Want to improve lawn quality..haven no idea where to start

[EatenByLimestone]

There are 2 types of seeds. Dicots and monocots, to be short. A monocot, like corn or grass, has a 1 piece seed. Have you ever split a peanut in half, or seen the 2 half's of the seed come up when a bean grows? That is a dicot. Dicots can be killed, leaving the monocot plants alone. Any broad leaf weed killer will work. An effective one sold at the big box stores is weed be gone. You'll want to plant grass in the spaces before new undesirable plants take advantage of the bare ground.

 

[Lake Girl]

For the health conscious who live out in the sticks (no pesky neighbours), you can use your dandelion greens in your salad! More nutrients than spinach. Found this out when we had a guinea pig when the kids were little. Dandelion greens were an important part of his diet...
http://foodfacts.mercola.com/dandelion-greens.html
http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/...-use-dandelion-greens-in-your-green-smoothie/

 

[Sprinter]

Have you ever split a peanut in half

Yes, but they are immediately eaten, so I never asked them their name

 

[Sprinter]

For the health conscious who live out in the sticks (no pesky neighbours), you can use your dandelion greens in your salad! More nutrients than spinach. Found this out when we had a guinea pig when the kids where little. Dandelion greens were an important part of his diet...
http://foodfacts.mercola.com/dandelion-greens.html
http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/...-use-dandelion-greens-in-your-green-smoothie/

You know, I've always known that, but never tried it, Maybe I'll go out and pick some tomorrow. God knows, there are plenty of them!

 

[firefighterjake]

For the health conscious who live out in the sticks (no pesky neighbours), you can use your dandelion greens in your salad! More nutrients than spinach. Found this out when we had a guinea pig when the kids where little. Dandelion greens were an important part of his diet...
http://foodfacts.mercola.com/dandelion-greens.html
http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/...-use-dandelion-greens-in-your-green-smoothie/

For us it was a rite of Spring . . . my grandmother loved fresh dandelion greens in the Spring and us grand kids would go out to her front lawn and help pick her a mess of them. I remember she preferred them before they flowered as it made the greens more bitter or something like that.

 

[Lake Girl]

Grandma knew a good, inexpensive source of vitamins and minerals! Locally sourced too I could swear some of the salads I've had in fancier restaurants had dandelion greens...

 

[jatoxico]

My brother in law the chef used to do a dandelion and venison dish. Flavors went well together.

 

[Buzz Saw]

I read it's good to mow your grass tall, and more frequently. This way the grass will out compete the weeds.

x2. Set your mower 2 inches higher (or what ever works)and over seed for a season or two. The grass will kill off the weeds in time.

 

[semipro]

I read it's good to mow your grass tall, and more frequently. This way the grass will out compete the weeds.

I get the "tall" but why "more frequently"

 

[jatoxico]

I get the "tall" but why "more frequently"

Frequently so you're not removing too much at a time.

 

[Lake Girl]

Interfers with the bloom cycle of the dandelions? Can't bloom, can't go to seed?

 

[jatoxico]

Interfers with the bloom cycle of the dandelions? Can't bloom, can't go to seed?

That's prob a benefit too although my obnoxious weeds seem to sprout above the grass overnight. Always heard the rule of thumb was not to remove more than 1/3 of the grass at any given time or it causes too much stress. So you can remove 2" from 6" high grass but only 1" from 3" high grass.

 

[mwhitnee]

How about this?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/gordons-amine-400-2-4-d-weed-killer-1-gal

Does 2-4-D kill new grass seed?

 

[Jags]

Does 2-4-D kill new grass seed?

It wont kill the seed, but it can be tough on new growth. If mixed too heavy it will sting well established grass.

 

[mwhitnee]

My yard is too big for a hand sprayer I think, wonder what it would cost to have someone spray 2-4-D for me, or rent something.

 

[Dougsey]

You can use a hose end sprayer if you have enough hose to reach.

 

[Buzz Saw]

My yard is too big for a hand sprayer I think, wonder what it would cost to have someone spray 2-4-D for me, or rent something.

