southeastjerome
Footballguy
Anyone have a preference of fertilizer? Scotts vs. Lesco??
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Lawn Care Tips (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter andy_b
- Start date
Dark Matter
Footballguy
OK, but if you are cutting St. Aug at 4" and not dethatching on a regular basis, you will scalp the crap out of it, eventually. De-thatching wam season grasses helps promote new growth by cutting stolons and efffectively producing more plants. And yes, the higher HOC means healthier turf no matter what type of grass your growing.Negative, Ghostrider.1-2" is good for Bermuda, but St. Aug should be cut between 2.5 to 4" high. Also, it does vary according to how hot the summer is in your location. Lean toward the higher end of those ranges in hotter locations. Here in Austin, I cut my St. Aug as high as I can from mid-July to early September.There is alot of good info in here. Remember though, it depends on the type of grass you have in your lawn. Warm season grasses such as bermudagrass and St. Augustine should be dethatched more regularly so that scalping can be avoided and lower heights of cut (HOC) can be achieved without scalping. 1-2" is a good HOC of the warm season grasses. Warm season grasses are sometimes overseeded in warmer climates with ryegrass in the Fall so that when they go dormant in the winter, the lawn will be green.
Cool season grasses (ryegrass, fescues, Kentucky Bluegrass) do not need much de-thatching but it's not a bad idea in the Spring to dethatch and interseed to recover from winter kill. Aeration is always a good idea, especially on high traffic or compacted areas. HOC's for cool season grasses should be 2-3" with the higher the HOC the better.
fsufan
Footballguy
i have always used Scotts. bonus S in Marchturf builder in June, Sept and Dec
fsufan
Footballguy
i cut mine 3 inches, we have centipede here in Florida. at this height it will get thick, like walking on carpet
the hairy scotsman
Footballguy
The more the better. It stimulates growth and keeps it nice & purty lookin.I can't do this with mine. Don't have the time or energy...but I do have two young boys with bright, shiny futures in lawn care ahead of 'em.add to cuttingmy Dad us to be the maintenance supervisor for FSU, he took care of the football and baseball fields. He says to cut ever 3 to 4 days. they cut the football and baseball fields every day. i am to lazy to cut mine that often.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
I really prefer Vigoro. Only reason I go to Home Depot. It's always worked better than Scotts for me.
Britney Spears
guest speaker
Mos Definitely (pod)
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Decided to split the difference and see how it plays out. It was already looking a little shaggy after two days.
fsufan
Footballguy
you are right, the more time you spend on your grass the better it will look. the old retired guys in my neighborhood all have great lawnsThe more the better. It stimulates growth and keeps it nice & purty lookin.I can't do this with mine. Don't have the time or energy...but I do have two young boys with bright, shiny futures in lawn care ahead of 'em.add to cuttingmy Dad us to be the maintenance supervisor for FSU, he took care of the football and baseball fields. He says to cut ever 3 to 4 days. they cut the football and baseball fields every day. i am to lazy to cut mine that often
andy_b
Footballguy
If you are using fertilizer that has crab grass preventative, new seed will not grow very well or even at all.As I mentioned in the first post, seed during the early fall, not during the spring if you can help it
Aerate
Polish Hammer
made of glass
.
avoiding injuries
Footballguy
I've been re-seeding over the past few weeks. One part of my lawn at a time since I'm putting down top soil with the seed and it's time consuming. When should I fertilize? The fertilizer I have in the garage has weed control.
Dark Matter
Footballguy
Read the label on the fertilizer bag, it should tell you the timing and rate of application. If it is a pre-emergant herbicide mixed with the fertilizer, any seeds that have not germinated will not grow.
Britney Spears
guest speaker
What if you just bought the place, and the lawn needs some help? Is it OK to seed right now? Will it even help?If you are using fertilizer that has crab grass preventative, new seed will not grow very well or even at all.As I mentioned in the first post, seed during the early fall, not during the spring if you can help it
Dark Matter
Footballguy
You live in Seattle? If you can't grow grass there, you might as well quit.
This is really as good a time as any to get started. Get a bag of ryerass seed, a few bags of mulch or seed cover and some starter fertilizer. Cut the grass, broadcast the seed, cover bare areas with mulch, hit it with starter fertilizer, keep lawn moist until you see new growth. Wait about 10-14 days to give it a mowing.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Get starter fertilizer with no weed control.I know Scotts makes a starter fertilizer that has crabgrass preventer that supposedly won't harm the new seeds, but I'm not sure how effective/harmful it is, and it is difficult to find and more expensive since I've only seen it in the smaller bags.
