THE OFFICIAL LAWN THREAD

[phylodog]

I think the garden thread has been interesting and useful so I thought I'd start one about lawns. As with gardening, I really don't have any idea what I'm doing but things are improving. Our lawn was a disaster when we moved in 3 years ago and I've been working slowly to bring it around. A new septic system had been installed prior to us purchasing the house so we had a lot of clay on the surface and probably a 50/50 mix of weeds and grass throughout most of the lawn.

In the fall of 2019 I tilled up and tried to smooth out and re-seeded our side yard which is probably 2-2.5 acres, I put down around $800 worth of tall fescue seed. The entire thing became overrun with weeds very quickly but the following spring once the grass was pretty well established I put some herbicide down and it's been slowly improving since. This year I've had an explosion of white clover that I haven't tried to deal with yet. I figure it's green and grows about as fast as the grass does so I've let it go to focus on other projects. I do plan to spray it again in the fall and try to kill as much off as I can then I plan to frost seed next year. The patches of clover have pretty well defined borders in a lot of spots so I may till those up and reseed this fall depending on how much time I have.

Shortly after we bought the house I came here for advice on a mower and Bocefus was a huge help (and has continued to be) and recommended a Gravely. I've got about 135 hours on the mower now and it's been great in spite of my best efforts to destroy it by running over things like big ratchet straps, hoses and extension chords. If and when I need another mower I'll be looking for another Gravely but I'm not convinced that'll happen for another 15 - 20 years, the thing is built like a tank. This was taken shortly after I bought it.

Last year I spread a decent layer of horse manure over our hay field and it was extremely beneficial. I may do the same to the rest of the yard this fall/winter.

Here's a pic of the side yard I took yesterday evening when I was almost finished mowing. It looks 100% better than it did a few years ago but it's still extremely rough. My long term goal is to get the grass established and the weeds eliminated then I want to start scalping the lawn once or twice a year and start applying top dressing to smooth it out. It'll take several years but I'll get done eventually.

So, whatcha got goin on at your place? At our old house I hated mowing, hated the yard and never made any progress with it mostly because there was zero topsoil. Now I'm on a mission but I am going to have a nice lawn eventually. I've been using GrazonNext herbicide which seems to work pretty well and the tall fescue seems to like the ground around here.

 

[tim87tr]

Contrarian here. Grew up mowing a big yard. Been with a push mower minimalist mode for a long time in a wooded area with a couple passes along the driveway. Still takes half hour to mow now that I have some fenced in raised garden beds that added mowing area. Actually just did some Weed and feed for the first time in a couple decades, if that counts as caring. BTW, have some family in Arcadia, just ate 10 West.

 

[1775usmarine]

Decided this year to get a professional to fertilize and apply tick and bug killer on our yard. I did it the first few years after we moved in but with working 3rds and trying to stay on a schedule with everything else going on got hard. Im my opinion it looks like they fogured for our yard is working.


Last year we had a huge oak tree limb fall and knock several other trees and limbs over onto our shed. We cut up as much as we could and have a 30ft limb thats roughly 2ft in diameter at its largest laying almost perfectly where the yard ends before the woods. We then cleared the brush, vines, the few sassafras trees, weeds, and stumps in a 25ft by 100ft area.

This week we bought a tiller. Spent 2 days tilling up the sandy soil to help kill the few weeds that have popped back up. Will see what happens in a month and if needed will re till and apply some 2 4 D to the area.


Eventually we want to plant 2 blueberry bushes for blueberry wine and jelly and she wants elderberry bushes for things she makes for her business.

 

[indyjohn]

We pay Lawn Pride about $50 per visit to come out roughly 5 or 6 times a season (depending if we buy grub treatment or fall aeration). House was built in 1998, was abandoned in 2007 and sat empty until we bought it in 2010. When we got it the yard was rough; weeds and dandelions. The OG insisted that we hire Lawn Pride and we've used them pretty much every year since. I sometimes think about what else I could do with $300 but the lawn is currently in really good shape. I don't water it.

 

[dvd1955]

If anyone mentions the dandelions, I just say “look at all the pretty yellow flowers in my yard“ and then, when the clover comes in I say “look at all the pretty white flowers in my yard “, and “why spend hundreds of dollars each year to buy flowers, when they are free?“ Won't use poisons in my yard. Fortunately most in our neighborhood don't either.

