Gotcha. I figured that would be the case and would have to wait to over seed. How long do you have to wait after the pre emergent goes down before spreading new grass seed? This is all for the fall anyway.
OT: Eternal Lawn Care Thread
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I hate to have to agree with RoboHunter but I’ve had some success controlling Poa annua with multiple applications of Mesotrione (while staying within the yearly limit) but poa trivialis is a whole different and ugly story. There is a herbicide called velocity that was/is somewhat effective but it is only for use in sod farms and golf courses. Also, they stopped making it. There is a relatively new product Poacure with the active Ingredient methozalin, that was approved for golf courses and sod farms last December, with state approvals to follow. There is hope that the manufacturers will get approval for residential use but that is an unknown. Plus it is very costly, underscore very. I’m all in if/when it becomes available because with triv you either try to dig it up, use a non selective herbicide that kills whatever grass it touches, or live with it.
You can overseed at seed down with Tenacity but you only get 30 days of coverage so you can do another application at thirty days then a longer term pre-emergent. most pre-emergents (e.g., Dimension or Barricade) you cant seed for 4 to 6 months depending on the rate.
Maybe you told us in the past, but how did you become so knowledgeable about lawns? Experience? Did you ever take any of the grass classes at RU/Cook? Your knowledge of grass care is impressive.
Back in the early ‘70s I was taking a class at Thompson Hall that I thought was meteorology and was 3/4 of the way done when I realized it was a turf class...Just kidding. My dad was a professor at the Ag School (Cook) though not in turf management. He head an interest in turf and I guess it rubbed off on me.Rutgers has a great turf program and I’ve occasionally been lucky enough to learn from and communicate with the pros there. I also talk grass with my golf club super who Is extremely knowledgeable, and keep up with various studies from leading university turf programs. Never thought that “watching grass grow” would be so exciting...
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You guys are awesome. I'm a strict adherent to the philosophy of "It's green, ain't it? So shut up about it."
Hoping someone here can help me out. This year, out of nowhere, my lawn seems to be full of a weed that I can't identify. I've looked at all of the weed pictures in the NJ and northeast weed identifier sites and can't find a match. I've used Scott's Weed n Feed, Spectracide, and Bayer ... all of which don't affect it. Help!
Probably either chickweed or hairy bittercress. Use Ortjo CCO or other product with triclopyr.Hoping someone here can help me out. This year, out of nowhere, my lawn seems to be full of a weed that I can't identify. I've looked at all of the weed pictures in the NJ and northeast weed identifier sites and can't find a match. I've used Scott's Weed n Feed, Spectracide, and Bayer ... all of which don't affect it. Help!
Hoping someone here can help me out. This year, out of nowhere, my lawn seems to be full of a weed that I can't identify. I've looked at all of the weed pictures in the NJ and northeast weed identifier sites and can't find a match. I've used Scott's Weed n Feed, Spectracide, and Bayer ... all of which don't affect it. Help!
My guess would be a form of Chickweed called Mouse-ear Chickweed......let's see what the consensus says.
Is hairy bittercress the weed that shoots the seeds when you touch them? Was weeding this weekend and got pelted with a bunch of them.
Yes! Although I have seen some that shoot and others that don’t. I’m not sure why. Some other weeds do that too.
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Hairy bittercress? Sounds like a rodent or an insect.
I was going to guess chickweed! I am learning this stuff.
Looks like Cerastium vulgatum aka mouse-ear chickweedHoping someone here can help me out. This year, out of nowhere, my lawn seems to be full of a weed that I can't identify. I've looked at all of the weed pictures in the NJ and northeast weed identifier sites and can't find a match. I've used Scott's Weed n Feed, Spectracide, and Bayer ... all of which don't affect it. Help!
Indicates moist, compact soils
Did your treatments have dicamba? 2,4-D alone is not effective.
Okay I must say and I probably steered someone wrong in another thread but Green Giant Arborvitaes should be taken off the list of Deer Resistant plants here in NJ. They ravaged 5 (of 38) of my trees on the other side of the shop where the outdoor gooseneck lights don't shine. I've now had to resort to spraying deer repellant on them. Seems only Leyland Cyprus are truly resistant.
+100% on the arborvitae. Leyland Cyprus is pretty resistant, as you say. Some species of hollies are too, and andromeda, and some others but my wife is the plant expert in the family.
I despise Hollie trees. We took down our 300' street front hedge row of brush and over grown weeds which had turned into trees. My wife insisted we keep the one huge Hollie tree. Every time I walk out to the mailbox barefoot, I curse her and that decision.
Tenacity (Mesotrione) would probably do a number on it as well, but it's not a quick kill. Two applications two weeks apart and you will have white chickweed skeletons in your lawn.
Didn't they tour with Fleetwood Mac back in 1973? The memory seems very hazy...
Real you'd be right at home on a farm. My neighbor watched me try to grow grass when I first moved in. He, said with a smirk, "you'll get over that, as long as it's green you'll learn that's all that matters". He was right, because it's either green or mud, there's simply too much land to worry about the little things.
I spent a lot of time, growing up, in rural Florida where the predominant vegetation was orange groves and lawns were sand, spiders, snakes and Bermuda grass. The one thing I really like about Florida, per this topic, is that there's basically no mud.
I'm having POA nightmares. [roll] I'm estimating that have no more than 50 tufts (probably 20-30) of POA whatever (probably triv).
