Lawn care?

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

  1. Brewtus

    Brewtus Got dat juice
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    Lol, well the size of my yard wouldn't justify it. I've got a half acre but my yard is ~5,500 sq ft. Much of my lot is old growth woods. I just like toys and justify it by not paying for professional lawn care and occasional pest control. I definitely want the sprayer to be strong enough to reach the eaves of my roof for carpenter bee treatment.

    Also, as mentioned the consistency is great with battery backpack sprayers and I try to follow calculations pretty closely for most things so I am also taking that into account.
     
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  2. thunderstruck

    thunderstruck I'm a Boss

    FFEE3E54-56FE-4CC3-A039-C6A5470A24F2.jpeg Did my first spray a few weeks ago, need to get another one now that it’s getting warmer
     
  3. Degausser

    Degausser #NewProfilePic
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    Seeing this when I leave the house makes me so happy.

    IMG_24042022_091456_(800_x_1080_pixel).jpg
     
  4. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    I may have to get a riding lawn mower. My front yard is pretty big. Any recs? I’m gonna weed eat and mow that beast today.
     
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  5. Boom TittyMilk

    Boom TittyMilk User Formerly known as Big R
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    Straight flexin
     
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  6. Beanh8er

    Beanh8er Get the cock out of your ear, Dumbfuck.
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    We use the Tornado Backpack Sprayer in our pest control operation, and have only heard good things from the techs
     
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  7. Degausser

    Degausser #NewProfilePic
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    I have a John Deere S120 that I've been very happy with
     
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  8. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    love a good domination line
     
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  9. thunderstruck

    thunderstruck I'm a Boss

    John Deere, exmark, and kubota all have reasonably priced residential mowers.

    Keep your air filters clean, change the oil, and keep the blades sharp will be what makes it last.
     
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  10. devine

    devine hi, i am user devine
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    First big day of the year

    Leaf blowing
    Grass cutting
    Weed eating

    see you guys soon for ice cold post lawn care work beers
     
  11. Boom TittyMilk

    Boom TittyMilk User Formerly known as Big R
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    We will see you at sundown.
     
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  12. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    20220424_142448.jpg

    Cold beer while watching the sprinklers after a good mow
     
  13. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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  14. Degausser

    Degausser #NewProfilePic
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    I'm making this the general landscaping thread. I don't believe we have one of those. Anyway, I bought and planted 10 of these Forever Goldy Arborvitae to eventually be privacy trees. Gonna have to get about 10 more to fully block out that neighbor.

    IMG_24042022_201939_(1080_x_800_pixel).jpg
     
  15. blind dog

    blind dog wps
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    how did your mower run? :awesomeface:
     
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  16. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    We have a tons of flower beds all along the front of our house and out near the street. We put pinestraw out but now weeds are growing through it. I’m wondering if there is something you can spray that wouldn’t kill the shrubs in the beds but would kill the weeds. And if there is any sort of preventative maintenance that can be done for it. Probably gonna pay a lawn service to do it this year but then do it myself moving forward. I've seen that landscaping material you can lay down in beds but at my last house that stuff was a major pain in the ass when you want to replant something, it disintegrates over time, and it still didn't stop the weeds from growing. I just don't have time this week but it needs to get done.
     
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  17. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    I use Preen every spring in my beds. Apply it each year before you put down the pine straw
    https://www.lowes.com/pd/Preen-5-6-...P-Bb3X3XY0mm0ebGMFBoCtyQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
     
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  18. thunderstruck

    thunderstruck I'm a Boss

    I just spot spray when I seen them popping up.

    used to use glyphosate but that’s hard to find now, just a round-up or whatever
     
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  19. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    We have this super sandy looking soil in the front yard and tons of oaks. I’m not sure if the grass won’t grow in those sandy patches because of the soil, the shade, or both. Think it is worth seeding or nah? A bunch of those bushes are azaleas , they were popping a few weeks ago.
     
  20. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    I’d just be careful and spot spray some Glyphosate.

