2023 Lawn Thread

[glow worm]

jimmyjimjim said:

Colorado lawn.



Looks good. Looks are deceiving. There's huge chunks of crabgrass in there, and several bald spots, mainly in the shaded areas. Also quite lumpy. I'm likely going to give it a good scalping over winter, lay down a lot of soil/sand mix to level it out then rip out as much crabgrass as I can and seed it quite heavily in April/May time.

I also need to redo the sprinklers as I realize the main program is set for the wrong nozzle type.

We call it Couch Grass or Yorkshire Fog in the UK , the only way to get rid id to dig it out by hand and get rid of the roots. Your lawn looks a little like Bermuda , I wouldn't like to play a golf chip shot from it . I guess the extremes you have to deal with in Colorado are a lot different than the UK .

[beambeam1]

Some serious lawn envy from me here! I'm dealing with a new build lawn that is already suffering from some brown patches courtesy of our bh mastiff but she hasn't been near the front so I'm treating that as my wee patch of precious for now!

[jimmyjimjim]

glow worm said:

jimmyjimjim said:

Colorado lawn.



Looks good. Looks are deceiving. There's huge chunks of crabgrass in there, and several bald spots, mainly in the shaded areas. Also quite lumpy. I'm likely going to give it a good scalping over winter, lay down a lot of soil/sand mix to level it out then rip out as much crabgrass as I can and seed it quite heavily in April/May time.

I also need to redo the sprinklers as I realize the main program is set for the wrong nozzle type.

We call it Couch Grass or Yorkshire Fog in the UK , the only way to get rid id to dig it out by hand and get rid of the roots. Your lawn looks a little like Bermuda , I wouldn't like to play a golf chip shot from it . I guess the extremes you have to deal with in Colorado are a lot different than the UK .

Yep, I've tried quite a lot to get rid of it, to no avail including several quite aggressive chemicals. Manual removal it is, probably some once the green season is over, and some early next year when it starts to come up and be more visible.
I've finally got to the point of being able to persuade grass seed to grow on this dreadful excuse for soil (massive amounts of clay), so I'll be doing a lot of patching next year, I think.
It's not Bermuda grass - though some of the clumps of what I termed crabgrass probably is Bermuda, based on the pictures I've just seen googling (some definitely 'yorkshire fog'. Which is probably why the chemicals have struggled; they've knocked out the crabgrass parts some of it and baffled me when they didn't take out the rest, which was Bermuda.
The lawn itself is a sun/shade mix of 8 or 10 varieties of fescue, ryegrass and bluegrass. 95% of the lawn is fine - and actually, really, really nice, the remaining 5% is Bermuda/crabgrass and horrible.
The soil here is horrible and needs regular doses of fertiliser plus plenty of water.
I'd bore you with my irrigation woes, but I'm sick of fixing that, too.

[chinnyman]

How are the people with larger lawns applying the fertiliser?
I have s scotts handheld but it's a tad small and jams up with the fine grainy products!!

[Hobo]

chinnyman said:

How are the people with larger lawns applying the fertiliser?
I have s scotts handheld but it's a tad small and jams up with the fine grainy products!!

I just do it by hand

[RichB]

chinnyman said:

How are the people with larger lawns applying the fertiliser?
I have s scotts handheld but it's a tad small and jams up with the fine grainy products!!

I use one of these, it's a adjuster to allow for different size content. Works fine. Good for overseeding too.

[Semmelweiss]

Scott's Rotary for fertiliser and one like this for compost/topsoil

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275704598218?mkcid=16&a...

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

chinnyman said:

How are the people with larger lawns applying the fertiliser?
I have s scotts handheld but it's a tad small and jams up with the fine grainy products!!

Mine is what I would call “medium”, but it isn’t rectangular - it has curved borders that make S-bends at the edges. The shape makes it far from ideal for a rotary broadcast spreader.

Instead I use a drop spreader, the Scott’s Evengreen one. I know the pros dislike drop spreaders, but I think they have distinct advantages. You can be very precise, dropping only where you want to and not getting any product into the borders even though you’re going right up to the edge. With practice you can get even coverage without missing bits or double dosing - you just need to look where your wheels have left a flattened line from your last pass, and line up with the arrows on the front of the spreader (they give exactly the right overlap).

Of course it helps that I’m never applying product that has any risk of burning - I only use plain fertiliser without any weedkiller or ferrous sulphate. The risk of burning with a plain fertiliser-only product is negligible unless you grossly overdose - even a slight double dose is of no consequence. For ferrous sulphate I use a backpack sprayer, and I never need to apply weedkiller (apart from the odd spot treatment with a squirty bottle) but if I did I’d use the sprayer for that as well.

[RichB]

Of course, as like me, you don't use 4-in-1 or weedkiller it doesn't matter if some product goes onto the borders.

