subywu, lookin' good, lookin' real good.

It's very nice to see such tall grass on all y'all's lawns.

cut it high and weeds will die...
cut it low and weeds will grow....

LOL!

Hi,

This lawn is now three years old and was planted on what had previously been pastureland. The first year was a disaster. I took away mostly clay and rocks left by the builder's excavation, added a layer of topsoil, and planted fairly good cool-season grass seed. But, because I did not spread any starter fertilizers and also watered at night too often, the little grass that did germinate became infected with Rust. At one point the landscaper that helped me plant the yard told me we would probably have to re-seed the whole 1.5 acres because the only thing alive and healthy were weeds trying to reclaim their pasture.

By this time I had been reading several of the Garden Web Forums and decided to try some suggestions about using cornmeal for fertilizer. I sprayed milk and dishsoap back then to check the Rust, and then applied about 600 lbs of powdered cornmeal three times over the next year. I didn't like the idea of spending $5 or $6 dollars per fifty-pounder at the feed mill for cornmeal, so I also started to pick up used coffee grounds from local Starbucks and tossed them each day on different spots in the yard. That became my sole lawn care program during the third year.

It took some time, but I think I got it by the tail now. My grass is the greenest around, yet I don't aerate, don't dethatch, and don't add any supplemental water to it ever. I have numerous birds, bugs, bats, butterflies, you name it, and all seem to like hanging around. Just an individual preference, but to me, that's as good as it gets and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now if only I can figure out how to post a picture with this.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:116700}}

Thanks, all.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hoping link attaches this time

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:116701}}

All of the pictures look great. Wiley, your yard looks amazing! Awesome design.

Wiley, can I come hunt your ducks?

Let me see if they can learn to pull weeds first...I'll let you know.

This is a picture of my lawn after my first application of soybean.(2 weeks later)...it is the best color my lawn has looked....even my neighbors are asking me what i did :)
Im new to trying organic and wanted to share...
This is 2 weeks after scalping and reseeding also.
Thanks for all the advice i have learned on this website.
It actually looks much deeper green in person.

Here is a link that might be useful: my lawn

{{gwi:116716}}

Some beautiful lawns in the pics above...

wiley's pictures have given me renewed inspiration for my lawn. wiley appears to have acheived great results without supplemental irrigation, which is somewhat contrary to the "water deep and infrequent" rule. Perhaps being in Zone 5 helps in this regard. I'm in Zone 7 (in East Tennessee) and I don't have an irrigation system (may never have one, based on the installation cost). It will be a challenge, but if I can get my yard looking half as good as wiley's without a sprinkler system, I'll be ecstatic!

Thanks, all, for the pics.

I have admit that I do most things that go against most of what everyone else does. I cut the grass very short and I don't wait a week between watering. I guess maybe because I grew up always wanting my grass to look like a Major League baseball field and always played baseball. I do wish I had the privacy feel that Wiley has. Maybe as I get older I will change and spend less time trying to have the perfect lawn and more time watching it and enjoying nature that is attracted to inviting yards that alot of you have. For now I'm still stuck on that manicured look of a ballfield.{{gwi:116717}}{{gwi:116719}}

Nice work by all...if my efforts over the last three weeks or so yield the same results, I'll be rushing back to this post to include a photo...for now, it's just watering and waiting...

Smith, your lawn is SICK!!!!!

i love that pattern. im torn between rather having a golf course lawn or MLB lawn. i like baseball better. i assume that is KBG? What cultivar?

That's looking as good as any baseball field I've ever seen, ssmith. What are you striping with?

dbc etn, your plants and turf ideally like about an inch of water per week. The deep and infrequent watering allows the soil to become saturated far below the surface. Roots then grower deeper to find this water. The deeper they grow into the ground, the better the plant or grass becomes at tolerating future dry, hot periods. Then the need for artificial irrigation diminishes. So do weeds with shallow root systems.

