VN Lawn Experts

#26
#26
SergeantVol said:
Oh I am in southern Mississippi to. So lots of heat, humidity, and torrential downpours.
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There are now three types of grasses.

Tall grasses that grow from a seed, (like standard fescues) and make a clump, which gets a little larger over a few years, but will not grow into bald spots. Last, but most important for you is the tall grasses, as a rule, don't like your climate. There may be exceptions now.

The second are rhyzomatic creepers. Like Creeping Red Fescue, Zoysia, and Bermuda. Rhyzomatic grasses do better in deep southern climates. Because they shoot out roots under the lawn surface, form a nodule-the rhyzome-that then grows the blades above the surface, form new rhyzomes again, and thereby spreading. They can cover bald spots if the soil is prepared. They also are good for stabilizing soil subject to heavy rain.

The third type is actually a cross between the tall fescues and rhyzomatic creepers and claims of rhyzomatic action for fescues are made. May be too early to tell with these varietys. I've not had good results because my back injury prevented me from doing my own yard work the last two years.

It's best to get in touch with the ornamentals and lawns department of your closest university that does lawn seed trials and ask what variety of rhyzomatic grass will work best for your location. Find out what prep you need to do, when to plant, sprig or seed, and how much nurturing the early lawn needs.

Looking at your pics of your yard, I believe you need to aerate. Your can rent an aerator for about $50 a day.
Do this and seed or sprig. Make sure your soil is damp before running the machine over it a few times. This allows the machine to penetrate to full depth and pull about a 3 inch plug. Dry soil can refuse the tines after half an inch or even less, making rental throwing money away. Grass roots need oxygen, and the fines in soils can aggregate to for a barrier to atmospheric penetration of the soil surface and aeration breaks the hardpan. The plugs will break up and disapear, but the lawn benefits are huge. If you decide to seed, use a slit seeder as they provide maximum germanation.

I'd be tempted to Roundup the yard, cover it with soil amendments recommended by your local Ag Agent, till those in as deep as the tiller goes and start over.
 
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#27
#27
i'm going to have to redo my yard this spring,I'm waiting on getting some grade work done in the front yard and a over ran gully fixed in the back yard ,but that is up in the woods and is a major pain right now :)

i guess I shouldn't be making jokes,but i will chug a bunch of water tonight and find a spot and a unused spot :)
 
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#28
#28
What's the best weed killer that won't hurt my "good" fescue? Mowed my lawn too low late last fall and then sprayed Round Up on the bits of Bermuda and HELLO WEEDS!!!
 

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#29
#29
https://www.bayeradvanced.com/find-a-product/lawn-care/all-in-one-lawn-weed-crabgrass-killer

Before my back went out I used this stuff and my lawn looked like a commercial.

When I had to use a lawn service my yard went to the dogs. Changed service, and it went to h3!!.

KNOW THIS: There are four kinds of weed prevention.

1: Pre-emergent herbicides
A--Stand alone
B--Included with fertilizer

Pre-emergents should be "on the ground before soil temps ever have a chance to reach 65°" which starts germination. The pre-emergent makes a chemical layer in the surface of the soil that, when seeds begin to germinate, blocks certain germinating processes and prevents the shoots from emerging. They can last up to 90 days before soil micro organisms break them down.

2.Systemic killers that kill or damage every plant and weed they touch. .. like Roundup original. Breaks down in soil in a few days to a couple of weeks. Use only on weeds or to kill the whole lawn and start over.

3.Season long prevention for use in spots where you want nothing to grow...like driveway cracks, or a graveled pull off for parking a boat or camper.

4. Selective systemic herbicides, like the liquid Bayer herbicide that kills weeds but not turf grass like I've linked here.

There are probably other combinations I've not seen used regularly.

I like the hose end sprayer liquid weed killers far better than the "weed & feed" pelletized for broadcast spreaders for several reasons.

Pros for the hose end are:
1) lightweight
2) It coats the blades, and good contact is made all over the weed, so the systemic action that "kills the weed, not the grass" works well.
3) Dry in one hour and is already inside the plant, rain then only helps dispersion throughout, down to the root.
Cons:
1) If you have water pressure more than the bottle sprayer is rated for, it can blow the nozzle off and the bottle hits the ground without a lid losing your weed killer. But ... just get an in line hose bib threaded pressure regulator and all is good. (Home Depot or Lowes)

Pros of pelletized:
1) Feed turf at same time.
Cons
1) In the Weed and Feed type most of the volume in the bag is fertilizer so the fewer herbacide pellets MUST MAKE CONTACT with some part of the weed to work. So you gotta wet the lawn first, then you've got a mess on your boots, spreader wheels, & pants cuffs to deal with.
2) Even after wetting, I never got as good of results with pellets as hose end.
 
