Fertilizing my lawn for initial spring application

[Cloneon]

Question: I'm a newby hobby farmer with 17 acres of gently sloping pasture which I've been mowing for that past couple of years. I'd be so grateful, if any of you well informed ag members could provide some answers to rookie questions.
- My pasture, in early spring, grows to a point where there are brown buds sprouting. Are these seeds? It'd be great if they were to replenish any areas of bareness. If they are seeds, and it's advised I keep them, at what point should I be able to mow them.
- Mowing, as you might expect, takes too long (upwards of 6 hours). I bought a used JD zero turn, which has been a god-send, but doubling its mowing capacity would be even better. Which brings me to question 2. I'm looking to buy a trail mower. Do any of you have good advice on features I should be looking for, quality brands, or any 'whatch-outs'?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[Tailg8er]

Why does the back 10' and right off the deck look a lot greener? More readily availably water?

I had wondered that myself. No clue. I am trying to figure out as I go. I moved in at the end of October and am not sure what the history of fertilizer and lawncare were from previous owners.

My backyard is lush and green up towards the house, then starts getting brownish/yellowish like yours about 15 feet out. Our yard does slope down slightly from the front yard (daylight basement, so about half as much slope as a walkout), so I assume that part of ours gets more water and that's the difference? I might try lengthening the irrigation times of the furthest back sprinkler heads this year to see if that helps.

 

[cycloner29]

My backyard is lush and green up towards the house, then starts getting brownish/yellowish like yours about 15 feet out. Our yard does slope down slightly from the front yard (daylight basement, so about half as much slope as a walkout), so I assume that part of ours gets more water and that's the difference? I might try lengthening the irrigation times of the furthest back sprinkler heads this year to see if that helps.

What little rain we got here in Ames might hopefully help my yard a little, as it was starting to look like what it normally does in July-August.

 

[jdcyclone19]

Question: I'm a newby hobby farmer with 17 acres of gently sloping pasture which I've been mowing for that past couple of years. I'd be so grateful, if any of you well informed ag members could provide some answers to rookie questions.
- My pasture, in early spring, grows to a point where there are brown buds sprouting. Are these seeds? It'd be great if they were to replenish any areas of bareness. If they are seeds, and it's advised I keep them, at what point should I be able to mow them.
- Mowing, as you might expect, takes too long (upwards of 6 hours). I bought a used JD zero turn, which has been a god-send, but doubling its mowing capacity would be even better. Which brings me to question 2. I'm looking to buy a trail mower. Do any of you have good advice on features I should be looking for, quality brands, or any 'whatch-outs'?
Thanks in advance!!

Not being facetious here, do you have fencing around the 17 acres? If yes, I'd buy a couple of goats. If it has fencing you could also rent out the pasture to someone. What kind of grass? You could also let it grow long enough and then have someone windrow it and bale it up. Then you could sell the bales.

 

[spierceisu]

I had fertilized my yard in early April with Millorganite. It still didn't look great so I bought a soil test. I was going to test a week or so ago, but held off because I found out a company mistakenly fertilized our yard by mistake. I figured I would wait to see what happens. I hope the little bit of rain we got may help. We really didn't get any rain in the past few weeks so this may be the reason my fertilizer hasn't done much. My neighbors yards that were green early have taken a step back (my guess due to lack of rain). Yesterday it seemed like mine is getting a bit better, but it is slow.

 

[cyfan92]

Our lawn this weekend felt August "crunchy" on your feet... Totally stinks

 

[Cloneon]

Not being facetious here, do you have fencing around the 17 acres? If yes, I'd buy a couple of goats. If it has fencing you could also rent out the pasture to someone. What kind of grass? You could also let it grow long enough and then have someone windrow it and bale it up. Then you could sell the bales.

Thanks for the suggestions. And, no offense taken. To your point, the fencing was dilapidated when we bought the place. I've been removing bad barbed section by section in anticipation of eventually refencing. One neighboring side is in pretty good shape as they have horses. I've considered renting the property to some beef ranchers, but that would require me 'fencing' it (I prefer to incur the expense to maintain better control of the contract). That, and as you said let someone bale it. That aside, I've grown to love that as our big arse front yard. Keeping it cut has reduced our rodent population immensely. So, I guess what I'm saying is I'm going to keep it mowed for now.

 

[Clonedogg]

This year I've become more aware of my lawn or my lack thereof. I have this grass in my lawn that I find undesirable. Can you all help me identify it?

I think it might just be a cheap tall fescue? It has round stems and its like walking on a VERY coarse bristle brush.



Edit: Yes I know my mower could be sharper, but this stuff is coarse. Other grasses in my yard have a nice cut edge.

 

[BillyClone]

This year I've become more aware of my lawn or my lack thereof. I have this grass in my lawn that I find undesirable. Can you all help me identify it?

I think it might just be a cheap tall fescue? It has round stems and its like walking on a VERY coarse bristle brush.

