Why I Oughta...

I waited as long as I could: but, I finally cut the lawn last week.  Posting this on Wednesday, May 3rd, but I ended up cutting the lawn on Thursday,  April 27th.  It was long and ready for a cut.  Here, below, is a peek at the deep-green color of the lawn right now.  It never looks better than mid-Spring. I cut it on the 4-setting on the mower - that's two slots from the tallest.  One of my 2023 items on my lawn care list is to try to cut front a bit lower, so this 4 setting is exactly where I was last year.  My 2022 list says that I cut the front on 6 in 2020.  5 in 2021.  So, it was 4 in 2022 .   This first mow, I used the bagger to keep the cuttings out of the lawn.  As I get more regular, I'll switch to mulching it in as I've done every other year. 

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.   But, what di

Back at the end of February, I posted my 2023 lawn care plan that included applications of both organic and synthetic fertilizers across the growing season . 5 feeding applications in total.  The first...was slated to be an early feeding that was combined with a pre-emergent.  I've gone back and forth with early Spring fertilizers over the years - doing it sometimes and skipping it others.  Why skip it?  Because, I don't want to have to mow.  But, buying pre-emergent WITHOUT fertilizer is hard-to-do around here, so this year, I went with the combo.   As for the timing, the GDD calendar tells you when to apply .  Here's the screenshot from today, showing that our Zone/Zip Code is in the the "Optimum" category this week.  Yesterday, I went out and applied two bags of this synthetic combo from Menards that comes from Forever Green.  I posted about the new Menards organic biosolids product from Forever Green earlier this year .   Below are a few photos showing this la

One of the ways that I've used this garden diary is by laying out a plan or schedule that I can reference later in the season as a way to keep me on task.  I veer off-course way, way, way too easily, so these kind of posts are helpful in putting up some guardrails.   The lawn has been one of the focus areas over the years and my approach has evolved.  I mentioned this in the post about the new Menards biosolids lawn fertilizer that is natural (a Milorganite alternative) when I talked about how I've swung from all synthetics to all organics.  And now I've settled in the middle - and intend to use both.  We have cool-season turfs.  In the front, it is all Kentucky Blue Grass.  In the back, we now have a mix of Kentucky Blue Grass and Tall Fescue.  And...(I think) some thin, whisp-y perennial rye grass.  Here's last year's post about the plan - and I'll say that it was (overall) a positive year.  Mostly because of the renovation and Nimblewill removal/treatment i

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:  three 40 pound b

We were at the Menards in Bolingbrook and wandered out to where they keep the bags of lawn fertilizer.  I was hoping to pick up a few bags of fertilizer and pre-emergent that I could put down late this Winter/early this Spring.  As I've talked about over the years, I've evolved in my approach to feeding our lawn.  When I started....I was all synthetic.  I used the four-step program - all synthetics and some with weed/feed combined.   Then...my eyes were opened (thanks to YouTube) on organics.  Specifically Milorganite.  I started to use biosolids.  And, I stopped early Spring feedings.  And, did a late season (Thanksgiving) feeding.  And 'spoon fed' during the warm months and all of those things that people talk about online.    Starting last year, I've kind of swung back on the synthetic --> organic spectrum.  But, only half-way.  I'll post about what I'm doing with the first application in another post.  That's NOT what this post is about. It is abo

Out in the yard recently - with the snow melting away - and I notice some interesting contrasts appearing in the lawn in a few pockets.  See below for a photo showing what appears to be a darker, finer-blade green patch of lawn in the yard that (at first glance) seems out of place: What the heck is this?  At first, my brain raced to think about if this was an invasive turf - like the Nimbleweed that I discovered last year.  This patch is darker green and a different texture from the rest of the lawn.  I stared at it.  And stared at it.  Then it hit me:  this is a patch of Tall Fescue that I overseeded last year during a renovation .  For the most part, I attempted to mix the Tall Fescue seed in with Kentucky Bluegrass seed, but in the section closest to our patio, I didn't mix them.  Why?  Because that section is/was all KBG.  So, by overseeding with Tall Fescue, I was attempting to get a blend of the two.   That patch above is a bit more Tall-Fescue-exclusive than what I was going

