Need lawn or landscape advice? I'll help

[Davy]

Lets all go to Scooters place.

Actually, Red oaks do fairly well in this area, all except this one. I'm about ready to give it more iron, the axe.

Todd, I have several Silver Maples too, they have done real good.

[Big AL]

Steven,
chances are that it is NOT crabgrass at all.
Grab grass is annual: meaning it germinates in the spring (you can't usually notice it until early summer), and dies at the first frost.
So, if you see that "crabgrass" in late April, then it is something else like Barnyardgrass, goosegrass, or clumping tall fescue. (don't confuse this one with Turf-type tall fescue which is good)

If you have the big boy companies out there putting down their treatments, and you still have that "crabgrass," chances are you have another problem.
The only way to get rid of barn and goose grasses are to dig- em' up.

Also, you need to realize that these grasses are only able to invade weaker turf areas. Strong thick turf will choke out non-desirables.


As far as some areas of the lawn getting thicker, and others not, you very well may have some new species of turf grass beginning to take over.
have you introduced new seed anytime in the last 5 years?


My advice short of scraping up the lawn and starting over: (cost assuming you are sitting on about a 5,000 sq ft lawn)
1) put down a nice winterizing fert now. 20-20-10 will do nicely. ($15)
2) put same stuff down again in mid-march. ($15)
3) slit seed entire lawn with nice blend of KY blue and Perenial Rye..also mid-march (seed $100, machine rental $50)
4) put down crabgrass pre-emergent in later april. you can buy a blend with weed control and fert in it too. ($20)
5) continue putting down weed-n-feed every 4 weeks through summer. ($45)
6) aerate and overseed lawn in september. (seed $100, machine rental $50)
7) finish year with 20-20-10 in late fall. ($15)

total cost: $310.
approx cost to scrape and start over with new sod: $3,500

also: cut grass at 2.75" and NO shorter (free)
water lawn 2x per week even if it rains. When you water, leave sprinkler in each area for 1 hour. (water is cheap)


If you do this, your lawn will show a marked improvement. It sounds like a lot of work, but really isn't.
Perform the above work for a couple years, and most of the crappy grass will be choked out.


hope this helps

AL

[muskymike]

Scooter!

[tileguytodd]

My pot plants are not doing very well. Whats a good fertilizer? Something that won't be too toxic when I smoke it.

"Bat Guano".................Hightimes 1977 issue 37

[Eugenius]

Big Al, you're comments are primo, Neal Sperry quality and beyond. We have a 15' crepe myrtle in in the back yard here in northeast Texas. In the 4 years we've been in this house, it hasn't produced a single bloom. Is there such a thing as a sterile or non-blooming crepe myrtle?

Scooter, finely ground Dorito's make a munchy meal for said young plants.

[Steven Hauser]

Thanks Al,

Uhh.

But what if I want the purty fescue and not them other types of grasses?

Is it a case of go with your grasses or kiss your assess? No not assess but

[Big AL]

Eugenius...thanks for the Sperry comparison...my ego isn't big enough already!

Anyway, the grand old "Lilac of the South" is a wonderful ornamental.

Here's what I think about the lack of flowers based on not seeing it.

1) Have you fertilized it recently? If you have, you may have given it too much nitrogen. If you have not, then I recommend some of those Jobe Spikes.
2) If it is one of the older varieties, then chances are it has been racked with Powedery Mildew fungus which will eventually stop it from flowering. You can get fungicides to spray it with in the Spring, but if it is too tall, you may have to hire a company to spray it for you. Cost will be around $40 per spray and you'd need 2 or 3.

Some final advice: pruning!

(assuming it's in full sun)
Thin that puppy out. Air flow through the tree is your friend. Get rid of 90% of the internal cross-branching. NOW is the time to do it since it will be slipping into winter dormancy.
Also, some major rejuvination-type pruning may be in order if you can manage it. This involves reducing the canopy by 40% overall.

Hope that helps!


PS--if it is an older variety, pruning and spraying will help it for a year or 2 and the problem will come back.
You may consider starting over with a new cultivar with more natural disease resistance. They have Crape's these days on good root stock that get almost no disease problems.

[Big AL]

Steven,
I really like the Turf Type Tall Fescues they have out now.
my entire lawn is a mixture of TTTF and Perennial Rye.
TTTF must be mowed higher though, but it is good for summer drought situations. (also, TTTF has more of an emerald color, and not a dark blue color)

Here's the kind I used in my lawn:
http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=27&ItemNumber=059090


The key is a mix because all of one type of grass means if you get a fungus in there, the whole thing will look bad. if you have a couple of types, then you can allow the lawn to "grow through" the problems.

[Alto]

Hey Big Al, thanks for being here for some off-topic advice. This could catch on and we'd all get real real s-m-r-t.

Do you know if nimblewill is an annual? My lawn is being invaded by it. I killed off sections with Round-up last year but now the patches are getting too big. I'm pursueing an aggresive fert program, letting the fescue shade it out, then mowing low in two cuts to remove the nimblewill "heads". It's controlling it but just barely. See if it's an annual, maybe I can put down pre-emergent early in the spring?

[Big AL]

Hi Rick,
Sorry to say that Nimblwill is perennial.
Your idea of roundup is the best course, but nimblwill is a lot like bentgrass in that it "creeps" quickly.

Right now, you should really be able to distinguish the nimblwill because it should be mostly brown.

I'd mark off these areas with spray paint or something, leaving about 6" of extra space around the envaded areas. Then, I'd start the roundup applications early in the spring. (roundup ain't cheap, I know )

Another idea would be to rent a sod cutter and scrape it out of there, turn the soil over, and put sod over top. This would help keep it choked out for a while.

Problem is: if it is coming from your neighbor's yard, it will always be a problem.

[Steven Hauser]

Thanks Al.

So I haf ta git started soon? Or since I'll be gone a lot over the next few weeks, it'd be 1st of December before I could do the yard.

Is your plan still viable then?

[Big AL]

Steve,
December is just fine for the 20-20-10.Good luck!

[Steven Hauser]

Thanks Al.

[Scooter]

This plant is not doing well. What kind of fertilizer do you suggest?

[cx]

Damn old hippies'll smoke anything.