 

[Magyars]

If it's green ( including the "flowers" ) I let it be.
I do more to improve my hay fields than my lawn.

 

[jagee]

 

[Knight Rider]

Someday soon I hope to call it lawn. As for now it’s very expensive dirt.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

I went from mowing our yard that was about an acre and a half to about 20 minutes at our rental. We sold the house and hope to build next year on 48 acres. We have a 9 acre field that a farmer planted a mature mix this spring. We paid him just over 1k to disc the field to chew up corn stubble then plant. He is going to mow, rake, and bale and pay us for the bales. We should make our money back this year. We will continue to have him bale until everyone builds (my oldest stepson and my wife's mom and stepdad). The profits we make will go toward our "pond" fund as we hope to eventually have a 1-2 acre pond.

 

[indyjohn]

If it's green ( including the "flowers" ) I let it be.
I do more to improve my hay fields than my lawn.

If I had hay fields (and the good Lord knows I want them some day) my situation would be the same as yours.

 

[Bill2905]

Prior to us getting married nearly 16 years ago, my wife had a service do the fertilizing and weed control on the lawn here. The lawn always looked great. After I moved in, I thought I would save a few bucks and do my own lawn care routine with Scotts products. In that first Summer, the lawn went to crap and she was not happy. We resumed using a local service the next year and every year since with good results. It's a typical town lot which takes me 30-40 minutes to push mow it and clean up afterward. I have been using the same Lawn Boy mulching mower with a Honda engine for 15 years and it has not missed a beat since day one.

 

[indyartisan]

One thing I have noticed about having some variety in my lawn is the rabbits don’t eat my flowers.

 

[flyingsquirrel]

3/4 of my lawn used to be cornfield. I started mowing the weeds and waalaa. Grass of sorts. I tried to butch it in the heat of summer and it just won't turn brown. Doesn't matter because you can't even see my house from the road.

 

[Leadeye]

Phyloland looks good!

After seeing the logging videos, it's hard for me to imagine indyjohn in the burbs.

 

[indyjohn]

Phyloland looks good!

After seeing the logging videos, it's hard for me to imagine indyjohn in the burbs.

QFT. I have to graduate my youngest son from HS before I can flee this sometimes miserable vinyl prison.

Freshly cut:

 

[DoggyDaddy]

God on Lawns​

Imagine the conversation The Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns:
God: Hey St. Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect "no maintenance" garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

St. Francis: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

God: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

St. Francis: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. The begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

God: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

St. Francis: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it... sometimes twice a week.

God: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

St. Francis: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

God: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

St. Francis: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

God: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

St. Francis: Yes, Sir.

God: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

St. Francis: You are not going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

God: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

St. Francis: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

God: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

St. Francis: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. The haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

God: And where do they get this mulch?

St. Francis: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

God: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. Sister Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

Sister Catherine: "Dumb and Dumber", Lord. It's a real stupid movie about.....

God: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

God on Lawns

richsoil.com

 

[Leadeye]

QFT. I have to graduate my youngest son from HS before I can flee this sometimes miserable vinyl prison.

Freshly cut:
View attachment 144617

The yard does look good though.

Here in the GSF it's hard to get grass to grow well, shallow rock, poor soil and trees.

 

[johntheplinker]

I do the absolute minimum possible. Mow whenever I feel like it, no weed treatment or anything. When I moved in here 20 or so years ago I had about 3 acres of yard, the biggest chunk of it I let go back to nature and cut it down to well less than an acre. I do mulch the cut grass and leaves and that's my fertilizer. The area closest to house gets sprayed for ticks so I can at least walk out to the car and bird feeders without becoming a snack for the little bastards.

 

[NKBJ]

I'm on a learning curve. In southeast Texas grass grows and takes over, spreading new roots and runners and new growth everywhere. Here it... sits.
Except when it dies.

 

[WebSnyper]

I'm on a learning curve. In southeast Texas grass grows and takes over, spreading new roots and runners and new growth everywhere. Here it... sits.
Except when it dies.

Yep, I had similar adjustment coming from FL many years ago.
St. Augustine grass will fill in and run to other areas, not so much here, but you can seed it here (which has its own difficulties).