It's probably too late to seed and get the new grass established enough before the hot weather arrives.
Fertilizing my lawn for initial spring application
- Thread starter spierceisu
- Start date
It's probably too late to seed and get the new grass established enough before the hot weather arrives.
This is what an unseasonably cool and wet Spring does in Kansas.
I just put down my second application last week and did a liquid full lawn weed spray in between.
You could shoot pool on this.
You patching or talking a general broadcast seeding ? If you’re patching you can do that anytime as long as you water it.
Excellent color!
I walked my subdivision last night. The dandelions must be afraid of Covid-19, as I had trouble finding any. It's the best I've ever seen the neighborhood look. People must be reading this thread.
Today's tip: Start cutting your lawns higher in preparation for warmer temps. Longer grass shades the soil and prevents it from drying out as fast. Longer grass also appears darker. Most of you have turf type tall fescue, so going into the warmer months you should cut on your mower's highest setting which is typically around 4".
I do this religiously and it really does make a difference when it gets hot and/or dry. The problem is I have one area, maybe 15% of the lawn, where the grass will lay down so badly it doesn’t really even get cut when I mow. I’ve never really been able to figure out why I have that one problem area.
so you have floppy grass....
Some varieties don't do as well at the higher cut, especially super modern cultivars of bluegrass. Sometimes an area is a bit thin, but still looks full because the fescue sprawls out to take advantage of the extra light available around it. Try raking the section lightly with a leaf rake and then mowing and see if that can get it to grow more upright. Overseed that area in the fall to get more grass plants established, that way they'll be forced to grow tall to fight for the sun.
If you want to get rid of weeds in your yard, you want clopyralid. I would recommend a product called Confront. It's very safe. Grazon is a product a lot of people use but it's too persistent and leaches out to easily for my liking. That's the Milestone in it. Stinger is the common trade name for clopyralid. The T-zone stuff is fine but not real neccesary.
The problem is that thatch doesn't break down and it hinders the healthy living grass. Ideally, you would thatch and compost that into a substance to redistribute over your lawn or garden. Thatch just isn't good for growing healthy grass. There's a reason golf courses get rid of it often.
You also keep the cut edge of the grass farther off the ground which will allow it to stay farther away from potential disease infection.
clopyralid-
DowAgro, the manufacturer of clopyralid, voluntarily deregistered it for use on domestic lawns in the US[5] and it is banned in several US states
from the Contront label:
Product Overview
FOR COMMERCIAL USE ONLY. Not Labeled for Residential Use.
This product cannot be used on residential turf. It is a professional grade product. Please do not purchase unless you are familiar with applying commercial herbicide products.
In California, New York, Oregon and Washington, turfgrass and lawn uses are restricted to golf courses only.
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Come over to my house. Neighbors probably think I'm going to make dandelion wine.
Didn't know that. Great. Now people can dump copious amounts of other stuff on that doesn't work.
Triclopyr works pretty well on clover and ground ivy. It's normally advertised at the hardware store as poison ivy and brush killer, but has a turf application rate and won't harm cool season grasses when applied correctly. I like T-zone because it's a product that can kill almost any weed the common homeowner would encounter and is powerful, however care must be taken to follow the label because it is pretty potent.
Looks like they pulled it because of residual in compost going to other species which makes sense I guess.
It's dicamba and 2,4-D. Personally, the thought of Joe homeowner using dicamba is frightening. People that have sprayed herbicides all their life struggle with it.
The dicamba rate is relatively low and it's specified to spray at under 85 degrees. I try and only spray t-zone at under 75 degrees to make sure the volatility is low and also only spot spray and don't do a blanket application. It also contains triclopyr and sulfentrazone so it's extremely broad spectrum in it's control capabilities.
You're right that it's not for your average home depot going person and it's not available there either. It's also a bit pricier so that keeps people away, but when people want to smoke their creeping charlie, it does the job well.
Has anyone used a power rake to de-thatch their lawn and clean up excess old grass clippings? I was thinking of renting one to do it to my yard but wondering if it is worth the time and money? If it is, is it too late in the spring to de-thatch?