I watched this YouTube video, which is ponderous to watch and doesn't really offer a solution. As usual, sometimes the comments are worth more than the video.
"I had a small outbreak of POA TRIVIALIS last March.. I hand dug it out and filled back with Black Kow and seeded these places with good results..."
I'm thinking of using one of those hand bulb planters to extricate the poa out of my lawn, spray the immediate area with Roundup, and drop some top soil in for fall overseeding. Which leads to the question--I guess you cannot just simply grasp the tuft of POA and pull it out because the root system will still be there?
Another comment from a NJ guy is to simply cut the lawn (tall turf fescue like mine) closer to 4" and not close to the ground, which is very effective for all weed control. 4" is quite tall, but I may give 3-3.5" a shot.
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I'm having POA nightmares. [roll] I'm estimating that have no more than 50 tufts (probably 20-30) of POA whatever (probably triv).
I watched this YouTube video, which is ponderous to watch and doesn't really offer a solution. As usual, sometimes the comments are worth more than the video.
"I had a small outbreak of POA TRIVIALIS last March.. I hand dug it out and filled back with Black Kow and seeded these places with good results..."
I'm thinking of using one of those hand bulb planters to extricate the poa out of my lawn, spray the immediate area with Roundup, and drop some top soil in for fall overseeding. Which leads to the question--I guess you cannot just simply grasp the tuft of POA and pull it out because the root system will still be there?
Another comment from a NJ guy is to simply cut the lawn (tall turf fescue like mine) closer to 4" and not close to the ground, which is very effective for all weed control. 4" is quite tall, but I may give 3-3.5" a shot.
Mine is cut at 3"
That's disappointing to hear. I've had these about 15 years and they don't get touched and I have a bad deer problem.
I used to, now I have 4 or 5 spots that I still get it which I have to address (so not that bad)......it is a pain in the ass to get rid of, you have to basically go after it in early spring as soon as you see it come up....I would dig it out and blast the area with round up.....and then I skipped fall seeding one year and hit the lawn with pre-emergent (dimension) in September and finally got it under control. POA goes dormant and starts to grow in the fall Sept through Nov depending on temps and then chills out for a while and comes back with a vengeance in the early spring. So you basically have to get rid of it when you see it in spring and then be ready to prevent new from germinating in the fall and you should be in better shape the following season.
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Don’t forget, Poa is the genus of hundreds of grass species. So it’s best to clarify what exactly you are referring to. Poa pratensis is Kentucky blue grass and is generally thought of as desirable, Poa trivialis or rough stalk blue grass in generally in desireable (although it is sometimes used as an overseed or in shady areas), Poa annua or annual bluegrass is generally viewed as undesirable (unless intentionally planted as on some putting greens.)
You can often pull Poa annua by hand or use a bulb digger or something akin.
While a higher cut will help fight weeds, I think it is helpful but certainly not fully effective.
You can often pull Poa annua by hand or use a bulb digger or something akin.
While a higher cut will help fight weeds, I think it is helpful but certainly not fully effective.
Poa trivialis? Great, another weed for me to stress out about.
And who named it POA Trivialis. Should be POA Consequentialis or PITA Weed.
I feel like most lawns in my neighborhood are looking better than usual this year. I guess we had the right temp/rain mix this year. My lawn is super green and growing like crazy. I should have mowed yesterday but didn't, and now I'll pay for it. I haaaaate mowing wet grass, so I can either suck it up or wait and let it keep growing. Ugh.
This seems like a good time to reintroduce the Ash Heap treatment.
IIRC, Ash Heap was banned from these boards. @koleszar , IIRC, said he did things with an ash heap that helped plants grow.
What would be the best seed to buy to over seed in the fall? I live in Princeton. After reading this thread and being bored around the house for almost 2 months, I'd figured that I would try and make my lawn look nice again. I had bought a couple bags of seed from costco to hit some patches that the dog has gotten to, but I know that's not the seed I want to put down in the fall. I have 4.5 acres but I only need to re-seed ~2.5 acres. Any suggestions on where to purchase also?
You really want a seed with 0% weed and 0% “other crop.” It’s more expensive than what you get at a box store but to me it’s worth it. What is your lawn now? If you’re going to overseed is a different challenge than if you are going to kill it all with roundup and start from scratch. Do you want a mix or blen or mono-stand? How is your soil and how much sun vs shade.There are a number of high quality online sources that are good. Just running out to go golf but I’ll give you my two cents worth later.
I have a small Ash Heap that I'm looking to spread over my peonies. Probably do that today, actually. Supposedly it changes the color.
See below-what he said, but more.
I used Hogan seed from Tennessee. Their seed is top shelf. I recommend calling them, but for NJ they will likely recommend their Tall Turf Fescue blend (TTFB). I have a POA issue now, but I highly doubt it was due to their seed. This is year 3 of my Hogan seeded lawn, and I think I did a few things to cause POA: (1) mowed to short; (2) aerated for the first time with an aggressive tow behind aerator; (3) was lazy with pre-emergent, and did not put down pre-emergent or any fall fertilizer. One other issue that is out of my control is the areas with the POA are in the shade and damp.
Here is the link for Hogans. They are a great company. I researched this quite a bit, and Hogans was the name that kept coming up. I understand there is a seed supply company in the New Brunswick or Somerset area, but I do not have their name.
http://thehogancompany.us/products.html
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