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Showing posts with the label #lawngoals

Winter Lawn Domination Line And Potential Bed Extension - February 2020

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I posted (in jest) last September a look at what Allyn Hane calls the 'domination line' in our front yard showing the fruit of the efforts of tending to the turf look like after most of a season.  Back in September, you can tell that the grass that I had fed over the season appeared darker.  Today, I'm posting a photo that I took recently to add to the [ garden diary ] of what our front yard grass/turf looks like after a rough Winter.  I'm including the 'domination line' as a way to see the difference in my grass over time.  The photo above is shot from the sidewalk toward the house with my yard on the right side.  The brown-est part in the middle of the photo (closer to the bed) is also the 'highest spot' in that area.  So, I'm not certain that it has to do simply with feeding or if the contours or grade of the yard is involved, too.  I have a gutter that comes out in the area of the bed near the house that runs each time it rains and the I

Lawn Care 2020 Calendar + 2019 Lookback

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The post I created about Wild Onion removal a few days ago made me realize that I have to get my thoughts together on a 2020 lawn care plan.  In order to do that, I thought it would be valuable (for me) to collect what I did last year so I can determine what I want to do this year. For reference, I have a cool season lawn made up of Kentucky Bluegrass.  I cut the front long  all season and the back is done shorter with my Husqvarna Automower . If last year was my *first* year of digging in and working the turf on my own, this year, I'm going to try to learn from my mistakes ( burning with fertilizer ) and successes (not pushing the lawn too much with food) and continue on my path towards 100% non-synthetic applications.  Because of the Creeping Charlie, I'm not certain that I'm going to get there this year, but we'll see. 2019 Lawn applications/treatments by Season Spring: April:  Bought as much Milorganite as I could find:  8 bags .  32# bags. April:  Bega

Preparing For My Spring Battle: Wild Onions

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Is it too early to be thinking about Spring lawn care and turf treatments?  I don't think so.  I need to put together my full annual timetable for the lawn.  But, before I do that, I wanted to post that establishes my main Spring lawn enemy. Mid-April is one of the first milestones - at least based on last year's temperature:  that's when I put down pre-emergent on the lawn - mostly focused on crabgrass and other broadleaf/grass leaf weeds .  Last year, that was followed by a large-scale attack on something that we have present ALL OVER our backyard:  wild onions .  In late April, I documented how I was going around and attempting to dig out the full clumps of bulbs .  My turf was pockmarked with holes from the extraction all Summer.  Come September, I used the soil temperatures to my favor and threw down some seed and soil in these holes and it germinated pretty fast .  I seem to have managed the crabgrass piece of turf care and I'll likely follow the same setup

Lawn Equipment: Groundskeeper II Thatch Rake

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Over the years, I've done a few [Christmas Haul] posts that show off some of the things that people have gifted me for the yard and garage and shop.  This year, my first "haul" post (despite not being labeled that in the title) was this heated bird bath post from my mother-in-law.  Today, is another gift, but from my Sister-in-Law:  this rake called " The Groundskeeper II ". I came across it on someone in the lawn care community YouTube channel (wish I could remember who it was?  But, just search [Groundskeeper II rake] on YT and you'll find plenty of review posts). What is it? It is a rake.  Yep.  A rake.  But, it is a thatch rake.  And it is unique in design.  Here (below) is the rake laying in the ground in our yard.  You can see that I pulled up a little dead grass in the photo, too.   The Groundskeeper II has a couple of stickers on the handle that talk up the value prop of the tool: 1.  Easy on your back.  2.  Self-cleaning

