unless you have new seed then you keep it moist at all times). Use a container and measure your sprinkler out put so you know how long it takes to put down an inch.

Not sure if you said what type of grass you have but you are in the transistion zone so you could have a mix of c3(cool season) and c4 (warm season) turf. This can have an impact during the heat of the summer because you will waste alot of engery and product trying to keep c3 from going dormant. i would suggest sticking to one or the other.

If you're really serious about your lawn, take a soil same and send it off to a lab. You maybe adding things that are already in the soil also the opposite maybe true.

Keep your mower blades sharp! and don't forget the 1/3 rule. if you're keeping your turf at 2" make sure it's not passed 3" when you cut it, this stresses the turf.

what else was there...
 
I'm just looking forward to getting to the point where all I have to worry about is the grass

We bought our house early last year and the previous owner was an older lady who'd been in a nursing home for 5 or 6 years. The back yard has a chain link fence and she'd planted shrubs around it for privacy which had gotten completely out of control - in the thickest spots there was probably 25 feet of "stuff" between the yard and fence

If you're ever thinking about planting nandina bushes don't - they're almost impossible to get rid of. I've been chopping them down, busting up the roots, and trying to pull everything up. The stuff still keeps sprouting up

Has anyone had any luck with chemicals for killing brush? I've heard you can cut it down and paint on some sort of concentrated Roundup which should kill the roots. The only thing that worries me is that we have about 10 fully grown oak trees back there and I'm paranoid about accidentally killing them
 
Dr J said:
Thoughts on Scotts weed and Feed?
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From what i understand it's a quality product. I'm in Ontario and we have a cosmetic pesticide ban so we don't have that product available for home owners. Just read the label and make sure that it's either a pre emergent or post emergent weed killer.
 
Fedorgasm said:
I'm in California where the gov is trying to get a bill passed that will fine us 10k for using too much water. So I'm thinking about just putting in fake grass. I've seen some of the new stuff that doesn't look too bad from a distance. Up close it still looks fake though.
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that fake shit gets hot as fuck in summer
 
3825 968 said:
2-4,D is for broadleaf weeds
Glyphosate(round up) kills everything
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Tenacity works very well for me. It'll even kill live crabgrass/bent grass but wont touch fescue. It will turn anything it kills kind of a funky bright white color that looks a little weird for a week or 2 so I spike the tenacity with Turf Lon ester and that seems mitigate that a bit.

Trying to get a lawn going in the spring is pointless in my experience. It'll look ok until about the middle of July and then its just too damn hot for the tender unestablished grass and it'll all burn up. I wouldn't sweat it this summer , maybe try to keep weeds out and then aerate and overseed the shit out of it in September. Get a quality fertilizer coated seed blend and apply at least 10 lbs of seed per 1000 sq for new lawns , go half that if your just filling in an existing lawn. A nice lawn doesn't happen in one year generally, you need at least 2 seasons of proper maintenance to get that nice thick established lawn look going , been my experience anyway.

Oh and the " I water 4 minutes per zone" guy ,youre doing more harm than good. Deep infrequent watering is much more effective and better for root growth , You'll never find anyone anywhere that knows what they are talking about say otherwise. I water 25 minutes per zone 3 times a week in the hot part of the summer.
 
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You're right it's not 2-4,D. They do share a couple of the same active ingredients.

In Ontario our choices for active ingredients are limited.
 
How do you guys mow? I mow my front every 3 days, dog run and backyard less so. Those are a pain in the ass to do. I don't bag, I mulch. Less work, natural fertilizer (so I'm told). I only take off up to 1/3rd the total length of the grass off. I try to not go too short.

If anyone knows a good looking, cheap ground covering for a dog run let me know. My dog lives in the run year round, full time. He is 100 lb, so the ground covering needs to be shit/piss resistant and easy to clean. Dog run is about 800 Sq ft.
 
Wand777 said:
I was really hoping to stay away from roundup. I will check out the 2-4 D. Thanks
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Fantastic stuff. An ingredient in Agent Orange. Great for the kids to roll around in!

Due to the drought people are moving away from pointless lawns in California...
 
So over the last week, my lawn has been sprouting mushrooms all over the place. Does anyone know any remedies for getting rid of them and preventing them from growing back?
 
I'm about to just start over, getting rid of crab grass and the soil is not the greatest.
 
greygoose said:
My yard is the bane of my existence. I'm the only one in the neighborhood w/ bermuda grass, and that shit is notoriously brown longer than fescue. The fact that most of the folks in my neighborhood are retired and can spend countless hours pruning their shit, makes me feel slightly guilty that I don't keep up with my lawn all to often. Been contemplating tearing it up and going zoysia, even though i'm not fond of it (as a golfer).
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Pretty much described my yard/neighborhood, retirees that also have grass chemical companies come and spray
 
Dr J said:
So over the last week, my lawn has been sprouting mushrooms all over the place. Does anyone know any remedies for getting rid of them and preventing them from growing back?
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Not much you can do, really, at least that I know of. It's just from extreme moisture mixed with some heat. The mushrooms are the fruits of fungal spores or something. Helps break down organic matter in the lawn. Happens. They should go away eventually after some mowing and once things balance out again. Nothing wrong with having mushrooms, even though it doesn't look particularly good.
 
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Dr J said:
So over the last week, my lawn has been sprouting mushrooms all over the place. Does anyone know any remedies for getting rid of them and preventing them from growing back?
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you most likely have organic matter in the soil that is breaking down (like sticks or logs.) those are the fruits of the fungi. you can dig it out and replace with new soil.

check out "Fairy Rings"
 
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