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Los Angeles Chicken & Cow manure on Lawn

11 years ago

I'm planning to spread a mixture of cow and chicken manure on an established lawn. The lawn has some St. Augustine, a bit of bermuda and a bunch of unkown death grass. Some grass is strating to grow were the death grass is. Any advice with the manure, how much to spread? how to spread? when to spread? any comments welcomed

Thanks

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Comments (7)

Miguel_Z
Original Author
11 years ago
The cow and chicken manure is from Lowes and they are bagged separately. I'm combining and mixing both of them.
dchall_san_antonio
11 years ago
Manure applications:

How much? 0 pounds per 1,000 square feet
When? Never

What is the problem you want to fix? No matter what your problem is, those two products are not the answer.
Where in LA are you? -be specific. Don't need your address but the town would be very helpful. Conditions in San Pedro are much different from conditions in West Covina.

What do you use the lawn for? Sports, pets, just looking beautiful?

As long as you are answering questions, I may as well ask the rest of them...

How often do you water and for how long?
How high/low do you mow and how often?
How often do you fertilize and with what?
Have you used any herbicide, insecticide, or fungicide in the last year?
Is shade a factor in any of the areas you are concerned about?

Is it 'death grass' because it is always dying? Does it spread at all?
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Miguel_Z
Original Author
11 years ago
Answering questions
Live in Downey.
Use the lawn just for a good look.
Water once a week for a long period of time.
Havent fertilize since I got the home 7 months ago (Scott's any time fertilizer)
Used insect bayers insecticide about 5 months ago, no herbicide or fungicide.
About 30% of lawn gets shade(shade area gets 7 hours of sunlight)
Grass seems not to be spreading, but in a few random spots shooting new from ground. The "Death grass" is just dead, brown hay looking.
dchall_san_antonio
11 years ago
Glad I asked. I was not expecting those answers plus I used to live in the apts at 10000 Imperial Hwy and worked at the old Rockwell plant. Obviously didn't have to care for the grass there ;-) Back when I was there you could still find cattle in the area. Not anymore.

You're watering exactly right, so that's really most of the way to a great lawn.

The bermuda and St Augustine will compete with each other in a good way. Unless you want to have the Yard of the Month, I would leave it like that. St Aug will thrive in the shade and either will thrive in the sun. If you mow it as low as 1 inch high, then the yard will always look like a bermuda lawn with weeds. If you mow it at 4 inches high, eventually it will all look like a St Augustine lawn. The reason is the St Augustine's wider blades will shade out the bermuda very gradually. But if you want to favor the St Augustine, you must NEVER forget to water. Sure you can skip once but don't skip twice. St Augustine does not go dormant when it dries out, it goes directly to dead. If that happens, you will have a full bermuda lawn in a few weeks. Since you have shade some of the St Aug in the shade will survive to fight back. You can run that battle back and forth for years if you want. I've done it...kinda fun for a lawn nerd.

If you want to favor the bermuda, then search the Internet for the Bermuda Bible and follow that. It requires lots of fertilizer all year long (since you live where it never freezes). If you want to favor the St Aug, you can get away with fertilizing 3x per year (Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving).

If you really want it to jump out at you (you said it was not spreading), you can try fertilizing with an organic fertilizer like alfalfa pellets (from a feed store). Apply 20 pound of pellets per 1,000 square feet. If you want it to really go, do that every month for the rest of the season. A 50-pound bag of alfalfa should cost around $12. It also comes as rabbit or chinchilla food. The reason you can use organics in the summer and not synthetic (Scott's) is that the organic does not feed the plants directly. Organic fertilizers are made from grains which feed the bacteria and fungi in the soil. Then the soil microbes feed the grass. By going through all the biology, the grass doesn't get burned by the salty synthetics. It works! Here is a little motivational picture I clipped from GardenWeb last year.

{{gwi:79605}}

That is a zoysia lawn. Note the improved color, density, and growth. That was after 3 weeks. It takes a little time for the organics to work the first time. You'll get the same results, I promise.

What else???
msen2k
7 years ago
anyone knows a source of "organic cow manure" (straight cow manure, not compost) in LA (near LAX Airport or, nearby ..)

If you know any "organic dairy farm" near to LA,.. or, any other supplier/source for ONLY cow manure & from organic dairy only, please let me know. I need about 60-65 cu.ft.

don"t ask for bunch of question... just answer straight if you know any source for what is inquiring..

Thanks!!
dchall_san_antonio
7 years ago
Not sure this is a real business by their location, but you might give them a call.

Organic Pastures Dairy Co LLC
3035 Rosslyn St, Los Angeles, CA 90065
(818) 244-2917

Otherwise try asking at a farmers market.
msen2k
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Thanks. Yes, I saw their number before and called them several times but no answer. :).. hope there are more of this type farm who would sell cow dung - straight or, dehydrated.

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