Winter Grass Damage From Snow Removal - Winter 2019

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We had a weird Fall this year - with some warm temperatures then cold temperatures then back to warm.  And then there was the early November snow event that came when many of the trees in our neighborhood still had almost all of their leaves on the limbs.  That caused a bunch of snow damage including taking down a good-sized major limb from one of the big Oak trees in our backyard .  When I say 'good-size', I'm talking about 40+ years old.  Check out the photos in the post to see the growth rings . But that tree damage was just one part of the lasting impact on the yard.  The other you can see in this photo above.  When the snow arrived, I did like I do pretty often:  created a little path out back for Lizzie.  If I don't make her a little path, she doesn't get out in the yard to do her business very easily.  Yes...she's a wimp.  Through and through. And...I also normally cut or shovel a path that gets us to our bird feeder so we can fill it in the mornin

Fall Milorganite Feeding - Kentucky Blue Grass Northern Illinois

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This photo is a week or so late, but putting it down here in the [ garden diary ], so I remember that I 'threw it down' late this Fall.  I put one bag of Milorganite out on the front yard (all three parts) on Thanksgiving Day this year.  That makes what I'd call two (2) Fall feedings this year including the Sunday Beta granular program that I participated in earlier this year (October).  And all in, this is the 5th feeding (4 Milorganite, 1 Sunday) in addition to 1 Humic Acid, 2 iron and 1 calcium applications.  Application #1 of Milorganite around Memorial Day this year.   An application of granular Humic Acid in June this year .  Application #2 of Milorganite was around the 4th of July this year  (spoon-fed) Application #1 of Ironite (to the front) at the end of July this year .  Application #2 of Ironite (to the front) in August of this year .  An application of Mag-i-Cal to the entire yard in September this year .  Application #3 of Milorganite was around

Final Lawn Lime Application - Fall 2019

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Yesterday, I posted about how I aerated my rear lawn using my neighbor's tractor as part of my fall lawn care duties.  I also threw down a final application of Lawn Lime for the year.  This is focused on trying to make the backyard as inhospitable as possible to the Wild Onion that we have in our backyard .  First application of pelletized Lawn Lime was in late April .  4 40# bags.  160#s. Put down the second application in early August .  4 40# bags.  160#s Used Mag-i-Cal in September - one month later - for third treatment.  1 54# bag.  And now this - in early November - my fourth application of lime.  4 40# bags.  160#s. Four treatments this year.  160 + 160 + 54 + 160 = 534 lbs added to the soil.  That seems like a ton, right?  With the aeration taking place, I'm thinking that this final fourth treatment will be the deepest in terms of intake into the soil.  I'm planning on doing another round of soil tests this coming Spring, so we'll see what happens

Rear Lawn Aeration - Fall 2019

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Last weekend, I was out cleaning up the yard when my neighbor to the south offered his lawn tractor and aerator for my yard.  I had not have had my lawn aerated since we moved in and it is something that I've been wanting to do.  The tractor fit through my back gate and with the help of my neighbor, we hooked up the aerator - which is a tow-behind variety.  With some help, we put the three big bricks on the back and then lowered down the rig to begin to plug some holes. I had to be pretty careful because I didn't want to puncture the wires for my automower, so I stayed away from the perimeter and also tried to avoid the guidewire down the middle of the yard. As for the system, it put in a uniform set of holes across the yard.  Check out the pattern below: And here's a few of the plugs that it pulled and threw around: I wasn't able to do the ENTIRE lawn, but I did most of it.  The hill/incline right near the patio, the very edge and the parts near the ho

Sunday Fertilizer Lawn Nitrogen Burning - Large Yard Beta Test Update

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted the details of how I was participating in the Get Sunday Large Yard Beta Test for fertilizer .  They shipped me a couple of bags of granular product and a large hopper Chapin broadcast spreader.  In that post, I disclosed that I wasn't thrilled with the Chapin spreader - and put down too much of the product in the location I was loading.  From that post : I ended up spreading a little bit too much in one spot. The spreader had a little malfunction (operator error??) so when I was filling it the first time, I ended up dropping A LOT of the product in one place. This Sunday GrowGreen product isn't billed as 'non-burning', so I'm assuming that I'm going to get a big burn spot. I did my best to get as much of the product out of the one spot - first by hand. Then with my blower. Then I watered the heck out of the area to try to saturate the turf with water in a hope that watering it down would do something? We'll see wha

