Lawn care?

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by hudson, Apr 17, 2015.

  1. DrTomOsbourne

    DrTomOsbourne Fully Husked
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    Who is responsible for this grass along the fence?

    The fence isn't mine.

    [​IMG]

    The neighbor is a super nice guy but has his brother in law cut his yard, so I don't want to cause any drama, but it looks awful. He's never once trimmed it down. I give it a half ass one over when it gets too long and the grass starts poking out onto my side.
     
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  2. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
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    I would assume it's his responsibility as it his fence. Usually they also install fences a tad off the properly line too.

    It's always a bitch to trim along a fence like that or any type for that matter.. I'd either recommend him spraying the fence line with grass killer so it doesn't grow up it, or you can dig out the grass on each side so it's just dirt.

    Your backyard looks nice, you got a full pic towards the water?
     
  3. DrTomOsbourne

    DrTomOsbourne Fully Husked
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    Yeah those fence posts just destroy my trimmer line, that's why I get so pissed about it.

    And thanks e-friend. Kinda neglecting the back now as we're just waiting for permits to extend the lanai. And the concrete curbing in the front shoukd be done curing today.

    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  4. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    you can't whack the grass at or below the bottom of the fence line?
     
  5. DrTomOsbourne

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    Insanely thick st augustine
     
  6. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    any decent string trimmer should be able to knock down S-A.

    *and what I said would need to be done from each side of the fence. Which means your neighbor would need to be helpful and agree to do that.

    Judging from your photo, your neighbor on the other side has the same style fencing and it doesn't appear to be overgrown or rough looking....
     
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  7. arrdub

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    I’d go with the kill grass option on your side at least and put in mulch and shrubs. Give him a heads up you’re going to do it and he may follow suit. Don’t do a straight line though, put some curves in it to give it more of an organic look. (And clean bracelets and a fossil watch of course.)

    but seriously fence beds >>>
     
  8. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    Russellin4885 tmank87

    I put down my P-E late this evening, expecting rain, per the forecast specifically .5 - 1 inch overnight.

    Its only 10:30pm and we've got 3 inches so far. How much of the application is wasted via runoff?
     
  9. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    Man, hard to say. Granular, I assume? What product?

    I'd probably try to get back out there and give another light application, depending on which type of PE we're talking. You could always see if you can score some Ronstar (which doesn't impact rooting, but is also not labeled for residential).

    Tough predicament, annoying to go through.
     
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  10. racer

    racer Yuma, where I work in software.
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    Sedgehammer worked great. Used tenacity on some foxtail (I’m pretty sure) and it was minimally effective. Killed some at the base, others weren’t really affected by it. I’m the last house on the street in a new construction area and bordered on 2 sides by uncontrolled grass/weeds. I get a feeling stuff is going to continue to keep moving in and is also down in the fill dirt under my sod.
     
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  11. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    yeah, big bummer. My application rates were great too. We ended with 3.25". Slight by noticeable pitch on the yards.

    Last night was Gallery & Dimension, both very fine granules.
     
  12. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    Yea any recommendations on PE or places to get it? Should I just grab some stuff at Home Depot?

    I am in north Texas, so the ground is cooling down and I know its recommended to get the PE down before it drops below 70 degrees.
     
  13. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    Were on the very back end of the window here in DFW.

    Garden stores (and feed + supply, in my experience) have better selection on PE than Home Depot. HD will carry whatever is the widest appeal Scotts product. For PE, I was not willing to use their product. In fact, I attempted to see if HD had my product last night, and HD didn't even carry my AI/trade name.

    To reiterate what Randy Lemmon/Neil Sperry say: You want PE with Barricade, Dimension, or Gallery.
     
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  14. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    Pain in the ass. I'd probably give it another light dusting.

    If not, not the end of the world. If you have areas in the spring that you have some weed pressure, just treat with a post emergent and keep it moving.
     
  15. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    Great feedback, just hit up a feed store and they had both Gallery and Dimension options. I went with the Dimension.
     
  16. arrdub

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    When to aerate lawn in the deep south/zone 8b?

    I see about the “-ber months” but it’s still hot down here. And also I have a decent slope so worry about erosion if I tear things up while grass is dormant.

    Almost feel like it would be best to do this in early spring or summer when it would recover in +/-3 days
     
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  17. NothingIsOT

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    Definitely in March if you’re warm season. I don’t see the point going into the dormant season.
     
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  18. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    Roger. I went and made another pass, putting down at 1/4 the application rate as called for ahead of .25-.5 inch of expected rain.

    Well rain never came and so it's not watered in, so El Nino gets the last laugh, as I must now go move the hose end sprinkler head 15-20 times to water in manually.
     
  19. Tarpon Nole

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    update - I got it all out. Went through one last time yesterday and got the hidden sprouts

    it’s still hot, but rainy season is over. Ok to put down some weed and feed?
     
  20. bigred77

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    One of yall wanna come mow my yard?
    I'm just not feeling it today
     
  21. arrdub

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    Went ahead and aerated bc I spent 2 hours yesterday assembling the plugger, figure it will stay green at least a couple months longer here and YOLO
     
  22. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    Ha, man - can’t win.
     
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  23. Baron

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    Is it too late to aerate and overseed? I’m in Ohio.
     
  24. The Blackfish

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    First step is to reconsider living in Ohio.
     