I would not worry too much about having a sprinkler system. It is hard to justify their cost in most areas. Around here they run about $500-$600/zone and a zone doesn't go very far. My lowest bid for covering about two-thirds of the lawn and a few beds around the house was 6K three years ago. I don't know what it would be now, but it's definately out of the picture. I'll just keep adding my daily doses of re-cycled coffee grounds. I also mulch mow high. It seems to be working and it seems to now be getting to a point where the system will begin to require less and less effort to perpetuate itself.

For anyone curious about the amount of grounds tossed each day, in wet weight, maybe 50-75 lbs. 24/7. That's a lot, but, Ole Wiley Boy didn't just fall off the turnip truck--6k buys a lot of free coffee grounds;-)

It is Midnight but two weeks ago I reseeded with Midnight 2 which is even darker than the original. I use about a 25Lb roller on the back of a regular mulching push mower that I've had since I graduated from high school. I think we had about 50 or 60 days with 90 degree plus tempatures and probably 20 that were above 100, by far the hottest and driest year I've seen since I starting taking care of this lawn. I do sharpen my blade almost every time I cut which I believe makes a big difference. I also aerate about every two weeks to keep thatch from becoming an issue. My neighbors call me creepy chem-lawn. I'm not sure if it is an insult or a complimant. Any way I can be found in the yard almost everyday. I think we all enjoy working on our lawn. If we didn't we would all have field turf.

Here's a pic of my back yard, sometime later today or tomorrow I'll get a pic of my front on here. {{gwi:116721}}

JerryG...i cannot believe you had no grass two weeks prior to this picture! How did you get it to grow so thick and lush? I have had so many bald spots, have spot seeded, etc. and have had no luck. I use Natural Lawn of AMerica service and am totally disappointed in my lawn. Long story and will make my own post - dont want to hijack this post. Everyone's lawn is beautiful. THanks for the pixs.

I am going to mow the front tomorrow and after I cut it I'll take a pic and put it on here.

dorry2--..."i cannot believe you had no grass two weeks prior to this picture!"

Well, I guess pictures can lie a bit. The bare area was in the 3 feet or so adjacent to the asphalt and concrete pavements. The angle of the photo makes the grass look a lot thicker than if you stand above it and look straight down. Even so, if you look closely in that area you can see some brown.

The front lawn was overseeded and overseeded again after a too-heavy rain. I was lucky though: Nature cooperated with frequent light rains and lots of sunshine. I still had to spend a lot of time watering, and of course a lot of time to prep for and do the overseeding.

I don't know how people who work every day can undertake a project like this. I couldn't before I retired.

JerryG

{{gwi:116722}}

Thats a pic of my front yard that I took today right after I cut it. Its greened up quite a bit in the last month because I had quite a bit of summer brown.

Smith that is the coolest looking lawn! Love the unique pattern! Your neighbors are jealous, of course they will cal you creepy. lol the lawn next to yours looks like most OTHER peoples lawns that dont spend any time on it.

You guys dont know how much time I've spent on my yard the last two or three years to get it weed free. Today or tomorrow I'm going to spray the yard with weed b gone, then later this week I'm going to fertilize the front and then aerate on the 8th of October. My yard looks a lot better now than it did 4 or 5 years ago.

Mudman, I sympathize with you and your's looks good. My lawn isn't huge but I spend a huge amount of time on it and it looks best on my block...I need to snap a photo...

Theres a bunch of people in my area that have nice yards and I'm one of them.

{{gwi:116723}}

Thats bermuda you have right?

Medula, get rid of that rotary mower and get a reel mower. You'll be glad you did.

Yeah, it's bermuda.

Heelsfan but I love my Toro, yeah I do hate the rings it makes though. I only get to mow once a week so they are usualy grown out by a day or two. I had first looked at getting a reel mower a couple of years ago but they all seemed very expensive as far as the power ones go.

Medula, how low do you cut your Bermuda? This is my first year with a bermuda lawn and I get the swirls too, but mainly when I cut it at 1" or below and then mostly on the bumpy parts of the lawn. I do mow it every 2-3 days though. If you are only mowing once a week that may be what is causing some of your scalping. As the weather has started to cool off here, I have raised my mowing height to around 1.5" and I don't get many swirl marks at all, even on the bumps. I plan on leveling my yard next spring/summer, so hopefully I will be able to go down under 1".

