Lawn Experts Please Help

[bigfry]

Hi guys

 

With this bow closure it's given me some time to think about/plan to get my lawn up to par. I want it to be the nicest lawn in the neighbourhood!

 

I just moved into 20 year old home a month ago and now that the interior renos are coming to a close the lawn needs a lot of work. The previous owner was old so didn't really take care of it. It gets sun all day so it has the potential to really look nice.

 

I understand that getting a lawn thicker, greener and without weeds will be a couple year long project.

 

Any advice on a schedule for fertilizing/aeration/topping/overseeding?

 

What should I use for weed control? There is a tonne of them. I saw some at cad tire but seems like it's spot treatment. If I went that route it would take me two days to finish my front yard. There has gotta be an easier way.

 

What kinda fertilizer should I use? I heard that more nitrogen will get my grass that deep green?

 

Also in my back yard I'm getting sprouts from the neighbours tree. I don't know if it's from the roots sprouting or from seed but it's terrible. Is there any way to prevent this?

 

I'm sure there must be someone who's a pro at tending to their lawn. This is the first time I even thought of doing anything more than mowing and edging it so any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks guys

[Tungsten]

I think its called killex,mix with water 6ml to 1 liter of water,kills everything but the grass, including the tree saplings.No it wont kill the tree.Mix in a spray bottle,takes time but it works.

 

Over seed with seed mixed with dirt and water water water do not let it get dry!,fertilizer these days inst very strong I find I'm using a lot more then the good old days of weed and feed.

 

Air rating is also good but pending on who you hire and how new the spikes are.I always water the day before they come so the spikes can get in a little deeper.

[ÜberFly]

The only thing I would add to Mike's formula would be to add a ton of "Play Sand" (buy at Toys r Us - not at a garden centre) mixed in with your seed when you top dress. this will keep the moisture in the soil (all you golfers notice this is what all greens keepers do at golf courses). I do it every 3 - 4 years. I have the best lawn in the neighbourhood (up until Aug - then it usually gets to hot and difficult to keep the moisture around economically - would have to water it a lot [ more then the usual 1/2 in the morning/1/2 hr in the evening] and that would be a lot of $).

 

For weed control I use GreenDrop dad uses Weedman and we are both satisfied with there services. I went this route when all the rentals in the area don't bother with their lawns (weeds) and it negatively influenced our lawn.

 

P

 

 

Over seed with seed mixed with dirt and water water water do not let it get dry!,fertilizer these days inst very strong I find I'm using a lot more then the good old days of weed and feed.

 

Air rating is also good but pending on who you hire and how new the spikes are.I always water the day before they come so the spikes can get in a little deeper.

[Ricinus]

Check to see how much topsoil you have. If it's only a couple of inches you'll never be a great lawn. Sometimes it's best to rip everything up and start anew..

 

Mike.

[Tpetey]

Don't over water it, make the lawn work for it's water. When you do water, do it like once a week, once every couple weeks but let the sprinkler run for a good 2 or 3 hours, don't just give it a light spray, that's terrible for the roots. I've got the best lawn in the neighborhood, it's seen a sprinkler twice this year. I aerate yearly and fertilize with Scott's in the spring and Scotts fall stuff in the fall.

[bigfry]

Hey Mike, thanks for the advice. For this killex, do you spot spray or your spraying the whole entire lawn?

 

Can anyone recommend a good company to aerate for next year, and how much does this cost normally? when do you guys normally aerate? and I assume that I can topdress right after aerating?

 

also for seeds that you guys mix in with top dress, what kind do you use? I was looking at the scotts turf builder (expensive but I hear nothing but great review of this product)

 

how many often do you guys reseed? I heard that I would need to do this a couple times during the summer to get a nice thick lawn.

 

as for fertilizing. is there a particular mixture and brand that works better (is stronger) than others?

 

Ricinus: I was planning to take a core this week and what I got for materials below the grass. i think ripping everything up and starting new is out of the question and the budget. I thought top dressing adds thickness to the topsoil?

