Treat your yard yourself? Or hire it out?

[Ryan_PA]

Here's a pic of my front yard - notice the perfect lush green on the left side, and eyesore on the right. The grass is starting to come back where I killed the creeping woodsorrel (finally - I thought I'd never get rid of it) - I just lived with it for 2 years and then decided to get rid of it once and for all. It'll look great in a few more weeks.

Is creeping woodsorrel the same as creeping charlie? If so what did you get to kill it? I have 2 acres that are getting crushed by charlie. We just bought the place last fall so this is my first crack at killing it. I am going to try weed-b-gon chickweek killer on a recommendation.

I mow and landscape myself. I find it relaxing and enjoyable to work my property. It makes me appreciate what we have.

 

[HenryHill]

Fertilizer costs seem to be way up. Anyone else notice a 15,000 sqft bag of anything Scotts is like $50 a bag now? My plan is to fill in as much unused area with groundcover. I did one area under a Blue Spruce with Vinca and it's not only pretty looking, but it spreads really well and stays green all year.

It went up as a consequence of the oil prices, but didn't go down, as metal and gas did. Funny how that works.

Last summer, the feed store actually just quit buying it, after it went up 3 times before July.

 

[Trubadour]

Is creeping woodsorrel the same as creeping charlie? If so what did you get to kill it? I have 2 acres that are getting crushed by charlie. We just bought the place last fall so this is my first crack at killing it. I am going to try weed-b-gon chickweek killer on a recommendation.

I mow and landscape myself. I find it relaxing and enjoyable to work my property. It makes me appreciate what we have.

No, this is what woodsorrell looks like. I used poison ivy killer to get rid of it. It also killed the grass where I sprayed, but that little area was mostly woodsorrell, so it was a small price to pay. The grass will come back, the woodsorrell won't. I would imagine that poison ivy killer would get your creeping charlie also. The active ingredient it triclopyr. Use sparingly, and reseed if necessary.

 

[deepsouth]

I have been doing my own yard treatments (All Scotts, Pre-Emergents, Weed-N-Feed, Fertilizers) for as long as I can remember. And my yard is nearly the worst looking on the block.

Turns out, most of my neighbors are having services do theirs and aren't spending much more than they did when they bought the supplies themselves.

Doing the yard myself, I focus on the front yard. But, we actually spend more time oin the back yard with the kids and it makes more sense for that one to be plush and green.

What do you do?

If you hire out, do you have both yards (where applicable) serviced and, does it balance out costwise (as opposed to buying the materials)?

If you do it all yourself, what do you use?

i was doing mine myself and it looked like crap. i hired someone who takes care of yards for a living and now i have the best looking yard in the 'hood.

 

[Mike M]

Treat your lawn?? Water your lawn??? No way. You do that and the grass grows. If it grows you have to cut it. You're just creating more work for yourselves. Who gives a **** if your lawn is as nice as the Jones' lawn. I'd rather go fishing. Or brew some beer.

+1


Lots o' that lawn treatment ends up in local waterways - one of the problems with the Cheasapeake Bay.

 

[CBBaron]

Treat your lawn?? Water your lawn??? No way. You do that and the grass grows. If it grows you have to cut it. You're just creating more work for yourselves. Who gives a **** if your lawn is as nice as the Jones' lawn. I'd rather go fishing. Or brew some beer.

+1

I have been slowly growing the planting beds to take over the lawn. I have been planting things like blueberries and elderberries to make wine, so it is an extension of my brewing. The lawn gets watered when my daughter plays in the sprinkler.

Luckily our neighborhood has very few "lawnboys" and lots of anti chemical treehuggers so the lawn looks pretty normal. Ofcourse it helps that our climate and soil keeps the lawn green most of the summer even without watering.

Craig

 

[CBBaron]

No, this is what woodsorrell looks like. I used poison ivy killer to get rid of it. It also killed the grass where I sprayed, but that little area was mostly woodsorrell, so it was a small price to pay. The grass will come back, the woodsorrell won't. I would imagine that poison ivy killer would get your creeping charlie also. The active ingredient it triclopyr. Use sparingly, and reseed if necessary.