I'm sure medula didn't post the picture to get criticism, but I have to gently agree. Think of this as constructive criticism. If you could rent a reel mower for a couple weekends you'll see the difference without committing to ownership.

And if you can't see the soles of your shoes when you stand in your bermuda, you might consider lowering the blade. The really nice bermuda lawns look like you are standing ON them, not IN them. Check out the pictures about 2/3 of the way down in this message.

I didn't mean my post as criticism. I was curious as to medula's mowing height because I have been experimenting with mowing height all summer to try to avoid having the swirl marks with my rotary mower on bermuda. I am hoping that leveling the lawn next year will reduce the swirls. It's hard to tell, but medula's yard looks pretty level. Sorry if my post came across as criticism...sometimes I just start typing...and keep typing...and get off track from my main point. So...back to the point....

Medula, what is your mowing height? And is your lawn pretty level (bump free)?

Nah I don't take it as critiscm as I too am not found of the swirl marks. The yard was sodded 07-06 and has not had any attempts at leveling it. That pic was taken this morning after I had mowed Sunday but I had gone almost two weeks since we had rain the weekend before last.

As for the height I don't know how to measure but I have my mower on the lowest notch it will go. I'm assuming from the concrete to the blade is about two inches.

If I could find a place to rent a reel mower here I would give it a shot. I'm a golfer and love bermuda. I would love to have my front yard looking like a putting green, hahaha.

Yeah, I have been toying around with getting a reel mower, but I have about 23,000 ft' of lawn and it would take too long for my schedule, especially cutting it every 2-3 days. I currently use a John Deere 345 with a 54" deck, and can mow in 30 min or less. I have looked into the tow-behind gang reels, but folks on this forum have not given them very good reviews. What I am probably going to do next season is get a manual reel for the front, which is small (pie shaped lot) and use the tractor for the rear yard. I can get my 12 year old son to mow the front while I am doing the back. I have a neighbor who uses a power reel mower, and his yard looks better than the golf course.

I didn't think about the manual reel mowers. I may look into those, maybe find a cheap one on ebay. I like the Mclane reel mowers but I'm afraid $700 for a mower is not going to cut it with my wife pardon the pun.

For a manual reel mower, make sure you get a 7-blade reel. The 5-blade reels are not made for bermuda. Here is the one I am currently looking at. Good reviews. Also, if you go with a power reel, do a search here...most people prefer two other brands over McLane (TruCut and Trimmer I believe). Although my neighbor with the great lawn uses a McLane.

Here is a link that might be useful: ALM Bent Reel Mower on Amazon

With intensively managed bermuda mowed below one inch, a manual reel mower will have a usable life of one season. Not just dull blades, the grass will become too thick if fed according to schedule. Sort of like cutting sideways through concrete. You could essentially go in with a power mower say once a month and get everything then just maintain it with a push reel but if you're cutting below an you may not be satisfied with how much grass is being left uncut and that's assuming you can push it. It will get too dense.

Here is a picture of my front yard. I planted this bermuda blend (Mohawk, Sydney, Sultan) in May. I have a total of 23K sq ft of lawn, but most of it is in the back.
{{gwi:86418}}

Here's a shot of my bermuda front lawn. It's 100% organically fed & I mow it @ .750"
{{gwi:116724}}

