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Lawn Care Thread

Danimal said:
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Looked out my window this morning and it was raining leaves. Round 2 this weekend. This yard was totally clean on Sunday. The battle rages…..
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I get it. I have already completed round 2. The front yard was completely covered only 3 days after round 1. I got it up before Halloween. I figure two more rounds and we'll be down to an amount I can simply mulch.
 
Should I bother overseeding my lawn? I haven’t done it. I just shut the water off and started to scalp off my best Bermuda pelt.

In past I just let the clover take over.
 
mtbloco said:
Should I bother overseeding my lawn? I haven’t done it. I just shut the water off and started to scalp off my best Bermuda pelt.

In past I just let the clover take over.
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Where you live, now is the time to do it. But you'll have to turn the water back on and keep it moist for about 6-8 weeks after seeding and topsoil for the seed to germinate and get established.
 
Best to use my lawn mower to pick up leaves to use up the old gas that wasn't used last winter!
I really want to use it all up so I'll have fresh gas to use in the snow blower.
 
First year in this new Bermuda grass

Trying to scalp it and lay some pre-emergent to get things started

Wife read a reel mower is best, so I'll be stronger or dead soon 💪🏼😳image.jpgIMG_4929.jpeg
 
Getting excited about the lawn. When we bought this home last year in April the lawn was not as green as the best lawns around us. Had a few bare spots and holes from critters I suspect. We have woods and a large creek behind our house and deer, fox, rabbits and other critters regularly come into the neighborhood. Had some weed issues too. Fertilizing, mowing, and weeding was the most I could do that first growing season. [Post #1088 shows the progress in 2023.]

Right now my lawn is the greenest and the growing season will start in 4-8 weeks. I am about to attack the remaining holes and bare spots. So, I am looking forward to a much improved lawn this year.
 
I really need some help with my lawn. Bare spots, weeds you name it. Its a new build on a large lot and this is my first spring. Is it realistic to get grass to grow in the spring? I have a ton of clay. Should I bring in soil?
 
LeftHander said:
I really need some help with my lawn. Bare spots, weeds you name it. Its a new build on a large lot and this is my first spring. Is it realistic to get grass to grow in the spring? I have a ton of clay. Should I bring in soil?
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Several of us will be glad to help. What would help us is to see pictures of your lawn today: overall then a close-up. Tell us where you are located. That will tell us types of grasses, growing season, and irrigation requirements. Finally, what was done last year when the house was built?
 
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JW Smoove said:
Sad for you using a reel mower. Have not seen those since our town house in late 1980s
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I think it will be ok. Our lawn is tiny
 
leftshot said:
Several of us will be glad to help. What would help us is to see a pictures of your lawn today: overall then a close up. Tell us where you are located. That will tell us Tuesday of grasses, growing season, and irrigation requirements. Finally, what was done last year when the house was built.
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OK, thank you. Here is the current situation. I am in central VA. I have big spot of clover up front and more holes like this and its more sloped.
 
USAF Retired said:
First year in this new Bermuda grass

Trying to scalp it and lay some pre-emergent to get things started

Wife read a reel mower is best, so I'll be stronger or dead soon 💪🏼😳View attachment 9244771View attachment 9244773
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The reels give such a nice cut. Just be sure to sharpen the blades occasionally. They definitely like a good edge in order to cut well.

Pushing that thing around is one way to activate those glutes!! 🤣
 
That helps. It looks like they basically threw some seed down with minimum prep. I see plenty of pebbles in the one picture and the soil doesn't show any quality topsoil or prep, nor do I see any evidence they used straw to hold the moisture in while the seed germinated. You didn't say anything about an irrigation system, so I'm assuming there isn't one. However, where you live you get enough rain throughout the year to not require an irrigation system. You are just about to start your growing season. The soil needs to get above 50 degrees and as you know you are starting to see some days where the air temperature is above that, which will start to influence the soil temperature.

The weeds are going to be a problem until you get a good amount of grass established. You can use lawn-safe weed killer, but until you get a good cover of grass they'll just come back. So, the priority is to get the grass established.

I suspect you are going to (pretty soon) need to properly prepare, reseed, and put down straw to get another round of seed to germinate. Then probably have to do so one more time this Fall. However, I'm going to step aside and see what others who are more familiar with your climate and soil have to say.
 
