Late Spring Weed and Feed

After mowing yesterday, I got up early today to catch the grass while its still wet from dew and irrigation. I applied Lesco Weed and Feed 18-2-26. There aren't that many weeds but if we can eliminate the few that we have and at the same time help the grass thicken and grow a stronger root system, the lawn will be better prepared for the hot and very likely dry summer to come.

I think we now have one of the best if not the best lawn in the neighborhood. Not a bad recovery from last years drought!

Spring Fertilizer and pre-emergent

The more I look at the lawn, the better I like the results. Today, I mowed again just to freshen things up and put down a Lesco product that's a combination pre-emergent and fertilizer. I also started up the irrigation system and set it to run early AM every other day. This should be enough given that we've had a pretty wet winter so far.

Spring Cleanup

We just got back from a nice winter trip in warmer climates. Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico are nice places to visit during our winter months but they sure don't have any grass. I guess that's good in one sense, no mowing etc.

I can hardly believe the mess our lawn is in after the winter. It looks like we've had some winter storms while we were gone and the squirrels have been working overtime. Sticks, twigs and limbs are everywhere. I spent the whole day getting them up. I also got the yard mowed. What a difference! All the work in the fall is paying dividends. The grass is abundant and thick for the most part.

Pre-emergent

I applied pre-emergent today. This is the last our efforts for this year. I'll probably apply pre-emergent again in the spring when we return. The lawn looks so much better with lots of new grass. I have great expectations for next year.

Thanksgiving has come and gone

Boy, this was a tough fall. Leaves were abundant and the work was MASSIVE. The lawn looks better than it has in a long time. Our hopes are great but we also know the time is nearing for us to leave for the winter, probably in late December as soon as we can after Christmas. We're still running the irrigation system but the weather is getting cold so we'll turn it off in the next day or two.

The lawn got it's December feeding today with Scott's Winter Guard fertilized. I'll plan to put some pre-emergent before we leave for the winter. I've found that using a pre-emergent at least a couple of times each year really makes a difference, particularly with crab grass and lespadeza both of which are very aggressive and impossible to rid the yard of once it starts.

November Fun!

This is tough work but somebodies got to do it. With a property filled with lots of trees, fall brings an abundance of fun only if your idea of fun is removing all the leaves that fall from the trees this time of the year. We have the good fortune of having every kind of equipment imaginable to make the job easier but any way you slice it, it's still lots of work. I'll try to get some pictures to include in another post showing the mowers, blowers, vacuums etc. that I use.

Most years the leaves have fallen by Thanksgiving but things seem a bit late this year. We'll see.

October 2007 Maintence

Virginia's extension service recommends a fall program for lawn maintenance they call SOD. SOD stands for September, October, December. Basically the idea is to fertilize three times during the fall to promote root growth during the dormant winter months. They recommend a 5-10-10 fertilizer. Having tried all kinds of fertilizers through the years, I've concluded that there really is a difference. While Scott's is more expensive, it works. Maybe Scotts has brainwashed me with their advertising, emails etc. I think I'm almost a believer. I may also use Lesco products believing that they too are "professional" grade.

I used a Scotts for new lawn product when I planted Scotts grass seed in September. Boy, things are looking up. Lots of new grass. Now, If I can just keep things moving in the current direction, the lawn will recover from the killing drought we've had this year.

Today, I've taken the second step in SOD. After mowing, I applied Scotts turf builder. The irrigation system is still running but only once a day in the early morning.