Grass

[huntr1]

My yard has NEVER looked this good.

I aerated and seeded last fall, winter fertilized, spring fertilized finally had a pretty yard this spring. Then I killed a 10' wide stripe by putting down a slip and slide for my daughter's birthday at the end of July. The plastic was down for 36 hours and totally killed the grass underneath.

Watered the yard almost daily for most of September and the rest of the yard was looking ok, but the stripe was bare ground. Moles did a number on the yard too. Early September I aerated and put down 50 lbs of K31 seed (cheapest stuff I could find). Watered daily for 3 weeks and then 2 times a week since then. Beautiful green carpet out front now. Even have grass in areas that have NEVER had grass in the 13+ years we've been here.

 

[MR47930]

Same here. We bought our house 2 years ago and grass was not on the previous owners list of important things. I got tired of spending money on grass seed and not having any good growth. I spent an entire weekend in early September scalping the lawn dethatching and hand raking said thatch from entire yard, talk about sore. I assume the previous owners let the grass get real tall and then scalped it due to the amount of thatch I collected. Now that I could see bare dirt I spread 200lbs of high quality seed with fertilizer, watered, watered and watered some more. The weather helped as this is when we had the hurricane scare and got drenched for a few days. Today my yard looks nicer than a golf course and I understand why grumpy old men yell at young kids "get off my lawn!".

Get yourself one of these for the moles. I think I'm up to around 20 KIA in a year.
http://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-BL34152-Mole-Trap/dp/B0043FHXVM

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

Same here. We bought our house 2 years ago and grass was not on the previous owners list of important things. I got tired of spending money on grass seed and not having any good growth. I spent an entire weekend in early September scalping the lawn dethatching and hand raking said thatch from entire yard, talk about sore. I assume the previous owners let the grass get real tall and then scalped it due to the amount of thatch I collected. Now that I could see bare dirt I spread 200lbs of high quality seed with fertilizer, watered, watered and watered some more. The weather helped as this is when we had the hurricane scare and got drenched for a few days. Today my yard looks nicer than a golf course and I understand why grumpy old men yell at young kids "get off my lawn!".

Get yourself one of these for the moles. I think I'm up to around 20 KIA in a year.
http://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-BL34152-Mole-Trap/dp/B0043FHXVM

The plunger-type mole traps look more gruesome, but they work well also.

 

[huntr1]

Get yourself one of these for the moles. I think I'm up to around 20 KIA in a year.
http://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-BL34152-Mole-Trap/dp/B0043FHXVM

The plunger-type mole traps look more gruesome, but they work well also.

I'm actually not complaining about the moles at this time. Where their tunnels were is where the grass first came in because they loosened up the concrete like "soil" I have (high sand and gravel content), and mostly on the slopes, which then managed to slow down the runoff which kept the rest of the seed from washing away before it took.

 

[MR47930]

The plunger-type mole traps look more gruesome, but they work well also.

I have one of those as well the only issue I have with it is if the critters are more than 2 inches underground it has trouble "spearing" them. I don't want to pierce one halfway and let the little guy suffer. This trap snaps their necks in a split second, I presume before they even knew what hit them.

 

[GURPS]

Get yourself one of these for the moles. I think I'm up to around 20 KIA in a year.

the Basinji does a good JOB on the moles, she just tears up the rest of the yard doing it

 

[MR47930]

the Basinji does a good JOB on the moles, she just tears up the rest of the yard doing it

My buddy has one, that thing howls like someone is trying to kill it.

 

[nutz]

Organic enrichment of the soil will do more for long term grass health. Leafgro, manure, etc.

 

[huntr1]

Organic enrichment of the soil will do more for long term grass health. Leafgro, manure, etc.

That would be why I mulch my clippings and have 3 compost bins and a mulch pile to turn organic waste into compost to spread on the yard. However, in the mean time, I will continue to use fertilizer. In the spring I plan to use the ultimate in organic fertilizer, chicken droppings.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

That would be why I mulch my clippings and have 3 compost bins and a mulch pile to turn organic waste into compost to spread on the yard. However, in the mean time, I will continue to use fertilizer. In the spring I plan to use the ultimate in organic fertilizer, chicken droppings.

Doesnt chicken #### burn the grass?

 

[DoWhat]

Cut the grass here yesterday.
Topsoil, compost and slice seed.