Lawn Care Advice Thread
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Thanks for the invite, my fellow Akronite/Kenmorite. I've missed our shit and giggles.......Love you, man!!!Hi Shell! Fancy seeing you here! I'm glad you're here.
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Once I get in a couple years of over seeding to thicken it up, I'll look to only do that every other year or two. This will let me try and tackle some of the others weeds that germinate in the fall, such as poa annua I've got in spots.
@Wizardhawk .
Just ordered some tenacity, suffocant, dye, and a 4 gallon backpack sprayer. The plan will be to use it at the beginning of August to kill off any summer weeds and the bentgrass I have in the backyard, with a follow up spray a couple weeks later. Then aerate and overseed with Black Beauty Ultra in late August/early September.I
Since you've used tenacity before, got any tips outside of the few videos I've seen on YouTube? I know PPE will be needed and to not freak out when the yard looks bleached (depending how the number of weeds).
Just ordered some tenacity, suffocant, dye, and a 4 gallon backpack sprayer. The plan will be to use it at the beginning of August to kill off any summer weeds and the bentgrass I have in the backyard, with a follow up spray a couple weeks later. Then aerate and overseed with Black Beauty Ultra in late August/early September.I
Since you've used tenacity before, got any tips outside of the few videos I've seen on YouTube? I know PPE will be needed and to not freak out when the yard looks bleached (depending how the number of weeds).
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1. fuck yourself
2. fuck yourself again. They will grow back just fine.
put down crabgrass preventer over the weekend and sprayed some weeds in my one flowerbed. No seed for 6 weeks....might put down some lime though
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I'll butcher your roses.
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Knock Out roses can be pruned, too
Cut the bushes back about 1 foot shorter than you want them to be (within reason, you should never cut them back shorter than 2 feet tall). A general recommendation for the late-winter or early spring pruning is to reduce the height of the bushes by about one-half to one-third.
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Don't over spray or overlap. It still won't kill most cool season grasses if you do, but it doesn't kill the weeds better, wastes product, and can set back the lawn a month or so.
Good guide for speed and spread.
You can always put a second app out 2 - 3 weeks later in any bad areas.
Catch them while they are still growing and it will be very effective.
I went aggressive after an area last year that had poa annua. That and aggressive over seeding made a big difference. The grass around it survived the pressure just fine.
Wiped out the neighbors encroaching crabgrass and clover like a boss.
I'm putting an app down probably next weekend before doing a little spring overseeding in a couple of areas. I love that you can plant shortly after using it.
BTW, the black beauty ultra did a fantastic job of surviving the winter. You could tell where it was vs the older rye/kbg. Held it's color the entire winter even after standing snow. Still need to see how it handles the heat, but so far I'm impressed.
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I appreciate the advice and will check out the linked video.
I mowed and bagged the winter weeds that were growing yesterday. Tenacity et.al. should arrive later this week and I'm planning on applying a round of it in the next couple weeks as a post emergent. I'll "calibrate" the sprayer so I don't put down too much, but the blue dye I'll mix with it will also help from overlapping too much.
I'm a little late in taking care of poa annua this year, as I overseeded in the fall and didn't put down pre-emergent then. I mowed/bagged the small spots of the other winter weeds yesterday, but when I aerate and overseed in the fall, I may avoid those spots and put down tenacity as a pre-emergent.
I'm optimistic about my fall overseeding with black beauty ultra, but I do see it starting to come out of dormancy. Goog a handful of bags of Milorganite from Rural King today for my next app of fertilizer heading into I the summer. Should allow for a slow dose of fertilizer to hopefully avoid some fungus (brown patch) while also having the iron help keep it halfway green.
Figured I'd also provide a couple of my favorite YouTube videos or those people/channels that produce many good videos regarding lawn care. Feel free to share your own favorites.
The Lawn Care Nut: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCSjF378bQhLKO-ISsrHE7ng
Pest and Lawn Ginga: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCAYCKLOLHHCJL__9Ys_2PDg
Grass and Garden TV: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCp1tYBKJIPzYq58UpkWpg3w
GCI Turf: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCDxIJ2o0slIc3jDW2ETODPg
Good overall knowledge from a guy (RIP) with Jonathan Green :
The Lawn Care Nut: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCSjF378bQhLKO-ISsrHE7ng
Pest and Lawn Ginga: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCAYCKLOLHHCJL__9Ys_2PDg
Grass and Garden TV: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCp1tYBKJIPzYq58UpkWpg3w
GCI Turf: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCDxIJ2o0slIc3jDW2ETODPg
Good overall knowledge from a guy (RIP) with Jonathan Green :
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I am probably back in the 'give a shit' about my lawn game because of Allyn Hane (lawn care nut). Watched his vids many years ago when he was still in Indiana? Somewhere up north.
Ginga has some great tips, especially when it comes to diagnosing areas that are not growing right or have issues. Solid advice on how to approach those. He's also the one that got me to doing dethatching with the Sunjoe Dethacher. Haven't rented a unit since.
I'll check out G&G TV, haven't seen that one.
Pete at GCI is a good dude and I kind of went with black beauty ultra as a test after watching his series of tests on his own TTTF vs KBG and Rye. If TTTF is resilient in his hot summer climate, I have high hopes it does well here.
I would add
Silver Cymbal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC67dKTEwpAhKv2oYDATwR8g
Down to earth and simple explanations for those without a lawn degree. If you just want short easy vids to get a start on a lawn reno when you don't have prior skills, he's got a series of solid vids.
