Fertilizing my lawn for initial spring application

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wxman1

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Milorganite is a good choice right now. Not a lot of fast acting nitrogen in it, so it should stay in the soil and feed slowly. With all this rain, none of us want to be hay farmers.

BRB while I look up the price of hay.
 

AgronAlum

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Jul 12, 2014
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My grass grew over an inch in two days. If you're getting the kind of rain I'm getting, it will likely be able to recover before the hot weather hits, although it's going to take some time before the scalped sections get good color back. If it's been over 2 weeks since you last fertilized, then I'd hit it with some more but with some special instructions. An organic would be a good choice going into the hot weather, but I would do something with some potassium content. That rules our milorganite. I was looking at home depot and found this option.
www.homedepot.com/p/Kellogg-Garden-Organics-20-lbs-Organics-Lawn-Food-3011/204701381

Bag rate is 6.25 lbs of product per thousand sq. ft. At 4% Nitrogen, that's just .25 lbs of nitrogen per thousand sq ft. I'd actually double that rate to get to 0.5 lbs of Nitrogen. Very little is fast acting nitrogen so you're not going to burn anything.

Thanks for the suggestion. I just put down another round of Milorganite on Saturday. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what comes out of it.
 
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nocsious3

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Thanks for the suggestion. I just put down another round of Milorganite on Saturday. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what comes out of it.

That should work well. I only suggested something with potassium in it because that can help plants deal with stress. Nitrogen drives the bus so it should all come out good.
 

spierceisu

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I mowed my lawn on Friday and now I need to mow very badly. I will need to bag which will take a lot longer (i am not sure since I have a new mower and have never bagged before). I would have mowed earlier but having a 2 year old and a newborn makes it super hard to find time.
 

ruflosn

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Dec 21, 2008
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I mowed my lawn on Friday and now I need to mow very badly. I will need to bag which will take a lot longer (i am not sure since I have a new mower and have never bagged before). I would have mowed earlier but having a 2 year old and a newborn makes it super hard to find time.
If you don’t want to bag it, you can go over your lawn twice and give it the striped look.
 
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khardbored

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Oct 20, 2012
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I rented one from Home Depot last year.
I don't know if I was doing something wrong, or if it was just a POS, but I couldn't keep it running.
It was like I couldn't throttle it high enough when running the tines; it would just die.
I got it to work but I had to go excruciatingly slow and ended up only doing my front yard.

Someone linked an electric one on Amazon that was around $150. That would be a good option since it would basically pay for itself after 1 or 2 uses, rather than renting.

Here's the one I got : LINK HERE

Edit: Looks like it's sold out from the main seller - it was around $130- $150, the "see all sellers" was showing more, so just need to keep a close eye on price fluxuation.
 

Cyclones_R_GR8

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Got mine all mowed and bagged last night. Put down weed & feed first thing this morning while the grass was wet with the morning dew.
Supposed to be sunny and dry today then 50% chance of rain on Saturday, 40% Sunday and 50% again on Monday. Hopefully I'll get some rain one of those days to get it rained in.
 

cyfan92

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Sep 20, 2011
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For people who bag their clippings.. I'm wondering why you do that? Is it for mulch in your gardens or what?

Endless research tells you that mulching the yard is far better for overall lawn health and it's free slow release fertilizer
 

Tailg8er

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Feb 25, 2011
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My lawn is looking pretty healthy for the most part, haven't had to use irrigation yet with all the rain which is nice. Clover is my biggest nemesis thus far - I spot treated with Crossbow about a month ago and had good results, could see the clover dying within a few days. Unfortunately, new patches have popped up - getting ready to spot treat again. Any problems with applying once every 4 weeks?


images
 

nocsious3

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Aug 23, 2013
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For people who bag their clippings.. I'm wondering why you do that? Is it for mulch in your gardens or what?

Endless research tells you that mulching the yard is far better for overall lawn health and it's free slow release fertilizer

You can reduce your fertilizer by around 25% each year just by mulching the clippings, so it's a cost savings on fertilizer. With frequent mowing, clippings contribute little to nothing in the thatch layer. They break down and provide organic matter back to the soil.