Looks a lot nicer than grass to my eye

Craig

 

[beergears]

+1

I have been slowly growing the planting beds to take over the lawn.
Craig

We hear you.
I have been encouraging ground cover (pachysandra and vinca) for 15 years now!
The semi-small front lawn has shrunk by 60% by now., heh. Bonus; it's really green and healthy-looking on its own, even in winter!
Lady from the recent McMansion two houses down actually casually complimented the yard to my wife, so it is decent and interesting-looking.

For grins; Anybody into moss, or more exactly the many different kind of mosses (and also ferns)...?

 

[arturo7]

We hear you.
I have been encouraging ground cover (pachysandra and vinca) for 15 years now!
The semi-small front lawn has shrunk by 60% by now., heh. Bonus; it's really green and healthy-looking on its own, even in winter!
Lady from the recent McMansion two houses down actually casually complimented the yard to my wife, so it is decent and interesting-looking.

For grins; Anybody into moss, or more exactly the many different kind of mosses (and also ferns)...?

pics?


67890

 

[beergears]

pics?

67890

OK.
I would have to ask permission from Mr. Neighbor first...
She is a skinny brunette.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

OK.
I would have to ask permission from Mr. Neighbor first...
She is a skinny brunette.

In that case, use a wide aperture lens at night. Let her do the flashing and leave yours off.

I keed, I keed.

But seriously, wear black and step softly.







Okay, I'm done,

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I do it myself, don't spend a lot and have the nicest yard on the block. However, a lot of that is due to my wife's green thumb! But, the lawn is my reesponsibility and it's pretty easy to maintain. We have tons of sun, pretty much sunny all day which helps a lot in growing grass easily. I've lived in really shady areas and it's damn near impossible if you have dogs and kids running around on it. Here's my recipe, in order of importance:

1. Watering: depends on your area, but it should be done in the early morning before the sun rises. I also do a short watering in the afternoon when it gets regularly over 100F.
   
2. Use the highest or second-highest possible setting on your mower, at least until you have a VERY thick and healthy lawn. My neighbor does everything exactly the same as me but refuses to raise his blade...and his lawn looks like someone hit it with round up.
   
3. Scott's seasonal stuff. Summer,Fall,Winter,Spring labeled bags make it easy. Add once a month except when there is snow on the ground (never happens in Chico)
   
4. Once a year aerate the lawn. You can rent one, or go buy a hand tool if you want a workout .
   
5. Overseed in the late summer/early fall when the temperature gets below 75F. Overseed again in early spring. This will ensure two new generations of grass to replace what has died over the winter.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Wehn we first bought our house I took pride in my lawn as it felt good to be a home owner. That was 3 years ago and 3 years of Home Projects/Upkeep ago. I mow my grass. We Put up a 6' Privacy fence so now I mow my front yard and side yard to keep it presentable and mow the back (blocked by privacy) every other time I mow the front. I have two big bare spots most likely from "over watering" AKA Chiller Runoff and/or starsan dumping. I'm trying to bring them back to life with the patch stuff. It worked great on Dog spots last year but I bought a cheaper brand this year and it's showing.

When you guys mow, you you rake/collect your clippings or let them fly?
I have the chute flap held up so it disperses them over a wider area.



I will raise my mower deck after reading this. I don't Strive for a beautiful lawn, but I'll do some steps that are really not difficult.
And are you guys seeding every year? I thought you only seeded grass after you tore it up to say, Build a house. And how the heck to you tell what kind of grass you have?

 

[StoutFan]

I have over 30,000 sq. ft of commercial lawn to care for, plus 50+ empty lots in our community. We have always done it ourselves, because of cost. Scotts Weed and Feed, lots of water, and then the Scotts winter mix before the snow. Works great.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

When you guys mow, you you rake/collect your clippings or let them fly?
I have the chute flap held up so it disperses them over a wider area.

I bag and compost my clippings unless the layer of thatch is really thin. If it is, then I'll use the mulch setting instead. I just don't care for the windrolls of grass clippings and I hate rakes.

I thought you only seeded grass after you tore it up to say, Build a house.

I overseeded when we bought because there were some pretty bad bare spots and I periodically hand cast re-seed spot that were weed infested and choked out the grass.

And how the heck to you tell what kind of grass you have?