Amazing, just simply amazing, it seems like everyone on here has extremely beautiful lawns. I am a relatively new home owner with Bermuda grass, we bought our house about two years ago in a new development area. I had sod put down in November of 05 and have been battling to keep the grass alive. Last summer I think I had probably the worst lawn. Over the winter I took a Home Depot Garden person's advice and planted Rye grass to "help the lawn develop roots, so that the Bermuda in the spring/summer can come back in much stronger". I am getting a little worried cause lately we have been having a lot of rain lately and I have been attempting to mow twice a week, but I am noticing in the back my lawn is looking really nice, but I am not sure what to do to prepare the lawn for bringing the bermuda back up. I just yesterday fertilized with Scotts Turfgaurd for Southern lawns and was thinking about aerating and then reseeding with more Bermuda in a couple of weeks. My question for y'all would probably be; 1. Am I doing this right? with the wait a couple of weeks and then aerate and reseed? 2. I notice that a lot of people are talking about reel mowers, and my yard is probably only about 3 or 4,000 sq ft, so would a manual reel mower do better than my regular lawn mower? 3. From what I have read on this forum every body is saying to cut Bermuda down to 1" or so, but everybody at Home Depot/Lowes is telling me to keep cutting my grass at the highest setting on my lawn mower. 4. Should I consider Tru Green or Scotts for help with the lawn, or is this something I can do without having to call them 5. Also how do I prepare my lawn for extended absence by me, I am in the military so occasionaly I have to deploy for a few months here and there, I recently returned about three weeks ago and found my yard really tall with grass, that I promptly cut and then started maintaing a twice a week cut. But hopefully I shouldn't be going anywhere for this summer so I am wanting to focus on my yard. Well, thank you all for your photos and words on this page so far, I believe they are really inspiring me to try and do everything I can to attempt to get a lawn as nice as what I am seeing in this forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:116702}}

The photo's of my yard.

{{gwi:116725}}
{{gwi:116702}}

Dr. Dean...

"I had sod put down in November of 05 and have been battling to keep the grass alive. Last summer I think I had probably the worst lawn."

Great lawns do not happen over night.

" Over the winter I took a Home Depot Garden person's advice and planted Rye grass to help the lawn develop roots,"

HORRENDOUS advice. The last thing in the world you want is competition for grass that is trying to get established.

" I just yesterday fertilized with Scotts Turfgaurd for Southern lawns and was thinking about aerating and then reseeding with more Bermuda in a couple of weeks."

Hold it right there. You do not need to seed nor do you want to with sodded bermuda. It will fill in on it's own.

"1. Am I doing this right? with the wait a couple of weeks and then aerate and reseed? "

No.

"2. I notice that a lot of people are talking about reel mowers, and my yard is probably only about 3 or 4,000 sq ft, so would a manual reel mower do better than my regular lawn mower?"

Yes for a while. Bermuda can get really dense with regular mowing and feeding. You will have to mow 2-3 times a week and if you skip a week or two you may come to realize, perhaps next year that it's just too dense to mow cleanly with a manual mower. Nothing quite like the appearance from using a reel mower but it is unnecessary.

" 3. From what I have read on this forum every body is saying to cut Bermuda down to 1" or so, but everybody at Home Depot/Lowes is telling me to keep cutting my grass at the highest setting on my lawn mower."

Stop taking advice from those people. they don't know what they're talking about. Bermuda thickens up when mowed short.

"4. Should I consider Tru Green or Scotts for help with the lawn, or is this something I can do without having to call them "

Those services are largely as scam. do not use them. you can do it on your own. We can help! as home depot says LOL

"5. Also how do I prepare my lawn for extended absence by me,..."

Have someone mow, feed regularly in your absense. Water once a week to an inch of water.

Still waiting to see what my lawn looks like.
Photo from this morning:
{{gwi:116726}}

I'm all covered in snow, but I guess I can look back to July 25th of last summer.

{{gwi:116727}}

Ha, I like that changeup you threw in there on us Katahdin. Neat picture. And, since I have snow forecasted here for the weekend, I may have some before and after pictures to match with pretty soon.

Im gonna drag this one from the dead. Can you guys post what kind of grass all of your pictures are? I really like sme of the pictures above, but I have no idea what type grass they are.

TIA

vahomeowner,
My pic has a mix of Award, Blackstone, and Bedazzled. All of which are Kentucky Bluegrass.

Can we revive this thread for this year?

parafly, I also would like to see everyone's renovation results over the next couple months but I think a new thread should be started so we all don't have to scroll through all these old posts?