Lawn Care. I'm Clueless. How Do I Learn This Stuff?

We used to live in the hood where my lawn and everybody else's looked crappy (although honestly mine was the worst on the block). We just moved into a nice neighborhood where what the lawn looks like matters. For the first time in my life, I have a sprinkler system... which I'm trying to figure out.

Need your SU carbs synchronized? I got you! But, I'm mostly clueless about how to make grass happy. Obviously, it likes water, fertilizer and to be mowed. For instance: the grass in the back yard has some brown spots. It's June in Denver with highs this week in the upper 80s. Is it too hot to rake and seed the brown spots?

How much water/ fertilizer? How often? Straight fertilizer vs weed and feed... How do I learn this stuff?

Don't water or fertilize your lawn. It's bad for the environment and a waste of your valuable time. Problem solved. Your're welcome!

1. Mow it with the deck set high. Taller grass is healthier and better able to stand heat as well as fend off weeds.

2. Late fall and early spring are the best times to seed, plant, or transplant things in most regions. Temps are more moderate, there's typically more precipitation, and the plants are in their most active stages of growth. If you seed in hotter, dryer weather you'll have to make sure the area gets lots of water daily for a few weeks.

3. Weeds are also plants that are most active in early spring and late fall. Because of this, it's the most effective time of year to fertilize or treat for weeds. Hot, dry summer months are tough enough on most lawns, that doing extensive weed killer or fertilizer can burn the lawn. However, if you use your sprinkler system it should stave off anything too bad.

4. Water either late at night, or early morning. If you water mid-day, then most of the water evaporates before the lawn can use it.

5. Your lawn needs to breathe. If it's hard when you walk on it (like a thin rug on top of concrete), and the grass is patchy or thin your soil is probably compacted. Aeration in late fall will allow air to circulate into the soil over the winter and the lawn will come back healthier in the spring.

I just pay a guy $60 every 2 weeks during not winter to come out and handle everything. Much easier.

I'm in the same situation and would like to learn more.

RevRico wrote: I just pay a guy $60 every 2 weeks during not winter to come out and handle everything. Much easier.

I want to learn to do it the, uh... Grassroots way

Got nothing for ya...I still live in your old hood and consider the lack of berkeleys given about grass to be benefit of the hood.

I would be hiring a pro if I had to care. There are car projects that need that 2 hours/week wasted on the lawn.

I have considered fake lawn for the front of the house.

If you have too many vehicles rotate them so they don't kill the grass. Also transmission fluid kills grass so don't put transmissions on the lawn if they don't have a tailshaft plug.

I just came in here to say good on you for wanting to learn.

Honestly, I could give two E36 M3s about my lawn. If it's green-ish in color so that the HOA doesn't whine, that's good enough for me. I let nature take care of that. Though I did mow it a bit low last weekend...we got a new mower and I didn't set the height adjustment right. My wife is mad. Meh.

My front yard is as much sand as it is grass. Without getting a dumptruck of decent soil, which would wash away in a downpour and end up in the street. I've concluded that it will just be sand. Of course, I live near the beach, so a sandy yard is fairly typical in my neighborhood.

Mow it before it gets tall enough for the neighbors too complain. Thats how i handle mine!

My problem is having to mow it to often in early summer.

It slows down late summer.

I spend 2 hours every 2 weeks between April and October mowing our .87 acre on my free Snapper Rear-Engine Rider that only needed the carb rebuilt. I've taken the blade well past it's expiration date with the help of my angle grinder. It's kinda like a Porsche, with its rear engine and RWD, without the problem of liftoff oversteer. Doesn't stop me from trying though.

Once a month I'll touch up the edges and weedy spots with a E36 M3ty $15 thrift store weedeater that only runs WOT if the choke is halfway between "start" and "run". It probably doesn't help the fact that I make pre-mix out of used motor oil. Full synthetic, to be fair.

In the spring I till our vegetable garden with a super E36 M3ty turn-of-the-80's-decade Sears roto-tiller that I scored from craigslist. The clutch cable used to control the brakes on a bicycle I had fixed up. The exhaust had rusted off so I welded a short section of school bus seat post (don't ask) to the muffler. Hey, scrap pile is fair game for any project.

GRASSroots grass care.

I can't decide if ours is a neighborhood in decline or rebirth. Half of the yards in the neighborhood have "Southern Living" magazine green verdant lushness, and the other half, in who's relaxed gypsy encampment we happily reside, are enthusiastic members of the weedness relocation program.

Transmission fluid kills grass????

Awsome!

Trees. Trees are better than grass and provide enough shade as to be useful things.

My front yard is a trio of great big maple trees so there is grass. It's generally green and I mow (or have a teenager do it, they have to earn their keep somehow) when it looks tall. If I fertilize it I'm penalized for my efforts by having to mow the tall spots more often. But generally 10-10-10 is a good choice for a fertilizer.