Lawnboy (old man really) neighbor sez' his grass is Bermuda. Mine is the same as his so, Bermuda? (needs shrug emoticon) I overseed with Bermuda seed and it comes up the same. Before that, I only knew of 2 types of grass. Green and Dead. I have never had much luck with the green stuff but, I can maintain a dead lawn perfectly.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I always collect the clippings. I do it mostly because I don't like to track it into the house. I seed 1-2x per year, and it definitely helps keep the grass thick and green. Keep in mind that's a very small amount of seed, almost like fertilizing.

 

[Buckhuntr]

Currently we have a 1/4 acre city lot that I maintain myself (Horticulture degree and landscaping experience.) Fertilizer is compost or other organic, only pesticide is Roundup grass killer for the bermuda that won't stay dead. Oh, and there is NO lawn grass whatsoever - we dug it all up when we bought the place and put in extensive perennial and shrub beds, with flagstone and pea gravel walkways throughout. Takes about 3 or 4 weekends a year of intensive maintenance (cutting back dead stems, pulling a few weeds, hitting the bermuda with Roundup, etc). Much better than having to mow every weekend.
And the best part is that we have something blooming at least 10 months of the year. If I could figure out how to post pictures here I'd show ya.

 

[Trubadour]

When you guys mow, you you rake/collect your clippings or let them fly?

And are you guys seeding every year? I thought you only seeded grass after you tore it up to say, Build a house. And how the heck to you tell what kind of grass you have?

I bag for the first few mows of the season, and then every few mows after that. And I seed only when necessary; ie. after killing weeds and leaving a bald spot of grass.

Take a picture of your grass and post it - I'll (or somebody) will tell you what type it is.

 

[Buckhuntr]

 

[Buckhuntr]

Here's my front yard two weeks ago. Twice as many blooms today. NO GRASS!! (except for the clump of prairie grass in the walkway).

[/IMG]

 

[janzik]

The front was sodded 3 years ago. I have sprinklers in the front and the back. I wish I had the money at the time to sod the back, but the back is slowly getting better.

For the last 2 years I've paid a service to take care of it, but I decided I need to cut back on expenses (it was over $500 a year), and I picked up the Scott's 1st step and did that. We've had some good rain recently, so I haven't had to water it. I'm mowing every few days though...

 

[menschmaschine]

And are you guys seeding every year? I thought you only seeded grass after you tore it up to say, Build a house. And how the heck to you tell what kind of grass you have?

Reseeding depends on what type of grass you have. I'm no grass expert, but some grasses form in clumps (e.g., most fescues) and are limited in spreading growth and others (e.g., Kentucky Blue) have rhizomes that can spread growth to new areas.

Certain grasses are recommended for certain climate regions in the US. There are "cool-season grasses" (e.g., Kentucky Blue), warm-season grasses (e.g., Bermuda), and Transition-area grasses (e.g., fescues).

You probably have cool-season grasses used most in Ohio... maybe mixed with some transition-area grasses. Kentucky 31 would probably be popular up there, but I don't know for sure.

 

[dzlater]

I cut my "lawn" that's it.
It's got tons of weeds, grubs, moles.
I don't water and no fertilizer or pesticides.
I live a 1950's cookie cutter subdivision and I don't give a rats ass what the
neighbors think. I wanted to rip up the front yard and plant corn but wife didn't approve, I also wanted to get a goat so I wouldn't have to mow once again the wife did not approve.

 

[arturo7]

Here's my front yard two weeks ago. Twice as many blooms today. NO GRASS!! (except for the clump of prairie grass in the walkway).

[/IMG]

Very nice. I likes the no-grass yardss.

How did you pick the plants? Native, low-water, colorful, stolen clippings from a arboretum?

 

[Buckhuntr]

Lots of water-thrifty natives, thyme and sedums between flagstones, found plants, gifted plants, and a neighbor decided to get rid of three huge peonies, and I grabbed them up.
We're about to sell the house, and I'm going to divide a bunch of stuff before I go, for the new place.
This yard was just a practice run.

 

[conpewter]

I've never wanted to spend the money to hire a lawn service, or even to buy the Scott's (Still seems like it would be $200 a year or more) I think I'll overseed and maybe try to spread compost somewhat evenly (somehow). I already try to mow fairly high, I'm afraid of "Weed and Feed" as I don't think I'd have much of a lawn left after my weeds were gone. Great discussion.