Ugh. I’ve got to get my lawn back in shape. I had to have 2 trees removed last spring and I guess the tree guys brought in some kind of seed because I’ve had weeds killing off my St Augustine since. It’s been a struggle and I don’t really know where to go at this point.
 
leftshot said:
That helps. It looks like they basically threw some seed down with minimum prep. I see plenty of pebbles in the one picture and the soil doesn't show any quality topsoil or prep, nor do I see any evidence they used straw to hold the moisture in while the seed germinated. You didn't say anything about an irrigation system, so I'm assuming there isn't one. However, where you live you get enough rain throughout the year to not require an irrigation system. You are just about to start your growing season. The soil needs to get above 50 degrees and as you know you are starting to see some days where the air temperature is above that, which will start to influence the soil temperature.

The weeds are going to be a problem until you get a good amount of grass established. You can use lawn-safe weed killer, but until you get a good cover of grass they'll just come back. So, the priority is to get the grass established.

I suspect you are going to (pretty soon) need to properly prepare, reseed, and put down straw to get another round of seed to germinate. Then probably have to do so one more time this Fall. However, I'm going to step aside and see what others who are more familiar with your climate and soil have to say.
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Thanks so much. I am thinking of spreading some top soil in the coming months. The 50 degree number is good to know. We are almost past the freezing mornings but it was 27 here today at 6:00am. I may need to dig those establised weeds?
 
USAF Retired said:
First year in this new Bermuda grass

Trying to scalp it and lay some pre-emergent to get things started

Wife read a reel mower is best, so I'll be stronger or dead soon 💪🏼😳View attachment 9244771View attachment 9244773
Click to expand...
I had bermuda tiff when I lived out in arkansas and never used a reel mower. I did scalp it like you are saying right at spring time and I had it treated every 6ish weeks. It did perfectly fine and looked great.
 
I know our build/renovation is just kicking off, but plan to start putting some serious time into our yard once we are done with the project. Will be summer when it's done, so won't be able to do a ton other than mow it, but come fall it's going to be on like donkey kong!
 
I put some pre emergent down a couple of weeks ago, re applied this weekend and then in 2 weeks i will hit the 6-2-4 and humate's plus. I use Micro life products
 
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LeftHander said:
Thanks so much. I am thinking of spreading some top soil in the coming months. The 50 degree number is good to know. We are almost past the freezing mornings but it was 27 here today at 6:00am. I may need to dig those establised weeds?
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Digging is easy with the freeze thaw making the ground soft.
If you do it in 40 degree weather the sap won't be running.
I've been digging up vines in the later afternoon after the ground has thawed a bit.

Weed killer works much better in the fall than the spring.
If the sap is running that means the poison is less likely to get into the plant.
 
LeftHander said:
Thanks so much. I am thinking of spreading some top soil in the coming months. The 50 degree number is good to know. We are almost past the freezing mornings but it was 27 here today at 6:00am. I may need to dig those establised weeds?
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Digging weeds might not be the best idea. If you don’t get the entire root, you may end up with even more weeds than you started with. Depending on the particular weed, you may be better off spot treating with Roundup, if they’ve already sprouted, or a pre-emergent before they do. Be aware though that a pre-emergent will also prevent new grass seed from germinating.
 
stryper said:
Digging weeds might not be the best idea. If you don’t get the entire root, you may end up with even more weeds than you started with. Depending on the particular weed, you may be better off spot treating with Roundup, if they’ve already sprouted, or a pre-emergent before they do. Be aware though that a pre-emergent will also prevent new grass seed from germinating.
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Thank you. I am researching pre emergent. Thinking about having a pro come out but its not cheap on a lot this size. What is a good time to fertilize? After the last freeze?
 
leftshot said:
Several of us will be glad to help. What would help us is to see pictures of your lawn today: overall then a close-up. Tell us where you are located. That will tell us types of grasses, growing season, and irrigation requirements. Finally, what was done last year when the house was built?
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I may be taking you up on this too as we get closer to spring / summer. New house for us so I'm not sure how it looks but without any snow it looks a bit meh right now. I'm going to want to make sure that we have some lush green grass as we get through the summer.

I've lived in places where I didn't need to take care of the grass for the past couple decades (mostly) so I'll be starting from scratch for my knowledge base.
 
LeftHander said:
Thank you. I am researching pre emergent. Thinking about having a pro come out but its not cheap on a lot this size. What is a good time to fertilize? After the last freeze?
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Doing the pre-emerge is no harder than doing a regular fertilizer app. Check with your local farm service for timing on this (it's free with just a phone call) as they'll know soil temps and trends and all that. Likely they'll also have the product you need, or can point you to a local source, that will be quite a bit cheaper than buying from a big box store. Timing for the pre-emerge should be about now for you, so i wouldn't wait too long on that phone call.
 
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