Be cautious of hand spraying. Hand spraying is one of the leading causes of over application. Farmers machines are calibrated bases on land speed vs application rate. What that means is if you travel at 3mph "x" is apllied. 6 mph is 2x. X is based off the chemicals instructions.

 

[muncybob]

Something I do and it has paid off big time, each spring I go to the local feed store and get a couple bags of corn gluten meal. The areas that I have spread this have much fewer weeds each year compared to the rest of the "yard"(3+ acres). It acts as a pre-emergent so it needs to be put down in early spring and maybe even early autumn. A side benefit is that as it decomposes into the soil it adds a kick of nitrogen. You can't stop weed seeds from gaining entry into your grass but you can help prevent the vast majority of them from ever germinating and not use any toxins. Keep in mind this will also prevent grass seed from growing too so don't use within a month or so of putting down the seed.

 

[maverick06]

SEED
Buy the right seeds, do your research. I live in PA, and my lawn was having issues (it still has lotf of weeds, but I was having issues with the grass growing). Penn State did a very serious research project and the long story short was Perrenial Rye Grass was the right grass for the majority of the state. The other types all had their faults.

Many grass seed packets designed to quickly patch the lawn will do so, but the grass isn't good quality and the life of the plants it grows is short, why you get the die off a few years later.

I have put down perennial rye in some new lawn areas fall before last. Last year the grass was very juvenile still. This year those areas has really come into its own. Lets see after 5 years.... but for now, I suggest do your research to find which seed works good for your area. Don't just read the back of the bag at home depot.

 

[Babaganoosh]

On a side note unless you throw down sod, a nice lawn is a marathon not a sprint.

 

[ncpaul]

A side note about weed and feed type products. Believe you are in a northern state but those farther south where centipede is common, these products consider centipede a weed and kill it.

 

[Ashful]

4 acres of golf course-quality lawn here. Marking to read tonight. What's your budget? I spend $800 - $1000 per acre per year on fertilizer and seed, and couldn't see getting really nice results for too much less than that.


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[Dobish]

this is what my yard looked like on saturday morning.... i really have no idea where to start.

 

[Dobish]

I rented a Billy Goat Brush Hog, and went to town. A few hours later, I was ready to do some weed whacking.

 

[Ashful]

Holy crap. Well, here's the real short version of how to get a perfect lawn in a few easy steps. It basically comes down to four rounds of fertilizer, two weed sprays, one round of overseeding, and possibly one soil ammendment per year.

1. Find a local turf company. Best way is call the groundskeepers house at your local golf course, and ask where they buy their seed and fertilizer. They work early hours this time of year, so catch them early in the AM.

2. Get a soil sample. At a minimum, you need to get your pH in a good range before spending any $$ on fertilizer and seed.

3. Get your grub and insect control down in the next two weeks. Around here we use Allectus in a 16-0-0 fertilizer mix.

4. Might as well do the soil amendment (pH adjust, eg. Physiocal) now, as well, as any money spent on fertilizer and seed will be wasted if pH isn't right. Warning, this can be a LOT of material, to the tune of 1000 lb./acre, if your pH is off more than a few tenths. Good thing is, it's very cheap.

5. Come mid-August, or whenever your grass is past the summer stress, spray lawn weed killer. We usually use Surge.

6. Four weeks after lawn weed killer, run the plug aerator, then overseed and starter fertilizer the entire property. This is the one real big $$ expense of the year, as good seed ain't cheap. Make sure you choose a seed that will weather your local conditions well, since again... it's not cheap.

7. November, put down your winterizer fertilizer.

8. As soon as the snow melts (March, around here), collect your annual soil sample, and get your pre-emergent weed and feed (eg. Prodiamine) down. Adjust your application rate to have it fully played-out before September's over-seeding. Take soil sample to turf company for analysis.

9. Put down whatever soil amendment (pH adjust) the soil analysis recommends. This will be less than the prior year.

10. Late April, second round of fertilizer. This can be combined with weed killer, to get the weeds that do come up, or you can spray separately (eg. Escalade2).

11. Hey... we're back to June, see Grub control with fertilizer.

Time invested = 4 hours per acre per year
Money invested = $400 per acre per year without seeding ($1000 per year with seeding)