Lawns

[Tom Cancelleri]

My lawn is riddled in more weeds than I have ever had. I usually throw down Scott's Weed and Feed Turf Builder to handle broad leaf weeds like thistle and dandelions. This year I've got these missile pod weeds that shoot seeds when you touch them, it's called hairy bittercress, though I have other 4 letter expletives that I call them. 

My lawn is also a bit patchy and not as lush as it was 2 years ago. I was thinking of either putting down a plethora of seeds and choke out the weeds, or mow low and then hydro seed. 

Anyone have any thoughts or experiences in the area of dealing with this?

[Eric.]

Two step process:

This year, kill the weeds.  The spray varieties work better in my experience than the granular.  Spray once or twice a month all year.

Next year, aerate and overseed, or slitseed.  Then fertilize ONLY for the first half of the year, then go to back to weed/feed.

Or give up and go all natch-r-al.  That's where I'm headed.  Too much time and money trying to keep a non-native grass alive in the blistering heat of July & August.  The stuff doesn't belong here...my goal is to eventually have 100% landscaped property.

[RichardA]

Eh, to me it doesn't matter, I keep all my weeds the same height, the hell with it!

[JosephThomas]

57 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Or give up and go all natch-r-al.  That's where I'm headed.  Too much time and money trying to keep a non-native grass alive in the blistering heat of July & August.

+1. Grow something native to your area. Going natural doesn't have to mean weeds and ugliness, but it does mean less stress and work on your part, and less water usage probably too.

[Chet]

We went to a Native mow free lawn in the back just this year.  Its long and lays over on it self.  Because it is long it holds moisture so it is supposed to be highly drought tolerant.  Did I saw you don't have to mow it, but you can if you want, I don't intend to.  Its the stuff that a lot of golf courses use for the rough and  I can see why, went to kick the dog's toy for him and it didn't move an inch .  Its is supposed to do a good job of choking weeds out also, we will see.

[Tom Crawford]

Get a goat.  They eat the weeds and fertilize at the same time. 

[wtnhighlander]

Mini horses might be better. Goats will eat EVERYTHING else they can reach, before resorting to the grass.

Or import a few tons of sand, and make yourself a beach house.

[Chestnut]

I hover in between well maintained and about to die. I spray and keep the weeds at bay but if it gets hot and dry the grass is going to turn brown. It's just how it works. Last year was really bad but it grew back this spring already. It's the first time i've ever had to mow in April ... weather here is crazy right now.

[Jim DaddyO]

I have lots of weeds in my rural yard.  It is all green and all the same height and that is good enough for me.  I am not going to fight a losing battle against them.  The local ground hog takes care of most of the dandelions.  I have seeded a lot of clover into it too, nice to walk on with bare feet.  We have a weeding tool for the thistles and big stuff and pull them out.

The biggest mistake I see is people cutting the lawn too short.  Your lawn is not a putting green.  If you put a straight stick across your shoe after mowing, it should touch the grass on both sides.  Oh, and never cut more than 1/4 of the height of the grass off at a time.

[Chet]

3 hours ago, Jim DaddyO said:

The biggest mistake I see is people cutting the lawn too short.

Yep! 

[ChrisG-Canada]

Longer grass = healthier and more drought resistant grass. I cut mine to between 3" and 4". I also mulch the grass instead of bagging (removing). The chopped up clippings are excellent fertilizer for the lawn.

Very few weeds in my lawn - I definitely kill them when I see them.  I buy spray weed killer in US - can't get anything good here in Canada anymore unless you own a golf course or a farm.  Advantage of living in city with international border to US!

[Jim DaddyO]

Something else a lot of folks don't do that I do.  Sharpen the blade.  It makes one heck of a difference cutting it to length instead of trying to bludgeon it to length.

[Coop]

After all the rain we've had and are getting, we're starting to see sea weed.

[Cliff]

We just cut our grass today, it had been a week and it was about up to my wife's knees. Too much rain and sun. Meanwhile I had to buy 10 bags of dirt, a ton of seed and a germinator blanket for a 50' x 4' section of the back yard where I tore up the ground to run new electrical to shop. I hope it works. We have a bad time with grass but we tend to just throw seed down and hope for the best. This time we actually did a little better. 