 

[Trubadour]

I think I'll overseed and maybe try to spread compost somewhat evenly (somehow).

There's something that I have no idea what it's called, but I used one when I topdressed and seeded my lawn a few years ago. I rented it from the place where I get my compost, soil, mulch, etc... It's our county dump. Great stuff and super cheap. Anyway, it's about the size of a half barrell keg, has a bunch of holes in it, and you push it like a wheelbarrow. Load the topdressing inside, then push it around and it spreads it perfectly evenly. I just googled it, but couldn't find what it's called.

 

[pizzaman]

I'm the only one that does my own yardwork on the culdesac I live on. Every 2 weeks the truck of mexicans pulls up and makes a mess of the street, leaving bags on the corners when they know damn well the garbage men won't pick it up unless it's in the garbage bins....the neighbors just leave the bags there even though they know the garbage men won't pick it up. So my street is littered with large black bags for the majority of the summer. But I digress.

Wifey and I do all our own work, watering, weeding, mulching, etc. Front yard is a few plants here and there and some bushes to fill it in, I water 3 times a week during summer just to keep some green for our dog to pee on. Our backyard is our real pride and joy. I always wanna do more to it, but we're only renting so we don't want to do too much..

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I went ahead and dropped the coin needed for bags of Scott's Weed and Feed (Turf Builder plus 2 Weed Killer). Ouch! $45 per, IIRC, 5K sqft bag. And I used 1.5 bags even at a quater notch lower than the suggested rate of spread for my drop spreader (Accugreen 3000).

A few weeks later and Wow! I never realized just how weedy my yard was. Patches of ded' all over the place. But, the Bermuda looks great. Nice and dark green.

 

[The Pol]

I just threw down another 48 pounds of 27-0-3 this past week. No weed, just feed... we have no weeds from all of the other applications. $30 for 48 pounds (15,000 sq feet)

 

[adx]

This year I decided to split the difference. Pay a service $30 a pop to come out and do the weed killers and fertilizers five times over the season and then cut and trim myself. I realized I would about break even if I went out and bought all the stuff to do it myself so why not have someone else do it. They'll even come back out redo the weeds if anything comes back.

It's the best my yard has ever looked. I do need to go back through and fill in some of the spots that were mostly chickweed and is now bare.

 

[pen25]

Usually, I practice this too. Gradually rasing the mower deck every 3rd cut until the it's ~2 Inches. I started doing this on my first home which had a lawn of mostly fescue (creeping red, IIRC). It was plush, deep green, and soft on the foot.

But, this lawn is Bermuda and I don't yet have an automatic irrigation system. Comparing similar lawns, I find the shorter bermuda lawns seem look better longer only, at what cost to watering I don't know. the other thing I have noticed is the proliferation of runners that bermuda has and I think that maybe those are why the shorter lawns tend to look better. Less risk of pulling up the runners when at play.

Anyone aerate? regularly?

De-thatch?

I am also considering doing an aeration that this year. I have clay soil and a thick layer of thatch. I don't mind the thatch but, I am thinking taht the yards need to be aerated to loosen the clay up some. Th aerators are cheap to rent but, my roblem here is that none of the rental places (home depot) have the common sense to pair them with a trailer and I'd kill myself before I'd get one into the bed of my 3/4 ton.

creaping red fescue is a great grass. check out tulsa turf as well. it has been tested by osu and is great for green country. i know your way west but it might be something to consider.

you should dethatch your lawn if its been a while and aeration is a good thing. do yuo have a lawn tractor? if so you can buy chains for the tires. http://www.allbesttools.com/shop.php?i=B000WWO2QE

 

[Zul'jin]

Quit the chemicals! But, everything is chemicals, Zul'jin. Me, you, ya momendem- all chemicals. Yeah, yeah. I mean the synthetic stuff. Miracle Grow? More like it's a miracle it grows. That junk gives a quick boost to the plants, greening them up with only the fertilizers needed to keep up appearances- for the short term. All the while though, it's poisoning the soil. At best, it isn't doing anything to help the soil. Grass grows in soil! Improve the soil. Improve the grass.

Oh, dear jeebus! This is gonna be an organorant. Yeah. This guy is going to spend twice our money for half the results.

Nope. We gonna do this for FREE!

