to stone or not to stone.....

[JerseyMike]

my front yard faces SSW and gets pummeled by the sun all summer long and growing grass is a real pain in the butt, every year it's a struggle to keep it green thru the months of July and August even w/ watering. i've used the Scotts 4 step every year but i can't keep it green and it makes the house look like snot. i've weighed the options that i can think of and i'm leaning toward using stone fro the front. my pros and cons are too long to list so if anyone has any thoughts or ideas, their own experiences would be helpful and i'd appreciate it.

mike.........

[Frank]

Personally, I think Scotts 4 step is over kill. You are fertilizing in months where heat may drive lawn into some dormancy and additional fertilizer could drive to futher browning. I fertilize spring and fall only and use good stuff that only costs about half as much as Scotts. Lawn may not look like a golf green but requires much less maintenance. If you live in NJ, as post suggests, you get plenty of rain and "stone lawn" would look out of place.

Frank

[Eggs Zachtly]

What kind of grass?

[jdagy]

Before you drag in the stone, cut back on the fertilizer try more water, your sandy soil in south jersey sucks up the water. Once you bring in the stone, it's a bitch to get rid of.

[JerseyMike]

What kind of grass?

it's a wide variety. i never said it was a good lawn, it has it's share of weeds that i can't ever seem to get rid of, but i'd like to keep it green at least. it has been a struggle for 13 years and i'm getting tired of it always working out the same way. that's why i was looking for other people's experience w/ stone and their thoughts.

mike...........

[Eggs Zachtly]

The reason that I asked was: Perhaps you have an abundance of cool season grass(es), which would definately give results as you have experienced, during hot weather. Perhaps going with a more warm-season grass would do the trick.

G/L

[Steveo]

If it's a sunny area I'd consider killing the whole thing with roundup and planting a blend with improved turf type tall fescue. How many square feet is it, and is it fairly level?

[JerseyMike]

it's about 2300sqft appx.58x40 and has between 2.5' - 3' of pitch from the house to the street. iv'e never measured the slope but from my best estimate, it's no more than that.

mike..........

[Steveo]

That's manageable. I'd kill it like I said above and then slice seed it with about 30 pounds of a tall fescue blend. Buy a 50 pounder and that will leave you with 20 to spot seed with. The drawback is you'll be doing it in the spring when all the weeds are going to germinate with it, but it can be done.

Tall fescue has a very deep root system compared to rye or blue, and with the endorphytes it is somewhat insect resistant too. It is a little bit prone to one disease in particular, but it more than makes up for that with its performance.

[JerseyMike]

what is slice seeding?

thanks for the tips,

mike............

[Steveo]

It's a machine that slices right through your old dead lawn and sows your brand spanking new tall fescue lawn in one pass. (well not actually because you should criss cross it so it doesn't look corn row when it germinates.

It has to be fairly level for best results but no muss, no fuss. You don't have to sod strip or till first either. Big thatch can be a problem, but that's usually seen in fine fesue planted in full sun, like a fish outta' water.