Annual lawn grumpage

[nightfighter]

This year's heat has sped up the browning of the lawn.... We prep, seed, fertilize, lay some sod, etc from May to early June. Mother nature helped out with the watering this year. We don't have a sprinkler system, nor do we entertain the thought of increasing our water bill by some $400, like our neighbors. So the browning began a couple weeks ago. But the broad leaf weeds and crabgrass started to take over! Their shoots would rise up green and proud above the newly mowed lawn within 12 hours! This year I bought some Weed Eater Ultra from Bonide. Warning label was impressive. Two days after spraying the results are coming in and it works. Broad leaf stuff, especially clover and others, withered in hours. The dreaded crabgrass, which normally has its own shade of green, is now succumbing from the tips back down. Should look like I used agent orange in a few more days. I had to stop the crabgrass or I would be lifting out large areas of dead stuff come fall, as it chokes out the real grass and their whole root system. Will start with fertilizing and reseeding in two or three weeks. But at least I won't have to do much mowing.... nor will I be looking at the crabgrass creeping across the front yard.
Perennials, annuals, and tomatoes are getting watered and doing well. Tomatoes are loving this weather. Had to re-stake, and marked the stakes with a Sharpie. Grown an average 4 inches since Sunday afternoon!

[Guppy]

This spring noticed the scott steps 2,3,4 still in the shed from last year,,, step 2 is about the same time I bought the boat!

It shows,,,,,

[BigFish]

I like my lawn brown....less cutting to do!

[tysdad115]

Mine is holding up real good, for now. I like turning the corner to my street and seeing my dark green healthy lawn stick out among the neon green neighbors.
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[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I like my lawn brown....less cutting to do!

Ditto!

Time to fight crabgrass is before May 15 with a preemergent! Weeds spray with Weed-be-Gon!
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[Raven]

if you want a green lawn year round
you have to increase the organic matter in the soil
namely HUMUS

Humus is created by soil bacteria (takes forever)
and more effectively by earthworms as
what comes out of the south end (castings)
is PH perfect and will hold ten Times it's weight in WATER
and that is the "key"

that being said... know this, a typical acre of land
which is aproximately 200 by 207 feet... can hold up to
1,000,000 earth worms but generally that acre on average
only has populations of around 10,000

so a 50 foot square can have as many as 250,000 but generally
has very small numbers

keeping the grass longer at the 4 inch mark allows for more shade
cast and keeps the soil medium cooler and a better habitat for worms

all these weed products and chemical fertilizers basically kill them all.

feed the worms and they'll feed the lawn if you want one that is

in the fall you don't rake up all your precious maple leaves
and haul them away.... think of them as dollar bills

rake them into windrows like they do hay before baling it
then run it over with your mower until it's turned into confetti

you can buy Purina worm chow for 20 bucks for a 50lb bag
and broadcast spread it on (or prior to)
one of those drizzle nights to feed them

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Raven

if you want a green lawn year round
you have to increase the organic matter in the soil
namely HUMUS

Humus is created by soil bacteria (takes forever)
and more effectively by earthworms as
what comes out of the south end (castings)
is PH perfect and will hold ten Times it's weight in WATER
and that is the "key"

that being said... know this, a typical acre of land
which is aproximately 200 by 207 feet... can hold up to
1,000,000 earth worms but generally that acre on average
only has populations of around 10,000

so a 50 foot square can have as many as 250,000 but generally
has very small numbers

keeping the grass longer at the 4 inch mark allows for more shade
cast and keeps the soil medium cooler and a better habitat for worms

all these weed products and chemical fertilizers basically kill them all.

feed the worms and they'll feed the lawn if you want one that is

in the fall you don't rake up all your precious maple leaves
and haul them away.... think of them as dollar bills

rake them into windrows like they do hay before baling it
then run it over with your mower until it's turned into confetti

you can buy Purina worm chow for 20 bucks for a 50lb bag
and broadcast spread it on (or prior to)
one of those drizzle nights to feed them

WOW

[Rockfish9]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I like my lawn brown....less cutting to do!

I like my crab grass... it's green.. doesn't need fertilizing and It never needs water...I mow it once a week weather it needs it or not..

[Rockfish9]

My neighbor has a lawn like a golf coarse... he spends alot of time and money... land scapers twice a week.. a few years back he had all the top soil removed and taken away... he added new top soil and seeded.. it rained for a week...it was the only time my lawn was "better " than his...he then had the whole thing sodded.... he had a well drilled so he could water any time he wants... and when the dogs crap on it.. he goes ballistic... my crab grass doesn't care.. it's free fertizer...I'd rather spend my time on my water garden and rose beds...those of you that fight the good fight to have that perfect lawn... I am jealous... I just don't have the ambition( or time to spend) to do what is needed to keep it nice...

