Treat your yard yourself? Or hire it out?

[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.

 

[user 19629]

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.

 

[Ryan_PA]

I have a spreading broadleaf week, creeping charlie. After some reading, it appears I may have to bag the clippings until the bugger is dead. Throwing the clippings only further spreads the weed. I am going to do the borax treatment I have found on the web. al other alternatives I have tried did nothing. It is slowly taking over my 2 acres...

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I always collect my clippings, but I like the idea of recyling that mulch back into the earth...it just makes sense. Rather than throw it away, there is obviously some great fertilizer and organic matter. However, when I've left the bag off my lawn is just one big disgusting mat of dead grass. Is there some way around this? Is there some way of making the grass clippings smaller so they fall down between the grass instead of sitting on top?

 

[pen25]

I always collect my clippings, but I like the idea of recyling that mulch back into the earth...it just makes sense. Rather than throw it away, there is obviously some great fertilizer and organic matter. However, when I've left the bag off my lawn is just one big disgusting mat of dead grass. Is there some way around this? Is there some way of making the grass clippings smaller so they fall down between the grass instead of sitting on top?

you need a mulching blade and a block off for the exit. most already have the mulching blade. and it doesnt take long for the brown to fade into the green when you water. but if you do bag build a compost pile. doesnt take much work and every spring or fall yuo have fresh compost for say spredding and over seeding with a rye.

 

[pen25]

oh one more thing. for clay soil you can use either gypsum or gypsite. one needs to be worked into the soil the other just needs to be spread. it helps break up the clay.

Loosen Clay Soil With Gypsum

its gypsum that you want. spread it using the directions on the bag and aerate the lawn.

 

[android]

I always collect my clippings, but I like the idea of recyling that mulch back into the earth...it just makes sense. Rather than throw it away, there is obviously some great fertilizer and organic matter. However, when I've left the bag off my lawn is just one big disgusting mat of dead grass. Is there some way around this? Is there some way of making the grass clippings smaller so they fall down between the grass instead of sitting on top?

the only good way to combat this is to mow more frequently. the mulching blade will help, but if the underside of the mower is plugged with grass, it won't work very well.

 

[android]

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.

i understand your basic point here, which is cut higher, which i would definitely recommend for home owners. but what you're stating isn't wholly true. as far as traffic tolerance, short cut grass on athletic fields will actually form a more dense root system, although not as deep, and can increase traffic tolerance. as far as insect, weed, and disease pressure, i will agree with you that when a grass is cut short and only cut once a week, you are increasing the stress level by violating the "1/3 rule". however, when you cut grass often and short, you increase lateral growth & tillering, getting a thicker, healthier lawn, so it will, in fact, be less susceptible to pests of all kinds.

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.

Thatch is fertilizer? Not sure what you mean by that. Returning clippings is a great practice, and it does provide some nutrients, but not nearly enough if you want a truly green/lush lawn. "De-thatching" is kind of a catch-all term. While I agree that power raking isn't necessary, aerating is one of the best practices you can do for your lawn. A small layer ~1/2" of thatch can be beneficial for lawns, but a large thatch layer can actually trap water and nutrients and harbor insects and disease. The nice thing is most homeowners don't need to worry about too large of a thatch layer because earthworms love to eat it. And just to add in, returning clippings will NOT significantly contribute to your thatch layer.

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.

Great suggestion, quit burning in those lines just because it looks good.

for the most part your suggestions are right on, but i just wanted to clarify a few things.

water your lawn in the winter a few times too if possible. ever notice how grass is always greener around the gutter spouts in the winter?

 

[Zul'jin]

Aerating is good. If by aerating we mean, basically, poking holes in the ground. It's an easier and less stressful (to us and the grass) way of dealing with thatch. Aerating breaks up the thatch and turns over some soil. Both things aid in biodegrading the thatch. When it does, it's fertilizer. Soil builder, if one prefers. Too much aerating though can just tear up the lawn.

As for using athletic fields as an example of mowing grass shorter to increase durability in high traffic areas, the turf of athletic fields and the primarily St Augustine grass of my yard are two different grasses. There are also a multitude of maintenance practice differences to consider. It undoubtedly works on the turf used in the appropriate application when maintained accordingly.

The best mulching blade I used was the Ninja for Snapper. Currently, I use a plain blade on a plastic Honda. It works. Not as well when there are a lot of leaves but, I'm not shelling out the bucks for a Snapper.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Well, I ripped the tranny out of my old Handa HRZ and have started using it for the flat bits at least. It is a true mulching mower that uses two blades stacked atop one another. It's the only mower I have had that didn't create the grassy windrolls. I'll use the SP Deer for the hillside and when I bag.

I expect what I'll do is a rotation. One cut with the Honda, the next with the deer, wash, rinse, repeat. This way I'll feed bot the lawn and the compost heaps plus keep both mowers running regularly.

I took a notice of the lawn in the hood. While I am still battling some weedy bits, mine is by far the deepest color of green on the street. Love that Scotts fertilizer. I have decided that I am alos going to aerate the lawns as well. The flat bit in the back near the house isn't growing too well compared to the rest of the lawn and I suspect it's too compacted. $75 for 24 hours is the least expensive I can find for the equipment rental and taht is even cheaper than hiring the job.

Oh! And BTW if anyone is planning to buy a Craftsman Qucik connect weed eater and a edger. Don't! Keep the $85 for the attachment and get a proper edger. I had one for two years before it was time to change the blade. Went to do that and shattered the housing trying to get the bolt off. It's designed with slots where you are supposed to jam a screw driver in to lock the rotor. Well the housing is practically whipped aluminum and will break apart with any amount of shear applied.

At first, I figured I just goofed. Went and got a new one but thought I'd loosen the nut first before I used it. Glad I did. After checking teh manual, I placed the driver in the slot, grabbed a long handled crescent for leverage and went to loosen the nut. Yup. Shattered the housing on that one too.

Fugitabowtit! Bought a dedicated 4 cycle edger instead.

 

[android]

As for using athletic fields as an example of mowing grass shorter to increase durability in high traffic areas, the turf of athletic fields and the primarily St Augustine grass of my yard are two different grasses.

st. augustine is a whole different animal. one that definitely does not tolerate short mowing and also one of the biggest thatch producers.

 

[adx]

Anyone try the gator blade as a replacement mulching blade? A guy I work with swears by them. I find the OEM Toro blade sucks for mulching.