Lawn Care Tips (2 Viewers)

[bushdocda]

At this point in the summer, am I best off waiting until September/Fall to do a weed and feed type application? I don't want to trash what little I have and have been watering every few nights thoroughly to try to keep it hanging on.

My question relates to my thin, uneven lawn that was newly planted in late 2008 and was never cared for or reseeded as we are the homes first owners.

Great infos in this here thread. My wife thinks my lawn obsession is strange which tells me I am on to something here.

 

[Da Guru]

In Julys heat I hit my lawn with Milorganite, greens up nice, no burn, and does not cause growth spurts.

 

[jb1020]

I'm in the middle of a plugging project. I've got half of my front yard, which is centipede, plugged with Empire zoysia. I want to zoysia to take over. Got a few questions....

Should I fertilize the area at all? I see the downside in fertilizer speeding up the growth of the centipede too.

Will the zoysia spread faster if I cut the grass shorter, or should I leave it higher?

Anything else to speed up this project? I know I'll eventually need to spray it with MSMA, but theres not enough zoysia in the front at the moment. I was hoping about this time next year I'll have enough zoysia to kill the centipede and it not look too bad.

 

[fsufan]

back in April I put down st Augustin grass on one side of my house to do a lot of shade, first time I have had st Augustin grass. the grass was looking great till about a month ago, now it is brown in some spots. how often should I be watering this type of grass? I have my irrigation system to some on 4 times a week. I have been reading that st Augustine may only need to be watered every 5 days to a week. live in Tallahassee, right now it is about 100 every day

 

[Boulder Toads]

back in April I put down st Augustin grass on one side of my house to do a lot of shade, first time I have had st Augustin grass. the grass was looking great till about a month ago, now it is brown in some spots. how often should I be watering this type of grass? I have my irrigation system to some on 4 times a week. I have been reading that st Augustine may only need to be watered every 5 days to a week. live in Tallahassee, right now it is about 100 every day

St. Augustine responds best to deep watering about ~1x per week. The heavy shade may also be working against you ... thats where I've had the most trouble with my SA grass (Houston).

 

[Da Guru]

Lawn is totally stessed right now from 2 straight months in the 90s and very little rain. I use our sprinkler system every other night but the lawn is still pretty scorched.

Should I let it grow longer? Or use Ironite to green it up?

 

[perry147]

Lawn is totally stessed right now from 2 straight months in the 90s and very little rain. I use our sprinkler system every other night but the lawn is still pretty scorched.Should I let it grow longer? Or use Ironite to green it up?

I have heard that you should let your grass grow longer if you expect a drought - the theory being that the longer grass protects the roots. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[shuke]

Lawn is totally stessed right now from 2 straight months in the 90s and very little rain. I use our sprinkler system every other night but the lawn is still pretty scorched.Should I let it grow longer? Or use Ironite to green it up?

Let it grow. I'm surprised you're even having to mow right now. I've pretty much given up for the year because it's so damn hot. I'm only watering our trees.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Lawn is totally stessed right now from 2 straight months in the 90s and very little rain. I use our sprinkler system every other night but the lawn is still pretty scorched.Should I let it grow longer? Or use Ironite to green it up?

I have heard that you should let your grass grow longer if you expect a drought - the theory being that the longer grass protects the roots. Does anyone know if this is true?

this is correct. This was one of the tips mentioned in the first post in this thread.

 

[The Commish]

Lawn is totally stessed right now from 2 straight months in the 90s and very little rain. I use our sprinkler system every other night but the lawn is still pretty scorched.Should I let it grow longer? Or use Ironite to green it up?

I have heard that you should let your grass grow longer if you expect a drought - the theory being that the longer grass protects the roots. Does anyone know if this is true?

