Thursday, May 7th, 2009
This is just another one of my documentation posts. I thought it would be nice to show the status of flowers budding as well as the grass and how far the leaves on the trees have come.
One thing to note is that we primarily have Oak trees on this road. I have been doing a lot of driving around and have noticed that everywhere else seemingly has more leaves on their trees. It looks pretty much like Summer there. Then, I get back here and it looks like early Spring. Oak trees bloom late, that’s all there is to it.
The grass is coming along nicely. It’s very green and the bald patches are filling in. I already mowed it twice. There is one thing I would like to mention…I have been using the rear bagger when I mow the lawn. I have read all over the place that it’s good to spray the grass clippings back onto the lawn. It probably is, but with my experience, and especially when the existing grass (and crabgrass) is seeding, it’s better to catch the clippings. I don’t want to spread crabgrass seeds back on the lawn. That would pretty much defeat the purpose of what I am trying to do here. I told a friend the other day, “Just take a look at what the good lawn services do and copy that.” Seems logical enough.
Here are some photos from a cloudy, muggy Spring day.
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Pink / purple Lilac budding up close
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Bloomed Red Dicentra – Bleeding Heart
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Bloomed Crab Apple flowers
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Blooming white Lilac
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Status of Oak tree leaves in early May
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Green grass in early May – Front lawn
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Green grass in early May – Side lawn – Weeping Cherry in background
Yesterday, I received my notification call from Scotts Lawn service out of Hartford. They said they will be here within two business days. I gave a quick call back just to see what they will be doing. They told me that they will be spraying the lawn for weeds and putting down fertilizer / crabgrass pre-emergent. Sounds like just what we need.
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Friday, April 3rd, 2009
I think the first thing you need to do is to recognize that your lawn has crabgrass growing in it.
Sometimes, crabgrass isn’t all that obvious. Actually, if your lawn looks great during the hot summer months but not in the spring or fall, you might have a crabgrass problem. This type of weed loves the heat. While many types of cooler grasses go dormant and turn brown during July and August, crabgrass is thriving. It makes the guy who takes care of the lawn proud…until October rolls around.
The first tell-tale sign that your lawn has crabgrass is the noticing of big brown areas come autumn. While the rest of the real grass is growing nicely, the crabgrass is dying off. The only problem is that crabgrass is an annual plant. Later on in the season, the weed produces seeds that we unknowingly mow into and spread around our regular grass. That lays the foundation for problems the next year, and the next year…you get the picture.
So, what do you do? Well, you can either get on your hands and knees and pluck out every single crabgrass weed you find all season long. That would probably do it. Or, you can apply what they call a “Pre-emergent grassy and broadleaf weed control.” This the probably the preferred route to travel down. You can buy the stuff yourself or call a service to come to your house and apply it for you.
The weed control is pretty nifty stuff. It rests on the soil of your lawn as small pellets and dissolves as it’s watered in. Somehow (and don’t ask me how), this weed control stops the weed seeds from germinating. Stopping the weeds from growing in the first place sounds a heck of a lot better than pulling them out after the fact.
It’s funny – while walking around, I like looking at the different levels of lawn care in different neighborhoods. You can actually see distinct property lines of those who take care of their lawns vs. those who don’t. One lawn is green, while the lawn right next to it is brown and full of weeds. By weeds, I mean big brown areas caused by crabgrass.
My friends at Scotts Lawn in Hartford stopped by today to give the grass its first application of “Early spring and spring fertilization” which adds nutrients to improve lawn color and strengthens the root system of the grass. They also put down some “Pre-emergent grassy and broadleaf weed control” which controls weed problems, such as crabgrass and other annual grasses later in the year. Okay, obviously I got those descriptions from the card they left with me.
I was really happy to see the guy stop by today, because I was getting nervous that the crabgrass seeds would start germinating. I always worry about things like this. Add that to my worry list.
The fella who stopped by today was very nice. We talked for a bit about none other than grass and its care. Believe it or not, it’s one of my favorite topics. Well, I’ll talk about anything that has to do with lawn care or landscaping. They are both interesting. We both agreed that there were some areas that had a little crabgrass problem, but nothing that couldn’t be taken care of.