Britney Spears
guest speaker
Well this is my first attempt. I've done nothing other than mow it since we moved in 6 months ago. It's starting to grow really fast rigth now, but there are some bare spots and a lot of moss (moist place and some shady areas).Dark Matter said:You live in Seattle? If you can't grow grass there, you might as well quit.Britney Spears said:This is really as good a time as any to get started. Get a bag of ryerass seed, a few bags of mulch or seed cover and some starter fertilizer. Cut the grass, broadcast the seed, cover bare areas with mulch, hit it with starter fertilizer, keep lawn moist until you see new growth. Wait about 10-14 days to give it a mowing.
Dark Matter
Footballguy
Great! If the bare areas aren't too big, consider sodding them. Take a small patch to the local sod form or nursery, they should be able to ID the type of grass you have and then buy how much you need. Growing seed in established yards can be somewhat frustration because of weed invasion but if you can sod the big areas and seed/mulch the small areas, you can get a decent stand all over. Good Luck.Well this is my first attempt. I've done nothing other than mow it since we moved in 6 months ago. It's starting to grow really fast rigth now, but there are some bare spots and a lot of moss (moist place and some shady areas).Dark Matter said:You live in Seattle? If you can't grow grass there, you might as well quit.Britney Spears said:This is really as good a time as any to get started. Get a bag of ryerass seed, a few bags of mulch or seed cover and some starter fertilizer. Cut the grass, broadcast the seed, cover bare areas with mulch, hit it with starter fertilizer, keep lawn moist until you see new growth. Wait about 10-14 days to give it a mowing.
Tar Heel Boy
Footballguy
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
squidrope
Footballguy
My tip is to pay a professional to spray and cut the lawn, I got home from work last night and it looked like PNC park
I hired a lawn services once. My lawn was destroyed, and neighbor said lawn my looked like Iraq (GW1). Scotts 4 step, Bayer grub control, dethatch S&F, core aeriate, lime if necc.., and water 2-3 times weekly 2 am approx best time to start spinklers 
tommyboy
Footballguy
i just did this this weekend. well, i didn't reseed, i overseeded, but since i hit my lawn pretty hard with a dethatcher and spread sand out all over it, it looked kind of bare so it was almost like reseeding.a true reseeding is where you rototill your entire exissting lawn into a soil bed, roll it with a water roller, rake, seed, fertilize, roll again then cover with a thin layer of peet moss or mulch or straw. I've done that too, its easy but it takes a day to do it right and you have to rent the equipment unless yo uknow someone. If you have an existing lawn that just needs some TLC, just overseed the hell out of it with whatever is prevalent in your area and it will fill in. You have to water it to keep it damp daily until the seed germinates, usually 2 weeks max. Concurrently hit it with a starter fertilizer. It will help your existing lawn and give the new grass a boost.fsufan said:
fsufan
Footballguy
so overseeding is putting seed on top of your grass?
belljr
Footballguy
yes - usually with a machine, cuts small grooves in the ground and drops seeds in the "groove" and covers it back up
Al Czervik
Not wearing pants
Yeah, got the Gator Blade. Worked good, but that was for a Craftsman mower that I hated. Now I have a new Toro and it is working good with the factory blade.For height, I would like to cut the highest setting, but I like to keep the flexibility of jumping to a higher setting when the grass gets too long.
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BlueDemon
Footballguy
sod looks good intially but I would take a seeded lawn that germinated in it's home soil. Seed requires much less watering once it becomes mature (typically 2 to 3 seasons). To keep a sod lawn looking good year after year requires constant and consistent watering. If you opt to seed make sure you soften up the soil really good, spread the seed and then thraw straw over entire area. The straw keeps the moisture in , keeps the soil from drying out to quickly and makes it easier for your wife to navigate over the yard when the sprinkler needs to be moved.
belljr
Footballguy
you realize once the sod takes hold and matures in a bout a year, maybe 2 it's just "normal" grass.
Gamblor
Footballguy
anyone use a lawn roller. Ours is pretty lumpy - wondering how much this may help?
Used to work on a golf course and after aeration we'd whip around a golf cart with a drag mat on the back
http://www.globalspec.com/NpaPics/71/11201..._ExhibitPic.jpg
it would break up the cores and "top dress" to help fill in any unevenness.