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 lawn and other areas with white,

Last week, I posted the details of how I was overseeding and renovating my backyard with a mix of Kentucky Bluegrass and Tall Fescue seeds .  In this post , I went over how I was attempting to pre-germinate the seed by soaking it in water for five days in an attempt to speed-up the process once I scattered the seed.  Well...I went ahead and scattered the seed using e-Corganite as the spreading and drying agent with the wet, pre-germinated seed.  As a reminder, I put down 30 pounds of seed across about 10k square feet in our backyard that was made-up of 10# of KBG and 20# of Tall Fescue seeds.  I applied it at different rates to different parts of the yard.   But, then I panicked.  As I walked around the yard, not only did I NOT see any seedlings, I saw a bunch of what sure seem like blank spots.  Just dirt.  No seeds.  Yikes.  I thought that maybe I didn't put down enough seed.  Or that it had washed away.  Especially on the sides.   So, I rushed out and bought another bag of seed.

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 horizontal branching structure. 

Yesterday, I posted about the lawn care breakthrough that I had in properly identifying and diagnosing our lawn with hosting a warm-season bent grass weed called Nimblewill .  In that post, I talked about trying to work my way through a process to both treat the Nimblewill, help some of our other tough spots and overseed the backyard this late Summer/early Fall. Back in March of this year, I posted my 2022 lawn care schedule and included the idea of a renovation in the back.  Turns out...(if you read yesterday's post on Nimblewill ), I don't have Poa and don't need a renovation.  I just need to remove the Nimblewill and overseed.  Here's how I'm approaching the process below. My plan starts with controlling the Nimblewill through a herbicide application.  Followed by aeration to part of my lawn then overseeding and finally amending parts of the backyard with compost to help improve the conditions.  I touched on some of this in my 2022 lawn schedule post from this S

I had a little lawn care breakthrough this past week.  Turns out....I don't have Poa in our lawn.  We have a bent grass called Nimblewill .  Since last Fall, I've talked about how I needed a plan to deal with what I thought was Poa Annua in our backyard .  I s ketched out the notion of a full back renovation and even included the idea in my 2022 to-do list.    But, as I was thinking about the timing of killing that (presumed Poa), I started to dig a little deeper on the Web.  I pulled a blade of my invasive grass and compared it to what I found on the Web.  It wasn't looking like Poa.  Then...I found this page from Purdue's Turf Science Department that talks about Nimblewill .   Purdue describes Nimblewill thusly : Nimblewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi) is a warm-season perennial grass found throughout the northeast, southeast, and Midwestern United States.   ...It grows well in moist, shady areas but it is also found in dry, sunny areas. Nimblewill spreads vegetatively t

One of the many things that I've found a little bit of joy with in the yard and garden over the years is in doing my lawn upkeep myself.  By 'upkeep', I mean both treating, feeding and mowing the front and back with both my push mower and the Automower.  When we first moved in, I had 'a guy', but I wasn't that happy with how they were cutting it (when, how often, height, etc), so I transitioned back to doing it myself and bought myself my own push/self-propelled lawn mower. Just like with planting, laying out the beds and other yard/garden projects, I've found it most helpful to put down a schedule here as a way of guiding my decision-making over the coming months.  I first did this in 2020 and it was a helpful steer .  Last year?  I kinda 'wing'd it' and I'm pretty sure I need to get back to the schedule this year.   Why?  Because, last year I saw the MOST weeds, the most significant damage and the worst-looking lawn (parts) since we moved i

I started my lawn feeding program this year (2021) with a granular bio solid product called e-Corganite (from Menards) and I'm finishing off the year with the same 40# bags of e-Corganite for my late Fall/early Winter dormant feeding.  I had three bags of this fertilizer on hand and threw it down heavy this weekend.  I'm PRETTY SURE that I did the same thing (an early December feeding) last year, but I don't have it posted on the blog.  Here's a post from early December 2019 showing how I used a few bags of Milorganite on the lawn as it was dormant and cool .   Many folks will tell you that this late Fall/early Winter dormant feeding of the lawn is the *most* important one you can do - and if you were to do JUST ONE feeding per year, this one might be the one to choose.  Penn State's extension office says the benefits of feeding your lawn this time of year include a good 'green up'.  From PSU : Late fall fertilization should take place when shoot growth ce