Fall Lawn Spraying - Creeping Charlie - 2019

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This is the first season that I've really paid a lot of attention to the lawn in any sort of meaningful way.  I've posted about it all year, but normally, I just dealt with the length of the grass and that's about it.  Weeds?  Sure.  Fertilizer?  If I remembered.  But, this year, I've upped my cutting and feeding game.  And also, for the first time used some herbicides to tackle the weeds. In the far back of the yards, I had a pretty serious Creeping Charlie issue that is a result of the lawn being untouched since before we moved in our house.  I posted in late May about how I started to use a Blue Spray Pattern Indicator in the sprayer to know where I was putting down the treatment .  I had both Wild Violet and Creeping Charlie running through the yard and the herbicide worked well.  In my mind, the blue pattern indicator additive was part of the reason for the efficacy because I was able to tell both how much and where I was putting it down. This Fall (the past

The Sunday Fertilizer Large Lawn Beta Test - Fall 2019

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If you're like me, and you follow lawn/landscape/gardening people on Instagram, you've likely been targeted with a fertilizer product called Sunday .  They're a 'better lawn' company that can send you - on a schedule - a tailored nutrient plan that is healthy (for kids, pets and the environment), easy (just arrives and you have to apply it) and effective (will keep your turf in a good spot).   That's a really powerful value proposition, right?  I want something that is easy to put down.  Something that works - and keeps my lawn green.  And...importantly....I want it safe for my kids and dog.  I've gone to organic with Milorganite and I don't think I want to go back to a synthetic.   Of all the Direct-To-Consumer 'subscription' services that have popped up, I think the two that meet me right where I am are a furnace filter one and a lawn care/fertilizer one.   Unfortunately, the furnace filter service(s) are tailored to people that ha

Lawn Domination Line in Fall 2019?

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Am I doing this right?  Lol.  That's my lawn on the left and my neighbor to the south on the right.  I LOVE our neighbors, so I'm hesitant to even post this other than trying to get something in the [garden diary] to track in the Spring.  They do a really great job with their lawn and landscape and in fairness, they've had some construction this season and had a big pile of materials laying on top of some of their grass in this section for part of the Summer, so it isn't exactly...ummm...an apples-to-apples comparison.  But...still.... I was struck by the existence of such a ' domination line '.  (Thanks, Allyn!) The turf has some patch-y-ness to it, so my work isn't near done - that's for sure.  But, with this being the first season that I've taken care of the lawn in front myself, I'm happy with the color.  I fed the lawn at Labor Day with a normal dose of Milorganite and then applied some Jonathan Green's Mag-I-Cal after I had do

Fall Seeding: Kentucky Blue Grass - September 2019

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I have always tried to put down grass seed in the Spring.  And have had mixed results.  But, the experts tell you - if you're willing to listen - that the best time to seed your lawn is in the Fall.  They say 60-75 days before the first hard frost in your zone is the ideal time to sow seed in bare spots and to overseed the rest of your lawn.   Why?  Because the soil temperatures are high (70 degrees or so) and the air temperatures are moderate (not too hot, so it won't dry things out).  This is the first season that I've tried this and I'll tell you:  ummmm...it worked?!?!   According to this post, our first frost in Zone 5b is right around October 16th.  That means that 45-60 days ahead of that is between the middle and end of August.  That's when I put seed down.   I used a bag of PURE Kentucky Blue Grass seed.  No other types of grass - and no weeds in the bag per the certification on the bag.  KBG is very slow germinating and my experience t