    To prevent it happening, try using Snapshot as a preem
     
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  21. leroi

    leroi -
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    Oct 2021 before
    Oct2021.png

    Apr 2022 after
    apr2022.png
     
  22. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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  23. leroi

    leroi -
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    -Killed it all with triclopyr / glyphosate (must be done in fall, that was the Oct 2021 photo)
    -Core aeration (very important)
    -Apply lime + fertilizer + grass seed (seed was mix of hybrid bluegrass, chewings fescue, creeping red fescue, and tall fescue.)
    -Water extremely heavily for the first month, then semi-regularly for the next few months

    also i cannot declare this project a 'success' quite yet. I have not made it through a summer yet, with this lawn. I have some areas that are clay subsoil + hot afternoon sun.

    When I moved in it was just weeds, this was taken during the inspection in 2020 :
    weeds.jpg
     
    #1973 leroi, Apr 25, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2022
  24. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Florida State Seminoles

    Roots are likely also probably an issue. I generally try to stop fighting nature on some of these… expand your beds and make the grass areas smaller; easier to maintain soil quality and conditions (mostly outside of tree drip line) to where grass will grow

    what kind of grass also very important… St Augustine does much better in shade in zone 8b hot & humid circumstance

    edit: “expand your beds” in your case means “create” them around your trees, looking again at your pics
     
  25. Jeffrey Lebowski

    Jeffrey Lebowski Obviously you're not a golfer
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    Moved into a new house last year. Yard has two trees just out the in the middle of the grass. Root structure is someone at ground level and is annoying me. Are the 2 best options either to bed around them or remove them?
     
  26. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    Centipede.
     
  27. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Kill it with fire imo. Hate it

    but above all still relevant
     
  28. leroi

    leroi -
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    on a related note I have been keeping a tally of all the plants i've put in the ground, but most of them are still just babies. i think the count is 74 so far?

    Evergreen screening
    8 Camellia fraterna x reticulata 'Crimson Candles'
    6 Osmanthus fragrans var auranticus 'Orange Supreme'
    5 Arborvitae 'Green Giant'
    4 Arborvitae 'Emerald Green'
    4 Camellia x williamsii 'Ballet in Pink'
    2 Camellia sasanqua 'Alabama Beauty'
    2 Sweetbay Magnolia 'Emerald Tower'
    2 Chinese juniper, variegated, 'kaizuke'
    1 Wax Myrtle
    1 Catawba Rhododendron 'Boursault'
    1 English Holly 'Night Glow'
    1 Eastern Red Cedar
    1 Arizona Cypress 'Carolina sapphire'
    1 Japanese Cryptomeria 'Black Dragon'
    1 Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine'
    1 Florida Doghobble

    Deciduous trees / bushes
    2 Bald Cypress
    2 Common Buttonbush
    1 Black Tupelo 'Afterburner'

    Bonsai
    3 Hinoki cypress 'Wells Special'

    Flowering vines
    3 Carolina jessamine
    2 Manietta cordifolia
    2 Clematis 'Rooguchi'

    Ground Cover / Flowers
    6 Creeping phlox 'Drummonds Pink'
    2 Hibiscus moscheutos
    1 Coneflower 'Cheyenne Spirit'
    1 Cardinal Flower 'Starship Blue'
    1 Black-eyed susan

    Container plantings
    1 Rhododendron 'Polarnacht'
    1 Bletilla orchid 'Kate'
    1 Camellia japonica 'Jacks'
    2 Eastern Red Columbine (only thing I have successfully grown from seed)

    Ornamental grass
    2 Muhlenbergia capillaris
     
  29. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    Damn son! We've got some serious landscapers up in here. Love it.
     
  30. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    Do you look down upon yards that have no landscaping, just grass wall to wall? Because I do. Like damn son, get a flower bed or plant a shrub or something.
     
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  31. leroi

    leroi -
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    i see it as wasted potential, but its difficult to look down on ppl about their yard, i have the luxury of working/gardening from home
     
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  32. Jeffrey Lebowski

    Jeffrey Lebowski Obviously you're not a golfer
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    My new house is like this and it drives me crazy, but also have 3 kids under 6yo including an infant so I'm cutting myself some slack.