The theory is that, the longer the blade, the longer the roots, the deeper it can go to get to water, the less you have to water etc. Mine is generally stressed at this point. I put too much seed down last fall and some areas had grass that choked each other out etc. I have several spots that I need to clean out and reseed (this time with less seed)

 

[Gamma1210]

This is a long thread, and I'm sure this has been covered, but what is a good resource for some basics on rescuing a lawn full of weeds and about 10 types of different grass. I purchased my house recently and the lawn is a mess. Weed and feed earlier in the year seemed to help, but now with having such a hot summer it is scorched and it looks like whatever green is left is mostly weeds. TIA

 

[The Commish]

This is a long thread, and I'm sure this has been covered, but what is a good resource for some basics on rescuing a lawn full of weeds and about 10 types of different grass. I purchased my house recently and the lawn is a mess. Weed and feed earlier in the year seemed to help, but now with having such a hot summer it is scorched and it looks like whatever green is left is mostly weeds. TIA

If it were me.....I'd kill it all off....throw down some decent topsoil and reseed. That's advice based on not knowing your lawn size though. The other option is to treat, and treat heavily the weeks and overseed this fall, and probably next fall as well. Will take a couple years to get it back. I am on year three of my adventure and it's still not where I want it, but it gets better each year.I started with clay and crabgrass. Now it's mostly grass...still a work in progress.

 

[fsufan]

anyone have any experience with st Augustine grass that has a fugues. I have been told you can spray something on it to kill the fungus.

 

[siffoin]

My opinion here is based purely on my opinion and experiments on my lawn over the years.

First understand this:

Most lawns -when they are first established- have a nutrient depleted base. A house is built...the fill dirt around that house is cleaned up of big rocks and major construction debris...the dirt is leveled...in some cases a sprinkler line is added...and then sod or seed is planted on top of the fill dirt. Fill dirt has no nutrients. The base of your lawn ...starts off compacted and the growing medium is basically dead.

Grass is easy to grow...have a crack in your sidewalk...you might see some grass. So for a while you can keep grass alive with just water and fertilizer. But over time any nutrients that were in your base soil get leeched out from the chemical fertilizer. And over-watering. This condition is an invitation for weeds and fungus to invade. Thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy...where you add more chemicals to the lawn as a stop gap...you water more too, but by doing-so you are depleting the soil of the few nutrients and healthy micro-organisms it has.

The goal is to get your soil nutrient rich....full of beneficial micro-organisms. This will not happen over night. But here are some steps:

1) Fall Aeration. You MUST aerate your lawn this fall. The time to do it is when the daily highs are consistently in the low 80's. It's better if it is in the low 70's. For most of the US this is in Sept. aerating does a few things. It removes built up thatch in your lawn. It breaks up compacted soil. It will reduce your water consumption. And most of all it provides a starter for healthy macro-nutrients/beneficial organisms to live in your yard. After aerating...you can add some grass seed with some top soil dressing or better yet compost*.

2) If you have leaves that fall in your yard...don't rake them up. Mulch mow them instead. Dead leaves are nature's fertilizer. These leaves will rot in your yard over the winter providing the beneficial micro-organisms living in the soil nutrients so that they can thrive. By Spring all those mulched leaves will be gone. The other nice thing about mulch mowing your leaves is that it is a lot easier than raking. Now if you have a lot of tress in your yard you don't want to over-do it...so you might rake a few times before you mulch mow...basically what you want over your lawn in the winter is a very thin layer of mulched dead leaves.

3) COMPOST: Compost is the best way to get healthy biological/living nutrients into your soil, and bring it back to life. For a couple of years I've been worm composting...as discussed in the Urban Garden thread. The problem with compost is that it is expensive...and if you make your own it is difficult to get the quantity needed to actually benefit your lawn. This year I discovered Compost Tea aka WORM TEA.

4) Worm Tea is made by using the castings (worm poop) from a worm composting bin. The process is simple. I add about 4 cups of castings into a paint strainer bag purchased at Home Depot for about $1.00. I place that bag into a 5 gallon bucket filled with declorinated water. Add about 3 oz of molasses...and drop an aquarium aerator (purchased at the pet store for about $15) into the bottom and turn it on. In about 2 days you have a foamy beer looking LIVING “tea”. I then take a hose end sprayer...add the tea...and spray EVERYTHING. You can't over-do it. I've done this 2x per month...the results have been stunning. A couple of shrubs the landscaper said I should pull out because they were mostly dead are now thriving. I had a fungus called necrotic ring spot in a couple areas of the lawn...that is GONE. I have also wound up using about 10% less water this summer (part of that may be due to a cooler summer...but it was still 90+ for all of July and August.). I've lived in this house for 8 years...and by far this is the absolute best the yard has looked...the only difference being worm tea. With worm tea you are adding live beneficial organisms to your lawn that will bring back to life your dead soil.

