Overnight rolls, expert help needed!
Olychick
6 years ago
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Help! Lawn expert advice needed on fungus in October
Comments (35)>>The fertilizer I used was 18-0-18 so do you think 10 pounds for 4000 sq ft was the correct amount? 10 pounds per 4K is 2.5 pounds per thousand. That's 0.45 pounds of nitrogen (and potassium, but that doesn't matter so much). It's on the low side. 5.5 pounds per thousand square feet, or 20-22 pounds on 4K, would be the amount to target 1 pound of nitrogen per thousand. For a feeding in the lull period, though, 0.45 pounds of N is fine. The grass isn't particularly demanding in mid to late October. When you winterize, plan to target 5 to 6 pounds per thousand square feet, though. That feeding goes directly into carbohydrate storage after processing. One thing. Potassium's pretty harmless, but there's no need to pay for it or use it if your potassium levels are good. If you're not sure, or if your soil test shows a good K level, purchase nitrogen fertilizers that have numbers like 29-0-5. They tend to be cheaper per pound and don't add things your soil doesn't require. However, even potassium overapplication isn't much of an issue until it gets extreme. A pound or two of potassium per thousand square feet per year isn't extreme. >>I'm going to try the soybean meal and cornmeal next Spring - what does it specifically do and what am I replacing by using it? (The cornmeal is good to help prevent fungus right?) Each organic has its advantages and disadvantages! Corn meal or cracked corn (I like cracked as it flows more easily, but my local grain mill's idea of corn meal is powder-fine) are a poor feeding of the lawn at 1.65-0.65-0.40, but help with fungal resistance for the season. Corn can be applied in fantastically high amounts as a soil conditioner without doing damage and without generating nearly as much stink as other things will (due to the low nitrogen levels). Corn was my go-to when I was adding organic material to the lawn. At the time, it was very cheap, and I regularly dropped 60 pounds per thousand. Soy is a fantastic feed at 7-2-1, but at the amounts used it's not as good a soil conditioner (it works as well, by weight, as corn, but you use a lot less weight). Application of 15 pounds per thousand square feet four times yearly will feed your lawn completely with no other feedings (except winterization, which is special) required. Soy has no other specific advantages, but since it's the heaviest hitter in terms of protein (which means nitrogen), it tends to be the primary feed used by organics people. Soy will replace the feedings you're currently doing if applied in early to mid May, August first, September first, and October first. Your late summer and fall dates may back up a little bit from mine as your climate is a bit colder. Southerners use cottonseed meal instead of soybean meal. Same difference. Alfalfa might be nice once per year in mid September at 10 pounds per thousand. If you wish. It contains growth hormones that will encourage the root density of the lawn to increase. Don't overdo alfalfa as too much in the way of growth hormones actually stops growth. Milorganite is a nice fill-in if your lawn's color is paler than you like. It has good nitrogen levels, some phosphorus, and at 4%, a ton of iron (iron is a minor element and not used in large amounts). Constant use can raise iron levels in the soil and even out the color so it's always the darkest green it can be for the season, weather, and watering levels. Most other things that you can get, like oat hulls, rice hulls, brewer's grains, and so on are comparable to corn in terms of nitrogen and good as soil conditioners if you can get them cheap. Used coffee grounds. These are comparable to corn, although they're exceptionally attractive to worms. Their advantage is that most Starbucks' and many other coffee shops save their spent, pressed grounds for people who want to use them in composting or soil conditioning. Call around and you can sometimes get loads of these for free. Compost is great, and a wonderful soil conditioner, but essentially does nothing to feed the lawn. Worms like it, and it also puts back bacterial and fungal species that have been wiped out by chemical use or flooding. It's not on my recommended list due to the weight, cost, and the fact that you can do all of this with other stuff--but there's an exception to that rule, which doesn't apply here....See MoreClay - Need help from the soil experts
