2015 Lawn thread
Discussion
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
But I can't find such a product on the UK market. Can you get a pre-emergent herbicide for lawns in this country? Scotts make one, but it only seems to be marketed in the US. You can buy it from amazon.co.uk here, albeit with a hefty postage rate, which makes me think it's actually coming from the US!
It does seem odd that those types of product don't get sold over here. As far as I can tell the main ingredient isn't banned.The only thing to be wary of is that it states that it's not for use on bentgrass lawns. If you've been overseeding with fine grass mixes then I imagine that there's a good chance you've got browntop bent in there. I suspect that the only harm to it will be from the product preventing the browntop spreading for the duration that the pre emergent is active rather than killing the mature grass entirely.
Cultural control methods would suggest that a higher cut should help the turf out compete the crabgrass, perhaps 1.5 to 2 inches for maximum vigour from a fine fescue mix with or without ryegrass? Would getting all your aerating and over seeding done in autumn, with minimal disruption to the turf in the spring help (that's if you aren't already)?
Fortunately I only had a couple of small patches of what looked like smooth crabgrass which I manually dug out. Poa annua seems to be the main issue for me this year on the more heavily trafficked areas where I didn't get chance to over seed last autumn.
I still can't work out what this broader weed grass is though:
It's been there since before we moved in. It's only a small patch (under half a square metre), it isn't spreading (but neither does it seem to want to seed) and it seems to make no difference to it whether I cut long or short, scarify, rake, slash, etc. It just sits there all year, mocking me
Pixel-Snapper said:
Detailingworld style 50/50
lovelyNow for the full DW effect we need at least a couple of photos of you staring closely at the grass before starting, half a dozen close ups of you mowing with details on cutting height, blade selection, walking speed and grass temperature, and of course photos of your lawn feed containers. Finally some post cut irrigation pictures of water beading on the grass blades, just to finish it off nicely
jagnet said:
lovelyNow for the full DW effect we need at least a couple of photos of you staring closely at the grass before starting, half a dozen close ups of you mowing with details on cutting height, blade selection, walking speed and grass temperature, and of course photos of your lawn feed containers. Finally some post cut irrigation pictures of water beading on the grass blades, just to finish it off nicely
Hmmm... yes, I have been overseeding with fine seed. Looking at the page I bought it from, it says 50% slender fescue, 30% chewings fescue and only 20% bent. So the risk is probably quite low.
I have decided I'll tweak my mowing regime in the light of my changed identification. Yorkshire Fog hates being mowed close, so that's precisely what I've been doing - but as you say crabgrass will actually benefit from that regime. So I'll carry on mowing fairly frequently, and raking the stalks upright before mowing - but I'll raise the height a couple of notches. It's time for another feed too, I think.
I did come across this story of a bloke in the US who didn't read the label of a dual weedkiller and pre-emergent and destroyed his large lawn, despite the label clearly stating that the primary ingredient is glyphosate. He's been careless with the drop-spreader too: he's missed several stripes!
I have decided I'll tweak my mowing regime in the light of my changed identification. Yorkshire Fog hates being mowed close, so that's precisely what I've been doing - but as you say crabgrass will actually benefit from that regime. So I'll carry on mowing fairly frequently, and raking the stalks upright before mowing - but I'll raise the height a couple of notches. It's time for another feed too, I think.
I did come across this story of a bloke in the US who didn't read the label of a dual weedkiller and pre-emergent and destroyed his large lawn, despite the label clearly stating that the primary ingredient is glyphosate. He's been careless with the drop-spreader too: he's missed several stripes!
jagnet said:
Now for the full DW effect we need at least a couple of photos of you staring closely at the grass before starting, half a dozen close ups of you mowing with details on cutting height, blade selection, walking speed and grass temperature, and of course photos of your lawn feed containers. Finally some post cut irrigation pictures of water beading on the grass blades, just to finish it off nicely
I think this thread is already well on the way down that path! Willeh85 said:
jagnet said:
lovelyNow for the full DW effect we need at least a couple of photos of you staring closely at the grass before starting, half a dozen close ups of you mowing with details on cutting height, blade selection, walking speed and grass temperature, and of course photos of your lawn feed containers. Finally some post cut irrigation pictures of water beading on the grass blades, just to finish it off nicely
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
I did come across this story of a bloke in the US who didn't read the label of a dual weedkiller and pre-emergent and destroyed his large lawn
Primary ingredient: glyphosate. Well it did get rid of the weed grasses.Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
I think this thread is already well on the way down that path!
Scarified 7th April to now. had a 4-1 application a bit too heavy - used my fathers old wheeled spreader which seemed to do more dropping than spreading!
Tried over seeding but the chickens ate everything so re seeded a week ago and fenced off. big patches of brown in the shade. the new seed is a Boston Seeds shade specific seed.
far left corner is the best grass, but it has the majority of the sun.
have oversseded my drive edges too to get them coming on.
The bottom lawn which all I have done is cut twice a week and spread some westland aftercut on, and watered.
[url][img]
Tried over seeding but the chickens ate everything so re seeded a week ago and fenced off. big patches of brown in the shade. the new seed is a Boston Seeds shade specific seed.
far left corner is the best grass, but it has the majority of the sun.
have oversseded my drive edges too to get them coming on.
The bottom lawn which all I have done is cut twice a week and spread some westland aftercut on, and watered.
[url][img]Edited by FlashmanChop on Tuesday 19th May 16:04
t cars and small cock.red_slr said:
If you are seeding shaded area you really need to use a 6-9-6 fert at the same time.
Thanks - now have some on order, and some grazeone pro for the paddock nettles et alhttps://www.pitchcare.com/shop/maxwell-premier-fer...
FlashmanChop said:
red_slr said:
If you are seeding shaded area you really need to use a 6-9-6 fert at the same time.
Thanks - now have some on order, and some grazeone pro for the paddock nettles et alhttps://www.pitchcare.com/shop/maxwell-premier-fer...
It's had some watering/weed pulling/Verdone/Ferrous Sulphate and now needs some seeding.
I also changed the oil, spark plug, air filter and blade on my poor old Honda rotary last night. For the first time in seven years (I know, I know.....). The old blade was so utterly shagged I wouldn't have been able to work where the cutting edge was unless I'd had a new one to hand.....
Anyway; stripes are back on the agenda.
this is the seed I bought - got 12kg of the stuff.
http://www.bostonseeds.com/products/1/Grass-Seeds/...
will keep it updated!
FlashmanChop said:
this is the seed I bought - got 12kg of the stuff.
http://www.bostonseeds.com/products/1/Grass-Seeds/...
will keep it updated!
Thanks - yes, let us know.http://www.bostonseeds.com/products/1/Grass-Seeds/...
will keep it updated!
I bought something else random on Amazon - ditto.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff