Why does it take my lawn so long to come out of winter Dormancy
Lisa
6 years ago
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Lisa
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Why does my lawn take so long to green up?
Comments (10)Most of those recommendations are for your "average homeowner" they are guidelines for those with little or no experience/knowledge about turfgrass. No, I'm not suggesting someone in zone 5 should follow my fertilization schedule for zone 7, nor I'm suggesting that an "average homeowner" in zone 7 should follow my fertilizing schedule - that's up to whomever wants to do that. What I am suggesting is that you don't have to follow every thing writen in lawn books because their approach to lawn maintenance is VERY conservative at best. ceighmey asked why his lawn takes so long to green up when his neighbors' fescue lawn are already green. My suggestion is based on personal experience and good observation of turfgrass during . Because I fertilize my lawn even in the winter is that I have green grass nearly all winter, and most if not all of my neighbors' fescue lawn are nearly straw color - just the opossite ceighmey observation. For many years I followed NCSU recommendation with little to no success, specially during the summer months. Trial and error, years of hard work, searching, reading, ect, and a tremendous desire to succed put me where I am today. I can finally grow grass like sod farmers do in the transition zone. I can grow grass where most people fail... Someone once said, "one size does not fit all." It certenly holds true for many things in life, what you read in those lawn books does not necessarily translate into success. The advise is solid and based on proven results, not books alone. ceighmey, where exactly in Kansas are you located?...See MoreSo bummed out, my lawn is dying, please help
Comments (20)WOW, to the guy that mentioned pythium blight. I think this is exactly what it is. I went to Google Images, and it looks really similar. It also sort of occurs in the same area every year which as OP mentioned, it's probably a fungus. AND, I think I know what's triggering it. Its my June Summerguard fertlization. I think the high nitrogen is causing it. Because my neighbors lawn is perfect and she does not fertilize in the summer. Read below. WOW if this is what it is, I am so grateful to you guys. INFO: Cultural practices can be used to promote an environment where infection by Pythium species is limited. Irrigation is an important cultural practice to monitor. Watering early in the day will allow grass blades to dry and thus decrease the probability of leaves remaining wet overnight. Irrigation also has an impact on the relative humidity within the foliar canopy of turfgrasses. This is the major reason that late afternoon and evening watering should be avoided on warm days. Providing for good surface and subsurface drainage when establishing new turfgrass sites, and renovating areas where water can pool in established turfgrass areas is another important step in Pythium blight management. Removing thatch can improve drainage, reduce drought and nutrient stress on turf and remove sources of Pythium inoculum. Thatch should be removed if it is greater than 0.6-1.2 cm (0.25-0.5 in.) in depth, depending on height of cut. Thatch is removed by vertical mowing and topdressing with sand or soil. A balanced system of turfgrass nutrition is also a key to controlling Pythium blight. Excessive fertility during hot months, particularly nitrogen, can exacerbate disease pressure. Levels of nitrogen applied to turf should be monitored, and monthly applications of less than 25 kg of nitrogen per ha (0.5 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet) during periods of hot weather are recommended. When applying nitrogen-based fertilizers use slow-release sources or "spoon-feed" turf with light foliar applications of fertilizer during spring or summer when occurrence of Pythium blight is most likely. Avoid calcium deficiency and maintain a slightly acidic soil pH. Promote good air flow across golf greens and other areas of turf by pruning trees and shrubs to promote light penetration and increase air movement to dry. When mowing, avoid areas of wet turf when the temperature is > 21ðC (70ðF), as this will help minimize the spread of the pathogen. Wash mowing equipment before entering unaffected areas. Also, alleviate soil compaction, in order to improve turfgrass root growth. When overseeding with cool-season turfgrass species, delay the process until late summer or early fall when the nighttime temperatures have cooled to...See MoreWhen I take a picture why do my flowers bleach out?
