When do you usually start on your lawn?

[hoggs222]

I've got the aerator (spike) and the dethatcher this year.

What month do you typically start. I'm guessing when the ground is a little more solid after the melt.

Let's hear the steps you take throughout the spring, or full year for that matter.

I got my lawn looking pretty good last year and would like to improve! Must beat the neighbor with a fairway......

[reelemin]

you shouldn't do anything even rack, until the lawn is dry. So that sometimes means well into April. Alot of people start messing around way to early. Give the lawn time to completely thaw, dry and wake up.

[Powerstroke]

I totally agree with reelemin. Let the lawn dry out.

I don't know if you mean "fairway" literally or figuratively, but most cold weather grasses prefer a much longer growth and will look better and require less work if you keep them longer. Kent. bluegrass is at its best at 3" or taller. They need less water, less fert and help themselves in the weed control dept.

[hoggs222]

When I said fairway, I meant looks perfect. Lush, thick grass.

[Kyle Sandberg]

Same here. We never do anything to the lawn untill it has fully dried out. And that can take awhile because our yard is clay. But once it does dry out, we go out and rake up some of the dead grass and let it grow to about 4" and then its time for the first mow.

[hoggs222]

I started last year by 1st of all picking up landmines, then dethatching/aerating once it was dry. I was wondering what some of your next steps are? What type of pre-emergent weed killers, when to use them, etc. I am on sand, so it usually dries up a little quicker.

[reelemin]

I like to be as natural as I can. So if you have a weed problem handle that. If you don't theres no need for weed killers. Grass is just a glorified weed, but a weak weed. Other weeds are stonger and thrive in dry conditions.

This is my advise and I swear by it.

WATER, WATER. Water 3x the amount recommended and you'll never need a drop of fert or weed killer.

To prove my point, the best looking part of any lawn will be where the sump pump drains out, why - because it gets the most water!!!!!!!

All grass needs is a [PoorWordUsage] load of water and consistantly!!!

[LwnmwnMan2]

 Originally Posted By: reelemin

I like to be as natural as I can. So if you have a weed problem handle that. If you don't theres no need for weed killers. Grass is just a glorified weed, but a weak weed. Other weeds are stonger and thrive in dry conditions.

This is my advise and I swear by it.

WATER, WATER. Water 3x the amount recommended and you'll never need a drop of fert or weed killer.

To prove my point, the best looking part of any lawn will be where the sump pump drains out, why - because it gets the most water!!!!!!!

All grass needs is a [PoorWordUsage] load of water and consistantly!!!

Actually, that's not entirely true. It's a godd rule of thumb, but it's not true.

There's also a waste of water. If it's just running off, then there's real no sense in keep watering the lawn. A good example is last August when we had 30" of rain, and people were still running their irrigation systems. The sump pump is a little different as well, as that still has some beneficial nutrients in it. If you're watering with city water, from my experience, you're just going to flush your fertilizers and nutrients out of the soil rather quickly.

Water is definately a key ingredient. Without it, your fertilizer isn't going to break down, your root structure is going to whither and weeds are going to thrive.

I'm with Powerstroke. The biggest asset you're going to have in a healthy lawn, is keeping that growth to 3"+.

My commercial properties I keep at 3 1/2-4" tall. Yes, in the spring when the grass is growing 2-3" / week, sometimes things look a little overgrown in spots, but I too am a big IPM (integrated pest management - look up at the department of agriculture for minnesota) and too believe that the less herbicides and pesticides we use, the better we are.

There are some other companies (national and local) that are out to make money. The more product you're putting down, the more money you're making. I'm the opposite end of the spectrum.

Hoggs - I don't usually start my properties until May 1st. At the very very earliest it's not until April 20th, and those are high ground, sandy soil properties.

Go to a big box store, grocery style, and get yourself a meat thermometer. This you can use in the spring to check soil temperatures to know when to put down the pre-emergent. Once your soil temps hit about 52 degrees, then you can apply the pre-emergent / fertilizer combo. Do it too early and it'll be broken down before you see any effect from it.

Then about the first weekend of June, put another slow release round of fertilizer on it. Again in late August / first of September, then mid-October for your winterizer. The one in August / September timeframe, you're going to have to watch. If it's abnormally dry, there's really no reason to apply it, unless you're going to water the lawn as well.

As for dethatching / aerating, IMO, those are quite invasive. If you do them too soon in the spring, you're going to tear more turf out than any benefit you're going to see. FWIW, I've only aerated 4 yards in 19 years. If you're in Andover, with the sandy soil, there's probably not a whole lot of benefit you're going to see, again, IMO.

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: LwnmwnMan2

 Originally Posted By: reelemin

I like to be as natural as I can. So if you have a weed problem handle that. If you don't theres no need for weed killers. Grass is just a glorified weed, but a weak weed. Other weeds are stonger and thrive in dry conditions.

This is my advise and I swear by it.

WATER, WATER. Water 3x the amount recommended and you'll never need a drop of fert or weed killer.

To prove my point, the best looking part of any lawn will be where the sump pump drains out, why - because it gets the most water!!!!!!!

All grass needs is a [PoorWordUsage] load of water and consistantly!!!

Actually, that's not entirely true. It's a godd rule of thumb, but it's not true.

