My lawn looks awful and looked beautiful before I Aerated :(
Lisa
11 years ago
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lou_spicewood_tx
11 years agograss1950
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Core aeration saved my lawn
Comments (65)I am actually glad this thread got revived. I didn't read all of it but it got me thinking. I am in NC and have clay soil and Bermuda. I had my back yard sodded a few years ago (pretty sure it's tifway 419) and right now it looks pretty good for it to be mid May. My front yard was sodded by the builder (don't know if it's common Bermuda or tifway) and just hasn't greened up like the back. The ground is definitely hard. I am following the Bermuda bible but am looking to going to a more hybrid program of synthetics and organics. I currently do use milorganite more so for the iron then anything. Anyways, my plan was to aerate next month and immediately follow it up with 10 lbs of alfalfa per 1000 sq. ft. That way I could get it deep in the soil and let the microbes do their thing. I was going to follow it up 3 weeks later with 20 lbs of alfalfa. Now that I'm reading this I'm not sure what to do. Any advice? If I do the shampoo is there any restrictions on applying fertilizer or herbicides to my yard before or after? My back yard looks good but I have this God awful broadleef weed that is spreading. I sprayed it at the beginning of the month with good results and will need to spray again at the end of the month. I also plan on fertilizing in a couple of days. Thanks in advance for the help....See MoreWhy is my lawn looking brown?
Comments (4)pbx2, We've had a couple of warm days followed by rain and thunderstorm here as well! Could it be fungus? I am wondering because it seems like there are some green blades as you zoom in to the spot! I initially thought I put too much fertilizer, but from my search, it does not seem to me as a chemical burn... I tried the little trick to see if we have sod webworms (two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid and 1 gallon of water), but all that I could see is earthworms... Please help!...See MoreShould I spike or core Aerator the lawn?
Comments (9)This topic is over a year old but what the heck...nobody is going to read for these comments, anyway. If deep and infrequent watering does not work, then you have the wrong grass. Fescue is the wrong grass for the Mojave desert. Yes, I realize it is an extremely popular grass, but when trying to grow it in the desert, it will consume all the water you can give it. If water was prevalent, it would not be a desert. It would be much better to select a variety of grass that is strongly adapted to your area. bpgreen can help steer you in the right direction but you will have to do some ground work with your county extension agent. Despite what the previous poster suggests, you will NEVER need a rototiller to prepare your soil. There is no six-inch 'usual depth' for preparing soil for turf at the homeowner level. After reading comments and complaints on this forum and others for 10 years, I'm convinced a rototiller will destroy your soil structure. In three years, when the structure finally reestablishes itself, it would leave you with a bumpy surface. You can create a deeply organic soil by working entirely at the surface without aerators or tillers. Look in the Organic Garden forum and find the FAQs. At the bottom of the list is the Organic Lawn Care FAQ. It will get you started. In the case of organics, more is better until you get up to about 80 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Beyond that point you have to start thinking about whether you might be smothering the grass. If you want to get your organic numbers up fast, apply alfalfa, soy bean meal, or whatever you can get, at 20 pound per 1,000 square feet every week all summer long. It will cost you a little more but it has been shown to work. If you are going to that extreme, then before you put all those organics down, you might want to invest in a good soil test from Logan Labs, not your local extension service. Again, this is after reading for 10 years. Logan Labs has an excellent reputation. Local extension service has, at best, a reputation for having poorly motivated/educated personnel and too often incorrect test results. The Logan Labs test will enable you to tune up your micro nutrients better than any extension service test....See MoreWhat do I need to have a decent(not show quality) looking Lawn?
Comments (7)mat2cam , First of all, welcome to GardenWeb if you're new! Secondly, glad to see someone posting from beautiful Charlotte! My wife and I grew up there and lived there up until 2011, and we miss it dearly. When we bought our house in Huntersville, I inherited a lawn that resembled your description exactly - the builder only cared about making sure the yard had "green stuff" growing, and didn't care if that meant grass or weeds. I also did not have a built in irrigation system. If I had it to do all over again, I would definitely have "nuked" the yard with Roundup (probably over two applications) and either brought in some decent sod or re-seeded. Here are some grass options and the pros/cons for the Charlotte region: 1. Fescue Pros: Can be maintained to look good year-round; can be found in seed and sod varieties; will have a higher percentage of matching what your neighbors probably have (if a newer neighborhood). Big Bonus: Fescue will do fine in shade, so it will be great for that shaded side yard you mentioned. Cons: Maintenance in the summer-time can be expensive and bothersome. Fescue requires A LOT of water during those hot Charlotte summers, especially if you have a newer house that has no shade trees to help protect it. Additionally, trying to sow it now could prove to be difficult, since I've read that it's best to put new Fescue in after the summer months (Sept/Oct). 2. Bermuda Pros: Once established, it is very hard to kill. It will spread very fast and loves all the sun it can get. Additionally, the newer Bermuda hybrid varieties are very drought resistant, which would be a big bonus for someone without an irrigation system. One more bonus: when the summer heat is really beating down, your neighbors' Fescue will be suffering, but your Bermuda will be thriving. Chances are, some of what you are seeing as "weeds", will actually be Bermuda grass that just isn't matching the Fescue. Cons: It will turn brown beginning around early October and not come back until late March; so your yard will appear dormant while your neighbors Fescue will be green and lush. Additionally, once introduced, it can be very difficult to get rid of it. 3. Centipede My father still lives in Charlotte and is obsessed with grass. He transplanted his entire yard with sprigs of Centipede that he found in various places in eastern NC. His yard looks outstanding in the summer time! It requires very little water, does not grow as fast as other grass types in the summer time (maintenance is much less for him), and has a unique shade of green that the rest of your neighborhood will find intriguing. (I'd only choose this option if you treat your lawn as a hobby or a project; if you're wanting to 'fix' your yard and move on to other projects, Options 1 or 2 may be best) One last note: Being in Charlotte, you can find all of the organic alternatives that dchall mentions in the less urban areas... so depending on where you are, that'd be Gaston County, near Carowinds, even Lake Norman where there are still some feed/grain stores around. Basically, the opposite direction of Uptown, where they will charge you $100 for a bag of fertilizer. Best of luck and we wish you the best!...See MoreLisa
11 years agoenigma7
11 years agoLisa
11 years agograss1950
11 years agoLisa
11 years agoLisa
11 years agoLisa
11 years agoThis was the color of it before sunday when I aerated, this pic was last spring of 2012 I didnt take any this yr..except the new one I am about to post I took tonite of the damage from the cold/frost I think.....what do you think?
tiemco
11 years agograss1950
11 years agoLisa
11 years ago
Leah Rhoufiry
3 years ago
dchall_san_antonio
3 years agoLisa
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoLisa
3 years agoUser
3 years agodchall8 .
3 years ago
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