Spent tthe day spraying, to "NOT" mow the grass

[LwnmwnMan2]

For those that don't know, there's a group of chemicals called PGRs, or growth regulators.

You can spray them on bushes, turf, ornamentals and the plant will hold its size or shape for a period of time, usually 6-8 weeks, weather dependant.

I spray it on turf, usually along fence lines and around buildings, instead of using round up. This way the turf stays and doesn't allow the ground to open up to weed seeds.

The biggest drawback, as with most of the chemicals I talk about on here, is price.

It costs me $400 per gallon, but you run it at 3/5 oz per 1000 sq ft. So if you were to cover an acre, you'd use 25.8 oz, or roughly $80 worth of material every 6 weeks +/-.

If you have a lawn service doing the yard, then this may cover the cost of them just doing the mowing.

Or if you look at it for 18 weeks of control, we usually get about 20-22 weeks of mowing here in MN, unless you do a decent job of fertilizing and watering, then you might be able to push out 24 weeks, you'd have about $250 in material, but have to mow about 5 times per year.

Now this isn't an exact science, and it could get spendy quick if you didn't time things out quickly, but if you're looking for a way to get some extra time in your week, and you dread mowing your own grass or just want that extra few hours at the lake on the weekend instead of having to hustle home to mow for a couple of hours, for $250-375 per year, you could save yourself 20-30 hours, or about $10-15 / hour, if your time is worth that.

Just something for some of you to think about.

[Fish Toys]

LwnmwnMan2 there is another thing to consider is how many $$$$$ in gas a person might save. I’ve never figured out how much gas an hr my tractor burns. 27hp Kawasaki and 60” deck.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I was demoing a 27 hp Kubota w/ 60" deck earlier this year, it burned 1.3 gallons per hour.

[Quetico]

My answer to the PGR issue? Dont irrigate your lawn and dont fertilize it during weather periods like this. Yeah, it doesnt look the prettiest but how really wants to mow when its almost 90 and high humidity?

Your lawn naturally wants to go dormant in the summer heat. By irrigating it and fertilizing it your forcing it to by pass its natural tendency to go dormant. So save money on PGR's, irrigation and gas by allowing your lawn to do what it naturally wants to do.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Correct Quetico, it's hard to teach people to let the lawn look a shaggy brown and NOT mow it short when it's dry like this.

However, for those that want to keep the "green", there are other options rather than just mow mow mow, which especially helps in the spring, or rainy summers when some people are mowing every 2-3 days.

[fishandshroom]

Tell me more! Do I just spray it after I mow and the lawn looks the same for a month? Or am I missing something?!

[LwnmwnMan2]

It's not an exact science yet, and you need to have healthy, weed-free turf.

We were out mowing yesterday at the schools I sprayed last weekend, and about 98% of the areas that I sprayed were still at the same height.

The other 2% were annual grasses or weeds which grew, so I'll see how long they are next week, and might have to do a touch up.

Even at that though, if you had to target these 2-5% areas of your yard each week, especially if you have a cabin as well, that leaves more time to do other things.

[Quetico]

If your really lazy, just have your lawn converted to no-mow fescue's and you'll only have to mow 2-3 times per year. You will only have to mow spring and fall, you wont ever have to fertilize, and you'll have the greenest lawn in the neighborhood without any irrigation during hot dry spells. Yes, in mid July your lawn will be the greenest in the neighborhood without any watering and you'll have the lowest water bill around.

Sorry LwnmwnMan2, I dont want to be <poorwordusage> or anything by stealing your post. I just cannot advocate the use of excessive lawn chemicals. I truly believe our water resources would be far better off if people started changing their landscaping practices and got away from chemicals.

You want cleaner water? You want less weeds on the end of your line? Try any of my suggestions above and use less <poorwordusage> on your lawn.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I agree Quetico, but at the same time, you have to usually work with what you already have.

Most people aren't going to tear out their entire yard just to covert.

It's no different than when you see articles about people putting in Field Turf like the Vikings / Twins have instead of real grass.

It'll be green even in the winter then.

But again, if you're working with whatever you already have, you have to work with what you already have.

I'm just throwing out suggestions to people that may have a yard at home and at the cabin, that if you could save yourself an extra 3-5 hours / week of work, it gets to the point where you could almost gain an extra day or 2 / month of free time.

[Dotch]

Out of curiosity, what are some of the products being used today lwnmwnMan2? Remember about 20 years ago when 3M's Embark first showed up on the scene. They've since sold it to Gordon's I believe. Some guys tried it then and it worked but so did the drought of '88. My solution to the lawnmowing/time spent debacle? I have woolly lawnmowers and pastured most of mine. About 200' of fence and the whole thing would be pasture. Wife probably wouldn't appreciate all the flowers being devoured however.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Dotch -

I'm actually using the Embark product this time. It's a different version I'm sure than the one brought out so many years ago.

Last time I tried this, about 4 years ago, I had used a product called Primo Maxx, which was about another 25% higher in price, but showed (on the label) 2-3 more weeks of control.

Last weekend was week number 2 since we had sprayed the fence lines and other areas with the chemcial.

About 95% of the areas sprayed were still in the same height they'd been in 2 weeks prior after I'd gotten done trimming them.

There were some broadleaf weeds as well as grassy weeds that had shot up, but this week I'm going to cut those back and see if they'll hold their length now as well.