[chinnyman]

Thanks all. I might just need to clean my electric scotts. The Lawnsmith fertilisers seem to clog it up!!!

[RichB]

chinnyman said:

Thanks all. I might just need to clean my electric scotts. The Lawnsmith fertilisers seem to clog it up!!!

Clean it, dry it and ivge it a spray with WD40 after every use you lazy sod!
The salts in fertiliser will quickly rot your spreader otherwise.

[chinnyman]

RichB said:

Clean it, dry it and ivge it a spray with WD40 after every use you lazy sod!
The salts in fertiliser will quickly rot your spreader otherwise.

Nope I'll just keep on forcing the hell out of it!!

[RichB]

chinnyman said:

RichB said:

Clean it, dry it and givee it a spray with WD40 after use you lazy sod!
The salts in fertiliser will quickly rot your spreader otherwise.

Nope I'll just keep on forcing the hell out of it!!

[glow worm]

Extended my grassed area by the side of the house , seeded last Sunday and pleased to see signs of germination in 7 days . The germination sheets have kept the birds/mice/wind away.

Then I can extend the Golf course

[mattdavies]

Been following this and using some tips on my lawn which is looking good, however it needs levelling more then a bit of top dressing will sort. When should I absolutely not level it ?

I am going to rotavate it then use either an aliminium ladder or wide rake to level it then re-seed,

I am feeling rather motivated now and have some time in September to do it, any issues you forsee ?

[MDUBZ]

mattdavies said:

Been following this and using some tips on my lawn which is looking good, however it needs levelling more then a bit of top dressing will sort. When should I absolutely not level it ?

I am going to rotavate it then use either an aliminium ladder or wide rake to level it then re-seed,

I am feeling rather motivated now and have some time in September to do it, any issues you forsee ?

It depends where you are in the country/world but basically you want soil temps consistently over 10C and damp for good germination and growth; end of September is usually spot on, but if the forecast isn't for very hot and dry you can do it earlier. Raking the seed in rather leaving it on the surface, helps keep it moist, warm and reduces how much the birds eat/ gets washed away when it rains/you use a sprinkler each day. October and November is fine but the new grass gets less time to 'harden' up before winter and you have less time to address areas where seed hasn't germinated before it gets cold and then you have to wait until spring.

some tips based on my own previous mistakes/eagerness:
Pick a dryish couple of days for the rotavating/and seeding: this is so you can give it a good walk over when the top is dryish to level and compact (too wet and it makes a bloody mess). once you are happy you have a good level this is a good opportunity to chuck on a pre-seed fertiliser too

I would water/wait for rain after you have levelled as the soil will sink a bit: It might take a few goes with the aluminium level over a couple of days depending on how anal you are before you add seed. You'll still get some areas that drop as it settles as it's doubtful you will get the same soil consistency everywhere, but this will minimise it and a top dressing next year should fix.

If you have any weed, fungus, moss, diseases or ants etc rotavating can help them spread - treat issues a couple of weeks before you spread it all over the place with the rotavator...

[dhutch]

Yeah, given how cool and moist it is currently, it's ideal time to seed now here, but it all depends on your area and the longer term forcast for your area.

Will you be taking the current turf off with a turf cutter first?

[glow worm]

mattdavies said:

Been following this and using some tips on my lawn which is looking good, however it needs levelling more then a bit of top dressing will sort. When should I absolutely not level it ?

I am going to rotavate it then use either an aliminium ladder or wide rake to level it then re-seed,

I am feeling rather motivated now and have some time in September to do it, any issues you forsee ?

Well I removed the germination sheets today, with the decent weather forecast for the weekend. So it's 9 days since I seeded.





I rotavated with my Wolsey Merry Tiller, got two truck loads of top soil to level, tilled it with my Honda petrol tiller, raked out all the detritus , sprinkled my left over Growmore fertiliser , then sprinkled my grass seed, then applied 18 x 25kg bags of Top Dressing/Seed mixture . I always use plenty of seed , about 12 kgs fescue (Chewings and Slender mix no rye grass) . I kept back some seed and Top Dressing , in case I need to fill in any missed spots .
In a few days I'll run over with my petrol lawn mower without any cassettes installed, just to give it a light roll . I'll just hope the local cats don't decide to bury their excrement in it before it firms up . The major concern now is "damping off" (not helped by my over seeding) , but I hope getting more air into the roots will help.
PS Like yourself , I have a long aluminium square section I use to level

Edited by glow worm on Tuesday 29th August 20:21

[AB]

Was sure I'd posted in this thread at the beginning of the year when the lawn was looking a bit sorry for itself, but I can't find the post, perhaps on a previous thread.

Weeding and feeding seems to have done the job along with some decent downpours.

Happy with how it's looking at the moment.

[Semmelweiss]

Looking very healthy! The mower cutting height is perfect.