Most of what these guys are pulling out using a dethacher is not actually thatch. It's mostly upright and dead grass material that would eventually break down over the summer, however removing it is still beneficial to clean out the canopy for new growth and air flow. They can reduce that need to dethatch in Spring by doing a low mow at the end of the year and collecting those clippings only at the end of the year. Honestly I don't see real thatch layer problems that often, except in the occasional bluegrass lawn that is over fertilized. Down south with warm season grasses, thatch can be a real issue.
 

nocsious3

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My lawn is looking pretty healthy for the most part, haven't had to use irrigation yet with all the rain which is nice. Clover is my biggest nemesis thus far - I spot treated with Crossbow about a month ago and had good results, could see the clover dying within a few days. Unfortunately, new patches have popped up - getting ready to spot treat again. Any problems with applying once every 4 weeks?


images

Are you spot spraying or doing a blanket application? If blanket, read the label for interval and max yearly application rates. I'm sure you're probably fine to spot spray again. Crossbow is 2,4-D and triclopyr if I remember correctly. That's a potent mix to kill a broad number of weeds effectively, but make sure you apply in the recommended temperature range. At high temps, it will cause turf injury.
 

spierceisu

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Jan 28, 2007
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Ankeny
For people who bag their clippings.. I'm wondering why you do that? Is it for mulch in your gardens or what?

Endless research tells you that mulching the yard is far better for overall lawn health and it's free slow release fertilizer
I always try to mulch, but since my grass is so tall right now due to lack of time to mow, I want to bag so I don't choke out my grass with excessive clippings.
 
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Tailg8er

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Are you spot spraying or doing a blanket application? If blanket, read the label for interval and max yearly application rates. I'm sure you're probably fine to spot spray again. Crossbow is 2,4-D and triclopyr if I remember correctly. That's a potent mix to kill a broad number of weeds effectively, but make sure you apply in the recommended temperature range. At high temps, it will cause turf injury.

Yeah, just spot spraying directly on the b-stards, diluting according to the label. Will hopefully not need to once it gets hot as they'll all be eradicated, but I'll keep that in mind.
 

nocsious3

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Aug 23, 2013
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Peak Lawn, Fungicide, and Fun with stripes....

Peak Lawn:
I wanted to prepare some of the guys who are just getting into the lawn thing about something that shouldn't discourage you. We're around peak lawn for the year. As it gets hotter, your turf will continue to look worse as the summer goes on. It really doesn't matter how much you water, if you feed it beer, and give it massages. It will get uglier through the summer months. We'll have another smaller peak in the Fall, and that's the most important time of the year to put your work in, but don't give up and think your Spring work was a waste. It will benefit you down the road.

Fungicide:
Unfortunately hot and humid weather will bring on the fungus. The better your lawn looks, generally the more fungus is a problem. Denser turf has less air flow and therefore more fungus pressure. If you raked out the dead stuff leftover from Winter, that can help, but you might still get fungus problems. Should you treat it or run preventative fungicide you ask? That depends. Fungicide is expensive. A lot of times the turf will recover without fungicide. There are also risks in applying fungicide. Just like bacteria, fungus can develop resistance if you use the same product repeatedly. Many of the fungicide products are toxic to invertebrates in our waterways. Proper application to prevent runoff is very important, so it's for these reasons I don't generally recommend most people to self apply fungicides.

