Lawn care?

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

  1. FrankReynolds

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    How long does it take for a new plot of grass seed to fill in fully? I'm 6 weeks in to a near complete reseed, with heavily compacted clay soil, and it's very slow going. I core aerated, and leveled with new top soil, but she's still patchy as hell.

    Used a fine/tall fescue blend
     
  2. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    To piggy back on top of this the fact that your soil is sand prevents a lot of nutrient and water retention. Not much organic matter for that stuff to hold on to. On top of that, that mature tree is soaking up so much water from the soil, that grass has no chance establishing. An oak tree can drink anywhere from 50gal of water a day and significantly more if the soil allows. I’d definitely at least try the route of planting more shade tolerant grass varieties. Lots of shade in the yard.
     
    #2002 Lucky24Seven, Apr 26, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2022
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  3. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    Your fine fescue germinates a lot quicker than the tall variety. Fine will spread underground and establish that way. The tall, on the other hand germinates slower and forms in a clump and doesn’t spread. If it can be mowed, do so to stimulate the rhizome (underground) growth and possibly look to reseed.
     
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  4. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    depends on the type of seed, the region, and how much water you’re putting down
     
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  5. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    As it begins to establish, you should cut back watering. Want to train the roots to look for moisture that isn’t at ground level.
     
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  6. FrankReynolds

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    That tracks with what I'm seeing. Lots of very small spread out grass coming up, but not dense, and a few really dense bulbs of grass growth. Mowed for the first time this weekend to take the top off the big growths, but 80% of the yard is still patchy
     
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  7. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    Yeah, it’ll take some time. Don’t get discouraged. Just be sure if you’re applying any fertilizer or any weed control you give it enough time to pass before a reseed. Should be somewhere on the bag.
     
  8. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    I’ve been rehabbing my yard for three seasons now and finally have it looking real solid. Probably time to buy a roller and really fuck w the neighbors
     
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  9. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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  10. leroi

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    not a weed in sight
     
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  11. rcragg82

    rcragg82 Well-Known Member
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    Questions about wood chips or bark nuggets as a replacement for mulch.

    Running all lengths of my backyard fence we have put mulch down. No plants or bushes in this area and while mulch looks great, it needs to be replaced every year. And I've struggled with our gutter water washing away the mulch on one side of our house.

    For this spring, I was looking at either wood chips like you see at parks or on nature paths. Upside is they say they last up to 5 years but pretty ugly. The other option is bark nuggets which look better than wood chips and bigger than mulch so I think would be longer lasting.

    My overall goals is to prevent weeds/grass from growing in this area and hopefully last more than the 6-9 months that the mulch does. The other option would be rubber mulch but I have a dog and wouldn't want her to eat it and heard that is bad for the soil....and its expensive.
     
  12. Degausser

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    Your grass is dope
     
  13. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    tysm
     
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  14. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    cedar will last a while too but it’s expensive. I just buy cheap mulch every year or so, I need to do it myself tbh cuz my front beds look rough
     
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  15. b0ne5

    b0ne5 Well-Known Member
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    You all probably know this, but don’t underestimate the effect that taking a rake or similar de-thatching tool has on your lawn. Mine is pretty small so I took a metal rake and spent a couple hours getting down to the soil in a lot of spots. After a couple of weeks of weed and feed and then some extended feed pellets, my shit is looking wonderful again.
     
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  16. Keef

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    Looks great what kind is it?
     
  17. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    local fescue/bluegrass variety from the area

    https://grasspad.com/heat-wave-plus/

    I use local fertilizer too. The easiest thing you can do for your yard is buy locally tailored fertilizers instead of Scott’s etc
     
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  18. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    the single biggest improvement came from scalping the old grass and bagging, then dethatching with a power rake, then seeding and top dressing with peat moss. It was a fuckload of work but came out looking great and helped beat back Bermuda grass (which I still deal with in spots and I’ll never fully beat)
     
  19. The Hebrew Husker

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    Last fall I put down some nitrogen and about a week later we experienced temps above 100+ so a couple spots that didn’t get watered in good scorched my yard. Anyways I used this seed in those spots and now wish I had the guts to kill off my whole yard and start fresh with it everywhere. Instead I’ll probably just scalp every fall and put down new dirt and overseed and hope it fills in.
     