There's also a waste of water. If it's just running off, then there's real no sense in keep watering the lawn. A good example is last August when we had 30" of rain, and people were still running their irrigation systems. The sump pump is a little different as well, as that still has some beneficial nutrients in it. If you're watering with city water, from my experience, you're just going to flush your fertilizers and nutrients out of the soil rather quickly.

Yes I agree about running the irrigation system when you don't need to. And run off is something to consider. but once you have a healthy lawn water is key, with maybe occasional fertilers if you have bad soil to begin with. And yes an occassional weed killer, to kill the pesky weeds creeping in from your neighbors yard

I'm with Powerstroke. The biggest asset you're going to have in a healthy lawn, is keeping that growth to 3"+. Definitly too many people cut there lawn way to short.

As for dethatching / aerating, IMO, those are quite invasive. If you do them too soon in the spring, you're going to tear more turf out than any benefit you're going to see. FWIW, I've only aerated 4 yards in 19 years. If you're in Andover, with the sandy soil, there's probably not a whole lot of benefit you're going to see, again, IMO. I agree totally. These 2 actions are way over used. Dethatching maybe ever 6 or 7 yrs. Aerating - probably about the same. Again your soil type will determine alot.

LwnmwnMan2 - do you use a fertilizer weed killer combo? And how do you figure out the right type (30-30-30 ? or whatever) of fertilizer to use. In my landscaping business I did mostly Hardscapes and plantings, didn't deal awhole lot with lawns.

Didn't mean to step on your turf ( ) here. I loved landscaping but am offically out of it now, after 16 yrs, bad back and knees. But still do it for a client or two and my own lawn.

I bow to your expertize.

[hoggs222]

Thanks everyone! I do have a sandpoint well for watering, which makes it alot nicer on the bills!

I got a rider last year, so mowing will go alot smoother. 1.5 hours in the middle of the summer with a push mower can be a drag.

Now if I can just get the dogs to do their business in one spot, we're set!

[LwnmwnMan2]

reel -

I don't use a fertilizer / weed killer combo. I got one of those fancy schmancy ride on fertilizing / spraying units, so I spread a granular fertilizer product, while using a liquid herbicide.

For the most part, I don't get real real technical with a soil analysis, unless there's a real problem.

All my properties get a 10-0-20, with 2% iron, a 60% slow release product.

This area, with mostly KY bluegrasses and some fescues, are pretty well taken care of when it comes to Nitrogen, you don't need a lot.

I'm something of a cynical guy too, and ALMOST believe that some companies put down an overabundance of Nitrogen to PROMOTE disease, in order to be able to apply more product. I don't TOTALLY believe this, but after the amount of acreage that I've maintained over the years, with all the diseases you hear about, I haven't had to treat any of them, yet my turf areas are the same.

I use this product as it doesn't promote top growth, instead is aimed more at root structure. The better your root structure, the better your top growth will be.

I use a liquid weed control product, for 3 reasons.

1, time constraints. If you're going to use a granular weed control product, you're going to have to put it down right after a rain, or irrigation cycle.

2, you can get a more complete coverage with a liquid application. with a granular application, you're going to have little pellets that are going to have to balance on the leaf of the plant, whereas a liquid app will cover the leaf.

3, cost. Yes, if you as a homeowner were to purchase the chemicals that I use, it would seem "oh, my god" but when you purchase in bulk, sq ft charge is actually quite reasonable. That's why I say if you want to run the chemicals I do, to get 2-3-4 buddies together, and it'll cost you about $40 / year to do it.

The 2% iron will break down and give you a darker green color, without having to dump the Nitrogen to the soil.

Also, with less topgrowth, then that will translate into reduced mowings for the season.

It won't completely cut them out (again, no pun intended) but the grass won't grow 8" / week in the spring, just 6.5"

There's other products you can apply if you totally don't want to cut, yet have green grass. And no, it's not called round-up.

[reelemin]

THANKS great info

[Ralph Wiggum]

I hope I can piggy-back this on hogg's question. I ripped up an completely reseeded late last August. My grass came in very successfully, but there are those inevitable areas that could use a bit more grass. How early can I reseed those areas? We've got a puppy on the way in mid-June, so I'd like to get it fairly well-established before that.

Thanks!

[reelemin]

I would get the first layer of seed down as soon as the snow is gone. And then reseed again as the temps come up.

[Powerstroke]

I agree. Only problem with doing new seed is you cannot use a pre-emergent crabgrass treatment in those areas. The same ingredient that stops the crabgrass will prevent your new grass seed from germinating. Just pass on the crabgrass treatment this year, or only use it in areas away from the patching.

[TKO_PUNCH]

Powerstroke,

For all of us who reseeded last August, can we use a pre-emergent crabgrass treatment this spring?

[LwnmwnMan2]

A decent rule of thumb is once you mow it 3 times, you're good to go with the pre-emergent.

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: LwnmwnMan2

A decent rule of thumb is once you mow it 3 times, you're good to go with the pre-emergent.

Hmmmm - good rule of thumb - even I can remember that

[Powerstroke]

Yeah what he said.

The pre-emergent works by creating a chemical vapor barrier in the soil that kills newly germinated shoots before they can break the surface of the soil. Grass that is currently up will not be effected by a Pre-M.