We have had a particularly difficult grass-growing season this Summer.  The heat and drought sent the majority of our Kentucky Blue Grass into dormancy.  There were a couple of spots that I believe went beyond dormancy into death including the low spot outside of our patio area in back.  At first, I thought that maybe this was grub damage - because it wasn't responding to water - but after digging up the turf and having a look, all I saw was worms.  No grubs.  But, I also found a pretty shallow area of topsoil on top of gravel for our drywell.   I haven't done any sizeable Fall seeding projects, but based on the soil temperature, coupled with a forecast that called for a period of cooler temperatures and some rain, I thought that I'd take on trying to overseed a good portion of this area.   I first used my thatch rake to remove a lot of the dead material , then took out my manual aeration tool to create some holes.  After doing a little bit of research, I decided to buy som

Putting a few things in the [ lawn diary ] in this post: cut length + domination line.  First, the cut length.  Back in June, I posted about how I was using Hydretain to try to reduce watering while bringing my front yard lawn down one notch on my mower - to 4 out of 6.   The past few Summers, I cut the lawn at 6/6 and while it was dark green and lush, it started to fall over a bit and was probably *too long*.  I mean...the lawn looked great ( 2019 early August when it should be failing ), but I wanted to push things a bit this year and see if I could handle the shorter cut. I posted this image in 2019 showing how when my mower was set to 6/6, I was getting between 3.5" and 4" of grass length .  Knocking two spots off the mower height setting, I'm now seeing between 2" and 2.5" of height right now.  See below for the current length: So far, so good.  We'll check back in with the lawn in late August after the full month of hot, hot heat has beaten the turf

Marking down a few items in my [lawn care diary] for the season with this post that have taken place over the past few weeks.   The last time I posted a lawn update was when I put down Hydretain at the beginning of June on the front lawn and 'between two driveways' strip.   This post is marking four other applications that I've done and figured it was best to wrap up in one post. The first (that I don't have a photo of) was the application of 2 total bags of Grub Control from Menards on the front and back lawn and even some of the beds at the very beginning of June.   Then, I put down a second spoon-feeding of the Sea Kelp, Biochar, Iron and Humic from The Andersons.  At the end of May.  Here's a look at the bag of this stuff in the garage below.  I think I'll get two more applications of this still this Summer:  #3 at the end of June.  #4 at the end of July. In June, I put down two new products:  First this Slow Mow Lawn Conditioner - a growth regulator - to

I decided to do a couple of (new to me) things with my front lawn this year including some of the things that I've already covered like spoon-feeding a granular with Sea Kelp (applied at end of April and end of May - so far) .  But, this post is intending to cover two other new (to me) things:   First... I'm cutting it shorter than I've done in the past.  For the past couple of years, I put the mower ALL THE WAY up and cut at that length. I had a deep green lawn through most of the Summer and didn't get killed with a water bill.  But, the length came at the cost of neat-ness.  My e-Go mower doesn't have a ton of vacuum power, so there was always a lot of folded over blades. So, a risky change:  This year, I'm putting it on the 4th 'notch' out of the six on my Ego walk behind push mower.  Last year, I was cutting at six.  See below for the difference - which is about an inch shorter. And the second new (to me) thing - which is a companion to that shorter

Trying to put down a marker in the lawn diary that I feed the front yard a couple bags of this new Milorganite competitor from Menards called e-Corganite .  It is a 4-3-O 'eco-friendly' product that carries all of the claims that Milorganite does in terms of being heavy in iron, being non-burning and slow release.   Right before Memorial Day Weekend, I threw down two full bags of this fertilizer on the front lawn, the parkway and the 'between two driveways' turf.  I bought five bags, but when I decided to put down a synthetic weed and feed in the backyard about a week ago , I held off on spreading any of this in the backyard.   Here's what the bag looks like: For my record-keeping purposes, this is the third application to the front yard.   First, I used a bag of Ironite on the front in mid/late April .   Followed up by 1/3rd of the bag of Soil Mastery soil conditioner featuring biochar, humic acid, sea kelp and lime at the end of April .  I'm going to do a seco