  20. The Hebrew Husker

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    Last year I had some extra Milorganite so I threw some down in the late fall/November and I’m not sure if that’s what did it but my yard was insanely green this year way earlier than normal. This was from late March I think, terrible picture since I was trying to snap it undercover but I had to document the difference between my lawn and my neighbors while I had the chance. This was before I mowed/edged anything but oh well.

    61686AAB-D59D-4A28-B358-FBB7C0EF307B.jpeg
     
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  21. leroi

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    I do know that cypress mulch is marketed as something that will stay put in wetland areas. I know I put some down in an intermittent stream that gets pretty intense during storms, and it has done great.

    I'm still figuring out exactly what pine bark mulch is for, but I was told to use it in the bottom of container plants for drainage, so that's what I do. I know it's popular with bonsai people too. :idk:
     
  22. arrdub

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    [​IMG]
     
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  23. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    last weekend probably did 6 hours of yard work:
    weeded front flower beds

    trimmed hedges

    dug up lime tree

    raked out pine straw

    leveled bed where lime tree was

    disposed of crappy old pine straw and dirt

    seeded that area with centipede

    put miracle grow on 10 gardenias and 10 azaleas

    blew birch pollen off my back deck 50 times

    weed eated around 50 miles of flower beds and hedges

    mowed back yard

    weed eat back yard
     
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  24. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    Here are the subject gardenias. I removed 8 billion oaks from them and still need to get some grass and weeds from them. Not sure if the miracle grow will bring them back to life.
     
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  25. Degausser

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    Gave her a fresh cut before all the fam comes over for Mother's Day

    IMG_08052022_100442_(1080_x_800_pixel).jpg
     
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  26. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    I just slaved away for hours. I have these flower beds next to my front door with gardenias that are scraggly. There was grass growing throughout the bed and those damn “oaklings” that grow from acorns. Decided to rake all the straw out, hand removed all grass and oaks, put miracle grow on them, then put fresh straw down. Not sure how much you can tell from these pics but it was a ton of work.
    Before

    Mix bag of pics where you can see some grass still in there, and some pics are after removing straw, grass, and weeds but before putting fresh straw down

    Finished product
     
    #2026 RJF-GUMP, May 8, 2022
    Last edited: May 8, 2022
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  27. LetItSoak

    LetItSoak Well-Known Member
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    SIAP but has anyone put artificial turf in their yard? We've got a shady area around a big magnolia at our new house that's just kind of a pinestraw/dirt mix and I want to do something with it after we sod the rest of the backyard
     
  28. ~ taylor ~

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    We put down wood chips as a quick fix two years ago and that shit just blows everywhere. It's been a fucking nightmare and this summer we're raking it all up and replacing it with mulch.
     
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  29. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    do a bed definer with a shade tolerant ground cover?

    Grass + artificial turf won't look good together, imo.
     
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  30. Tommy Jefferson

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    Agreed. Artificial grass would look worse and be more expensive than throwing down some mulch.
     
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  31. LetItSoak

    LetItSoak Well-Known Member
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    Was thinking of doing a putting green/chipping area vs making it true artificial grass but point taken
     
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  32. Tommy Jefferson

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    Ohhhhhh if you’re looking to do a chipping/putting green then that’s a different story. Still probably not cheap but it sounds like a fun project to take on.
     
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  33. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    How do y'all log your lawn applications (areas, products/A.I.s, rates, dates, etc.)

    I use note cards and reminders on my calendar, but there has got to be a better way. I've seen but not used Scotts app, and the yard mastery app. Anyone have any experience?
     