View attachment 85109 View attachment 85110

Edit: Yes I know my mower could be sharper, but this stuff is coarse. Other grasses in my yard have a nice cut edge.

That looks like fescue to me. Does it grow in clumps - different spots around the yard? That would be a wild/volunteer fescue that has taken up root in your lawn. I have about a dozen clumps of that stuff in my lawn as well. I plan to dig it out this fall and throw down bluegrass seed in its place. I had a nice turf-type fescue lawn at my old house which was great, but this stuff is like something from the prairie and I hate it.

 

[Clonedogg]

That looks like fescue to me. Does it grow in clumps - different spots around the yard? That would be a wild/volunteer fescue that has taken up root in your lawn. I have about a dozen clumps of that stuff in my lawn as well. I plan to dig it out this fall and throw down bluegrass seed in its place. I had a nice turf-type fescue lawn at my old house which was great, but this stuff is like something from the prairie and I hate it.

Ya kinda what I was thinking, my house was built in the late 40's, so there's been a lot of time for random grass types to get established. It looks like that grass might not like tenacity, which I find surprising, or I just was to liberal with my last spray in some spots...

 

[cyfan92]

This year I've become more aware of my lawn or my lack thereof. I have this grass in my lawn that I find undesirable. Can you all help me identify it?

I think it might just be a cheap tall fescue? It has round stems and its like walking on a VERY coarse bristle brush.

View attachment 85109 View attachment 85110

Edit: Yes I know my mower could be sharper, but this stuff is coarse. Other grasses in my yard have a nice cut edge.

Weed of the month for March 2015 is Tall Fescue

Tall Fescue Biology: Tall Fescue ( Festuca arundinacea ) is perennial grass that can be both desirable as a lawn species whe...

purdueturftips.blogspot.com

 

[cyfanatic]

Weed of the month for March 2015 is Tall Fescue

Tall Fescue Biology: Tall Fescue ( Festuca arundinacea ) is perennial grass that can be both desirable as a lawn species whe...

purdueturftips.blogspot.com

I am positive I have this in my front lawn and it seems to be spreading each year. Is it bad to have? It does look odd when experiencing dry spells but if I were to water more during those stretches I feel like it isn't that noticeable?

 

[cyfan92]

I am positive I have this in my front lawn and it seems to be spreading each year. Is it bad to have? It does look odd when experiencing dry spells but if I were to water more during those stretches I feel like it isn't that noticeable?

I have clumps of it in my yard. I've been trying to get rid of it for 3 years with limited luck... Probably need to just terminate it and restart over. Pulling it doesn't seem to work well and yes... It spreads annually

 

[CloneGuy8]

I usually use Milorganite on my lawn, but Menards is out. They have something called 'e-Corganite'. Anyone ever use this? It looks like it might be their store brand for Milorganite.

 

[mynameisjonas]

That looks like fescue to me. Does it grow in clumps - different spots around the yard? That would be a wild/volunteer fescue that has taken up root in your lawn. I have about a dozen clumps of that stuff in my lawn as well. I plan to dig it out this fall and throw down bluegrass seed in its place. I had a nice turf-type fescue lawn at my old house which was great, but this stuff is like something from the prairie and I hate it.

How far down would you have to dig? I wonder if round up would be easier. I’m looking at doing the same thing and not exactly sure the best way.

 

[DSMCy]

How far down would you have to dig? I wonder if round up would be easier. I’m looking at doing the same thing and not exactly sure the best way.

I’ve got this pretty bad too. I’m planning to go with roundup this fall.
Then I’ll overseed and try to get the new grass established before winter.

 

[BillyClone]

How far down would you have to dig? I wonder if round up would be easier. I’m looking at doing the same thing and not exactly sure the best way.

I planned to dig up the root ball - guessing 6-12" down. I honestly hadn't thought about round up. I may need to do some more research!

 

[CyCrazy]

I planned to dig up the root ball - guessing 6-12" down. I honestly hadn't thought about round up. I may need to do some more research!

Lol . Grass doesnt have a root ball and digging up grass 6- 12 inches deep is about 11..8 inches over kill. Till up the spots you hate and reseed or just kill it with roundup and seed.

 

[BillyClone]

Lol . Grass doesnt have a root ball and digging up grass 6- 12 inches deep is about 11..8 inches over kill. Till up the spots you hate and reseed or just kill it with roundup and seed.

Sorry - not a grass expert. I simply meant the gnarled ball of roots of the plant.

Everything I read said the roots will go 2-6 inches for most cool season grasses and tall fescue can go even deeper. I simply want it out of my yard!

 

[CyCrazy]

Sorry - not a grass expert. I simply meant the gnarled ball of roots of the plant.

Everything I read said the roots will go 2-6 inches for most cool season grasses and tall fescue can go even deeper. I simply want it out of my yard!

Sure they do, but you dont need to dig up the roots.