Comments (20)Your problem is that the pale pink flowers are overexposed, in a see of dark green leaves. This is what your camera will automatically do if you set it to the "automatic" or "point and shoot" mode. The key is to control the following: 1. The object lighting 2. The background (and foreground) lighting 3. Controlling contrast in your composition 4. Camera settings of speed, aperture and ISO. You need to experiment - i.e. "fool around" - with your camera. It's much easier to learn nowadays with the digital camera. In the "old days" of film cameras, one would have to shoot at different apertures, speed, ISO, take the film to develop and then see the results. And, of course, there is the cost of the film and the developing. I would start off with simple manouvres - try varying the aperture - which determines how much light is allowed in to hit the sensor for a given period of time that the shutter is open. The smaller the number, the more light that's allowed in. The higher the number, the less light. You can do this either with the manual setting (usually "M") or a selection on your camera called aperture priority ("A" or "Av"). Once you have "fixed" the aperture size, you then compensate for the variation in light hitting the sensor by varying the shutter speed, and the "film" speed - the ISO setting. If your camera has an Av or A setting, then, I won't worry about those - just switch to Av, select the aperture size and camera will do the rest. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is an Av or A setting on the Power Shot SD400 - you have to set it to M (manual mode) and get into the menu to select the ISO's. Refer to the owner's manual. An interesting impact of varying the aperture is that you will vary the "depth of field". The depth of field is the distance range of the picture where all objects will be withing focus. The larger the aperture, the narrower the range, rendering every thing outside of that range out of focus. You can use this to advantage, as, together with careful lighting, you can make an object "pop" out of the background, like this: However, it won't be much good if you want a picture of a whole bush or a whole bed - in which case, you would use a smaller aperture setting. There is an excellent on-line resource, DigitalPhotography.com, which gives fairly clear tutorials on the various aspects of digital photography....See MoreWhy do spikes on Phalaenopsis take so long? Or is this normal?
Comments (9)Bob, that helps a lot! You are right, those are exactly the type of Phals I am growing. I am keeping them warm and put the lights of earlier and gave them extra at night to see if that makes a difference. I am wondering, do you see the roots of yours growing, or do you have them in pots hoping they are all ok? I have considered the see thru plastic slitted pots. I am starting to question whether the roots of mines are still healthy and how will I know unless I yanked them out? I question my ability on these all the time not trusting what is going on that I can not see, if you know what I mean?3 Have you ever heard the the method of just sticking them in glass bowls with roots fully exposed with a mist here and there with the moisture being contained inside the bowl? LUv, I did on the ones that were not in spike. I don't trust myself with these, even though I thought I did.lol I am always wondering what the roots look like since I can not see them( Jane, hello)) Thank you! Yeah, I think I am watering correctly since the mix is very porous and the root very warm, but I never thought of fertilizing them as often as I should. I think I will try that at a very weak does weakly. I see, if yours are slow to grow, then I don't feel so bad considering you live in a very warm climate state. Thanks. John, EXACTLY....Now you feel my pain. I have been looking at those spikes since I got them. Seems like forever. Crazy. As for new leaf growth, you can forget that! lol Thanks for your words of encouragement. Bob, when you said that you bring them outside, do you put them where they can easily get rain, or do you keep them protected under an eave of something similar?...See More
dchall_san_antonio
6 years agoIt has always alluded me as to why people are in such a hurry to mow their lawns.
When was the last time you fertilized (hint: it should have been last fall around Thanksgiving)?
Was the grass still growing (it should not have been)?
What fertilizer did you use (it should have been high N fast release)?
In your neighborhood: did everybody else's KBG lawn go dormant this past winter? Did they all look to be the same degree of brownness? Here is a wintertime picture of a neighborhood full of KBG lawns with one lawn standing out as being greener than the rest.
The main difference between the green one and all the rest is the yellowish ones water daily while the green one waters deeply and infrequently. Thank you to morpheuspa for posting the picture way back in 2010.
Lisa
6 years agoLisa
6 years agoLisa
6 years ago
mishmosh
6 years ago
forsheems
6 years agoMy last cut of the year was December 26th. Winterizer Urea app went down
January 6th and the first cut of this year was February 24th. It was a
little earlier this year than normal due to unusually warm weather.
Truth is I would mow year round it I could. Here's a photo of my lawn
right after that first cut.
Lisa
6 years agoforsheems
6 years agoLisa
6 years ago
Joe BigBlue
6 years ago
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