Lawn care?

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

  1. ohbluefan

    ohbluefan Well-Known Member
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    Thank you
     
  2. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Just brought home 4 million insect eating nematodes

    :billsnyderdancemachine:
     
  3. JacobPalmer

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    I rented an overseeder from the construction rental place in town and went over my entire yard like 5-6 days ago.

    Looks like the temps are going to drop to 29 tonight and lows of 29 on Friday and Saturday. How much of a negative effect will this have on my stand if at all?
     
  4. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    Put down what I thought was pre-emergent and fertilizer a few weeks ago. Ended up having a crazy amount of crab grass come up. Checked the bag and it says nothing about crabgrass.

    Found the stuff I used last spring for crabgrass and it’s totally different. Went ahead and put that down this week to try and get something to stop any new stuff. Neighbors aren’t even trying so I am sure I am getting some of their crabgrass seeds blowing into my yard making it harder to control without PE down.

    Sprayed some Astrazine and 2-4-D on the areas the St Augustine hasn’t gotten very active yet.

    Anyone done a dethatch on St Augustine before?
     
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  5. LSU90

    LSU90 Well-Known Member

    My whole front yard is mature and full st aug. We are about to wrap up an addition in the back and the backyard will need to be fully resodded. Ive heard all these great things about Zoysia but my worry is I dont want to have two completely different care/maintenance routines for the front yard and the backyard. What are the differences in the maintenance for the two? If I do just go with St Aug, do I need to kill all the existing St Aug/weeds since I am going back with the same grass or just do the dirtwork and sod over that? I live in South Louisiana fyi.
     
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  6. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    How tore up is the backyard?
    Any existing st Aug left?

    If you've got the ability to water enough to keep st Augustin alive and thriving I would think you could just encourage it to spread back to cover the back yard

    Maybe using a plugger
     
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  7. LSU90

    LSU90 Well-Known Member

    Very torn up. I also have to have it regraded for the drainage I put in so regrowing the existing is not really an option. So its either St Aug or Zoysia sod. Its full sun until noon then partial/full shade the rest of the day. Mainly concerned with two different mow/preemergent/postemergent plans for the front and backyard. If I go with St Aug do I need to spray the whole yard before the dirtwork if its the same grass going back?
     
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  8. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Spray the yard for what?
     
  9. LSU90

    LSU90 Well-Known Member

    For some reason always saw before you resod and do dirtwork to spray whatever is there with glyphosate so everything dies before sodding.
     
  10. gilstein21

    gilstein21 Tight Rip 26 Seal Right
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    Backyard growing up with st aug and zoysia living together. The st aug had grown from neighbors yard and my dad had plugged the backyard with zoysia. He didn’t do anything other than a 10-10-10 fertilizer and both grasses worked well together.
     
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  11. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    I have no idea why you would want everything to die before you grow the same as existing grass

    Here in Central Texas where I live, the st Augustin will over take anything as long as it's watered enough
    Without water it struggles

    Have had neighbors who turned a weed yard into a full lush st Augustin yard without ever sodding, in just a year or two
     
  12. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Not enough water though and it gets run over
     
  13. LeVar Burton

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    Specticle flo in September and a prodiamine granular in the February
     
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  14. LeVar Burton

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    does everyone know about the open bag rule at Lowes? If you buy a bag of top soil, potting soil, fertilizer, pre emergent or sand at Lowe’s and the bag is damaged they’ll sell it to you for 1/2 off.

    No, I don’t walk around Lowes with a pocket knife but I do like to stop in on Sunday or Monday after all the weekend warriors ripped open bags to see what the soil/compost mixture looks like
     
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  15. arrdub

    arrdub Well-Known Member
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    Have some patches of this as well. Will be happy when that duet finally chases all the centipede away.
     
  16. RJF-GUMP

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    Planted some petunias yesterday in my front bed
     
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  17. Cabs

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    That would look a lot better if you pulled the pine straw out from the bed and put down a bag or two or mini nuggets
     
    #2417 Cabs, Apr 17, 2023
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2023
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  18. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    If I was paying for new grass I would not choose a separate species from from front yard unless there was something problematic/sub optimal about the existing one.