Mowing. Raise that mower. Have 2 1/2 to 3 inches clearance between the bottom of the deck and the ground. That's right. No more putting green lawn. The grass won't grow if we cut off all the grass leaving no grass left to grow. Grass cut too short allows weeds in, water to run off or evaporate before being used, leaves roots unprotected, allows for burning in the heat of summer, is less resilient to foot traffic and more susceptible to pests and diseases. A mowed lawn should be higher than the top of your foot when you stand in it. Yes! We're gonna stand in our grass, not on our grass.

Bagging. Bagging is for excessive leaves, weed seed heads and to collect green material for the compost bin. Otherwise, mulch the grass. That causes too much thatch. Ha! Too much thatch and de-thatching a lawn is the biggest scam since, well, there is no bigger scam. Thatch holds in moisture. Less watering to be done with more existing water utilized. It holds back weeds. It insulates the roots from cold and shades them from heat. Thatch is also fertilizer. No need to buy what you make for free each time you mow. Green lawn clippings are great sources of nitrogen. Nitrogen makes green grass. Look at that bag of whatever fertilizer. That first number, the highest number- that's nitrogen. Thatch also improves soil composition as it biodegrades. It also makes a great place for essential soil microorganisms to grow.

If you normally mow left to right, mow up and down a few times a season. If you normally mow up and down, mow left to right a few times a season. Alternating the direction opens up the lawn.

Doing these simple and free things will encourage your grass to take over from your weeds.

If the lawn needs a weed killer, try cornmeal and molasses before the growing season. Applying a weed killer to grown weeds just leaves ugly dead brown weeds in the lawn. The cornmeal is a pre-emergent and the molasses is a fertilizer. Fish emulsion is another good fertilizer.

This Earth was green before we got here and made salt based and petroleum by-product fertilizers. The tools are built in.

Pee-yes: Spent grain is good for compost and general application.

 

[The Pol]

I mow my grass 3" high all summer

I never bag

I use a mulching blade

But our lawn is pure clay

 

[Rick500]

I mow my grass 3" high all summer

I never bag

I use a mulching blade

But our lawn is pure clay

Ditto every point above.

My neighbor mows his lawn practically all the way down to soil then wonders why it turns yellow.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I started mowing my taller this year and I never bag because well, I don't have a bagger. I can say my grass looks fuller already this year from mowing it higher. I used to cut it WAY down just so i didn't have to mow as often.

 

[Buffman]

Mow tall (3+ inches) to shade the surface roots, water deeply 2-3x/week, aerate the soil 2x/year, and fertilize every 6-8 weeks. I found that few things help my lawn better than aeration: it gets oxygen to the roots, loosens the soil, allows water and fertilzer to penetrate, and reduces thatch without power-raking. You can rent an aerator, but they are heavy and cumbersome. I pay a service about $30 to pull 2" plugs of soil, about the same price as renting the machine.

Also, last year I applied winter fertilizer around Thanksgiving (just too lazy to get to it before then) with great results. My lawn never really went dormant over the winter and was the very first on my street to green up this spring. It's my routine from now on.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I do my own as well - with Scott's products. No pics of the front but if I happen to think about it I'll take some.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Hmmmmm. Now that is athought. I'll have to check and see how much it cost to have the lawn aerated. I have checked the rental machines but, none of these dang places seem to include a trailer and there is no way in hades I am lifting one of those into my 3/4 ton truck bed alone.

As for bagging, I usually always do. The only time I don't bag is when I scalp the lawn in the spring. I dunno why I do it tho'. I just do. I guess I convinced myself that it lets the ground warm up quicker. Which of course also starts the weeds quicker too.

My mowing protocol is to scalp the lawn after the last frost and then raise the deck a notch each mowing until I get to about 2 to 3 inches. I find this keeps the deck at the upper 1/3rd of the grass leaves and minimalizes bagging. of course, the clippings go into compost.

 

[adx]

I mow my grass 3" high all summer

I never bag

I use a mulching blade

But our lawn is pure clay

I do the same thing, but every now and then I do bag. Sometimes I get lazy and don't mow until it's way too high. Oops.

Everyone jack that mower up. The first couple of times you'll think it looks like crap and is too high, but after a while it will fill in and you'll love it.