  34. Where Eagles Dare

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    Put in irrigation & laid sod about a week ago. Next water bill gonna be bad
     
  35. Jake Scott

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    You do it yourself?
     
  36. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    lol no. Paid a company. ~4K for 4 zone system
     
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  37. Brewtus

    Brewtus Got dat juice
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    I got the Flowzone Typhoon 2.5 and just sprayed my property for ticks/mosquitos. That thing is awesome. Felt like a Ghostbuster.

    First mow of the year is tomorrow. Pretty excited.
     
  38. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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  39. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    yeah, it’s amazing. I spray insecticide into my eaves from the ground when dialed up to full blast.
     
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  40. bigred77

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    First mow of the year is amazing to me
     
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  41. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    Is logging something you need to do for state reasons? I don’t have to or ever have for my home. I have a half acre lot, so I’m able to just do all my applications in a single go. I use indicator plants to give my self an idea of what’s going on, then use the Michigan State Turf website that tracks growing degree days to nail in an application like pre-emergent crabgrass. I wouldn’t think the average homeowner would need to worry about chemical resistances to the point they need to be rotating active ingredients and modes of delivery.

    But, the best way for me, was to simply use a log book and Excel. Once you do it for a while, it just becomes second nature. Crabgrass when the forsythia is growing, watch for dollar spot around Father’s Day, slow release feed mixed with grub control in June, etc. Relative to my local area.
     
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  42. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Armadillo(s) been digging their holes, need to get some insect granuals out this weekend I guess
     
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  43. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    Thanks - no, not for any reporting, but for my own management/reminders...basically my own almanac. Also, just for looking back. If some weed is really bad in the winter, I have (currently in written note form) a log of where/when/etc., and can adjust based on those details (e.g. increase app rate) for the following late fall treatments.

    Interesting re excel. Do you use formulas and such to schedule out the next apps? E.g. If I cant do a second application of something for 60 days, I would want a reminder that 60th day to get it done.

    I'm looking to do it all: fert, insecticide, herbicides, pre-emergent, in one place. I figured there would be an app that had penetrated its way into someone itt.
     
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  44. Lucky24Seven

    Lucky24Seven Ain't nothing slick to a can of oil
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    I know for Indiana, Colorado, and California, our state chemist would give us a log book for the year that had all the stuff you mentioned and more. Might be worth a shot to give them a call and see if they can mail you one. Also, let me dig around on my PC when I get back home. I have a makeshift log that I used to use in Tahoe. I’d say just print a bunch of those off and bind them at a store like a FedEx or Kinko’s

    When I used to build fertilizer and chemical plans, I’d always start out in the winter and try and visualize what my major applications are and work around them. A calendar on the computer may help. The Excel was more or less a thing I’d print out after I typed stuff in. You could for sure have it calculate stuff, I’m sure.
     
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  45. Lucky24Seven

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    Couldn't find the one I made years ago. Looks pretty similar to this. I'd just print a bunch of copies, bind them, and date the cover.
    https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/forms/dpr-pml-025.pdf
     
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  46. Stone Cold Steve Austin

    Stone Cold Steve Austin Tickler Extraordinaire
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    Is the best Chipmunk repellent a .22? I really don’t want to kill them but their holes are becoming more than just a nuisance.
     
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  47. IowaHuskerFan3

    IowaHuskerFan3 I hardly husk.
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    Where’s the plant thread? I need a 3-4ft plant that I can put inside, lots of indirect light, dog friendly, looks good beside my tv
     
  48. Lucky24Seven

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    You can use a hose and put it down their hole and cover it with your foot. You’ll feel them knocking on the sole and can then slightly uncover the hole and grab them by the scruff behind the head. Throw them in a bucket and drive them out to a field.
     
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  49. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    This will require video evidence
     
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  50. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    This didn't work well for Dave, they kept finding their way back