Lawn Care

[JC70SS]

Dirty,
Does that pectracide kill the creepy charlie? That shit is impossible to deal with

I have to forego the pellet type fertilizers because of my 3 dogs. I usually treat with Spectracide weed and crabgrass killer (bottle on the hose) early in the season (late March, early April). I put that down when I leave for work and 8-10 hours later, they say it's OK for pets to be on the treated areas. I usually never get more than a handful of dandelions. My yard usually looks better with this sub-$10 bottle of product than my neighbors yards who pay $50 per treatment a few times per year.

Then throughout the summer, I spot treat the problem areas. My neighbors on both sides have a ton of Creepin' Charlie (aka ground ivy) and don't do anything about it. That stuff it ruthless. So it makes it way into my yard all the time, hence the need to spot treat that stuff.

Then I usually applied Milorganite on/around the 3 spring/summer holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day). I had to stop doing it this often because my lawn was growing too much and I was having to mow the grass every 3-4 days.

Despite the 3 dogs, my yard looks pretty decent.

[badass88gt]

I never knew the weeds in my yard had names, LOL. I know I have a ton of clover, I also have a lot of mossy bald spots in the back near some spruce trees.

Is the Milorganite supposed to be applied to wet lawn or dry?

[JC70SS]

So J I can just put seed in the spreader and spread it? Has anyone ever heard of slit seeding?

Depending on size of yard, I have always done it after a thatching, which also roughs up the top of the soil at the base of your existing lawn. At my current house, there is no way I could thatch that by hand. Wait till after a good rain, broadcast spread the seed so it makes good contact with the damp soil. Remember that grass will off-shoot. So even a little seed on your entire lawn will thicken it as long as the birds don't eat it, a heavy rain doesn't wash it out etc.

Once it germinates, rain will help it grow in thicker. Milorganite will feed to fresh new grass also

[PureSound15]

So J I can just put seed in the spreader and spread it? Has anyone ever heard of slit seeding?

Yes. This is how babies are made.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BlueOvalBolt]

Is the Milorganite supposed to be applied to wet lawn or dry?

Either but when applying to a dry lawn, watering it in afterwards helps. Go to http://www.milorganite.com/ for some excellent info on the benefits of Milorganite. It also has some good basic lawn maintenance tips.

[jbiscuit]

So J I can just put seed in the spreader and spread it? Has anyone ever heard of slit seeding?

Yep, just spread it. Like I mentioned earlier, the best way to get the seed to "take" is if it makes contact with the soil....ideally just BELOW the surface. That isn't always possible however. If you wait till a good rain, then try and get the seed down right away after the rain stops, the moisture in the soil will allow the seed to stick/stay in place. Improving your chances of it germinating. Also worth noting, a lot of landscape companies will sell their blend of seed. It is sometimes cheaper than buying from Steins/Lowes etc. If anyone wants the name of the guy I dealth with for my lawn, I can give that to you. Does really good work, fast, and reasonable. Sells his seed blend also which is a mix of Kentucky Blue and some perrenial rye. Gives a great balance of heartiness and dark green color. My lawn is the darkest green on my circle.

[jbiscuit]

Dirty,
Does that pectracide kill the creepy charlie? That shit is impossible to deal with

Ortho and Scotts make a liquid treatment that you can hook to your hose or buy concentrated for use in your own sprayer that WILL get rid of the Creeping Charlie and other leafy/clover shit. Spot spray it. Pick a day with now rain for the next couple forcasted, spray the Charlie and other clover in the lawn, wait like 4-5 days or so and you should see it change color (browning). Meaning you got it. It will take a little bit for it to entirely disappear from your lawn. Be prepared to spot seed that area if the weed was really thick. Lot of times it will choke out the lawn, killing the grass leaving behind a few bare spots. No biggie. I have found the Scotts Patchmaster with the seed, fertilizer, pulp all in one bag mix to work perfect for stuff like this. Throw some down, wet it twice a day and 98% of the time will grow nicely

[jbiscuit]

And just to point it out, you can seed anytime during the active growing season. Right now is a perfect time to try and grow grass. If the temps are ANY colder than this it WILL NOT germinate. So what if you put seed down in March? No problem, just know it might take longer than the typical 21 day germination period. May-June and September are the BEST months to grow grass.

[Cryptic]

I cheaped out last year and didn't spend anything on the lawn. Last week I pulled 3 wheelbarrows full of dandelions I hand plucked from the ground and I'm only half way done. Lesson learned. You really need to keep up with it.

I know Ace Hardware rents gas powered thatchers. I might give that a shot and try over seeding. My lawn is huge. It takes 2.5 big bags to cover it well. It gets expensive quick. I used Stein's weed and feed instead of Scott's this year. It definitely greened up the lawn. It was $36/bag I think for the 15,000 sq ft bags.

Jay, where do you buy your seed at what's a good price?

[DirtyMax]

Dirty,
Does that pectracide kill the creepy charlie? That shit is impossible to deal with

It does a pretty good job. I usually keep the bottom 1/4 of the bottle and dump it into a small spray bottle and treat the pesky areas with that full strength concentrate.

You're right though, that stuff is a major PITA. I try to spray the edges of the neighbor's yards as well but that stuff is so invasive that I am constantly fighting it!

[DirtyMax]

And a friendly PSA... even though Milorganite is mostly "poop", if you stop your spreader in one spot because you were momentarily distracted, it will kill the patch of grass below it, regardless of your attempts to spread that spilled fertilizer around.