 

thank you guys all th ehelp,

 

next year we should have a FFC lawn off. everyone post pics and see whos got the best lawn.

[Sage]

Another vote for Weedman, I'm in year three with them. Like that they always phone day prior to let me know they will be dropping by.

 

I aerate later in the Fall (not Spring). You get deeper plug as ground is totally thawed and Fall rains and snow melt get down to the roots for a quick start in the Spring.

 

I overseed my grass each year in May. I buy my seed at Costco and believe it's Scotts with great results. Will add play sand as UberFLy has suggested....good idea

[Ricinus]

Bigfry,

 

Topdressing can work well, but make sure you don't change the grading of your lot and start having basement water issues. Lots of options depending on your situation.

 

Mike

[flyfishfairwx]

Tear it up and pave it , paint it green and then go fishing!!

 

I jest!! think about a drought hardy alternative ?

[Ricinus]

I jest!! think about a drought hardy alternative ?

 

Really good idea!! Also lawns are not wild life friendly, basically a green desert.. Xeriscaping an area is a great alternative. Plus you'll probably be the only one in the neighborhood..

 

Mike

[bigfry]

I was wanting to pave it all and turn it into a huge driveway so I have more room for boats that I wanna buy. the commander shut that down right quick. apparently we need a lawn so the daughter can play on it, I guess playing on a new boat is nto good enough

[flyfishfairwx]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/goodbye-grass-lawn-free-living-in-alberta-1.3187559

 

Check this out..

[BigFoamy]

Dont over seed (sod if you can), it takes to long and doesnt take unless you get the seed into the ground. If you must, aerate first, then top dress, with you're seed, soil and fertilizer all mixed together, then rake it into the aeration holes (broom or rake). dont over water, you'll blow your mixture to of the holes. Lightly, let it soak in then lightly again, repeat! Get your fert down amnd do as the package would state, you can't go wrong with Scotts brand, tis what they do. Imo, you would be wise to aerate right now and get that seed in the ground, with your top soil and fertilizer. you'll want to check into which one to use, its different at this time of year and towards the fall. Next spring get fert down early and everything you put down this year should grow, then and the end of june early july, repeat the whole entire process.

 

Put down and Weed and Feed combo, they work well. Ive had luck with them.

[Tungsten]

I just spot spray the killex. If yours is real bad then maybe one of those you attach to your hose might work. Regular seed not the exspencive Scott's or whatever it's called ,stuff with the cocanut bark, it's says right on package contains only 20% seed.

For spot seeding I cover with burlap that I have to cover my ceadars ,when it starts to grow remove. You can water right over.

 

[bigfry]

hey guys u are all awesome, so much helpful tips..

 

can anyone recommend a good reasonably priced aeration company.

 

thanks everyone

[Ricinus]

You can rent a machine and do it yourself. Pretty easy if you're try too save a bit..

 

Mike

[northfork]

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned either but power raking in the spring is crucial also. You can do this by hand if you have a day and a lot of elbow grease to burn, or you can pick up a different blade attachment at canadian tire for your push mower with rubber tines on it. Basically this will remove all of the litter from the year before, which is crucial in the spring as it will allow more moisture into the root system and will help with your grass development and filling in if you're trying to repair it.

[bigfry]

hey guys thanks for all the help, so a little update

 

last year i just buzzed the lawn as short as i could so i wouldn't have to see all the weeds growing on the lawn.

 

This year what kicked off my lawn was those guys rolling around asking to aerate, how could i turn down such a good deal

 

April 9 - Aerated the lawn

April 15 - Topdressed with a nice loam and compost mix and over seeded with a scotts coated seed (i put a whole costco bag down)

April 30 - Fertilized with Scotts Green Max (no weed control)

 

Since top dressing have been watering all zones 5 times a day at 5 min cycles to keep it moist.

 

my lawn today the WEEDS exploded. there is not much i can do because my new grass is still so short and new. its taking a long time for the grass to outgrow the topdressing

 

i tried using the spot Killex but it will literally take me 2 weeks to spray every individual one.