Again...this process is a result of my own experiments. However I'm convinced that it makes a lot of logical sense that if you want a thriving lawn...you need to make sure that you are creating an environment for beneficial micro-organisms to thrive in the soil. De-compact the soil by aerating. Feed your lawn mulched leaves for the winter...and add worm compost tea 2x per month in the growing season.

 

[Jobber]

My opinion here is based purely on my opinion and experiments on my lawn over the years.First understand this:Most lawns -when they are first established- have a nutrient depleted base. A house is built...the fill dirt around that house is cleaned up of big rocks and major construction debris...the dirt is leveled...in some cases a sprinkler line is added...and then sod or seed is planted on top of the fill dirt. Fill dirt has no nutrients. The base of your lawn ...starts off compacted and the growing medium is basically dead.Grass is easy to grow...have a crack in your sidewalk...you might see some grass. So for a while you can keep grass alive with just water and fertilizer. But over time any nutrients that were in your base soil get leeched out from the chemical fertilizer. And over-watering. This condition is an invitation for weeds and fungus to invade. Thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy...where you add more chemicals to the lawn as a stop gap...you water more too, but by doing-so you are depleting the soil of the few nutrients and healthy micro-organisms it has.The goal is to get your soil nutrient rich....full of beneficial micro-organisms. This will not happen over night. But here are some steps:1) Fall Aeration. You MUST aerate your lawn this fall. The time to do it is when the daily highs are consistently in the low 80's. It's better if it is in the low 70's. For most of the US this is in Sept. aerating does a few things. It removes built up thatch in your lawn. It breaks up compacted soil. It will reduce your water consumption. And most of all it provides a starter for healthy macro-nutrients/beneficial organisms to live in your yard. After aerating...you can add some grass seed with some top soil dressing or better yet compost*.2) If you have leaves that fall in your yard...don't rake them up. Mulch mow them instead. Dead leaves are nature's fertilizer. These leaves will rot in your yard over the winter providing the beneficial micro-organisms living in the soil nutrients so that they can thrive. By Spring all those mulched leaves will be gone. The other nice thing about mulch mowing your leaves is that it is a lot easier than raking. Now if you have a lot of tress in your yard you don't want to over-do it...so you might rake a few times before you mulch mow...basically what you want over your lawn in the winter is a very thin layer of mulched dead leaves.3) COMPOST: Compost is the best way to get healthy biological/living nutrients into your soil, and bring it back to life. For a couple of years I've been worm composting...as discussed in the Urban Garden thread. The problem with compost is that it is expensive...and if you make your own it is difficult to get the quantity needed to actually benefit your lawn. This year I discovered Compost Tea aka WORM TEA.4) Worm Tea is made by using the castings (worm poop) from a worm composting bin. The process is simple. I add about 4 cups of castings into a paint strainer bag purchased at Home Depot for about $1.00. I place that bag into a 5 gallon bucket filled with declorinated water. Add about 3 oz of molasses...and drop an aquarium aerator (purchased at the pet store for about $15) into the bottom and turn it on. In about 2 days you have a foamy beer looking LIVING “tea”. I then take a hose end sprayer...add the tea...and spray EVERYTHING. You can't over-do it. I've done this 2x per month...the results have been stunning. A couple of shrubs the landscaper said I should pull out because they were mostly dead are now thriving. I had a fungus called necrotic ring spot in a couple areas of the lawn...that is GONE. I have also wound up using about 10% less water this summer (part of that may be due to a cooler summer...but it was still 90+ for all of July and August.). I've lived in this house for 8 years...and by far this is the absolute best the yard has looked...the only difference being worm tea. With worm tea you are adding live beneficial organisms to your lawn that will bring back to life your dead soil.Again...this process is a result of my own experiments. However I'm convinced that it makes a lot of logical sense that if you want a thriving lawn...you need to make sure that you are creating an environment for beneficial micro-organisms to thrive in the soil. De-compact the soil by aerating. Feed your lawn mulched leaves for the winter...and add worm compost tea 2x per month in the growing season.

Excellent info. Thanks.I'll be renting an aerator sometime in the next few weeks. I've never done it (yard is about 11 years old).