    Had the old house looking great so it sucks to take a step back.
     
  33. leroi

    leroi -
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    i would bet that the problem is water-related. 'sugar sand' soil doesn't retain water, and during a prolonged drought a lot of grass will die. also could also be nutrient related.

    when I lived in Wilmington there were entire subdivisions built on sand dunes, with dead grass, just bc it requires so much water and fertilizer.
     
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  34. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Just leaning in further here…

    pic 1 - do you just swallow that oak into the corner bed of the house? How wide is that gap between existing bed and the tree?

    pic 2 - you’re never going to get grass growing between that tree and the sidewalk. Make it a bed

    Generally i don’t want grass “paths” cutting between beds that are less than like 3-4’ wide… or whatever width your mower requires if it’s a rider.
     
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  35. HuskerInMiami

    HuskerInMiami Well-Known Member
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    Looks great. I like the fence. Tell your lawn service to mow over a different line. It looks like you're getting perfect mounds where they've mowed too many times.
     
  36. HuskerInMiami

    HuskerInMiami Well-Known Member
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    My soil is 90% sand and 10% dirt. You can just run your hand through it. Do I need to put a layer of top soil down to get my grass to grow to be as pretty as the yards posted in this thread?

    This isn't my yard, but what the soil looks like.
    upload_2022-4-25_13-35-38.png

    Also, I have these weeds that have needles (little half inch spiky things). I bought some commercial weed killer concentrate (can't remember name) and it doesn't seem to kill many weeds, even when I doubled the dose. Any suggestions on weed killer for this type of weed? I'm pretty sure it's spanish needles
    upload_2022-4-25_13-35-6.png
     
  37. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    Appreciate the insight and thoughts. Definitely think you are on onto something with pic #2. On pic #1 -what do you mean by "swallow that oak into the corner bed of the house?"
     
  38. Cabs

    Cabs eatin' fried okra with Oprah
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    Extend the pine straw bed to around the oak since no grass will grow under it
     
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  39. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    Definitely like the idea of just turning some of the sandy areas into more beds with straw and some shrubs. Most of the bushes/ shrubs we have are azaleas and gardenias. The gardenias haven't bloomed since I've lived at the house which is November 2021 to present. Probably need to hit them with some miracle grow and it is just now getting warm.
     
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  40. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Yeah, this doesn’t look anything like your circumstance but basically you’re just taking an organic rounded shape and sucking that tree into part of a bed… Google result off of internet below…
    [​IMG]
     
  41. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Florida State Seminoles

    Some gardenias like a lot of sun so might not bloom in heavy shade…?
     
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  42. Degausser

    Degausser #NewProfilePic
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    I believe I'm at 57 if you count hanging plants. 49 in the ground.
     
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  43. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    I was watching a college golf tournament on TV last week and the announcers kept talking about poa annua in the greens. Seems remarkable even the golf course with dozens of staff couldn't keep PA out.
     
  44. Degausser

    Degausser #NewProfilePic
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    Poa Annua is actually intentionally used on greens at some courses. Pebble Beach has PA greens.
     
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  45. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    I posted about it earlier. It is all over Robert Trent Jones' course in Mobile. I finally got tired of waiting on summer to kill it and hit it with glyphosate
     
  46. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    Discovered I need to replace my bed knife on my second unit.. 823113B7-AF78-43D1-A18E-EF35CDFB4545.jpeg
     
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  47. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Is that like a poop knife?
     
  48. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    Yep, exactly. Once it’s done cutting turds, I throw it on the mower to round out it’s useful life.
     
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  49. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Reel Lawn Mower Blade
    Reel or Cylinder Mower Blades are used in Reel Lawn Mower. It is easy to use, and they give you the advantage of cutting your grass clean instead of just chopping it. It is made with two or three helical blades that are placed on a horizontally rotating reel, a bed knife, and a roller that gives your lawn a scissor-like cutting.

    This is preferred to use in a lawn where the grass is small.

    :themoreyouknow:
     
  50. BIGASSTITTIES

    BIGASSTITTIES Fan of: BIGASSTITTIES
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    Where are all my tall fescue bros at?