What do you all do in the spring to get your lawn ready, which products do you apply and when?

 

have never really used any products, but I'm going to use some sort of fertilizer this year

 

Crabgrass and dandelions don't need anything they just keep coming back every year.

 

I just use scotts weed N feed with broadleaf killer and if we have a fair amount of rain my back yard looks like sod all season.Nothing will work in my front yard I have a very large ceder tree and cant get grass to grow very good there and have tryed every thing ,top soil,lime and all kinds of ferterlizers I guess it has to much acid for grass to grow.

 

I used the scotts and i used the other brand sold in Lowes and it didnt make a difference so i just dont bother

 

Spray the weeds every Spring and Fall. Try and kill the moss, but it's winning.

No more fertilizer, then I'd have to mow every 5 days.

Thanks for reminding me, gotta' go prune the trees before the sap rises more, I'm late already.

 

Throw ammonium nitrate on top of the snow and after it melts the grass will be as green as you have ever seen.

Jim

 

Remember that oddly enough if you're going to sow grass seed - particularly anywhere that Kentucky Bluegrass is preferred, the best time of year to sow is in the fall, not the spring for a number of reasons. I usually try to plant by the signs (this does *not* mean I'm outside at night under the starry skies and a full moon digging around, just that the phases of the moon are adhered to!) One is that the cooler temperatures are perfect for seed germination, a second is that competition with weeds is a lot less.

Anything bigger than a golf divot about the size of your hand generally needs sodding or plugging.

Sharpen your lawn mower blades. It's handy to have 2 or 3 around, a sharp and balanced blade makes the chore of cutting grass much easier. I swap them out about every other week or so during the heavy cutting season. Dull blades shred the grass rather than a clean cut inviting disease entry. No more than about 1/4 to 1/3 of the length of the grass blade should be removed on any one mowing, this is commonly ignored and the lawn goes into shock.

Fairly close, frequent mowing at 90 and 45 degree angles (different directions) encourages the plant to grow more upright and also maintains a pleasing, striped appearance. Set the deck height on the mower carefully so as not to "scalp" the lawn, as weeds will invade those spots. A healthy, dense lawn doesn't really need much in the way of weedkillers and the like.

In general a fairly close cut in the spring will aid in fast greenup, but the lawn should be a bit left a bit longer in the summer. This is a valid excuse so as not to have to mow the lawn too often in the summer!!

Whether or not to water a well established lawn is either a do or don't situation. If you cannot soak the ground thoroughly, it is actually detrimental to the lawn. In some cases, once you start you can't really stop unless the rains are frequent. In the summer, hot, dry weather will cause the lawn to go dormant, though this looks terrible it will bounce right back in the fall when the rains return, if traffic is kept off it. Avoid watering at night or, mid-day when winds are high. Light, frequent waterings encourage shallow root growth and will likely shock-kill it, I see this all the time.

 

I just spread seed and fertilizer on our place and we did the first irrigation of the season. The weeds are already growing around the house. I got the sheep to eat the ones on the west side but they won't eat the ones around the front door or on the east side, I even showed them the weeds, they looked and went back to the west side. They are great automatic lawn mowers, they'll go anywhere I tell them to they just don't always stay.

 

Tedster9,


GREAT post!!!

 

This works for me in Southwest PA:
-Fertilizer with crabgrass preventer in early spring.
-Grub-X Spring (when you get nice grass the grubs eat it)
-Fertilizer with weed control in early summer
-Lime in the fall

 

i don't do anything to mine. around june its about 3 feet tall so i fire the mower up and hack it down. I've got 3 dogs and 2 vehicles in back yard so its pretty much tore to pieces. we've got to many big trees around, the shade kills most the grass off in front, I'd cut the trees down but they keep the house shaded and the ac dosen't have to work as hard.

I'm not a die hard yard man myself, i love working on mowers but i hate mowing the yard.

 

One of my Favourite Stories.

*Note* (This is Not a religious thread, it is only a Funny Story)

Imagine the conversation The Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns:
GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles and stuff I started long 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. They 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 homeowners happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it . . . sometimes even 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 it will grow. And 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 aren't 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. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have they scheduled for us tonight?

ST. 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

 

^^ hahaha


I usually just sharpen the blade on the lawnmower, change oil and throw a new air filter in it. Other than that there is nothing different I do in the spring. I just start mowing as soon as the grass gets long enough.

I think the chem-lawn or true-green or whoever it is starts coming soon too.

 

I try and pick up the sticks that fall outta the trees over the winter (usually means raking them, which gets old in a real hurry), trim up any broken branches from the trees and touch up the bushes. I've been getting some moss growing in the back yard, so I'm looking for something to kill it this spring. Sharpen the blade on the mower, change oil, make sure everything's tight. I generally mow about once a week, whenever I get around to it. I've never been a fan of yardwork, really, so I don't make the place a showplace by any means.