I mowed my grass for the first time in several years. My neighbor enjoys doing his, mine and 2 other neighbors so ok I will let him. But now my wife says he cuts it too short, so she told him not to cut ours. No biggie
Lawn Care Thread
If your dog’s urine kills your lawn, adding a little tomato juice to its food will change the urine pH enough that it should no longer kill tha grass
stryper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2009
- Messages
- 1,435
- Reaction score
- 652
- Location
- Somewhere on the back nine of life
- Handicap
- n/a
Funny, I used Trugreen (then they were Chemlawn) years ago when I was trying to grow a lawn from scratch at my newly built home. Thought then that the results were fairly meh, so I decided to do everything myself. Over the years since, I became friends with several local golf sups, and with their advice I managed to maintain what I thought was a pretty nice stand of grass.
Finally this year I decided to retire from doing my own lawn and got a few bids from a couple of “squirt and fert” companies. One company seriously underbid another, but still had an excellent reputation, so I went with them. Now my wife won’t stop gushing about how much better my lawn looks.
Cost is only a few bucks more per app, but my back is seriously thanking me for no longer dragging a hose or pushing a spreader.The modern Trugreen take here is that they never responded to my request for a bid.
Aerated, seeded, and applied starter fertilizer. I'll put down winter weed and feed in November.
Pro tip for those that get snow: right before it snows more than a couple inches, put down long germinating grass seed. The snow packs it into the ground, insulates, and then waters it. I was very surprised at the results the past few years.
Pro tip for those that get snow: right before it snows more than a couple inches, put down long germinating grass seed. The snow packs it into the ground, insulates, and then waters it. I was very surprised at the results the past few years.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #280
Lawn day today and we are winding down the season. Going to bag today and then treat with weed killer to keep them away more as a prevention. Getting ready for dormancy.
Does anyone have any tips for pre-winter treatments in snow belt? Just looking for general timing of thatch, aeration, suggested treatments and overseed related to start of fall, first frost and first "big" covering snow. Thanks!
I would aerate now, and seed with starter fertilizer same day.
Don't put down any weed killer or preventer for a month or so, otherwise it's probably going to kill the seed/new grass.
I like to thatch monthly while I'm cutting the lawn, as I mulch the grass clippings.
Also, check your soil pH. That is the key to everything. Soil should be 6.7-6.9 ideally. If its out-of range, then it won't accept seed or product as well, and you are wasting money.
Just limed my lawn in prep for my winter fertilizer treatment at the end of the month.
From the guys I buy my treatments from:
Top 4 Tips for a Happy Lawn this Fall
1. Keep the grass high until colder weather actually causes the grass growth to slow down. Don’t mow short just because the temperature drops a little.
2. Gradually lower your mowing height once the lawn growth slows down. Don't scalp it down all at once, but make sure it is short before the snow falls.
3. Keep leaves from matting on the grass and avoid unnecessary foot traffic or heavy machines when the soil is soft and wet.
4. Seed bare or thin spots ASAP. You can probably get seed to sprout if done by early October. If you want to seed later than this you can, but the seed may not sprout until mid-spring, and you may lose some of the seed to winter soil conditions.
As far as point #2, I have best results when the last cut is at 1.5". It's OK at 2", but not as good as the lower height. In my case, leaving it too high results in snow mold.
Top 4 Tips for a Happy Lawn this Fall
1. Keep the grass high until colder weather actually causes the grass growth to slow down. Don’t mow short just because the temperature drops a little.
2. Gradually lower your mowing height once the lawn growth slows down. Don't scalp it down all at once, but make sure it is short before the snow falls.
3. Keep leaves from matting on the grass and avoid unnecessary foot traffic or heavy machines when the soil is soft and wet.
4. Seed bare or thin spots ASAP. You can probably get seed to sprout if done by early October. If you want to seed later than this you can, but the seed may not sprout until mid-spring, and you may lose some of the seed to winter soil conditions.
As far as point #2, I have best results when the last cut is at 1.5". It's OK at 2", but not as good as the lower height. In my case, leaving it too high results in snow mold.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #286
Im not sure I have an opinion on it, but when I read the whole thing, it was interesting that 30 million dollars of tax payer money is going to landscapers to assist in the transition.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #288
And I would bet that 30 mill number is woefully low.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #290
It is a super interesting policy because you are effecting major business, huge amounts of time and a commercial sector that isn't ready for it most believe. Now compound it with making the change with tax payer money for these small business owners and its pretty crazy. Now compound that with the application process for these funds to be available by landscapers and it is going to be an absolute disaster. Have you been to the DMV recently? Not exactly a well oiled machine.
I really like my little Dewalt mower. I'm going to see how many times I can mow my yard on a single charge. It comes with two 20V Max batteries that slide into all my other dewalt power tools.
I’m not sure what brand my Dad got, I think it’s a green mower that they sell at Costco. It works for his yard, but it just didn’t cut it for mine.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #294
We use electric and use Greenworks. It works decently well.
I live in AZ...so my yard....is shall we say...small....should be artificial or rocks. But I can't stomach the cost of a putting and chipping area that I really want if I go artificial.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #297
I am not sure. Although we have the 80v and I can do our entire yard in the one large battery we have and we are just shy of 1/2 an acre
My first golden doodle caused this in the grass when he was young. Our second one, a female, has never caused that. As long as people keep them in the grass between the sidewalk and the street (called a verge apparently) to do their business, I don't care so much. That area gets a ton of foot traffic anyhow so it's never perfect. I do get a little testy when people let their dogs go in my yard side of the sidewalk if that makes sense.