Comments (22)Thanks everyone... you all seem very knowledgeable. I haven't been able to do much or get the soil test. We got an inch of rain this past weekend followed by a few inches of snow. Which created a mess in the field. I don't know which direction I need to head... I almost came very close to putting my place up for sale just because I spend a huge amount of time gardening and can't do any gardening until it's 100+ degrees outside in the middle of summer thanks to the heavy silt/clay. I definitely don't want to till.. The main reason for this is that I would have to till and do all this work when the temps are 100+ during summer when the land is completely dry. I'm reading a lot of conflicting information. Some say you must till others say don't bother let mother nature do it. Well I just seen another post on here of someone saying their new soil didn't mix with the native soil after 3 years, Some are telling me to create a lot of raised beds with new soil. Some say just add compost once a year, others say you must add it every year. I'm trying to think about this logically... just by what I see from walking around my property. I have a few small hills... these hills are also heavy silt/clay, but it's raised higher and it doesn't have the spongy feeling of the lower soil. What if I tried to recreate this? I don't care if my grassy pathways get real wet.... my goal is to keep my actual beds dry. I need to mix the soil somewhat... but I don't want to till. Would it be bad if I lightly turned the soil over in each bed with a shovel? I have an unlimited supply of brush/dead tree limbs/logs/sticks. Next pile a thin later of these on the turned soil to add pure organic matter. Then add compost/topsoil. The topsoil/compost I found and really like is a mixture of raw topsoil, sand and 25% leaf compost for $25/yard. After that, add 2-3" of mulch. Turning the soil over seems like it would help mix the two somewhat to get the process started. In the end, the topsoil/compost will add about 6" in height with another 3" of mulch... the total height of each bed would be aprox 9" above ground. The concerns I have doing it this way are: 1. Will the sand in the new soil clog what little air space I have in the native soil? 2. Will water become trapped when it gets below the turned soil? 3. I've never bought topsoil before... will this fluffy stuff become hard & compacted enough to support 40' tall trees? I'm hoping this new soil/tree limbs/compost will improve the soil below so the trees can grow deep... but I've also read that trees have most roots in the upper 6-12" of soil Here's my plan so you can get a better understanding of the beds. That space is around 300' wide x 300' deep. The colored icons in each bed are different types of trees... mostly conifers. Each bed is roughly 2000 SQFeet... so I would need a lot of compost/topsoil. I'm not going to kill myself so I would just do 1 or 2 beds a year lol. This post was edited by ricksample on Mon, Mar 31, 14 at 8:39...See MoreCarpet choices. I Need a Color Experts help!
Comments (23)bronwynsmom: I really appreciate your candor and understanding of what I'm going through. It isn't that easy an answer and you spelled out why! My FEELINGS are telling me to get a (slightly bluish)grayish carpet color (but slightly brownish too if that makes sense??) (which is a tad on the "cool" side) as it looks like it comes close to matching the grout/mortar in the fieldstone fireplace. It's possible though that the most COMPATIBLE carpet in terms of being on the same range of colors may be a normal "warm" tannish color due to my orange oak woodwork and camel colored chairs but that feels so same-ole same-ole. That's why I'm having trouble deciding which look will be better or more comfortable feeling. (I am a worry-wort by nature so if I can get a calming color scheme going I feel I might calm down too? Could this happen with color?) "Relax" might be the most applicable suggestion you make, because I'm not relaxed about it is why I think everyone in my family runs the other way when they know I'm trying to decide on a color for something... Anyways, I know you're absolutely right on with everything you wrote so I will do just what you suggest, give it my best and cross my fingers. Thanks so much!...See MoreWarm grayish color for whole house! Need help! Paint experts??
Comments (47)Old thread, but I've been searching PPG paint colors with very little success. Everything is about SW and BM, but our builder uses PPG. Thanks for sharing your final colors, it looks great. I am considering Agreeable gray too, but feel it is too dark. Whiskers it doesn't look dark in your home at all so I might have to get a sample of that one. I was looking at Silent Smoke with Delicate White cabinets too....See MoreOlychick
6 years agoOlychick
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoOlychick
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoOlychick
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoOlychick
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoOlychick
6 years agoOlychick
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoOlychick
6 years ago
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