Started applying 14-0-7 with Stonewall for my customers. Was floored to see the price of Roundup Pro granular go from 98.00 to 200.00 a container. Also the supplier said they will only get 80% of their orders filled this year.
OT: Eternal Lawn Care Thread
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If you plan on putting mulch down, cover it with cardboard and put the mulch on top of that. I've been doing it a few years, and it works great. Cardboard will break down in about a year.
Really easy too because you skip the weeding step.
Fellas i just learned an expensive lesson. I thatched my yard yesterday and did a good job removing all the dead crabgrass. A professional comes to my neighbors this morning and said "You did a great job getting all the dead crabgrass up but the roots are still there" which sank my heart. He told me the only way to get rid of the crabgrass is to turn the yard over. I was under the impression that I thatch, aerate then put down crabgrass fertilizer in april & june. But thinking back on what the professional told me earlier today made alot of sense shit i don't believe grass will even grow in these bare spots but i'm going to put down the Scott's triple threat on wednesday before the rain and treat my yard through the rest of the season...
Crab grass is an “annual.” It germinates, grows, and dies in one year. The roots don’t grow back. Put down a per-emergent such as Dimension, which will keep new seeds from germinating. It also has some post-emergent effective’s against young crab grass plants.
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Had our first application from the lawn service 2 or 3 weeks ago.Looking ahead of today's light snow, wondering what these two weeds are that are doing quite well in the cold winter weather. Spread throughout the lawn as well as in some of the mulched beds (weed 2).
Do something now to kill them or wait until Spring? @phs73rc77gsm83 ?
Weed 1:
Weed 2 (the bigger problem):
Still tons of weed #2 with white flowers and a fair amount of weed #1 throughout the lawn.
Call for another application (or a refund), or be patient?
Yep. He's full of beans, hoping to make a sale. Crabgrass is annual. The next crop of crabgrass is last years seeds.
Two and a half acres top soiled and graded out today. Tomorrow fertilizer(Oceangro) and pasture seed then harrow raked in nice and flat.
No, I did not do this by myself. Had a friend with his Bobcat moving top soil, me on my front loader grading, picking up sticks/debris and one of my guys raking out where the front loader couldn't reach. Me and my guy are dead tired. I wouldn't recommend anyone do this much in one day. It completely sucked balls and I will never put a farm together again as long as I live.
No, I did not do this by myself. Had a friend with his Bobcat moving top soil, me on my front loader grading, picking up sticks/debris and one of my guys raking out where the front loader couldn't reach. Me and my guy are dead tired. I wouldn't recommend anyone do this much in one day. It completely sucked balls and I will never put a farm together again as long as I live.
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The small white flower ones are probably Hairy Bittercress. You can use Ortho CCO (triclopyr). You could pull it too, hopefully before the white flowers spew out seeds.
Shouldn't the application by the lawn service have killed the Hairy Bittercress?
Ok i was putting down pre emergent before the next rain which is thursday i believe. Hoping some grass can re-grow where all the dead crabgrass was thatched....
If your turf is Kentucky Blue, the rhizomes will spread into the bare areas and will fill in. Or you could grow KBG in a tray, and pop in a few plugs. If its a fescue or rye, you may be able to get some seed down before the heat of summer, but I'd plan on seeding those spots in the fall.
Depends on what he put down and when. It’s a good idea to always get a write up of what was used, when, and the application rate.
Usually I apply pre emergent for crabgrass in spring. This is to prevent last years seeds to germinate. Broadleaf weed killer needs to be applied for any weeds that you see now. Little to early for that to work and most companies are applying pre emergent crabgrass control now. Good luck trying to grow seed if you are applying anything other than straight fertilizer now as the chemicals will prevent germination for at least 3 weeks after application.
Hoping this hard freeze we get the next couple days helps with slowing crabgrass seed germination
Too early for crabgrass seed to germinate usually soil temp of 65 but more prolific when soil temps are 73. The pre emergent forms a film over the soil to prevent germination.
Did my first soil test this year and just got the results. Looks like I need the basics N-P-K. I have not used a product containing Iron since Oceangro last season. My Iron is high, however they still recommended me a product with Iron. It’s a starter fert they are recommending but My lawn isn’t new or starting? Im not sure if to much Iron can hurt my lawn? Took a week to get these results
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Pastures Done!!!
Had the wife on the spreader, it was awesome, she always complains I never include her in the outside projects. Well, I made her walk close to 10 miles today spreading fertilizer and pasture seed (800lbs total). By the end I got, "I regret ever complaining about that". Pure joy filled my heart hearing that.
I was on the tractor harrowing raking working it into the soil, with one of my guys raking around trees and fence lines. By the end of our 6hr. ordeal today I was freezing my ass off. Now it's sit back and pray for rain.
Had the wife on the spreader, it was awesome, she always complains I never include her in the outside projects. Well, I made her walk close to 10 miles today spreading fertilizer and pasture seed (800lbs total). By the end I got, "I regret ever complaining about that". Pure joy filled my heart hearing that.
I was on the tractor harrowing raking working it into the soil, with one of my guys raking around trees and fence lines. By the end of our 6hr. ordeal today I was freezing my ass off. Now it's sit back and pray for rain.
