Maybe I should say prettier grass, it's definitely better than when I moved in 3 years ago, but not award winning or anything.
Yard Care for Dummies
- Thread starter wxman1
- Start date
$60 bucks a pop to say "yah I think that patch over there used to be slightly browner than it is now."
Check out Ryan Knorr Lawn Care Youtube site. He lives in Waukee and has good advice for the central Iowa area.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGmz1qSJjvBPluouoOj1Qkg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGmz1qSJjvBPluouoOj1Qkg
If you bag your grass when you mow, thatching won't be an issue for at least a few years. I generally rake my lawn thoroughly each spring (as soon as I can get to it, so spring rains can penetrate well) and fall. And yes, 4 or 5 shots of fertilizer each season will really establish good solid, thick roots so your grass will survive from year to year.
The worst thing I have going in my yard is clover - both Dutch (white flowers) and sweet (yellow flowers) varieties. 2-4-D will kill it, but it will kill almost everything else, as well. I try to stay away from chemicals for weeds, but sometimes.......
Aerating is likely every three to four years, depending. If you hire a company to take care of your lawn (I used to) they should be able to tell you if it needs to be done or not. They may also tell you it needs to be done even if it doesn't, hopefully you can find someone you know and/or trust.
The worst thing I have going in my yard is clover - both Dutch (white flowers) and sweet (yellow flowers) varieties. 2-4-D will kill it, but it will kill almost everything else, as well. I try to stay away from chemicals for weeds, but sometimes.......
Aerating is likely every three to four years, depending. If you hire a company to take care of your lawn (I used to) they should be able to tell you if it needs to be done or not. They may also tell you it needs to be done even if it doesn't, hopefully you can find someone you know and/or trust.
Thanks! I have an aerator and thatcher but have never aerated...will probably do it this year and see what happens. We live on a steep hill and have a dog so the yard can get torn up pretty bad especially over the winter so I am just interested in doing anything I can to help it out.
So how much/how frequently do you apply this? Just intended to provide nutrients to the lawn?
Living on the western side of Iowa we get the Nebraska public television (NET). Every Thursday evening they have a show called Backyard Farmer. It’s a call in/email show put on by the UNL Extension office where people ask questions about all things yard related. I think it is really good show and I have learned quite a few good tips.
For those that don’t get NET and would like to watch the show they put episodes on YouTube.
For those that don’t get NET and would like to watch the show they put episodes on YouTube.
I put it down several times per year, usually in the months between the 4-step fertilizing applications. 1 bag spread out over my 1/3 acre.
Yes. It's just nutrients. Mostly nitrogen.
It's processed sewage and waste water. it smells a little swampy, but the smell only lasts a day or so.
We fertilize daily...note the really green, lush grass.
Straight to the gulf of mexico.
I have hard clay soil. In the wet season, I have areas of standing water and a lot of it runs off the yard. That's where a lot of my N disappears. Plus, you never asked what % I apply, I don't apply that high 28/30 concentrated 8 week stuff.
So much too say...
If you haven't put down a pre-emergent herbicide yet, do so now. The two most common active chemicals to control crabgrass before it germinates are Dimension (dithiopyr) and Barricade (prodiamine). Look at the label of your bag while at the store. Cheap brands are fine.
At this point I would use something with Dimension as soil temps have warmed above 55 degrees which corresponds to the temp that crabgrass is able to germinate. Dimension (dithiopyr) works a little bit even after germination so I'd use that. Follow up with another application of Dimension around June 1st for added protection as these chemicals eventually break down in the soil. A few people choose to apply a pre-emergent in the Fall too to prevent some of the Spring weeds like Henbit, but you need to be aware of max yearly rates on chemicals before adding a 3rd application. Read your application labels and stick to the lbs of product per 1,000 sq. feet. If you graduate to this level, you'll eventually be putting down these weed control chemicals without the fertilizer added. You're main big box stores pretty much always have Nitrogen included with fertilizer though. Sometimes you don't need the fertilizer.
I generally apply a grub control product sometime in later June or sometimes July. There are essentially two kinds of grub control; the kill now type, and the preventative type. Most people don't ever need the "kill now" type unless they didn't put down preventative grub control.
People work so hard in the Spring when they should really do the work in the Fall. If you fertilized correctly in the Fall, you shouldn't need Spring Fertilizer until sometime in May. Regardless, it's best not to fertilize until the grass wakes up and is growing actively.
On weed control, I'd recommend going to your local Ace Hardware and pick up something called Gordon's Speedzone. It will work better on your Spring weeds than standard 3-way weed control (Weed-B-Gone). Add a could of drops of dish soap to the sprayer and either spot spray weeds, or if you have a lot of weeds walk the whole yard and spray. You can buy a marking dye also at Ace that will show you where you have already sprayed and the bonus is your yard is blue until the dye washes away!
I don't recommend weed-n-feed granular products. If applied on slightly wet grass they work ok for very weedy yards, but most homeowners probably don't apply it correctly for maximum efficacy. If your have a lot of weeds, you're probably better off using one of those hose end sprayer weeding products.