 

[Sweatpants]

I give up. It's rained here like 3 times in 3 months. Still watering my trees but forget the grass

 

[The_Hunchback]

Had a fun weekend. I cut the yard three times (yes it was tall but also didn't want to some serious one time chop) down to roughly 1 3/4" (10 bags sitting in the driveway), areated, hard raked the really bad spots, raked the yard and then went to distributing three things to the lawn. Got some stuff that goes into the holes from the areator so help break it up and let the dirt breath, followed that with starter fertilizer and some fescue. Out back I had to put some straw down in the really empty spots so the dogs wouldn't go digging.

Hopefully in 3-5 weeks I'll start to see some new grass, mow and then apply some more fertilizer. Sure as heck hope this works or I'll be putting down turn.

 

[Kanil]

I spent labor day weekend planting grass in the back yard. We bought the house last year after it had been foreclosed on, bought by an investment company and then flipped. They kept the front yard in decent condition but the back yard was untouched for approximately 2 years and almost 100% weeds. I spent this whole summer trying to kill it all (kept mowing it to the lowest I possibly could. I live in Colorado and from everything I was reading the mid-August to mid-September is when you want to plant so I decided labor day weekend would be perfect. So I spent the weekend doing the following.

Saturday - I got all my supplies. I got about 2.5 TONS of a fertilizer/compost mix (came in 40 pound bags... approximately 1 million of them), Kentucky Blue Grass seed, enough straw to cover the area when I was done and some posts and temporary fencing to keep my damn dogs off of it.

Sunday - I BBQ'd and drank with some friends. Not really any work done except for watering the hell out of the dirt so that it would be loose the next day.

Monday - I rented a rototiller from Home Depot and devoured an egg mcmuffin value meal (with a large OJ, obviously). I then tilled the lawn to about 4" deep which took a good 4 hours. I'm definitely glad I watered the day before because as it got closer to noon the ground started to dry up and was a ##### to till. I ended up watering approximately the last 1/3 again before I finished. After that I spread the compost about 2" thick and tilled it all in again (to a total of about 8") and then smoothed it all with a rake. After that I spread my seed (heheheehe), covered the area with straw and then setup my sprinkers. I don't have a sprinkler system so I setup 2 oscillating sprinklers, 1 on each end that are off of the area I want grass to grow so that each waters half of the area. I watered it for about 20 minutes on each half and then put up the temporary fence.

Monday was about 11 hours of just straight manual labor which I have grown accustomed to NOT doing... ever... so I was done for. Since then I've kept the ground moist and am starting to get quite a bit of grass growing. So far there are only two things I would have done differently (besides being baller enough to pay to have someone else do it). #1 - I would have rented the large rototiller. I skimped because the smaller was 1/2 the price but it was not worth it. #2 - I would have put the fence a little further outside of the area I was planting. My stupid dog decided it wanted to dig under it in one spot so there was about a 3"x9" gash taken out of it that I'll have to patch next year. I'll post pictures next spring if it doesn't look terrible. If it does, I'll conveniently forget to do so.

 

[The Commish]

I filled the back of my truck with dead grass, thatch etc....apparently I've put WAY too much seed down the last two years. I need to cut back this fall. Does grass seed last long in the bag?

 

[ConstruxBoy]

OK, what order do these Fall/Winter activities go in?

Fall Weed and Feed

Aerate/Overseed

Lime

Winterize

Can I do Weed and Feed now and still Aerate and overseed in 3 weeks? Where does Lime fall?

 

[Pick]

Bought an edger a month ago and just trimmed the yard for the second time. Don't know why I didn't buy one sooner. Much easier to do than using a trimmer and looks way better.

 

[jurb26]

 

[Tuco]

Does grass seed last long in the bag?

It does until mice eat through it and start living in it. I had to keep mine in a large tin.

 

[The Commish]

Does grass seed last long in the bag?

It does until mice eat through it and start living in it. I had to keep mine in a large tin.

Good to know I wasn't sure of shelf life, so in the past I dumped the entire 50 lbs bag on my lawn....now I am paying the price.

 

[belljr]

OK, what order do these Fall/Winter activities go in?Fall Weed and FeedAerate/OverseedLimeWinterizeCan I do Weed and Feed now and still Aerate and overseed in 3 weeks? Where does Lime fall?

