Hello
I am desperately needing a bit of advice. I'm quite new to gardenin and to this forum. I cut my grass fairly regularly. The grass is ver dried out, almost like hay, in some parts there is a balding affect. I'm just not sure whats the best thing to use to use to hydrate it an also why it is like this? Any help is much appreciated Cheers All
-- Ally
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold
Where do you live? What kind of grass do you have? How short do you cut it? [Before hearing your answer, I say you are cutting it too short
-- set your mower at the highest!] water as often as your town will permit. Fertilize 2 to 4 times per season. Use crabgrass killer 3 times in July.
Stubby wrote: >Use crabgrass killer 3 times in July.
Why not use a pre-emergent once in late June??
"Dan" wrote
Simple: Because Stubby has stock in crabgrass killer.
A pre=emergent control must be applied BEFORE the crabgrass seeds sprout. This means March or early-April.
Later in the year you can kill the plants with crabgrass killer. This takes about 3 applications 10-days apart. The idea is to kill the plants before they spread seeds which will sprout in the following Spring.
So, there are two very different approachs. I use both and stay barely ahead of the crabgrass infestations.
Makes sense to me. Once established, that stuff's a bear to deal with. When does crabgrass go to seed?
Right about now. You can expect to spend 2 or 3 years getting it under control. Good luck.
Wow! I had no idea that crabgrass was that difficult to deal with. I will attack the crabgrass today with a 2 gallon sprayer of Acclaim.
Thanks for the helpful info, Stubby.
Dan
I apply a pre-emergent crabgrass control in late April here in NJ. It's been very effective. I usually have a few plants that emerge anyway, but never any serious problem. If anyone is having problems, I would check to make sure you're applying it correctly. You need to use the correct amount and it needs to be applied just before temps get high enough for germination. Best guide is when forsythias are blooming, that's the time to apply it. Too late, it won't work because they are already germinating. Too early, it will have diminished in effectiveness long before it's needed. I see people applying it here in March. No wonder it doesn't work!
Using sustainable techniques, least toxic solutions and organic fertilizers crabgrass CAN be controlled much quicker. The only crabgrass I have on the 5 acres of lawn I manage is in the area where I have continued to not regularly top dress with quality compost after aeration, and continue to use chemical fertilizers at "industry standard" rates. Go to attra.org and download sustainable turf documents....
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold
"Using sustainable techniques, least toxic solutions and organic fertilizers crabgrass CAN be controlled much quicker. The only crabgrass I have on the 5 acres of lawn I manage is in the area where I have continued to not regularly top dress with quality compost after aeration, and continue to use chemical fertilizers at "industry standard" rates. Go to attra.org and download sustainable turf documents.... "
Yes, I did go look at it. To control crabgrass, they have two basic approaches. One is to cultivate a healthy lawn to begin with through practices like mowing at the correct height, etc. I agree with that. It will certainly help eliminate crabgrass and most other weeds. But in most cases, it's not going to be enough.
The other is to use alternative treatments as pre-emergent control or weed killer. They suggest corn gluten meal at a rate of 40-65lbs per
1000 sq ft. And they acknowledge it will cost about $1.50/lb. That means to treat my 10,000 sq ft lawn, I need about 500 lbs at a cost of $750 per application. Real practical! Then they suggest vinegar as a herbicide, but quickly point out that is expensive as well. Given those choices, a bag of conventional pre-emergent applied once in the spring. followed by spot treating any plants with Aclaim if necessary, looks like a very sound and reasonable practice.
Thanks for reading, however for some of use the hidden costs of herbicides are excessive...
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold
How about dihydrogen monoxide?
Look at
Won't work. Needs DHMO.
Another nut trying to get everyone riled up over one cause or another. Go away! Go back under the rock you came out from.
i think with this awful summer, many lawns are burning up. if you don
want to spend mega bucks watering every day, there is nothing really to do. leave the lawn a little long in dry weather, dont cut it durin high sun, dont water it during high sun, the next time a heavy rain i starting, lime the heck out of it
-- whoda
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