Feeding Our Lawn With Mag-I-Cal Plus - September 2019

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Starting this Spring and continuing this Summer, I've chronicled my experiences with our lawn and the process, materials and thinking that have gone into it.  This is the first time that I've spent anything more than a passing thought about the turf, the soil and how to best tend to it as the seasons change. Started in Spring with a Wild Onion removal - digging them out. Used a calculator to time my application of pre-emergent Crabgrass preventer (without food!) Started to use an organic fertilizer - Milorganite on the yard - instead of synthetics.  Got serious about my weed spraying with a blue pattern indicator . Then I tested my soil and got a baseline on the front and back .   I added some Ironite (2x) this Summer to keep the lawn green . Cut the front yard higher than I've ever cut in the past.   Earlier this Summer, I bought and spread a big bag of granular Humic Acid . And most recently, I put down a second application of pelletized lime to make the

3.5" to 4" Kentucky Bluegrass Lawn Height - End of Summer 2019

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I have been keeping the grass in front longer than I normally have in the past.  I should say...the *I* and *normally*  here aren't quite fair, as this is the first year that I've been cutting my own front yard after having a service do it the past few seasons.  I wasn't that satisfied with how they were cutting it and after doing a bit of research into the whole turf-building process, I've learned quite a bit and have changed some things. This post is about the length.  You can see that it is somewhere between 3.5" and 4" tall with some blades reaching even higher than that.  But, those blades aren't the normal - and haven't been cut.  Between the low suction on the Ego Self-Propelled mower and having the wheels 'bend' the blades in some cases, there are - on occasion - some blades that are higher than others.   This is Kentucky Bluegrass and I've been mowing it on the second highest setting on the mower.  A month ago, I posted

Using Ironite To Green-Up Without Growth (Late Summer)

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A week ago, I posted some photos of my yard as a way of documenting where I was in the lawn care Summer process and talked about how it was a mixed bag:  the turf appears green to the eye, but when you look closer, it appears that there's some 'melting out' or leaf spot or something else happening below the surface.  Before I post about what I ended up using to try to cure (and, potentially....prevent) that, I wanted to get in the [ garden diary ] a post about Ironite.  I've now put down two treatments of Ironite this season with splitting a bag on the front yard with the first 1/3rd of the backyard.  I put the first one down around Memorial Day and just put the second one down in early August.  What is Ironite?  Well....it is 1-0-1 lawn fertilizer.  But, I think of it more of as a color-agent.  From the Pennington site comes this description : Nothing greens like Ironite Turns yellow to green Provides quick greening Won’t burn For all soil types NPK 1-0-

Early August Front Lawn Check-In (2019)

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This is the first season that I've taken a high degree of interest in our lawn.  This is also the first time that I'm cutting the grass (in the front) by myself.  For the past few seasons, we've used a service to cut the front (while Go-Go - our Automower - cuts the back) and I wasn't ever really pleased with how they worked our lawn.  They came every week, no matter what and that, I think, made for a less-than-ideal lawn for us.  There were some ruts that I fixed this Spring with seed and I think generally, they were cutting it too short and coming EVERY WEEK just to put in the billings.  I get that.  They're running a business.  But, when the price increases came this Spring, I just decided to buy a lawnmower.  My FIRST lawn mower and cut it myself.  The front itself isn't very big (including the parkways and the side strip on the other side of the driveway, we're talking less than 2,500 square feet), so it doesn't take long.  And, once I started t

Milorganite Spill Lawn Burn - Don't Believe the Non-Burning Hype

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I thought this stuff was non-burning?  I'm certain that this is the location of the broadcast spreader when I was loading my bags of Milorganite before the 4th of July.  I would normally not load on the grass, but the whole "non-burning" promise of Milorganite made me believe that it would be fine.  If you look closely, you'll see some black bits laying around.  I've learned my lesson with Milorganite.  Don't believe the label when it says non-burning. Here's a very close-up of the same spot: See the Milorganite in there?  Turns out...it *might* burn your lawn and if you put down too much in one spot... it WILL BURN YOUR LAWN.