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#30
#30
I have a question for the lawn expert chemist types.

We all pretty much like to use pelletized fertilizers because of the ease of using a cyclone spreader.

And, I believe, most manufacturers bind the nutrients in some sort of salt to be able to get the turf nutrients into pellets.

My questions are:

Do the salts build up in the soil over time?

Are they harmful to turf soil in the long run?

Is there a way to add a soil amendment that minimizes the negative effects of these salts, if any?

What fertilizer minimizes or completely excludes the use of binding salts?
 
#31
#31
VolNRaleighNC said:
What's the best weed killer that won't hurt my "good" fescue? Mowed my lawn too low late last fall and then sprayed Round Up on the bits of Bermuda and HELLO WEEDS!!!
Click to expand...

2-4d brother. Over seed after 10-14 days. Fertilize it.

Honestly from what your pics show, most of those weeds will die out after temps break 90.
 
#32
#32
VolNRaleighNC said:
What's the best weed killer that won't hurt my "good" fescue? Mowed my lawn too low late last fall and then sprayed Round Up on the bits of Bermuda and HELLO WEEDS!!!
Click to expand...

You might give Bayer Bermudagrass controller a shot next time instead of Round Up. It is safe for use in fescue lawns so it won't kill every living thing.
The next step up would be to try Ornamec 170 but it's not cheap and it's not available in most stores, only a few online stores including Amazon.
 
#34
#34
VolNRaleighNC said:
What's the best weed killer that won't hurt my "good" fescue? Mowed my lawn too low late last fall and then sprayed Round Up on the bits of Bermuda and HELLO WEEDS!!!
Click to expand...

Most of that looks like chick weed to me. 2,4D like Obsessed recommended will take care of it, but like he said it can't take the heat and will be gone at the start of summer.
 
#35
#35
Getting ready to overseed my yard today. Here's what's on the menu.

1. De-rocking the soil. Got some big rocks to get rid of.
2. Mow on lowest setting.
3. Rake up clippings.
4. Wet the bare spots and use rake to loosen up the top part of the soil.
5. Overseed with Tall Fescue brand bought at local Ag Co-op.
6. Use Black Kow as a top spread to cover the seeds and give them some more nutrients to help grow.
7. Water well every 2-3 days. The Black Kow is going to retain more moisture than just overseeding and watering everyday without it.

I will do my best to post pics of the project.
 
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#36
#36
g8terh8ter_eric said:
Getting ready to overseed my yard today. Here's what's on the menu.

1. De-rocking the soil. Got some big rocks to get rid of.
2. Mow on lowest setting.
3. Rake up clippings.
4. Wet the bare spots and use rake to loosen up the top part of the soil.
5. Overseed with Tall Fescue brand bought at local Ag Co-op.
6. Use Black Kow as a top spread to cover the seeds and give them some more nutrients to help grow.
7. Water well every 2-3 days. The Black Kow is going to retain more moisture than just overseeding and watering everyday without it.

I will do my best to post pics of the project.
Click to expand...

Solid plan!
Top spread is an excellent idea. In addition to nutrients and moisture this will prevent birds from feeding on the seed as well as help keep the seed in place during watering or rain.
 
#37
#37
The start of the project.

yard.jpg


yard2.jpg
 
#41
#41
I've apparently got powdery mildew in my backyard. First time I've ever seen this. I first thought it was overspray from one of my neighbors painting a fence or something. I saw it earlier this spring but brushed it off as a fluke. Most things I read about it say not to treat it to just cut the grass high and it will subside when the weather gets warmer. When I ran over dense spots with the mower it would create this little cloud of dust.
 
#42
#42
is that the cement pond or a garden spot Eric ?

my friends dad gave up on a pool and turned it into a garden,it was nice with the cement walk way around it and it was fenced in from the critters too :)
 
#47
#47
DyronNix said:
Is this a good time to aerate my yard or should that be done in the fall?
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Typically Sept-Oct time frame is when I try to aerate/overseed. I've never done it in the spring but temps are probably starting to get too warm now and would probably not promote new grass growth too well without some serious TLC. I'm not an "expert" but if I did it in the spring I'd say to do it by early March.
 
#48
#48
I'm going put out some weed and feed. Is that a good idea?
 
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#50
#50
jp1 said:
Unless you have put down a pre-emergent. What's your thoughts Obsessed?
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We have done it many times through out the year. Every lawn is a little different.

Most of the time, when done in the spring, it's for over seeding purposes. If you havent put down a pre-emergent, you will be ok.
 
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