  25. Baron

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  26. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    Careful what you wish for. Hint: You're doing it wrong.
     
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  27. leroi

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    i would go with hybrid bluegrass but it depends on the climate
     
  28. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    My lawn died and it hurts when I pee
     
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  29. One Two

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    Did you end up overseeding and aerating? Sorry for the late response but mid October for that zone did seem late
     
  30. Funshot Residue

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    Be glad Maui fell thru. They're getting blasted right now. State of emergency.
     
  31. Baron

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    I did not.
     
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  32. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    Yeah maybe it's better to just keep renting

    Maui might also be implementing stricter rental property rules too

    We'll have to see how things shake out
     
  33. ramszoolander

    ramszoolander Known for Buns
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    We have some yard problems at new house in Birmingham, so USDA zone 7b/8a.

    1) Back yard is like solid clay. When it rains, it's never mud. Just...clay. Never seen anything like it. Do I just amend it with sand? Or other stuff? I will do a ph sample, too. Just curious. I would probably try to do this with a cultivator myself in Jan/Feb.
    2) There's a flagstone path that has sunken into the clay (goes from house to outbuilding). It's only 10-15ft long, so nothing crazy. Do I put gravel under it to keep it from sinking again, or some such thing?
    3) Front yard has a lot of random things. Some warm weather grass, some remnants of monkey grass border that wasn't well done. How do I get that up? Or just call people for new? I'm open to either, but I have kids that can help dig/etc.
     
  34. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    can't help with anything other than...monkey grass is near bullet proof.
     
  35. arrdub

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    In my experience clay is prone to compaction so probably aeration and sand / soil is on the docket for you. Grass will grow on it if it’s not rock hard.

    But you’ll really have fun when it comes time to dig a hole and plant something during a summer drought.
     
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  36. leroi

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    i am learning about piedmont clay, im only about a year into working with it.

    i believe that you want to do a core aeration once a year, in clay soil it seems to really help with pretty much all problems.

    do not try to amend with sand unless you want really hard soil. they say to amend with compost but im not sure how that actually works. mulching leaves helps improve the soil over time.

    buy a trench shovel instead of a regular one, and don't try to dig when its too dry or too wet

    i struggled with the drainage thing. i eventually said 'fuck it' and dug some swales to direct the water out of the low spots. But it needs to be part of a bigger plan -- the general idea is that you want to figure out how water is supposed to leave your local area, based on the natural drainage, and make everything go there.

    if you are digging and put a tiny little pile of clay somewhere, it's going to be there in 20 years. that shit doesn't budge
     
    #1886 leroi, Dec 20, 2021
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2021
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  37. LeVar Burton

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    I put my first 40lbs of PE down in September. It’s never too late to put down PE. It lasts about 60-90 days so I put down a second bag yesterday. I had noticed a some poa starting to germinate along with a few broadleaf and winter weeds after getting up the last wave of leaves this week.

    Here’s the pre emergent I use:

    https://andersonshomeandgarden.com/shop/products/barricade
     
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  38. LeVar Burton

    LeVar Burton Knee deep in a dynasty, ROLL TIDE!
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    Last January and February I noticed a lot of Poa and was slow to put out image until seed heads started to show. Too late.

    :feelsbadman:

    However, I’ve got Santa bringing a 4 gallon backpack sprayer this year, a bottle of negate, and a Home Depot gift card this year.

    Poa, nutsedge and armyworms…Not in 2022
     
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  39. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    well, it can be too late if you’ve already missed germination temperatures. But generally, I’d agree that it’s “never too late”.
     
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  40. Lucky24Seven

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    Amend with sand since it more angular than clay. It helps relieve compaction issues found with clay soils. It allows for areas in the soil for roots to grow, water to move, and gasses to exchange. Do not amend with compost. You do not want tons of organic material in your soil profile.
     
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  41. leroi

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    idk, that is the opposite of everything I've read about how to manage clay soil, which is that sand amendments cause compaction problems.

     
    #1891 leroi, Dec 24, 2021
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2021
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  42. Lucky24Seven

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    Are you talking about soil for garden use or for a yard?
     
  43. leroi

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    in both cases you would not want to compact the clay by adding sand
     
  44. Lucky24Seven

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    Over the course of years, by removing plugs with an aerification and replacing with sand will provide a better growing medium for your yard. It's why we do it in the turf industry.

    Edit: All those links you provided talk about gardening soil.
     
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  45. leroi

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    it sounds like y'all are making the problem worse, since your method is probably not going to replace the necessary 70%-85% of the clay

    here's another university extension saying the same thing, this time specific to lawngrasses growing in clay:

     
    #1895 leroi, Dec 24, 2021
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2021
  46. bigred77

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  47. Lucky24Seven

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    leori.png
    Believe what you want to believe. If studies didn't prove it to be true, golf courses wouldn't be spending the crazy amount of money to do it.
     
  48. leroi

    leroi -
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    that isn't clay soil.

    this is what clay soil looks like:

    clay.png

    i will read the studies if you provide them

    until then I am going to stick with what the turfgrass experts, geologists and horticulturalists at universities are saying
     
    #1898 leroi, Dec 24, 2021
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2021
  49. Lucky24Seven

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    I wish you the best of luck smothering your yard with organic material
     
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  50. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    agreed, and can't control the inputs..