Don't fight nature. Respect the tree drip lines which is likely where roots are congesting the soil as well as the shade factor. With that general framework, see if you can figure out where grass is growing the best currently, draw organic lines for beds (mulch) accordingly and focus on getting grass reinvigorated. Don't create too steep of a curve anywhere or you'll regret it when mowing. Drop in lariope or some other border plant to define the beds. Rake all the junk out of the newly defined grass areas into the beds (or bags) and do all the nutrient herbicide stuff others can tell you about itt.
I have compadre in my backyard and zenith in my front. I like compadre more as it has a deeper green cooler to it. It's been one hell of a project as I took out about 25 pine trees. I went the cheaper route with doing it all from seed, sod would have cost me a small fortune. This is summer should be when it finally comes all together as I finally get it to all fill in and should have my weeds under control.
The big knock on zoysia is just that it's the last to wake up and first to go to sleep, right? We have bermuda in our very small (under 1000sq ft) front yard, and it would be great aside from it sending out runners like crazy. We have to edge a lot and it's a pain.
I have a tree that has a lot of pretty small superficial roots. Would either zoysia or bermuda do better than the other being laid on top of that?
i generally have mostly green grass through mid nov-thanksgiving but yeah it takes until memorial day to really fill in and be bright green
Neither, the tree will win every time. Add more soil so the roots are covered, and grade it out gently, then apply the sod. If this is directly under the tree, raise the canopy of the tree up to about 10' or so so more sunlight will reach underneath, or this may be a wasted effort. If you can stand different shades, textures, and colors of grass, use fescue seed. If this still doesn't work, consider a nice circular mulch bed under the tree.
Was going to post this in the homeowner thread, but has anyone put a turf putting green in their yard before? http://www.synlawngolf.com/do-it-yourself-putting-greens/ Doesn't have to be this exact style, that's just one I found online. Thanks
This is an incredible lawn. If this was mine I'd be out there 24/7 guarding it making sure no single piece of trash drifted onto it.
Who on here has a riding lawnmower/lawn tractor? Do you do regular maintenance yourself? I've had mine for almost two years and need to sharpen the blades, etc. Is that hard to do?
I have a bare spot where crabgrass is starting to come in. Should I not be putting any pre-emergent on there if I want to seed it this spring?
If you already have crabgrass coming in then your too late for pre emergent anyway. Also, if you want to seed then don't put pre emergent down as it'll stop your seed from germinating. I would just let the crabgrass go until a couple weeks before ready to seed and then just spray the area with glyphosate.
I have my own riding lawnmower and do all my own regular maintenance. Its easy, I change the oil every winter and crawl around and find all the grease points and pump em up at the same time Never have sharpened my own blades, but just replaced. Once because I hit a rock and bent a blade, the second time was because I wanted to switch to Gator Blades. The second set had been on two maybe three years and had holes worn through them, so I figure $50 to replace them every 3 years is probably gunna do just as good as sharpening
My fall seeding did not come in well, looks like I am going to have to try again with an early spring over seeding, I never seem to have good luck with seeding in the spring though.
Do you change the spark plugs yearly? That is the recommended timeline in the manual, but I've had my riding mower for almost two years and it starts fine, so that seems aggressive and unnecessary. At this point, my plan is to: -change the oil -lubricate where needed -get new blades Last question on blades, do you buy the mulching blades or the standard blades? I typically don't bag (except when the leaves are bad in the fall), so I assume I should get the mulching blades.
Make sure you change your oil filter too. If its been a couple of years I would also change the fuel and air filters too. Just because they're cheap and easy to change as well.
yea, filters too, wasnt thinking about that i have never replaced the spark plug in like 7 years since i bought it no reason to unless it isnt running right, imo
anybody ever use XL2G on their lawn for pre emergent? i never have before, but got recommended it by the local general store its pricey, so it better work
Think I paid like $50 for my container. I have around 6,000 square feet and I have done two applications and probably only used 1/5 of the container.
yikes, I just googled XL2G to check prices, I paid $75 for what is showing at $130 online I guess it never hurts to shop local
put it out and watered in on Thursday before leaving town till Monday hopefully i dont just have a dirt yard when i get back
Is it time to put a preemergent/fertilizer down? I have established Zosia grass and live in Birmingham.
Yes. I may be wrong, but I think I remember you saying you live around Hoover somewhere. If you already a place where you buy from, great, but Collier's on Old Rocky Rd and Acton has everything you'd need.
Yeah, Bermuda and Zoysia are the two most common yards around here and they'll help you get the right thing. If Andy's in Rocky Ridge is closer, they're really helpful and have all of the same stuff. I like both of them.
I put down preemergent on my Bermuda yesterday. I don't see it getting colder again and in the meantime the soil temps are getting up there. I used the Lesco from HD. Does anyone have a good sprinkler rec on Amazon, Walmart, or HD? I have the "nice" Belnor one from HD...it lasted a year. I'm pissed. It has a lifetime guarantee, but I'd rather not go that route again. TIA.
My spray service came by last week and sprayed pre-emergent so hoping my yard take off and is great this year. Only bad thing is the trees in the back take all the sunlight away from the bermuda.
I use the all brass rainmaker impact sprinklers. They're like $17 each, but they last and do a great job. I have insane water pressure on the front of my house and I can link 3 of them together and still get close to max distance from them.
When the soil temps start to get into the 50's is when it's time. You can also look at some of the earlier blooming things around to help judge, like forsythia. This is why I'm experimenting with a split application this year. Put down a 1/3 rate application a week ago and then going to do another application in about 6-8 weeks.
I've been using Tenacity as a pre-emerge on my centipede and it's done great. A bottle for 1 acre is about $60-70 I want to say. I don't like the stuff from the box stores. Had some turf guys recommend it to me. I'm about to have some new landscape put in and have been holding off putting it down but it's getting close so I need to make a move this week I think.
I have a neighbor uphill next door from me who has more weeds than grass in her yard. Weeds thus are a constant battle for me. I wish they made a pre-emergent for neighbors.
I've recommended this guy's youtube channel a couple times but he just put out a video yesterday on pre emergent:
So I thought I had another month or so but my Bermuda grass is sprouting now and starting to green up. I put out a pre-emergent to try and stop the crab grass a few weeks ago, what do I do next? Time to fertilize? Should I aerate? Do I mow now or wait til the whole yard is growing? When do I start to water? This is my first spring dealing with the lawn so I know nothing.
Judging by the avatar and the fact that his bermuda is starting to green, I'm guessing a northern/central part of a southern state? I would do a combo 24-0-7 fertilizer with pre-emergent in another week or two, since you already did one for crabgrass. In the meantime, I would cut it low (I don't scalp but it's okay if you do), and yes I would definitely start an irrigation process to get the lawn going and also to combat the awful drought we had last year which most definitely will affect it. Remember duration > frequency for already established yards, so don't do a piddly 5 minute water every day, do a 20-30 minute water 3 times a week (for each zone).
double RL supposed to get a couple of inches early next week... and with that said, can i plug my yard? i feel like the zoysia already greening means the roots can handle it, especially with the rain coming in
I know this weather has been crazy and it feels like spring but everybody needs to be careful. It's looking like we might get a serious cold blast around the March 8th time frame in most of the south east. Here is the current GFS projection: I would hold off till after that to do any fertilizing. Really don't want to push growth into a hard freeze
just cut my grass (only one load for both front and back, mainly leaves and what not, but a touch of grass), weed eated, edged, and pulled up a couple of bushes and trimmed my hydrangeas. i is ready for the freeze tonight and hopefully a shit ton of rain next week