We're going to go on some weed killing adventures soon as well. @Eric's method sounds awesome but also expensive (Ex: will be taking money away from other adventures  )

[Guest]

A perfectly manicured lawn is a like a shaved vag... nevermind.    i know its unnatural but 14 years of marraige leaves me determined to chase unobtanium.   

i guess I am not alone that landscaping is my annual losing battle.  My front looks pretty good, mostly because I actually water it.  We have in ground sprinklers but the prior owner hadn't used them for years, so they fell into disrepair.  It cost about $1000 to have the front sprinklers repaired last year, the back was going to be another $2000 so I said screw that. 

Last year I had a lawn service.  We have a lot of cheap (undocumented) labor in chicago so lawn service is cheap. They did a nice job for $27/week but I discovered a lazy almost sixth grader who sleeps in my house and eats all my food and sucks up 25% of my salary on piano lessons and year round sports.   I figure he can start earning his keep even if it means my lawn will look like it was cut by Edward Scissorhands after a 3 day bender. 

[Woodenskye]

Cutting my lawn may be one of my least favorite things to do.  For some strange reason, all of my neighbors lawns will brown out and not need to be cut, but mine grows and grows.  If I had a riding mower and a 6 pack it would become somewhat enjoyable.  In 2 years my son will be enlisted to do it.

[ChrisG-Canada]

When my boys went off to College I bought a riding mower!  I had a very nice Toro self-propelled but my property is about ¾ acre so it took way to long at 2-3 hours with all the 'obstacles' (I guess it's called landscaping). With the riding mower I can do the whole thing in just under an hour sitting down ?

[drzaius]

I have an autistic 13 year old grandson that loves to mow the lawn. It's hilarious to watch. There is absolutely no pattern or order to the way he does it, but at the end there is not 1 blade of grass sticking up above the others.

[wtnhighlander]

Drzaius, my son mowed the same way! I ALMOST have him trained to follow a somewhat efficient pattern. But with 3 acres, and over 100 trees, it still takes both of us working about 4 hours.

Or just over 4, if I do it all myself! ?

What really gripes me about it, when I had a small diesel tractor, the whole yard took about 5 quarts of fuel. Sold it because it was painfully slow. Now I have two riding lawnmowers, which is a little faster, but requires about 7 gallons if gasoline!

[sjeff70]

Watering is the most difficult part for me.  You can follow Scotts lawn care program where you put down the Crabgrass Preventer(Mar), Weed killer (May), and Winterizer (Nov); seed in September and if you don't water in the summer the weeds will take your lawn over.  Money wasted.

 

[Tpt life]

Sjeff, check crabgrass info. March is way too early in most states as the seed will not germinate until the active agent is expired. 

[Jim DaddyO]

3 hours ago, sjeff70 said:

Watering is the most difficult part for me.  You can follow Scotts lawn care program where you put down the Crabgrass Preventer(Mar), Weed killer (May), and Winterizer (Nov); seed in September and if you don't water in the summer the weeds will take your lawn over.  Money wasted.

 

Scotts program is designed to sell Scotts products.  As are most programs designed by a company trying to sell you something.  "Weed and Feed" is one example.  The time to apply fertilizer is not the time to apply a selective herbicide.  

I don't use any of it.  But I live out in the country, with the amount of weed seeds around, I would be farther ahead to shred the money and apply that to the lawn.

[ncfowler]

you can harvest it to eat, and it also has some healing value,  If you goggle it you can find ways to halt the growth, I have chick weed as a yard, no matter what I do it comes back,  http://healingweeds.blogspot.com/2013/04/hairy-bittercress.html

[sjeff70]

I got this from a lawn care forum a few years ago.  People on the forum really liked it:

Apr: before soil reaches 55 degrees for 48 hrs, apply granular crabgrass herbicide.  Apply 6-8 weeks later if needed or apply granular weed killer.

Jul: Crabgrass and other weeds stops germinating so a granular killer won't work.  Use a spray killer.

Sep: seed

Nov: Winterizer or fertilizer after last mowing.

[Tpt life]

Crabgrass does not germinate until soil temps reach 60° plus. This makes each growing zone unique in application practice and each year is unique beyond that. It is wise to research your particular pest grasses for the zone you are in to get the best schedule possible.