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Lawn care schedule

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I'm sure this has been posted a million times already but could someone please post it once more? I'm looking for an annual lawn care schedule, one for organic feedings and one for synthetic. Also, can you please include crabgrass and grub preventers as well? I live in eastern MA. Thank You

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Comments (6)

beckyinrichmond
8 years ago
On this page is a link to download U of Massachusetts guide to best practices on lawn care.
User
8 years ago
It would help to know the type if turf. There is no such thing as a grub preventive. There are poisons that will kill grubs.
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Synthetics are things like Scott's or Vigoro (although both companies also make organic fertilizers). They're usually white or white with bright green bits, and generally get applied in the 3 to 6 pound per thousand square feet range. These fertilizers are (usually) salt based (although urea can also be used, which isn't a salt). Urea itself is a crossover. It's an organic molecule, but in use the amounts that go down and the general strength is more in the synthetic range. Blood meal would also fall into this range. Neither urea nor blood meal enhance the soil as classical organics would. Organics are Milorganite, grains, feather meal, and so on. Colors vary, and the amounts applied generally range from 10 to 20 pounds per thousand square feet. Which one to use is always an interesting argument. Properly applied, there's nothing wrong with a synthetic, but it's wise to keep a closer eye on your soil chemistry when feeding synthetically. They'll tend to deplete your soil a little more than organics will, leading to a see-saw effect. Organics are a lot more wide open, although soil testing is also a good idea. Although I gave optimal dates for correct feeding, there's really no wrong time to apply organics (except maybe on frozen ground). If you want to feed now, organic is your only option--it's too early for synthetics and they'd be an additional stress on the lawn. Overseeding is done when daytime temperatures are just dropping off their summer highs, to about three weeks later. For you, that's in a week or so, all the way through very early September.
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dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
Please don't try to prevent grubs. Grubs come from beetles that usually swarm your porch lights in the late spring. If you don't have the beetles, you likely won't have the grubs. However, if you're worried about that, in mid June go dig up 1 square foot of soil. If you see fewer than a dozen grubs you're fine. The grass can handle that. If you see an uncountable mass of grubs, then you can do something about it. The reason you don't want to put insecticide down willy nilly is that there is an entire class of microbes in your soil that will be killed with insecticide. That disrupts the soil biology and food chain. Not good for your soil health.
Jon
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you for the responses. I have the typical northeast blend of fescue, rye and KBG. Unfortunately, I also have a nasty infestation of quackgrass and I don't have the time this year to kill everything and start over (baby #1 is due mid August). So my plan for now is to just feed as best I can until I can do a total lawn reboot. As for the grub killer, I only asked because part of my lawn got destroyed in late summer/early fall by grubs feeding on the grass.
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Fescues and rye in a tri-mix lawn are less hungry than KBG so three annual feedings of 1#N each feeding is sufficient (Some university probrams recommend as few as 2-May and a winterizer). Feeding them more wont hurt them but it is really to little benefit. KBG does best with 3-5# of N annually in 3-5 feedings.

Therefore, a basic synthetic schedule is up to you. A first feeding should be made at the end of May, the second feeding is made the end of August/first of September and the last feeding is a winterizer which is applied when the grass stops/dramatically slow, about Thanksgiving.

In the more intense schedule (for KBG) add an early October feeding and an optional extra pound of N in winterizer.A pre-emergent should be applied at the time the forsythia bloom--just prior to soil temps of 55 degrees. 0-0-7 prodiamine is my preference. Avoid anything with N.

To treat existing Grubs, apply Grub-EX in June per directions.

Schedule:

Sometime around mid March to mid April apply a pre-m

Memorial Day apply one pound (1#) of N (any large first number and small second and third number fertilizer)

June-Grub-EX

Sept 1, apply 1#N (any large first number and small second and third number fertilizer; however, I prefer to apply a fertilizer that has some amount of P and K for roots- I apply a triple NPK at half rate and use 46-0-0 for the other half # of the N)

October 1 (optional), apply 1# N (any large first number and small second and third number fertilizer)

Around Thanksgiving (see comments)- apply winterizer 1#N or optional 2#N. Use fast release Urea. (I use 46-0-0). Many fertilizers that are sold as a winterizer will also contain some K which helps the turf harden for winter and that is fine.

At the stage your lawn is in, I'd probably go with the three 1# apps.

Someone else will have to give you the organic schedule.

Good luck.
dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
The organics I like to use are animal feed like soybean meal, alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow), cottonseed meal, corn meal, and corn gluten meal. These cost about 1/6 the price of commercially bagged and labeled organic fertilizers. The application rate is 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Apply at roughly the same times yardtractor mentioned.

Much more important than fertilizer is watering and mowing. You can fertilize all you want but if you water wrong or mow too low, it will never look right. Here's an incentive picture for you. The basic differences are watering and mowing.
This lawn belongs to morpheuspa. He's a well known lawn guru, and I'm very glad to see him active on this forum.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra. Morph does that while his neighbors water a little bit every day. Deep means a full inch every time you water. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard and time how long it takes to fill them all. That will be your new watering time from now on. My oscillator sprinkler takes 8 hours but some high flow in-ground systems can dump an inch in 20 minutes. You have to measure this yourself. Infrequent means you water when the grass needs it. Generally we have figured out when that is based on air temperature. When you have temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s water once every 3 weeks. With temps lower than the 70s you can deep water once a month. This temperature based watering schedule seems to work everywhere from Phoenix to Vermont. If you live in the rubble soil I've seen in eastern MA, as long as there is soil binding the rocks you should be fine.

Mowing: Mulch mow weekly at the mower's highest setting. Taller grass grows deeper roots that are much more drought resistant.

Grubs are active from June through September. The damage they caused in June and July shows up in September, so by then it's too late to stop the damage. That's why you look for them in June. There's no correlation from one year to the next for grubs. I've never had them (knocking on my woodish desk), but some people seem to get them. I've seen them in my compost pile, but never seen enough to damage anything.

Sounds like your fall is going to be toast with the new addition. Congratulations!! Of course you wife knows you'll be out in the yard, right!?

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