I like to use Miloganite as my fertilizer of choice. It's actually re-purposed sewage from Milwaukee but you basically can't burn your yard and adds biology and carbon to your soil. It's much slower acting then chemical fertilizers, but the addition of iron in the Miloganite gives the grass a nice dark green color. Miloganite is sold at many of the big box stores but not all of them carry it. Regular fertilizer is fine too and it has its place in my arsenal.
You don't need to fertilize in the heat of the summer and I wouldn't put anything down in the hot months unless you have a sprinkler system. Even then, fertilize at half the standard rate.
Spring is not the time to seed beyond spot seeding areas destroyed by the dog. If you have already put down pre-emergent for crabgrass than don't seed. It won't work unless you take some very specific steps. If you need to seed some spots after putting down the crabgrass control PM me and I'll let you know how to get that accomplished.
Properly maintained turf type tall fescue lawns rarely need de-thatching. You'll get differing opinions, but core aeration isn't generally worth it unless you are fighting specific soil problems.
If you haven't put down a pre-emergent herbicide yet, do so now. The two most common active chemicals to control crabgrass before it germinates are Dimension (dithiopyr) and Barricade (prodiamine). Look at the label of your bag while at the store. Cheap brands are fine.
At this point I would use something with Dimension as soil temps have warmed above 55 degrees which corresponds to the temp that crabgrass is able to germinate. Dimension (dithiopyr) works a little bit even after germination so I'd use that. Follow up with another application of Dimension around June 1st for added protection as these chemicals eventually break down in the soil. A few people choose to apply a pre-emergent in the Fall too to prevent some of the Spring weeds like Henbit, but you need to be aware of max yearly rates on chemicals before adding a 3rd application. Read your application labels and stick to the lbs of product per 1,000 sq. feet. If you graduate to this level, you'll eventually be putting down these weed control chemicals without the fertilizer added. You're main big box stores pretty much always have Nitrogen included with fertilizer though. Sometimes you don't need the fertilizer.
I generally apply a grub control product sometime in later June or sometimes July. There are essentially two kinds of grub control; the kill now type, and the preventative type. Most people don't ever need the "kill now" type unless they didn't put down preventative grub control.
People work so hard in the Spring when they should really do the work in the Fall. If you fertilized correctly in the Fall, you shouldn't need Spring Fertilizer until sometime in May. Regardless, it's best not to fertilize until the grass wakes up and is growing actively.
On weed control, I'd recommend going to your local Ace Hardware and pick up something called Gordon's Speedzone. It will work better on your Spring weeds than standard 3-way weed control (Weed-B-Gone). Add a could of drops of dish soap to the sprayer and either spot spray weeds, or if you have a lot of weeds walk the whole yard and spray. You can buy a marking dye also at Ace that will show you where you have already sprayed and the bonus is your yard is blue until the dye washes away!
I don't recommend weed-n-feed granular products. If applied on slightly wet grass they work ok for very weedy yards, but most homeowners probably don't apply it correctly for maximum efficacy. If your have a lot of weeds, you're probably better off using one of those hose end sprayer weeding products.
I like to use Miloganite as my fertilizer of choice. It's actually re-purposed sewage from Milwaukee but you basically can't burn your yard and adds biology and carbon to your soil. It's much slower acting then chemical fertilizers, but the addition of iron in the Miloganite gives the grass a nice dark green color. Miloganite is sold at many of the big box stores but not all of them carry it. Regular fertilizer is fine too and it has its place in my arsenal.
You don't need to fertilize in the heat of the summer and I wouldn't put anything down in the hot months unless you have a sprinkler system. Even then, fertilize at half the standard rate.
Spring is not the time to seed beyond spot seeding areas destroyed by the dog. If you have already put down pre-emergent for crabgrass than don't seed. It won't work unless you take some very specific steps. If you need to seed some spots after putting down the crabgrass control PM me and I'll let you know how to get that accomplished.
Properly maintained turf type tall fescue lawns rarely need de-thatching. You'll get differing opinions, but core aeration isn't generally worth it unless you are fighting specific soil problems.
You will want to wait to aerate until fall. If you need to re-seed some areas that's a good fall thing also - just keep them moist and then they'll go like gangbusters in the spring.
Based on the forecast tomorrow, I'm thinking my lawn might be snow all year.
I could probably make that happen at some point this summer. Literally, the first story I ever wrote at Iowa State was about the JTS grounds crew.
Most likely your N is going down into the groundwater and not running off with the water. Almost no N runs off with surface water in what you described.
The gulf of mexico comment was sarcasm. I'm not a newb to N,P,K. Theres a lot more too it than just a few general recommendations (as the OP was looking for) as I typically don't go indepth about this stuff on a sports forum.
Hence the standing water notation, in my comment. By a lot of it runs, off I was speaking about the water - should have been more clear. The front yard the water runs off well. The back yard I have a standing water swamp sometimes so the percolation is slow due to the soil composition. My front yard was sodded not to long ago and they filled it with crap dirt.
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