I told the tech that I think the lawn is already showing nice signs of improvement from what they put down last autumn. Of what grass has already started growing, it’s really green and soft. I just hope we can keep this trend going and get the whole lawn nice and green by autumn.
I thought I would show you some pictures of the fertilizer/weed control they put down as well as some areas that have been affected by crabgrass. Enjoy, because you won’t see these problem areas for long.
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Fertilizer and crabgrass control pellets
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Fertilizer and crabgrass control pellets on top of problem lawn
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 1
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 2
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 3
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Spring lawn greening up – showing some brown areas affected by crabgrass – photo 4
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Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
I think it’s finally finished.
I did the last big cleanup last week. The Oak leaves finally decided to fall so I had my work cut out for me. When the Oak leaves fall, the entire ground is basically covered. It’s much worse than when all the other leaves fall. Oak leaves are big and thick. They fill up the bagger very fast and have a tendency to clog the chute.
The way I got around the massive amounts of leaves clogging things up was to give the lawn a quick mow first. I lowered the cutting deck to 3 1/2 inches and ran over the grass a few times. This chopped up the leaves nice and fine. Then, I attached the bagger and went to town. Things still filled up fast, but I didn’t have to stop to dump nearly as often. Also, stopping the tractor to unclog the chute lessened as well.
The Scotts Lawn Service visits are over for this year as well. They came out 3 times, since I called them in October. The first time they came, they put down a slow-release fertilizer and a grub control. The second time they came out (just a few days ago), they put down a winterizer fertilizer. Yesterday, they came out and put down a dolomitic pelletized limestone. I have been waiting for this lime application because I think this is one of the major problems with the soil here. It will…
“…help balance the soil PH and contains calcium and magnesium for improved health of the grass plant.”
I got that from the invoice.
The grass actually is looking better already. I am impressed. There were a bunch of larger brown areas from all the junk grass dying from the cold, but those areas are now turning green. My little over-seeding episode that I performed a while ago helped, I’m sure. Oh yeah, I also aerated the lawn about a month ago too.
I am planning on the grass coming back with a vengeance in early Spring. The Scotts people said that I am most likely going to have to mow twice as much. That’s fine with me, now that I have the ride-on mower and the bagger. No more clumps of grass shooting out of the side making dead spots all over the place.
Ahhh, the life of a guy who thinks about grass way too much.
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Monday, October 13th, 2008
A few days ago, I gave up. I admitted to myself that my patchwork ideas and techniques were no match for this large semi-terrible lawn. Sure, it was beautiful during the Summer, but now its true self is showing.
Ever since it started getting chilly outside, parts of the grass have been turning brown. I know it’s normal for grass to turn brown, but not so early in Autumn. I looked up a few things online and discovered that there were some issues with the lawn. Then, I called Scotts Lawn Service. You know the company…they are the ones that make all the stuff you see on the shelves at Home Depot and Lowe’s. I know, I didn’t know they had a lawn service either.
The guy came out and checked the place over. He gave me a write up of what they would do and how much it would cost. I asked him if this would make the lawn green and thick. He gave a slight chuckle and said “yes.”
Scotts Lawn Service
That’s all I want, a nice healthy, green, thick lawn. I don’t want to see bare spots, moss, brown spots or weeds. They seem to have the cure for this.
They came out today for the first application. They put down some fertilizer and grub control. During the next visit, they are going to put down some lime and a winterizer fertilizer. He said this is to establish good roots and an early green up in Spring. That’s all for this year.
Next season, starting in the early Spring, they are going to come back out and put down some weed control. That should get rid of the brown parts of the lawn, because that is what’s dying right now, causing all the brown areas. Throughout the season, they are going to fertilize, lime, kill grubs, aerate and reseed. By next Autumn, I think the lawn should be ready for a magazine. Well, that’s my hope anyway.
You know, the funny thing is that I think I am actually saving money by having someone else do this. I priced out 11,000 square feet of fertilizer today at Home Depot and it was about twice as expensive as what they charged me for that part of today’s service. Same for the grub control. Strange.
One thing I am going to do myself if aerate. John Deere sells a tow-behind aerator that I am going to get. This should pay for itself in one and a half visits of what they charge.
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