Why I Oughta...

The scourge of our neighborhood is in peak form right now.  Wild onions - with their waxy, thin green foliage can be spotted in lawns and beds all over our neighborhood.  And they seem to be getting WORSE.  Starting back in 2019, I've conducted an annual removal process of these things.  Some years - much more than others .  But, I've dug up and tossed Wild Onion bulbs every April. I was out cleaning up some of the edges this week and decided to dig some of the bulbs out.  I hate them. Turns out, wild onions are biannuals - they come back every two years .  That means that you REALLY have to be diligent for two consecutive seasons if you want to control them.  As for the lawn vs the beds - I'm coming around on the lawn, but think I'd like to attack them in the beds (especially around the tree swing tree).  

The Wild Onion continues to be a problem.  The clumps of these bulbs are in our lawn and in our beds.  I've worked at them for years - including cultural and herbicide treatments over the years.  I've removed them, sprayed them and attempted to treat the soil to make them less happy.  This Spring, I've lime'd the backyard , sprayed the tips with Tenacity and pulled them out by hand.  This past week, I went into the understory garden bed and used my Hori Hori to pull up a bunch of these jerks.  Below is the orange trug filled up with the bulbs.  What's different in the beds vs the lawn is that it is a bit easier to get the bulbs out without taking more dirt/soil/earth.  I pry up the bulbs, cut the clump and pull from the bottom.   If you have Wild Onions like we do, be SURE TO NOT COMPOST THEM.  These go right in the trash - not the compost pile.   Here's a couple of other Spring 2023 posts on these awful things. 

Last week, I posted a couple of photos showing the 'clumps' of Wild Onions (and their surrounding turf) that I've been digging out of the yard .  Over the years, I've found that the ONLY way to remove these things are to dig them up.   I've taken different approaches over the years in terms of how much soil I 'take' vs what I 'put back'.  This year, I'm trialing a new way to remove the Wild Onions by digging out and NOT pulling the bulbs.   In previous years, I'd use a shovel to dig out a clump that included grass.  Then, I'd sort of 'tear' the clump apart to try to release the bulbs.  And, then...I'd put the clump with the grass on top back in place.   This year, I'm taking the turf, too.  In an attempt to not leave any bulbs behind.  My thought is that the lawn will spread out and fill these spots in this Summer.   I'm also NOT composting these - instead...just tossing them directly in our garbage can.   B...

My lawn enemy - Wild Onions - are just about at their peek in Zone 5 right now.  If you wander around your neighborhood and see patches of dark green, vibrant 'grass', you're seeing one of a couple of things:   It is either: 1.  Dog poop.   2.  An artifact of sub-surface Fall feeding . 3.  Wild onions.    I have a mix of all three. But, the one I'm concerned with right now is #3:  Wild Onions.  And, I've been attacking them every Spring on multiple fronts.  I posted last month about how they had emerged .   This Spring, I laid down Lawn Lime - to help reduce their likelihood.  I've also begun to 'burn' the tips with my torch.  I intend to get a little spray on them this coming week, too. And, finally...I've begun to remove large clumps.  Here, below is a look at one of them: The key to removal is to dig up MORE than you need to - and make sure you get all the bulbs.  See below for a look at ...

Documenting with this photo of the pelletized lawn lime below that I threw down 120 pounds of lime in the backyard.  Both the lawn and the beds.   Yesterday, I shared a photo showing the Wild Onions were back and this is my attempt at systematically treating the soil to make it less hospitable for Wild Onions.   We are/were supposed to get a good-sized storm this weekend, so I wanted to get this down ahead of it so it could begin to be watered in and start to break down.   This is the first step in the lawn program, but I'm watching the soil temp and GDD tools to figure out when I need to move with the pre-emergent crabgrass granules.  

Just two days ago, I published my 2023 lawn care (feeding, amending, treating) schedule (or plan) that included a mix of synthetic and organic fertilizers as well as some amendments, insecticides and herbicides.  In that post - and the photo/post a day earlier , I talked about how part of my approach is focused on (once again) wild onions.  My first application of the year is going to be lawn lime and I'm going to try to get it down this Weekend.   Why?  Well...because my enemy is back.  Already.  Wild Onions are popping up on the first of March.  Here, below is a photo of a little spot in one of my beds showing the tips of these bulbs have arrived. I've posted about my approach to Wild Onion removal, treatment and remediation over the years.  Here's a few posts - one that outlines my process , another post that looks at the correlation to soil temperatures and their appearance , and a look at the pros/cons of yanking them vs treating them ...