 

im so temped to just rip out all the old grass and redo the sod.

 

so my questions are:

 

whats the best product to spot treat each weed. something thats super effective.

does anyone have any of the good stuff left over that i can buy from you.

[fishinglibin]

Shouldn't have cut the grass too short. It can let the weeds take over. Sodded last summer and kept the grass at highest cut level on the mower about 3 inches. That holds water best and dev the roots best. Also put fertilizer on the ground under the sod before laying it. I have thick grass and no weeds. Doing the back yard nex. I bought sod from Chinook Sod Farm by Aldersyde and couldn't be happier.

[BigFoamy]

hey guys thanks for all the help, so a little update

 

last year i just buzzed the lawn as short as i could so i wouldn't have to see all the weeds growing on the lawn.

 

This year what kicked off my lawn was those guys rolling around asking to aerate, how could i turn down such a good deal

 

April 9 - Aerated the lawn

April 15 - Topdressed with a nice loam and compost mix and over seeded with a scotts coated seed (i put a whole costco bag down)

April 30 - Fertilized with Scotts Green Max (no weed control)

 

Since top dressing have been watering all zones 5 times a day at 5 min cycles to keep it moist.

 

my lawn today the WEEDS exploded. there is not much i can do because my new grass is still so short and new. its taking a long time for the grass to outgrow the topdressing

 

i tried using the spot Killex but it will literally take me 2 weeks to spray every individual one.

 

im so temped to just rip out all the old grass and redo the sod.

 

so my questions are:

 

whats the best product to spot treat each weed. something thats super effective.

does anyone have any of the good stuff left over that i can buy from you.

 

 

Those guys that come around to aerate are the worst. My background is horticulture and turf management. Do yourself a favour and dont use them. They're machines are dirty and contaminated with "THE STUFF FROM EVERYONES YARD THEYVE DONE PREVIOUS/WEEDS, DOG *hit, ROOTS AND STUFF THAT YOU DONT HAVE IN YOUR YARD" just saying. If they dont have a pressure washer on site and offer to clean their machine first, its a contaminated machine. These guys are just weeds spreaders. Quack/crab grass is the worst, you really can't get rid of it without major steps taken. These guys just spread it around the neighbourhood. They just run the equipment, most of them aren't even sure why their doing it other than they get paid.

 

Fertilize with weed and feed. it will feed your lawn while killing your weeds, it works!

 

Killex DOES NOT kill everything but you're lawn. It kills dandelions great, after 15 years on the golf course thats about it. That said, dandelions go away on their own after awhile. Killex doesn't kill your grass. Its great if you have lots o dandies and want them gone!!

 

Quack/crab grass is a problem and the #1 reason I wouldn't lets this guys in my yard. If you've got it and want it gone. You basically have to dig down 3'-4' and start your yard from scratch again or use use Round Up and then fix your lawn after it dies too. Be Careful, Round Up kills everything it touches!!! Its very effective. Im the guy that uses a kids paint brush and strokes individual blades of it to try and keep it from coming into my yard. Either one of my neighbours knows anything about yard maintenance, or one form of grass or weed to another.

[fishinhogdaddy]

One caution about weed and feed. It will kill your trees if you use it around them.

FHD

[bigfry]

Those guys that come around to aerate are the worst. My background is horticulture and turf management. Do yourself a favour and dont use them. They're machines are dirty and contaminated with "THE STUFF FROM EVERYONES YARD THEYVE DONE PREVIOUS/WEEDS, DOG *hit, ROOTS AND STUFF THAT YOU DONT HAVE IN YOUR YARD" just saying. If they dont have a pressure washer on site and offer to clean their machine first, its a contaminated machine. These guys are just weeds spreaders. Quack/crab grass is the worst, you really can't get rid of it without major steps taken. These guys just spread it around the neighbourhood. They just run the equipment, most of them aren't even sure why their doing it other than they get paid.

 

Fertilize with weed and feed. it will feed your lawn while killing your weeds, it works!