    For simplicity, I would go S.A to have the same.

    I have multiple warm season grass species (from different families, no less) Zoysia and S.A are the same AFAIK, but you'll find something like application rates, mowing height, AI incompatibilities etc. that will be a thorn in your side when you just want to knock out a lawn task or maintenance.
     
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  19. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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    Zoysia sod put down last winter is greening up, along with some weeds. Don’t want to use a weed and feed bc I’m using new grass fert cycle for first year. Any recs on “kill the weeds not the grass” products? Everything I’ve looked at has mixed reviews but I’m assuming some of that might be driven by people using when it’s too hot or too cold.
     
  20. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    Same situation with sod last year & my Zoysia is starting to come in too. You typically don't want to put anything down while your grass is staring to green up & come out of dormancy. Basically need to wait until it's back established.
     
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  21. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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    The fertilizer I’m using is specifically for new grass (emphasis on root development) and after applying lightly this weekend and lightly watering in it’s fine. Link below. Mostly hate looking at weeds


    Your friend has shared a link to a Home Depot product they think you would be interested in seeing.



    https://www.homedepot.com/p/Scotts-...Food-Fertilizer-for-New-Grass-21605/203187342
     
  22. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    Was talking about the "kill the weeds" products
     
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  23. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    Might look into Atrazine, its fairly selective on what it kills, but it does take forever. I think the time frame is around 2-3 weeks.
     
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  24. Beachy Toast

    Beachy Toast I watch you sleep.
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  25. tmank87

    tmank87 Well-Known Member

    certainty or Celsius depending on weed. I’d wait till a bit warmer, though. They’re more effective in warmer temps.
     
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  26. scissors

    scissors Very Sharp Member
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    E151DC68-D2A3-4396-94D7-3E4DB3A79954.jpeg
    My yard has always been all weeds/scrub so I decided to start fucking around with it this spring. I tilled and raked about 700sqft by hand (because I’m a dumbass). I laid down the first seed with Slopemaster 6 weeks ago and got about 70% coverage. Filling patches got me to about 90% and I just did the final holes late last week. I water it everyday with the hose Hank Hill style and my wife says I love my grass patch more than my kids. It’s like walking on lush carpet.

    Might go for another 1000sqft in the fall depending on how this turns out.
     
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  27. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    what variety? your environment looks southern but not your grass.
     
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  28. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    That looks great, good job
     
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  29. scissors

    scissors Very Sharp Member
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    I am in Atlanta and that is just Scott’s tall fescue seed.
     
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  30. JacobPalmer

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    Bumping this. I'm currently 12 days out from planting, starting to see some pretty good seedlings. Friday night has a low of 26, Saturday a low of 24.

    I'm freaking out.
     
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  31. The Hebrew Husker

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    What type of grass?
     
  32. JacobPalmer

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    Mixture because my lawn is already a mix. Not Kentucky bluegrass, mostly tall fescue and ryegrass
     
  33. The Hebrew Husker

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    Id guess the soil is warm enough that it can withstand the cold on that side of things.

    One thing I’ve read before, but never tried, was that if you water the grass a little as late as possible the water will be warm enough and kind of act as insulation for the couple of hours it gets below freezing. Then assuming the grass does frost/freeze just don’t step on it until it warms up.
     
  34. The Hebrew Husker

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    Not completely lawn related but has anyone ever dealt with clover mites?

    My god these things are annoying. I guess they’re common here but so small we typically don’t notice them unless the weather forces them out of the grass.

    Well that’s happened this year. Last week I had thousands of these fuckers on the side of my house (they were seeking shade) so I had someone come out and spray them and he warned me the first couple days they’ll be more noticeable because they’re getting forced out by the spray. They’re the size of a pinhead so a couple have started sneaking through a window in my basement.

    They’re just “nuisance pests” but still weird to see them inside. Sounds like I just have to vacuum consistently and wait for their 1-2 week life cycle to run its course. My GF’s desk is by the window and she just saw one crawling inside her computer screen, that’s how small they are.
     
