Why I Oughta...

This past season, I finally figured out that our backyard was infested with a warm-season grass/weed called Nimblewill and came up with a plan to treat it in place while not doing a full cool-season grass renovation.  That started with using a post-emergent spray called Tenacity  - which caused the Nimblewill to white-out and die .   Once that ran its course, I then began a project using a pre-germination seed technique followed by a project to overseed the lawn with a mix of Kentucky Blue Grass and Tall Fescue .  Which...after some watering... resulted in a bunch of new germination . And, while I was happy with the result in the Fall with new, green grass filling in plenty of bare spots, I knew the real, important results, would be visible once the lawn went totally dormant.  That's because, the Nimblewill is a warm-season grass and totally dies back once the temperature drops.  Which, historically have left us with a bunch of bare spots in the law...

Earlier this month, I was able to (finally and properly) identify that I have a creeping bentgrass problem in my backyard that includes a spreading (and concerning) amount of Nimblewill .  I decided to apply Tenacity as a post-emergent in an attempt to begin to control the grassy weed ahead of overseeding this Fall.  I mixed up a couple of gallons and applied it with a pump sprayer.   What does it look like after a week?  I'm seeing what I hoped to see:  some white emerging from the bentgrass.  See below for some photos showing the white tips.  Turns out, I have A TON Of creeping bentgrass back there that needs to go.  Look at all this white showing up: Everything I've read tells me that Nimblewill control isn't a one-shot deal.  It will take a few applications the first season and a multi-year treatment plan with herbicide control (Tenacity as a selective post-emergent).   But, so far...I'm happy.  And seeing signs of p...

Last week, I shared here on my lawn diary a little breakthrough.  For the past 18-or-so months, I've been watching a grassy weed creep along and begin to migrate from my far backyard to closer to our patio.  And, after reading about various grassy weeds, I came to the (initial) conclusion that I was dealing with Poa Annua - or an annual Bluegrass.  It was showing some of the signs like being lime green.  But, after observing the lawn this Spring, I noticed that the parts affected green'd up later and seemed to handle the Summer better than the balance of my Bluegrass.   I was planning on doing a complete renovation in the back by killing EVERYTHING off and starting from scratch with a new layer of seed this Fall.  As I prepared for that, I went in to see if I could learn more about what was back there and how much I *really* needed to kill off vs. just overseed. When I went in and pulled a mature stalk of grass, I discovered it had this sort of horizon...