Ryan Knorr: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGmz1qSJjvBPluouoOj1Qkg
Lots of info on leveling, striping, watering without in ground sprinklers, quite a bit on lawn types as he has gone through several different species over the years.
We could get into connor ward and others, but if someone really wants a jump in point and doesn't want to surf shit loads of videos Lawn Care Nut and Silver Cymbal are a good place to start. SC has really short videos and LCN has a community with forums and newsletters where you can get info with details specific to your grass type and area of the country in written form. His vids tend to be long, but worth the view if you want a deeper dive.
I think Allyn is from outside of Chicago if I recall. He used to be a trainer for TruGreen and does a good job explaining things.
Ginga was probably the first one I watched a few in a row. I've got a tow behind dethatcher and an aerator, but just started putting down some KGB with the Ultra, so I may not need to the dethatcher as often, but will use the aerator every fall.
I've seen a couple of Knorr, but need to look at more from him. Haven't seen Cymbal, but will check him out as well.
My backpack sprayer and tenacity arrived yesterday. I'll probably wait for the wife and kids to head out of town Wednesday (spring break for them) before I put down a post-emergent application so I don't have to worry about the kids getting into the blue dye I plan to add. Debating on using tenacity for this or just the run of the mill spectracide, since I've got a ready to spray bottle of it already, and just wait till before fall overseeing to use tenacity, but will check out what weeds I've got and which one would be better suited.
Still may put down pre-emergent granules (Scott's, barricade, dimension, whatever I may find cheaper) in early May for any late crabgrass that may germinate around 70 degrees of soil temp.
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It's such a battle isn't it?
I had crabgrass, clover, poa annua, some thin spots, summer fungus, etc after years of kind of apathy. After trying to repair all of that the realization that no one product or one season of response was going to handle all of it set in. They all drop seeds or have runners down low that will pop back up. Need to fix compaction? Well you will push a lot of weeds if you aerate in the spring. Same with poa and crabgrass. Thatch blocking out nutrients? That too will dig up and activate dormant bad seeds. Some fungus types will feed on nitrogen and actually wipe out your lawn so when to push or hold feeding is important.
I have been trying to fight this by crowding out and patience. I have dug up a few spots here and there, nothing more than a foot diameter, and dug down to remove roots/seeds and replanted those areas. Mostly I've avoided that. I had to basically do a full roundup blast on the back yard a few years ago and planted clean. Really don't want to do that in front. I like the diversity of grass and I have basic fear of damaging two trees that have shallow roots right under a large part of that area.
It's been a process over the last few seasons that has left me with some pretty good results. I do get a lush green lawn coming through spring and back through fall. My adding TTTF for more diversity was to help with the summer drought and better resiliency against fungus specific to the other species. Yes, drought in the PNW is a big problem. For all the talk we get about rain we go many weeks without any type of rain with temps 85+ from early July all the way up through mid Sept.
Timing is so key. I'm just itching to get some seed down now, but it's early. Ave soil temp here is still upper 40's. It's too early to really go after the bad guys or to really over seed. But then I have a couple of spots that may need some focus that I'm going to do now anyway. Give them as much time as possible to be ready for the heat waves of summer.
Probably 2-3 more weeks before I do the full over seed and lay tenacity down with it at the same time since it has that short term preemergent and first round of taking out early growing weeds. I'll hit a granular in May as well.
Yep, it is not something that is a one step fix. Since this is the home my wife wants to raise our kids in, it's worth the time and effort to work on it over the years. Progress from a severely neglected yard within the first couple years can be found by just wrong some fertilizer and weed killer a couple times a year. However, to get a lush yard that feels good barefoot and is nice to look at in a neighborhood with those that pay for new sod and service throughout the year, takes more knowledge and work.
I put down some seed in a couple thin spots in January/February for dormant seeding and avoided those areas when I put down pre-emergent a couple weeks ago. Figured they'd germinate when they're ready and I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with rain to spread seed this spring.
Last year I made the mistake of aerating in the spring and while it did seem to help the grass, it certainly brought up some weeds. Will only aerate in the fall with over seeding from now on. Concentrate on pre-emergent and fertilizer early spring, with a repeat in May. Then milorganite, fungicide (brown patch the last two years) and love your soil for the summer. This should feed the lawn slowly, while protecting it from fungus. Tenacity will likely makes its debut a few weeks before I plan to over seed to get in a couple doses to kill off bentgrass and provide a slight pre-emergent for the new seed.
Like any hobby, it takes money and time to learn and perform the work. Whether the results are worth it is up to the individual. Like brewing your own beer. You may not save a ton, but you can claim it as your own.
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I gotta get my thatch down (st Augustine), so I have set my mower as low as it will go and did a pass last weekend. also have low patches that I think are from the slope of the yard washing out the dirt when it was sodded two years ago. Looks like craters in the yard.
Then have to replace 14 shrubs we lost in the freeze. GRRR.
Then have to replace 14 shrubs we lost in the freeze. GRRR.
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I tried this bitch this year.
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I tried this bitch this year.
still a little skeptical because you wait 24 hours before you can water it in.
fordman84
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oof, I'm nervous about anything that is a broadleaf killer and can be used on both Bermuda and st Augustine. I hope you have Bermuda.I tried this bitch this year.