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The soil testing is interesting to me. I may give it a shot. Now with that, they will sell you the products to correct the issues? I bought the 4 step plan (ACE Brand) and just put down the first step. Would these items that are recommended be the the only things you would need to apply? What about weed killing products? Or if you apply the recommended will that essentially make the soil happy and you won’t grow weeds?Did my first soil test this year and just got the results. Looks like I need the basics N-P-K. I have not used a product containing Iron since Oceangro last season. My Iron is high, however they still recommended me a product with Iron. It’s a starter fert they are recommending but My lawn isn’t new or starting? Im not sure if to much Iron can hurt my lawn? Took a week to get these results
I believe the weeds will grow in anything no matter how poor or good your soil is. I still use a pre emergent for weed prevention. You can also say that the better your soil is the better chances your grass has for growing. A full grassy lawn can choke out the weeds leaving them no room to grow. My lawn is not at that level yet. Hopefully someday
Nice. I believe the soil test works best when used before u put anything on your lawn. You already put down step one correct? I may be wrong remember reading this somewhere. Maybe one of the others can share some input on this.
I was actually thinking about that. Maybe I let it sit for another 2 weeks? I put the product down over a week ago now.
You can also get a soil test and recommendations from Rutgers.
Yea I saw that. I live in mercer county and it said to go to Ewing. I figured I’d just do the one that @Postman_1 did. That one looked good for $30.
Has anybody used the grass seed blankets? I have a small hill that has lots of bare spots and I want to throw down some seed, but thinking it might wash down as it's watered. Thought the seed blankets might work better. Any thoughts?
I did not use blankets with the seeds embedded in the blankets, but have used erosion control blankets from Home Depot with moderate success on a gentle slope that kept washing way prior to using the blanket.
4 ft. x 112.5 ft. Double Net Seed Germination and Erosion Control Blanket 87347 - The Home Depot
This excelsior blanket helps to promote germination of newly-planted seeds by protecting seeds from erosion. It is made of weed-free shaved aspen fibers and 2-fully-integrated degradable nets that provide
www.homedepot.com
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is the most important soil health metric in any soil analysis. Don't waste your money on a test that does not provide this data.
Also, your soil test should compare plant available vs unavailable nutrients.
Also, your soil test should compare plant available vs unavailable nutrients.
Where I am (eastern Massachusetts), temps got into the low 60s the last two days and will get up to the mid 50s every day for the next week (along with light rain). So my question is, can I put down grass seed in the light/thin areas of the (new) lawn put in last September? I was too hesitant last year and waited until late April to do anything. By that time, weeds and dandelions were everywhere. I want to avoid that this year.
Sure, you can put seed down now. The challenge of spring seeding is that the grass seed has to compete with weeds that are also germinating. Soil temperature is more important than air temp but the seed will germinate when the soil gets there. Some people do dormant seeding in winter and there the seed gets in the soil and germinates once the conditions are right.
Dumb question, I know but how do I get the soil temperature? Do they sell soil thermometers or something?Sure, you can put seed down now. The challenge of spring seeding is that the grass seed has to compete with weeds that are also germinating. Soil temperature is more important than air temp but the seed will germinate when the soil gets there. Some people do dormant seeding in winter and there the seed gets in the soil and germinates once the conditions are right.
Just put your zip code in here and it will tell you for your area
Soil Temparature Maps | GreenCast | Syngenta
Yes. I have the Van Gee Scientific 821606-6 Dial Soil Thermometer. I leave mine in the flower bed so it does not get stepped on or run over by the mower. Mine was $16 on Amazon
Our farm has a slight hill right in the center of the back pastures. Everyone thought I was crazy but what we did to keep the seed and fertilizer from washing away was use a plug aerator. It actually worked great. The seed washed into the plugged holes and created tufts of grass. The tufts then spread to adjacent areas.
WOW! I looked at my town smyrna and our soil only went above 55 degrees 3 times in the past month then we had the hard freeze last week. I put down my crabgrass preventer yesterday as i was worried i was late...Just put your zip code in here and it will tell you for your area
Soil Temparature Maps | GreenCast | Syngenta
www.greencastonline.com
So, conceivably - if I apply crabgrass preventer now, I can still throw down new lawn seed by end of April? Is the timing of that right/good/etc? I'm trying to fill in some large bare spots across my lawn.
Or, should I throw down new seed now (as soil temps are about 50 degrees here now), water it for the next few weeks, then throw down crabgrass preventer and broadleaf weed killer at the end of April -- by which time the new seed should have rooted and shoots will have grown? Or, would that be too late for crabgrass/weed prevention?
Sometimes the problem with seeding late April is that by the time the seed germinates 3-4 weeks, the weather starts to get hot in May and the seed may just roast weather you water it or not. Fall is the best time to seed, Late August / Sept.
So I ended up using a graphite paint on the underside of my Timemaster. It seems to work ok. Nothing is gonna prevent grass sticking 100%. I'll know how good it is once we are in the middle of summer. So far I cut twice and really am liking the Timemaster. Definitely saves time.
I applied some Yardmastery 12-12-12 @ 3lbs per 1000 square feet today. Hopefully we get some rain the next few days to water it in. Spot sprayed some weeds with Speedzone yesterday. One mistake I made last year is not using any preemergent after my 1st application in April. I added half a yard of topsoil last year and that brought in more weeds. This year definitely gonna do an application of Prodiamine in the fall.
I applied some Yardmastery 12-12-12 @ 3lbs per 1000 square feet today. Hopefully we get some rain the next few days to water it in. Spot sprayed some weeds with Speedzone yesterday. One mistake I made last year is not using any preemergent after my 1st application in April. I added half a yard of topsoil last year and that brought in more weeds. This year definitely gonna do an application of Prodiamine in the fall.