You can Lime anytime.You should now, aerate/thatch/overseed, starter/fall fertilizeWait a day or so then put lime down.End of October/Early Nov put down winter fertilizer.My backyard is nothing but dirt after the moles demolsihed it. I thathced and dug up all the grass in the back

 

[ConstruxBoy]

OK, what order do these Fall/Winter activities go in?Fall Weed and FeedAerate/OverseedLimeWinterizeCan I do Weed and Feed now and still Aerate and overseed in 3 weeks? Where does Lime fall?

You can Lime anytime.You should now, aerate/thatch/overseed, starter/fall fertilizeWait a day or so then put lime down.End of October/Early Nov put down winter fertilizer.My backyard is nothing but dirt after the moles demolsihed it. I thathced and dug up all the grass in the back

Cool, thanks!

 

[belljr]

I would just do a starter fertilizer when you seed

 

[The Flying Turtle]

Does anybody have experience in replacing fescue with bermuda? I am sick of fighting the bermuda since it is slowly taking over.

I have read that the best thing to do is aerate and plant in the spring, keep the lawn cut short and the bermuda will take over within a year. Any advice woudl help.

 

[gmbacm]

Bought an edger a month ago and just trimmed the yard for the second time. Don't know why I didn't buy one sooner. Much easier to do than using a trimmer and looks way better.

hand or gas?

 

[Ned]

My opinion here is based purely on my opinion and experiments on my lawn over the years.First understand this:Most lawns -when they are first established- have a nutrient depleted base. A house is built...the fill dirt around that house is cleaned up of big rocks and major construction debris...the dirt is leveled...in some cases a sprinkler line is added...and then sod or seed is planted on top of the fill dirt. Fill dirt has no nutrients. The base of your lawn ...starts off compacted and the growing medium is basically dead.Grass is easy to grow...have a crack in your sidewalk...you might see some grass. So for a while you can keep grass alive with just water and fertilizer. But over time any nutrients that were in your base soil get leeched out from the chemical fertilizer. And over-watering. This condition is an invitation for weeds and fungus to invade. Thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy...where you add more chemicals to the lawn as a stop gap...you water more too, but by doing-so you are depleting the soil of the few nutrients and healthy micro-organisms it has.The goal is to get your soil nutrient rich....full of beneficial micro-organisms. This will not happen over night. But here are some steps:1) Fall Aeration. You MUST aerate your lawn this fall. The time to do it is when the daily highs are consistently in the low 80's. It's better if it is in the low 70's. For most of the US this is in Sept. aerating does a few things. It removes built up thatch in your lawn. It breaks up compacted soil. It will reduce your water consumption. And most of all it provides a starter for healthy macro-nutrients/beneficial organisms to live in your yard. After aerating...you can add some grass seed with some top soil dressing or better yet compost*.2) If you have leaves that fall in your yard...don't rake them up. Mulch mow them instead. Dead leaves are nature's fertilizer. These leaves will rot in your yard over the winter providing the beneficial micro-organisms living in the soil nutrients so that they can thrive. By Spring all those mulched leaves will be gone. The other nice thing about mulch mowing your leaves is that it is a lot easier than raking. Now if you have a lot of tress in your yard you don't want to over-do it...so you might rake a few times before you mulch mow...basically what you want over your lawn in the winter is a very thin layer of mulched dead leaves.3) COMPOST: Compost is the best way to get healthy biological/living nutrients into your soil, and bring it back to life. For a couple of years I've been worm composting...as discussed in the Urban Garden thread. The problem with compost is that it is expensive...and if you make your own it is difficult to get the quantity needed to actually benefit your lawn. This year I discovered Compost Tea aka WORM TEA.4) Worm Tea is made by using the castings (worm poop) from a worm composting bin. The process is simple. I add about 4 cups of castings into a paint strainer bag purchased at Home Depot for about $1.00. I place that bag into a 5 gallon bucket filled with declorinated water. Add about 3 oz of molasses...and drop an aquarium aerator (purchased at the pet store for about $15) into the bottom and turn it on. In about 2 days you have a foamy beer looking LIVING “tea”. I then take a hose end sprayer...add the tea...and spray EVERYTHING. You can't over-do it. I've done this 2x per month...the results have been stunning. A couple of shrubs the landscaper said I should pull out because they were mostly dead are now thriving. I had a fungus called necrotic ring spot in a couple areas of the lawn...that is GONE. I have also wound up using about 10% less water this summer (part of that may be due to a cooler summer...but it was still 90+ for all of July and August.). I've lived in this house for 8 years...and by far this is the absolute best the yard has looked...the only difference being worm tea. With worm tea you are adding live beneficial organisms to your lawn that will bring back to life your dead soil.Again...this process is a result of my own experiments. However I'm convinced that it makes a lot of logical sense that if you want a thriving lawn...you need to make sure that you are creating an environment for beneficial micro-organisms to thrive in the soil. De-compact the soil by aerating. Feed your lawn mulched leaves for the winter...and add worm compost tea 2x per month in the growing season.

