Let's talk about lawn care!

[vchizzle]

A thread with some tips, what things have worked for what problems and so on.

As a new home owner, I'm trying to stay on the cheap this year and do it myself anything ya got that has worked for you. I'm going to keep track of what I spend on care supplements and see if it's really saving me over a lawn care service.
This lawn is in pretty rough shape. Lots of crabgrass, thistles and dandelions right now. I'll see if I can improve it at all through the year. Didn't get in early enough for crabgrass preventer. I've done weed & feed and I'm testing some Weed B Gone spray on the thistles so I don't kill off the surrounding grass with Roundup.

 

[rugerpc]

Buy a 1 or 2 gallon sprayer and Roundup concentrate. Roundup is your friend.

Use it on the thistles. Don't skimp with a plain old grass- friendly weed killer. Thistles require the nuclear option. You can easily reseed the thistle areas later..

Mulch every tree and obstacle and spray roundup on the mulch. The larger radius of the mulch around the tree is easier to mow around, the roundup keeps the grass and weeds out of the mulch and it just looks classy.

For cutting, mow in a different pattern every time. You'll end up with a more even cut and less wheel ruts.

 

[Toledo Bob]

I am the proud, but tired, owner of a 1926 craftsman style house. Got it from the bank after it was vacant almost 3 years. To say the yard was a disaster would be the understatement of the year. Been working on getting it back to life 7 days a week after work and weekends for the last 10 weeks! The yard was hard and compacted and water would run right off and not soak in. Aerated it myself and used lots of weed/feed. Lots of water and some, no a lot, of grass seed. I noticed this afternoon that I had a fuzz of new grass growing in the areas I rehabbed! Yippee. Hope for the old lawn. Ortho makes a good product you can spray on the lawn and it only kills the weeds and leaves the grass. Between that and RoundUp I am believing a lawn is possible on this old ground. Don't neglect to mow regularly. Keeping it neat at least makes it look good until you work your own magic with the grass. BTW- planted a 7' ornamental pear tree too. rocking that corner of the yard now. Go for it.

 

[jfb]

Our house was new, but had sat for a while with no lawn care other than mowing. We were also the only house on our side of the street. The rest were empty lots.

I did aeration and seed. Grabbed Scott's fertilizer and followed the suggested maintenance pattern which is like two times a year. Used the Scott's spikes on plants and trees. We also had a sprinkler system installed. I have the yard mowed by a neighbor who does do the pattern thing. It's all repeat every year.

 

[helmi]

which i could help, but after it snowed for 6 fuc#*g months in cleveland, all it's done is rain since the snow stopped! good luck.

 

[Toledo Bob]

We feel your pain! I used to live in Wyoming. Snowed one year on the 4th of July....

 

[rugerpc]

I like to listen to music while I mow...

 

[vchizzle]

I like to listen to music while I mow...

That pic is awesome!
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, will start putting some of this to use. Since I had already bought a gallon of weed be gon - I'll use it up on the thistles...my test spot areas had already started drying them up pretty good. If any remain after a few treatments, I'll nuke em with roundup. I was given some grub control that I'll spread in the next week too. The weed & feed is already wilting the dandelions. Got some perfectly timed rain last night, so I didn't need to water. Hoping with a little work, it'll at least look repectable this year. Doesn't need to be great, but I don't wanna be the new guy on the block whose yard looks like garbage either.

 

[rugerpc]

That pic is awesome!

It just goes to show, everything is better with a PRS!

 

[slev]

It just goes to show, everything is better with a PRS!

Big +1 to that!

Lots of lawn feed as well, at least 3 times a year. That will keep the lawn weed free and nice and green.

 

[scottgoodman86]

Awesome picture.

And the discussion is very useful to us newbies, thanks for the info.

________________________
Marty Flichel of BoiseBestLawns

 

[vchizzle]

I broke down and hired Tru Green to take care of weeds and fertilization. After they cut the price almost in 1/2, it wasn't much more than what I'd spend on products for the whole season....and I don't have to do the work. Still gonna do some mulch and trim work and of course mowing. But my grass is getting much healthier and thicker.

 

[jimfisher]

First order of business is to get a soil analysis done. Look for a local John Deere lawn care place or your local extension agent. It will tell you the PH, which you have to get right before anything else, and then what types of amendments you'll need. Using Tru Green last year was the worst mistake I ever made for my lawn!

Jim

 

[vchizzle]

Using Tru Green last year was the worst mistake I ever made for my lawn!

Jim

How so? Most people that I've seen that use them, have great looking lawns.

 

[jimfisher]

Tru Green was a real disaster for my lawn. They supposedly did a soil sample so they could develop an overall plan. They then proceeded to just keep dumping weed killers and other chemicals and basically killed about 1/2 my lawn. I kept asking 'what's the plan...where's the analysis....they didn't know or care even after I called their main HQ and demanded it. Then they told me they needed to aereate (for another $400) and add lime (for another $250) so at that point I fired them an demanded my money back. Never again!

Jim

 

[Sage]

I just put down 2500 sq ft of Zoysia Palisades sod in my back yard in the hopes that it'll survive the amount of shade back there. I don't get but a couple hours of direct sunlight at most, thanks to the positioning of my house and the tree coverage back there. I bought new blades for the lawnmower and cut it for the first time today. It's looking good so far, fingers crossed!

 

[Matthew]

Over seeding my crappy KBG with tall fescue was the best lawn decision I ever made..Less weeds,less water usage and minimal fertilizer usage and its ohhh soo lush now.

 

[Tracy Goldstein]

I am a big Honda Toro fan myself.

 

[RedGuitars]

I dumped my lawn (mowing) service after several years... for what I was paying them, I can pay for this in one season.

 

[MOBirds]

I made the mistake last year of hiring a lawn mowing service -huge mistake! I can't help but think the owner was a laid-off tech worker who decided to start a lawn service out of his garage. Wouldn't have been bad - if he did his homework. Apparently he never rinsed/cleaned his gear, so mowing one client's weeds simply pollenated the next few. By the end of the contract, about a full third of my yard was nothing but weeds.

So, last friday Project Fix The Yard 2014 completed - irrigation system installed, scraped out all existing lawn/weeds, layer of "organic material"/top soil (smelled absolutely revolting last Tuesday), and sod for entire yard. Also fixed some erosion issues in a few spots. While doing this work, they cut through water main once, phone line twice, which was great fun since I work at home an rely heavily on the phone line. But it's done! It looks absolutely awesome and no more erosion from gutter/drains!

My saving account - not looking so awesome! Had to sell 3 guitars to help finance this, so gone are my 1 piece top Custom 24, P22 with IRW neck, and an old Rickenbacker I never played anyway. Don't miss the Ric, but I cannot believe I let the 2 PRS go. Still have my AP Custom 22 and HX/DA so I'm still rocking out in style, but bummer just the same on the others. :bawling: I suppose my tears can help water the new lawn!