Don't ask me how I know...

[wrath]

A healthy lawn needs no chemicals. Decent soil allows grass to crowd out most everything else. Overseeding, especially on a lawn where people bag the shit out of it, is usually successful.

Ever notice in the woods that where you find grass there are no weeds? Ever notice that 60 years ago nobody sprayed anything manufactured on their lawns and it was nice?

Weeds only win in the absence of grass. If the grass is given an opportunity, it will win. Unless you have cheap grass, it will survive lack of water way better than weeds. However, if you water it all the time then the weeds get watered all the time and the grass' roots only go down about an inch... instead of 2.5" to 3.5".

Milorganite is cooked human feces. You're better off doing it the old fashioned way: dry horse manure or chicken manure.

[jbiscuit]

^ Not true. Grass need nutrients to grow thicker and combat the weeds. Now you don't have to use "Weed n Feed" type products on your lawn as long as your lawn meets the following:

1)You don't have a dandelion/Creeping Charlie farm next door. If you neighbor doesn't take care of his lawn and you choose to not use products to protect yours, you are in for it. GUARANTEED.

2)Your lawn is very well established. 15+ years old, no crab grass, very thick and the area where you live gets good soaking rains. Because again, once late June hits and things dry up, in come the weeds.

And its a little funny that you bash or suggest a method INSTEAD of Milorganite. I can tell you that in my experience working for a golf course and a landscaping company that both industries recommend HEAVILY the benefits of Milorganite. Call it whatever you want but the photos are posted in this thread. IT WORKS, ITS CHEAP, AND IT COMES IN A BAG THAT IS EASY TO USE. No way would I recommend someone shoveling horse manure out onto their lawn!

But you do what you want Wrath! But can't argue with results homie!

[Prince Valiant]

Ever notice in the woods that where you find grass there are no weeds?

Walk the dogs every day in the woods where there is grass...and plenty of weeds.

[badass88gt]

I just put down the Scott's Plus 2 this week, how long should I wait if I want to overseed? I also want to Milorganite, should I overseed first or Milorganite first, and how long should I wait for each step?

[jbiscuit]

You can probably overseed soon, like next week. Knowing that normal germination takes 21 days you should be safe. You can milorganite whenever you want. If anything, do the milorganite in 2-3 weeks from now to get the full benefit. Sounds like a great plan!

[wrath]

Unless you are growing the wrong kind of grass for the area or are mowing it at the wrong height, grass will win.

If you bought a ticky-tacky box on a postage stamp where the contractor took away all the topsoil to sell to some other schmuck in a ticky-tacky box then you're pretty much doomed. Grass doesn't grow on junk soil. You'll essentially end up with hydroponics because the soil is barren. Only way you are going to escape jbiscuitness is if you strip it and get 6-10" of topsoil or add an inch on top every year. You can do this with a spreader but they're not cheap. Same thing I used to use to spread dry horse and cow manure.

In the long run it will be cheaper to let the lawn take care of itself and not fertilize, bag, or water.

Definitely fertilize, water, and spend extra time getting the grass established... but there is no need to waste your time and poison the ground if you give the grass an opportunity.

I'm one of those goofballs that doesn't bag either. I don't de-thatch either, I've never seen a lawn that wasn't overfertilized and overwatered build up 1/2" of thatch or more (where it becomes detrimental).

I like to go barefoot on my lawn though, so maybe that's why I'd rather not use chemicals. And I don't like pumping water all over the place. And I'm cheap. I definitely don't like the idea of having human waste on my lawn, cooked or not, complete with heavy metals. Then again I don't eat mushrooms from China either.

[-stew-]

If there's any grass in my yard if fell out of my stash, man. And I'll rake it myself.

[05caddyext]

Plus 2 will stop new seed from growing. You should not put weed and feed near any area that you want new grass to grow. It will treat the seed ss a weed and not allow it to germinate. You can rent an overseeder that cuts slits into the soil. It has a hopper you fill with seed all in one step. I work at a moderate sized ace hardware and I sell about 30 pallets of milorganite a year. Highly recommend this shit ha

[Reverend Cooper]

Not a prob. I have been experiementing with fertilizers for years now. I have my own stepped program:

1. Scotts with the Halts Crabgrass Preventer EARLY in the season....usually april. This year the spring came so early so I think I had mine down late March

2. Milorganite about 2 weeks after that Scotts application. YOu can put it down anytime you want but I would wait a few weeks at least to maximize the effect on the lawn. Put it down just like the back of the bag says. You'll go through A LOT.

3. Scotts Turf Builder Plus Weed Control (yellow bag). I use the entire bag on the lawn. Try and get this down before the first dandelion pops up. If you see one in your neighbor's yard, you want to put it down that day. Cuz his dandelions will be yours in 1-2 days.

4. Wait 3-4 weeks and do another Milorganite application. Again, put it down pretty HEAVY. I have roughly 13,000SF yard and it takes 5 entire bags. If you buy it when its on sale at Farm n Fleet, you can get it for like $5 a bag

You can always overseed your lawn too if you REALLY want it thick. I did this for 3 years in a row at my last house and when I sold the place the backyard was like carpet....and all my surrounding neighbors had dandelions/crabgrass/leafy shit yet my lawn had ZERO.

Man I wanna poop in that yard!