 

[The Indestructible]

 

[beer 30]

Good to know I wasn't sure of shelf life, so in the past I dumped the entire 50 lbs bag on my lawn....now I am paying the price.

Dude Unless you have a triple sized lot in Baxter I can't see you using 50lbs of grass seed in 10 years.

 

[Pick]

Bought an edger a month ago and just trimmed the yard for the second time. Don't know why I didn't buy one sooner. Much easier to do than using a trimmer and looks way better.

hand or gas?

Gas definitely. Hand would suck.

 

[gmbacm]

Bought an edger a month ago and just trimmed the yard for the second time. Don't know why I didn't buy one sooner. Much easier to do than using a trimmer and looks way better.

hand or gas?

Gas definitely. Hand would suck.

which one did you get?

 

[The Commish]

Good to know I wasn't sure of shelf life, so in the past I dumped the entire 50 lbs bag on my lawn....now I am paying the price.

Dude Unless you have a triple sized lot in Baxter I can't see you using 50lbs of grass seed in 10 years.

:( .35 of an acre. I had ZERO grass....put on the first coat year one....half washed away in a rain storm. Last year, I had about 3/4 grass. THAT is when I put down too much This year I've pulled out all the dead....I was able to fill up the bed of my truck with the dead stuff. Going to go a lot less this fall and save the rest.

 

[Pick]

Bought an edger a month ago and just trimmed the yard for the second time. Don't know why I didn't buy one sooner. Much easier to do than using a trimmer and looks way better.

hand or gas?

Gas definitely. Hand would suck.

which one did you get?

Lowes

 

[gmbacm]

Bought an edger a month ago and just trimmed the yard for the second time. Don't know why I didn't buy one sooner. Much easier to do than using a trimmer and looks way better.

hand or gas?

Gas definitely. Hand would suck.

which one did you get?

Lowes

How does it do on curves? Ones i have used are great on straight runs but terrible if trying to do more then a very gradual curve.

 

[oukurt]

Green grass. I do the following and have the greenest yard on the block.

You need:

Mouthwash -

Dishwashing Liquid -

1 Can of Regular Beer - (not light)

Multi purpose hose sprayer

Cut grass before applying

Add 4 ounces of dishwashing liq, 4 ounces of mouthwash, add beer slowly to avoid foam in the sprayer.

Use twice in the spring.

 

[Pick]

Lowes

How does it do on curves? Ones i have used are great on straight runs but terrible if trying to do more then a very gradual curve.

All straight cuts for me out front. There are some curves out back I could try it on but guessing it wouldn't work very well there. I think they're only meant for straight cuts.

 

[The_Hunchback]

Ugh, just had a really nice rain storm last night that is going to hurt my seeding I'm sure.

 

[shuke]

Green grass. I do the following and have the greenest yard on the block.You need:Mouthwash - Dishwashing Liquid - 1 Can of Regular Beer - (not light)Multi purpose hose sprayerCut grass before applyingAdd 4 ounces of dishwashing liq, 4 ounces of mouthwash, add beer slowly to avoid foam in the sprayer.Use twice in the spring.

What excactly does this do? I'm intrigued.

 

[Ned]

Green grass. I do the following and have the greenest yard on the block.

You need:

Mouthwash -

Dishwashing Liquid -

1 Can of Regular Beer - (not light)

Multi purpose hose sprayer

Cut grass before applying

Add 4 ounces of dishwashing liq, 4 ounces of mouthwash, add beer slowly to avoid foam in the sprayer.

Use twice in the spring.

What excactly does this do? I'm intrigued.

I was skeptical, but found a few links talking about it

 

[shuke]

Green grass. I do the following and have the greenest yard on the block.