Lastly, Fun with Stripes from today's from today's mow.
ACtC-3d7sLZF2A5o-46MtRU2gS2nmEjZJMERRatS3r0-oGny3aF44NBWz-9ZaSQJpMdA-FNDT9GzjyOa3gQA63BBwiTjVjLtMth_PLlbxRqjlRDEOUx669-iJtJSIsZ2iMRy4Q2FmmtG5WjMT79_DmKeV4PT=w491-h654-no
 

CYEATHAWK

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Aug 26, 2007
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My lawn is looking pretty healthy for the most part, haven't had to use irrigation yet with all the rain which is nice. Clover is my biggest nemesis thus far - I spot treated with Crossbow about a month ago and had good results, could see the clover dying within a few days. Unfortunately, new patches have popped up - getting ready to spot treat again. Any problems with applying once every 4 weeks?


images

Try just making sure you have plenty of nitrogen. I have had good luck mixing milorganite with whatever weed-n-feed you like in the early spring, and then just keep periodically putting down the milorganite as the season unfolds. I stopped trying to kill clover a few years ago and started to try and discourage it with plenty of nitrogen. It isn't all gone....but coverage has been reduced by easily %75.
 

Tailg8er

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Feb 25, 2011
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Try just making sure you have plenty of nitrogen. I have had good luck mixing milorganite with whatever weed-n-feed you like in the early spring, and then just keep periodically putting down the milorganite as the season unfolds. I stopped trying to kill clover a few years ago and started to try and discourage it with plenty of nitrogen. It isn't all gone....but coverage has been reduced by easily %75.

I started using this Sunday program this year (1 treatment so far), this is my soil breakdown according to the sample I sent them.

upload_2020-5-29_16-25-41.png


You think supplementing their program with some milorganite would help? Where can you find that, place like Earl May? True Value maybe?
 

CYEATHAWK

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Aug 26, 2007
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I started using this Sunday program this year (1 treatment so far), this is my soil breakdown according to the sample I sent them.

View attachment 72269


You think supplementing their program with some milorganite would help? Where can you find that, place like Earl May? True Value maybe?

I get it at Mill's Fleet in Ankeny. About ten dollars a bag. And that soil breakdown analysis you posted........you might as well be speaking Greek. All I know is clover thrives on nitrogen poor areas. And I was having no luck at all using chemicals without wreaking havoc on everything else. So I thought...what the heck. It doesn't grow well in nitrogen rich environments, and the grass will love it......okay. So every spring, I mix the spreader with a 50/50 of weed-n-feed and milorganite. The weed-n-feed has the fast acting and milorganite is slow. And you can spread it all times of the year without adverse affects. The milorganite......not the weed n feed. It was a shot in the dark for me and has worked rather well. Also, in the fall.....I mix the spreader with a 50/50 of milorganite and grass seed for the next spring. So as you can see, very little science involved on my end. But not much cost and the lawn looks great. May not be hosting any PGA tours anytime soon, but I hold my own with the neighbor who spends a butt load for a company to come in and take care of his.
 

Yaz

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I finally got a chance to mow last night and put down Milorganite...I am afraid of what the next few weeks will bring for me mowing wise.
In my experience, Milorganite doesnt really work that way...ie...create tremendous growth. You should be good. Keep that in mind. Also, you will be dropping a lot of that if green is your color.
 

nocsious3

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Aug 23, 2013
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I started using this Sunday program this year (1 treatment so far), this is my soil breakdown according to the sample I sent them.

View attachment 72269


You think supplementing their program with some milorganite would help? Where can you find that, place like Earl May? True Value maybe?

Home Depot normally carries it. Fleet Farm. Menards, Ace, etc. Milorganite is fine as you could use some more phosphorus.

Looking at those soil results, you're pH is high and that's a tough problem. At 7.9 most of your micronutrients are fully bound in the soil and not bio-available, but working to change it probably isn't worth it for most.

If you want to start optimizing your soil, here's a few suggestions. First step is to try to lower that pH. That will take several seasons most likely, and I'd like to get it below 7.3 for sure and around 7 would be great. You do that by adding sulphur. They make a granular sulphur that can be easily spread. You'd want to add 5-10 lbs annually per 1k/sq ft. Sulphur works to lower pH in the summer through microbial action producing sulphuric acid. It's a slow process. The other thing you can do is get some organic matter in there by top dressing with a good screen compost. Adding peat would be good as it's very acidic. Raising boron is easy. Buy some borax, spritz your milorganite with a mist of water and spoon in 3 tablespoons of borax. Mix it with the Milorganite and spread like normal.
 

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