Used to work on a golf course and after aeration we'd whip around a golf cart with a drag mat on the back
http://www.globalspec.com/NpaPics/71/11201..._ExhibitPic.jpg
it would break up the cores and "top dress" to help fill in any unevenness.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
I wouldn't roll your lawn unless it was lumpy due to a mole problem or something. It just compacts your soil which is bad for your lawn.Every time I've aerated, the clumps break up on their own.
Gamblor
Footballguy
yeah - they do break up, but this helped distribute the broken up soil to create a lump free surface and fill in the low spots. Dont think I could get my mower fast enough to be effective at this though.Interesting on the rolling - didnt think of that. I guess I should just continue to top dress the low spots..
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After 2 years of struggling with trying to have a nice lawn because I don't really know what I'm doing, I hired a professional service this year to give me 7 fertilizer and/or lime treatments as well as an aerate and seed this fall for a grand total of $400.
After 2 treatments (one fertilizer and one lime) I already notice a difference in my lawn. Looking forward to my aerate/seed this fall and eventual green lawn next year.
Some things are worth paying for.
After 2 treatments (one fertilizer and one lime) I already notice a difference in my lawn. Looking forward to my aerate/seed this fall and eventual green lawn next year.
Some things are worth paying for.
Ned
Footballguy
I've seen a lot of people screw up sod, so I was skeptical that it was the sod itself. I have zero knowledge on this stuff. We had to seed/straw for final inspection, so I'm going to see how it works out before I make the plunge into sod or not. We have 2 dogs, so I'm think I might sod a corner or so to give them somewhere to go that's not just a mud pit.Speaking of dogs, anyone know of anything that helps difuse those burn spots from them going in the same area over and over again?sod looks good intially but I would take a seeded lawn that germinated in it's home soil. Seed requires much less watering once it becomes mature (typically 2 to 3 seasons). To keep a sod lawn looking good year after year requires constant and consistent watering. If you opt to seed make sure you soften up the soil really good, spread the seed and then thraw straw over entire area. The straw keeps the moisture in , keeps the soil from drying out to quickly and makes it easier for your wife to navigate over the yard when the sprinkler needs to be moved.
tommyboy
Footballguy
or you can use the old fashioned method of just mowing your lawn short (1 inch) spreading seed out with a spreader, then take your plastic leaf rake, turn it upside down and just drag it over your entire lawn to give you good seed/soil contact. If you have really bare spots, sprinkle a thin layer of peet moss over it to keep the birds from feasting on your seeds.
Any pet store sells pills that you can give the dogs that helps with the pee burn spots.I've seen a lot of people screw up sod, so I was skeptical that it was the sod itself. I have zero knowledge on this stuff. We had to seed/straw for final inspection, so I'm going to see how it works out before I make the plunge into sod or not. We have 2 dogs, so I'm think I might sod a corner or so to give them somewhere to go that's not just a mud pit.Speaking of dogs, anyone know of anything that helps difuse those burn spots from them going in the same area over and over again?
Ned
Footballguy
I've seen those, but I'm not into giving them pills just to protect my grass. I'm looking for some sort of fertilizer or spray that we can use instead.
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Dark Matter
Footballguy
sod looks good intially but I would take a seeded lawn that germinated in it's home soil. Seed requires much less watering once it becomes mature (typically 2 to 3 seasons). To keep a sod lawn looking good year after year requires constant and consistent watering. If you opt to seed make sure you soften up the soil really good, spread the seed and then thraw straw over entire area. The straw keeps the moisture in , keeps the soil from drying out to quickly and makes it easier for your wife to navigate over the yard when the sprinkler needs to be moved.
at the boldedIt is true that you can get deeper, more fibrous roots by seeding. But I would not go as far to say that in the long run it makes it a whole lot better lawn. Again, it has more to do with the type of grass your dealing with here. And, please for the love of all that is holy, quit overwatering.THXKBY
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
I believe those things are a scam. Only way to prevent this is more frequent watering.
JerseyToughGuys
Tough Guy
i used a walk behind this year. Rented from Home Depot for 4 hours. The thing was like riding a bucking bronco. Hopefully the results will be appreciable.
JerseyToughGuys
Tough Guy
I have always set mine on highest setting and never looked back. This year, I started short (wanted to keep it even) and will slowly raise it as the temp gets up there.
Gamblor
Footballguy
check out your local ads, paper, flyer etc. Cost about $70 to rent an aerator around here and do it myself. Hired a guy with his own who is doing it for $50.
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