  35. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    Stuff inside of screens is nuts. Only seen that maybe once in my life. T/P.
     
  36. JacobPalmer

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    I've done a pretty deep dive down reddit and read that as well. Soil temp should be 55+. There's plenty of tall grass as I've watered my existing lawn a lot but have yet to mow, which I think might help?

    Seems like I should do a good water that afternoon/early evening, but not too late so that the grass is wet going into the night. And in the morning at 30-32 degrees turn on the sprinklers to remove any frost.
     
  37. The Hebrew Husker

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    She’s only mentioned one inside the screen, hoping it stays that way. Doesn’t totally shock me since her monitors and desk basically rest against the wall/windows. Still weird the thing got in there though.

    I was feeling pretty good about the fact I’d only seen a few getting inside my house, but thinking the spray is forcing them inside since going back outside would be where the spray actually is. Hoping if I just religiously vacuum the next couple of weeks it will stay ahead of them until the spray works or the weather keeps them in my grass or forces them to dormancy.

    Between Reddit and the guy who came to spray it sounds like it’s an uphill battle because of how much they multiply. Could be worse for sure and at least it’s just an annoyance for the most part. Also hoping that once I start mowing regularly that takes care of the ones in the grass.
     
  38. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    I've got 1-2 spots I'm kinda worried about with my zoysia growing back after dormant. 1st dormant season for me. Seems like 70% is looking solid. I'm guessing as it starts warming up it should heavily fill in.

    But still nervous
     
  39. LetItSoak

    LetItSoak Well-Known Member
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    Same boat with mine right now. Definitely a couple spots I want to see fill in
     
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  40. ramszoolander

    ramszoolander Guess what? Vulcan butt!
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    Team fescue. I used Rebels one year in my old house's yard. It looked amazing for two years; we had a terrible drought and it all died (very shady yard, so it was tough). Fescue is the best, just tough to grow down here.
     
  41. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    So apparently Gnome Soil Testing did a deal a while back for free soil testing for the Lawn Care subreddit. r/Lawncare

    It looks like they are doing it again. All you pay is the shipping. The link is here: https://trygnome.com/products/soil-test-kit and use code TESTMYSOIL

    Ended up costing me $9.99 for shipping.

    The link to the Reddit post is here:

    People had pretty good feedback from the last time they did this.
     
  42. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    thanks for the remider to finish this.

    Our county ag extension does it for free.
     
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  43. Baseballman86

    Baseballman86 Well-Known Member
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    E7FAD5AD-63C3-4D22-B7D6-74591400EBD5.jpeg Any idea what this is? Never seen it in my lawn before and suddenly, seemingly overnight it's everywhere
     
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  44. Baseballman86

    Baseballman86 Well-Known Member
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  45. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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    You’ll be fine
     
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  46. RJF-GUMP

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    Fertilized a bunch of hydrangeas, gardenias, and azaleas this afternoon.

     
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  47. One Two

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    Fertilize it before it gets too hot with a fertilizer that promotes root growth. Fescue is possible in the transition zone just know that once it gets hot you’ll need to water ahead of a drought/dry period, don’t wait until it’s over 90 and it hasn’t rained for a week or else

     
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  48. Where Eagles Dare

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    Stupid question....when zoysia goes dormant for the winter then comes back int he spring....does it regrow from the ground or do the brown grass blades turn back green and come alive??

    I've got really thick brown areas that seem to not want to trun back green and the some 50/50 areas. So I decided to rake out the dead blades a lil bit. Hope it helps green up
     
  49. LetItSoak

    LetItSoak Well-Known Member
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    I had zoysia sod installed last June and have a few of those spots too. I raked it out 2 weeks ago and it has been filling in slowly. Per the 1 video I watched Zoysia spreads horizontally at a relatively slow pace so it may take some time
     
  50. GoodForAnother

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    little bit of both. you can accelerate spring green up by cutting low early in the year (usually late February for me in KC). the dormant blades will turn green quicker and new growth will obv be green too.
     
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