You need:

Mouthwash -

Dishwashing Liquid -

1 Can of Regular Beer - (not light)

Multi purpose hose sprayer

Cut grass before applying

Add 4 ounces of dishwashing liq, 4 ounces of mouthwash, add beer slowly to avoid foam in the sprayer.

Use twice in the spring.

What excactly does this do? I'm intrigued.

I was skeptical, but found a few links talking about it

I have read about this before, even seen some version that included tobacco juice as an ingredient, for breaking down thatch. Are people doing this in addition to chemical fertilizer, or in lieu of it?

 

[Reaper]

In the Fall What do you do 1st - Aerate or Seed?

I bought a ####-load of seed thinking more was better but, i think I just glanced at something above that negates that?

 

[The Commish]

In the Fall What do you do 1st - Aerate or Seed?I bought a ####-load of seed thinking more was better but, i think I just glanced at something above that negates that?

Yeah...I went overboard for a couple years. If you put TOO much seed down, then the grass is growing so close together that it will choke other blades out. You don't want it so thick that it can't grow. Aerate first though.

 

[Sweatpants]

I give up. It's rained here like 3 times in 3 months. Still watering my trees but forget the grass

Still no rain in over a month. None in the forecast for the next 2wks.

 

[The Commish]

I give up. It's rained here like 3 times in 3 months. Still watering my trees but forget the grass

Still no rain in over a month. None in the forecast for the next 2wks.

That sucks....we got our first rain in what seems like several months earlier this week, but it all came at once...now it's gone again....not sure when we'll get more.

 

[Ranethe]

Looking for a few tips. Just bought a house with 2.5 acres. The backyard, about 2 acres, was all overgrown, as in bush above head height, weeds, etc. A big mess. We bushhogged it all down and did a little light cleaning-raking, etc-then mowed it twice since it was bushhogged. It actually looks OK but there is tons of thatch and the soil is hard as rock. Once it was bushhogged some grass started coming up.

I assume I have to rake the thatch out and aerate it? I'm not looking for a show yard, our house is in kind of a rural area, but it would be nice to have it look decent and the ground not to feel like cement. Anything else I should be doing that won't be expensive? Resodding or redoing it would be too expensive for us at this point.

 

[The Commish]

Looking for a few tips. Just bought a house with 2.5 acres. The backyard, about 2 acres, was all overgrown, as in bush above head height, weeds, etc. A big mess. We bushhogged it all down and did a little light cleaning-raking, etc-then mowed it twice since it was bushhogged. It actually looks OK but there is tons of thatch and the soil is hard as rock. Once it was bushhogged some grass started coming up.I assume I have to rake the thatch out and aerate it? I'm not looking for a show yard, our house is in kind of a rural area, but it would be nice to have it look decent and the ground not to feel like cement. Anything else I should be doing that won't be expensive? Resodding or redoing it would be too expensive for us at this point.

You could rent a tow behind thatcher if you have a tractor (assuming you do). Same with the aerator. Dethatch it....bag it, aerate, seed. Might want to consider just dethatching, aerating and then spraying some weed control if you have a ton of weeds. Seeding with a ton of weeds can make it more complicated.

 

[siffoin]

Looking for a few tips. Just bought a house with 2.5 acres. The backyard, about 2 acres, was all overgrown, as in bush above head height, weeds, etc. A big mess. We bushhogged it all down and did a little light cleaning-raking, etc-then mowed it twice since it was bushhogged. It actually looks OK but there is tons of thatch and the soil is hard as rock. Once it was bushhogged some grass started coming up.I assume I have to rake the thatch out and aerate it? I'm not looking for a show yard, our house is in kind of a rural area, but it would be nice to have it look decent and the ground not to feel like cement. Anything else I should be doing that won't be expensive? Resodding or redoing it would be too expensive for us at this point.

You could rent a tow behind thatcher if you have a tractor (assuming you do). Same with the aerator. Dethatch it....bag it, aerate, seed. Might want to consider just dethatching, aerating and then spraying some weed control if you have a ton of weeds. Seeding with a ton of weeds can make it more complicated.

2 acres is a lot to take care of. Why not look into re-planting with some kind of native meadow grass. That way you don't have to water it. You can mow it low or keep it knee high. But do agree...that you probably need to start off by thatching, weeding etc. Aerating might be tough if the ground is rock hard.