 

Killex DOES NOT kill everything but you're lawn. It kills dandelions great, after 15 years on the golf course thats about it. That said, dandelions go away on their own after awhile. Killex doesn't kill your grass. Its great if you have lots o dandies and want them gone!!

 

Quack/crab grass is a problem and the #1 reason I wouldn't lets this guys in my yard. If you've got it and want it gone. You basically have to dig down 3'-4' and start your yard from scratch again or use use Round Up and then fix your lawn after it dies too. Be Careful, Round Up kills everything it touches!!! Its very effective. Im the guy that uses a kids paint brush and strokes individual blades of it to try and keep it from coming into my yard. Either one of my neighbours knows anything about yard maintenance, or one form of grass or weed to another.

 

do you think its okay to put down some weed n feed if i already spread some scotts green max fertilizer down a week ago?

 

i heard your not supposed to use a weed n feed on overseeded lawns for a couple cuts?

 

the more i google the more i hear about this stuff called par 3 does anyone have any of this they wanna sell me?

[lad]

Par 3 or similar is the way to go for sure. Best thing going if your target is broad leaf weeds like dandelions. Give each weed a very slight spray with a container with a pump to pressurize and in a couple days they are dead. 73 mls/ gallon(very inexpensive to use) is good but if you make it stronger it will kill your grass too or stuff like quack grass... Keep the lawn as healthy as possible and cut low and you will choke out the quack grass over time too. Irrigation systems are very efficient users of water and make for a healthy lawn so if its an option do it. The companies that spray lawns now are not nearly as effective as they once were because of not being able to use 2,4-d in residential areas. Millions of gallons of herbicde with 2,4-d like Par 3 are currently used in agriculture and of course heavily used at the golf courses in your area but is not now sold to home owners so find someone with an acreage or farm to get it. Dont use it if you think its going to rain with in a couple of days. Just use it in a responsible manner and read the directions.

[bigfry]

thanks lad will definitely be picking up some par 3 shortly here. if anyone has any for sale i will buy! please pm me

 

but this weekend i waged war against these dandelions.

 

Friday i came home with one of the weed removal tools. i basically aerated my back yard one hole at a time, removing each flowering dandilion and bagging each one.

 

i sprayed each remaining leaf and left the lawn alone.

 

Saturday morning there was no change. i noticed some dandilions ready to flower or a few days from flowering so i manually picked all the flowers off and bagged them (i fgure this would save more dandilions from growing next year)

 

i went and put my mower on the highest setting and mulched the clippings.

 

after that i sprayed down each one of the thousands of weeds left, i thought it would be a good time because the tops of the weeds were cut open from the mow, i picked up some new stuff called weed be gone, i also bought some concentrate and increased the ready mix concentrate by a little. hopefully by the time i get home it they will be dying.

 

after that i put more seeds down around the bare spots still left from top dressing before. after the seeds were down i sprinkled some top soil i had left on top and a few hours later it rained.

 

we shall see.

[TroutPanther]

thanks lad will definitely be picking up some par 3 shortly here. if anyone has any for sale i will buy! please pm me

 

but this weekend i waged war against these dandelions.

 

Friday i came home with one of the weed removal tools. i basically aerated my back yard one hole at a time, removing each flowering dandilion and bagging each one.

 

i sprayed each remaining leaf and left the lawn alone.

 

Saturday morning there was no change. i noticed some dandilions ready to flower or a few days from flowering so i manually picked all the flowers off and bagged them (i fgure this would save more dandilions from growing next year)

 

i went and put my mower on the highest setting and mulched the clippings.

 

after that i sprayed down each one of the thousands of weeds left, i thought it would be a good time because the tops of the weeds were cut open from the mow, i picked up some new stuff called weed be gone, i also bought some concentrate and increased the ready mix concentrate by a little. hopefully by the time i get home it they will be dying.

 

after that i put more seeds down around the bare spots still left from top dressing before. after the seeds were down i sprinkled some top soil i had left on top and a few hours later it rained.

 

we shall see.

Sounds like you earned enough wife points for a whole weekend of fishing