[Swimmer]

I use ACCLAIM, an herbicide, on the crabgrass and it works fine. Thats not all it kills weed-wise either. The big problem is that, except for two neighbors, no one in the neighborhood does much about crabgrass, so it seeds over and over again in there yards, and the seeds go blowin' in the wind. I just got some ACCLAIM in the mail two days ago from Florida, because my last pint is gone. The pint lasted four years plus. 3/4 of an ounze to the gallon in my two-gallon sprayer and I almost lasted the entire property. I'll wait four or five days to see what I didn't get the first application, and then do the rest, which should only take a one-gallon application to finish up. The problem with weeds is that there are more than one generation of seeds generally in your ground, like grubs. Spray or spread your fert with weed killer mixed in, and unless it is timed perfectly it could be a waste of time. My thinking is that use the fert whether its 1,2,3, or 4, or anonother brand and then back that up with weed-b-gone concentrate in a sprayer. But ACCLAIM is the only thing I have found that kills crabgrass. Someone here told me about a product called Drive which you mix weith an oil spray so it adheres to what yourtrying to kill but I could never find it. Drive doesn't turn anything yellow nearby the weed your trying to kill, for a time, where ACCLAIM will if you hit the weed twice. And if you want a really green lawn use Vigaro super green, thats all it does is turn your grass a deep green color, looks awesome.

[justplugit]

Worst weed ever is bent grass. Fine if you want a putting green
and cut it at 1/4 inch, but mixed in with bluegrass and fescues it
just chokes out everything and has that light green color on top
and brown around bottom. Spreads by rhisomes so even if you cut it
out and one root remains it takes over again.
A few years ago I hit it with 2 applications of Roundup then waited,
power raked and re-seeded. Bluegrass took over in the spring but
2 years later the bent came back stronger than ever.

[BigFish]

Originally Posted by tysdad115

Mine is holding up real good, for now. I like turning the corner to my street and seeing my dark green healthy lawn stick out among the neon green neighbors.
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Thats why I like brown...mine stands out from the lush, green lawns around me!! LOL!!

[Rockfish9]

I use very few chemicles or herbacide on the lawn...I have to be concerned with the pond... a few years back i treated it with crab grass preventer and it found it's way into the pond.. I lost all my plants and fish... i also have to be carefull with any fertilizers... most people stop ( some even sit on the bench) and look at the pond and other land scape... they dont even see the grass...

[Slipknot]

Hey,
crabgrass IS grass

[Saltheart]

Damned rain is sabotaging me this year. By now its usually brown and I don't have to cut it but this year its still green and growing. Water , work and fertilizer. invest a lot in them and you'll have a showcase lawn. I want to invest little in any of them.

[Raven]

I'd rather have some ivy and a winding path than lawn

just look at the professor's garden Path....
it's friggan Killer good Lookin

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

Hey,
crabgrass IS grass

If it werent for crabgrass I wouldnt have any! And thats really not exaggerating. I admit I do have lawn envy at times but I dont have the time or $$ to dump into it. I also know I cant bring myself to dump all kinds of herbicides and pesticides and other chemicals all over my 1/2 acre of this earth. I just cant. It looks like hell but at least I dont have to worry about whats in my herbs or veggies or that it will still be glowing green when the sun goes down.

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by tysdad115

Mine is holding up real good, for now. I like turning the corner to my street and seeing my dark green healthy lawn stick out among the neon green neighbors.
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spilled cocaine

[tysdad115]

I wish they would smoke the fertilizer and speed up the process..
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[Raven]

mine is a beautiful shade of khaki....

[ThrowingTimber]

Mine is dark green. No sprinkler system. Missed early and pre-emergent stuff as we'd just moved in but I'm on it pretty well as well as the roses, hasta and flowers etc. summerguard 3 weeks ago and maybe some very this weekend.

Neighbor is flo green he's got a sprinkler system.
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[spence]

Yea, the lawn I seeded this spring is jacked with crab grass. Not sure if there's any thing I can do or just wait for fall.
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[Swimmer]

Spence, didn' t you spread starter fert with weedkiller in it. If not start using weed-b-gone concentrate. Kil them now before the seed. You'll be ahead of game for next year.
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[spence]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

Spence, didn' t you spread starter fert with weedkiller in it. If not start using weed-b-gone concentrate. Kil them now before the seed. You'll be ahead of game for next year.
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No, the septic guy did it...but good idea I'll get on it.
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[Saltheart]

What kind of fertilizer does a septic guy use?? Hmmmm

[spence]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

What kind of fertilizer does a septic guy use?? Hmmmm

You can't believe how well the grass was growing when the leach field failed!
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