Yesterday, I posted some photos of a new organic (biosolid) lawn fertilizer from Menards that is a Milorganite replacement that comes in $10 cheaper per bag.  I mentioned that I was getting started on my 2023 lawn care program and bought a few products to get started.  Before I talk about the first application of lawn food I'm going to put down, I intend to start with a soil amendment.  Over the years, I've applied pelletized lime to our backyard in an attempt to change the makeup of the soil.  Why?  To help make the lawn a less-hospitable place for Wild Onions to grow .  I've fought those jerks every Spring - with both removal and lime application. Does lime do anything?  I'm not sure.  But, it isn't expensive, so my not throw the stuff down - if it can help, right? It seems that I haven't put Lime down since 2021 - skipping last year.  Or...I didn't post about it, at least. Here's what I'm putting down this year in the backyard:  thr...

Everyone has a landscape enemy.  For some, it is Creeping Charlie or Clover.  For others, it is Garlic Mustard Weed.  For others, it is Wild Violets or Plantain Weeds.   Or Nutsedge.  Or Purslane.  I have ALL OF THOSE.  But, they're not my enemy.   I have one weed that bothers me more than any other.  Because it is both everywhere and nowhere.  And I have so much trouble removing.   It is the Wild Onion .   And I've been on a multi-year crusade to eradicate it from my yard.  Yet, I can't tell if I'm winning the battle.  Here - below - is the very latest of the scourge that I yanked out of the backyard. I have - so far - filled up a five gallon bucket of these Wild Onion bulbs and A LOT of soil that came out when I yank'ed them out.   I've been at this for (now) three seasons.  Started in 2019 when I started to pull them out .  Then, I went at it again last year with remova l. I...

Our Home Depot is doing curbside pickup with online orders, so I put through an order for some lawn care products including pelletized lawn lime and (wait for it....) ten bags of Milorganite.  Yeah...it seems like they've figured out their supply chain issues this year?  Our local Home Depot is showing over 600 bags in inventory right now.  Based on my 2020 plan , I need 18 bags for the season, so perhaps I should buy the balance and store them (hoard them) for a few months.  Also, based on the 2020 lawn plan , I outlined a 4 bag application of lawn lime to the back in Mid-April.  You can't get any *more* Mid-April than April 15th, right?  That's a bag of the stuff from Home Depot (curbside FTW.) in the Chapin spreader that I was sent last Fall.  Mark it down.  Lawn lime applied.    #5 on the 2020 to-do list was to continue to wage battle against the Wild Onions .  This lawn lime is *supposed* to help do just that.  ...

I was out in the far back of our yard yesterday and I saw some brand new, bright green growth.  I knew immediately what I was looking at:  the first instance of Wild Onions for the year.  I know it won't be the last.  If you've followed along, you know that Wild Onions in my yard are public enemy #1.  They've achieved that status due to their prolific nature (they are EVERYWHERE), the fact that I can combat them in early Spring when there isn't much else going on in the yard and they are a DIY project that doesn't involve herbicides (you have to dig them out). I've chronicled my Wild Onion journey here on the blog starting with last Spring when I started to dig the clumps of Wild Onion bulbs out of the turf everywhere I could .  Once their season passed, I tried my best to make the soil less hospitable for them by applying Lime a few times.  I posted about them earlier this year when I saw this story about a potential spray (Bonide Burnout) tha...

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...

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 o...

If you've been reading along on the blog this gardening season, you might remember that I chronicled how I was attacking the scourge of wild onions that were taking over my backyard .  Once I figured out what they were, I went about trying to remove them by digging them out.  I also mentioned in that post that some folks were recommending to add lime to make the environment a little bit less hospitable to the onions by increasing the pH of the soil.  As part of my late-Summer turf work, I decided to apply another four bags of Pelletized Lawn Lime to the back 2/3rds of the yard.  How I arrived at an August application was looking at the soil tests that I did earlier this Summer.  This section of yard has a pH in the ideal range, but I think I want it a bit more alkaline range - perhaps even higher than the ideal range - to help ward off the onion blossoms that will be trying to make a home next Spring.  That's 160 lbs in August on top of the 160 lbs ...

We had the 'front half' of our backyard sodded when we built our house, but left the back half of the backyard completely native.  All the weeds and grass and what have you growing back there.  The bulk of my focus out back has been on the landscaping and mostly left the lawn/turf on autopilot.  I had our Automower running back there, so it kept the lawn pretty low and I don't think I really noticed the HUGE amounts of Wild Onions that were growing in the grass.    If you read my post from a few days ago , you'll know that I recently put down a pre-emergent grassy weed and crabgrass preventer.  That product does NOTHING for Wild Onions.  Well...I suppose that I should start at the beginning of this year.  As our grass was coming back and starting to green-up, I noticed some pockets of dark green, spikey grass.  Or so I thought.  As I went outside, I started to realize that this wasn't grass.  But something else.   I ...