As far as I can tell having had lawns for the better part of my life, amateur efforts get amateur results and the people with those silly supergreen lawns have hired professionals.

STM317 wrote: 1. Mow it with the deck set high. Taller grass is healthier and better able to stand heat as well as fend off weeds. 2. Late fall and early spring are the best times to seed, plant, or transplant things in most regions. Temps are more moderate, there's typically more precipitation, and the plants are in their most active stages of growth. If you seed in hotter, dryer weather you'll have to make sure the area gets lots of water daily for a few weeks. 3. Weeds are also plants that are most active in early spring and late fall. Because of this, it's the most effective time of year to fertilize or treat for weeds. Hot, dry summer months are tough enough on most lawns, that doing extensive weed killer or fertilizer can burn the lawn. However, if you use your sprinkler system it should stave off anything too bad. 4. Water either late at night, or early morning. If you water mid-day, then most of the water evaporates before the lawn can use it. 5. Your lawn needs to breathe. If it's hard when you walk on it (like a thin rug on top of concrete), and the grass is patchy or thin your soil is probably compacted. Aeration in late fall will allow air to circulate into the soil over the winter and the lawn will come back healthier in the spring.

^^ This... what he said.

I never aspired to be a yardman by any means but still learning.

Opinions vary on weed n feed. I use Vigoro, broadcast applied in late April, early morning w/ dew on the grass, no rain forecast for 2-3 days. I've burnt grass before w/ late application, early May is my cutoff now. I'll keep using Vigoro because result.

Prior to W&F I dethatched w/ a tow behind and swept the yard. Holy E36 M3 the mother berkeley. It brought up over 6X the mulched clippings and leaves than a regular cut and sweep. No more brown either. Prolly dethatch every spring now.

I probably should aerate but that's another piece of yard equipment that won't fit in the garage.

Not a show lawn by any means, just keeping up w/ the neighbors and not getting carried away w/ it as I need to bring in a Bobcat and level the yard, it has that ~~~~~ look. Will need topsoil then and seeding too.

Oh, cut high too, at least 5/6 on mower deck. Sweep after every cut also.

T.J. wrote: My front yard is as much sand as it is grass. Without getting a dumptruck of decent soil, which would wash away in a downpour and end up in the street. I've concluded that it will just be sand. Of course, I live near the beach, so a sandy yard is fairly typical in my neighborhood.

This is us too. Yet it surprises me the extent a few neighbors go through to actually get a decent looking lawn. Of course they have less trees/more sun than we do, so I wouldn't have a chance even if I wanted to - which I definitely don't.

LuxInterior wrote:

RevRico wrote: I just pay a guy $60 every 2 weeks during not winter to come out and handle everything. Much easier.

I want to learn to do it the, uh... Grassroots way

Goats, sheep, a cow

RevRico wrote:

LuxInterior wrote:

RevRico wrote: I just pay a guy $60 every 2 weeks during not winter to come out and handle everything. Much easier.

I want to learn to do it the, uh... Grassroots way

Goats, sheep, a cow

But, I already know how to make a lawn look like a cattle drive has been through it.

Apparently goats are very good at clearing brush and scrub from the woods around the house.

The problem with having a nice lawn is having to take care of it. When we moved into our present house it had "green stuff" growing in the front yard. Needed to be mowed once every month or so. It looked just better than horrible and hurt to walk on barefoot. All the neighbors had nice soft grass growing in their yards. Soooo, we dug up the yard, paid a stupid amount of money for some loam (pretty dirt), an irrigation system and hired a lawn care company to keep it green. It needed to be mowed every 5-7 days. I don't like mowing lawns, I have better things to do. So then we hired a guy to come mow the lawn every other week. If you don't want to spend your waking hours messing with treatments, mowers, etc. leave it the way it is and just water it moderately. Last year we stopped the lawn care guy, grass is still green. The people around here (MA) tell me grass needs about an inch of water a week. I have my system set to water 15 minutes every third day. Good luck being green can be a lot of work.

Often times your county extension office or a local college will actually test your soil for fees ranging from free to a pittance. The test results will tell you exactly what you have, and usually what you can do to make it more ideal for whatever you are growing for a lawn.

Think of it as a compression test for the lawn engine. You can do a lot and get decent results without the test, but knowing the results first can allow you chart the best course for the long term.

What product would the hive recommend to grow grass on a fresh trench line that runs under two massive oak trees that block sun light? This section has no grass, just dirt.

Paul

Dusterbd13 wrote: Transmission fluid kills grass???? Awsome!

Tim, Margie, I know it seemed like a great idea, but you might not want to buy the domain www.grassrootslawncare.com after all.