Lawn Boys

[Chronic Husker 85]

Bunnys, you have bermuda or St. Augustine?

 

Some good stuff in this thread.

[Chronic Husker 85]

We bought our house in December, so we are starting from scratch this spring. The previous owner didn't do much maintenance at all. The back yard is lumpy and it is driving me nuts. I need to rent an aerator an hope this helps to level.

Lumpy, grasswise? Or, when you walk the lawn in your bare feet, large bumps in the ground all over?

[BunnysBastatrds 2,336]

Bunnys, you have bermuda or St. Augustine?

 

Some good stuff in this thread.

St Augustine. Good old southern grass. Iove it! It can take dog piss and bunny piss without a glitch. Have to cut it every five days. Which I don't mind.

Another reason to drink a cold one.

 

I get depressed when Icant mow the lawn come football season.

[Magnificent Bastard 191]

Did my first cut today on the new tractor. Lawn not looking good, better get some rain soon. Probably start all over next year if it doesn't get better. I like a nice lawn, pulling in to my driveway and seeing it when I get home. I also bought a battery powered weed wacker, ryobi, works pretty good, much less noise, not pulling the cord 50x to get it to start.

[Gepetto 1,317]

Yes, I take pride in it, and I have the nicest lawn on my street probably, in a nice neighborhood. I don't always trim, it's hard on my back and I have a bad back, but my dad string trims it when he stops by usually once a week or every other. I mow once a week and do it diagonally and rotate the angle every week, it looks damn good.

 

I have Fescue, can't remember what kind of Fescue.

[MTSkiBum 1,620]

St Augustine. Good old southern grass. Iove it! It can take dog piss and bunny piss without a glitch. Have to cut it every five days. Which I don't mind.

Another reason to drink a cold one.

 

I get depressed when Icant mow the lawn come football season.

 

Exactly. All the people in this thread saying lawn maintenance is cheap have never dealt with St Augustine grass. It can get out of control quickly. Plus the growing season is long down here. Half the year the grass needs cut once a week, another 2 months out of the year it probably needs cut every other week.

 

Even if you can get lawn care for 30 dollars a mowing you are talking 1000 a year. Little expenses like that add up.

[kutulu 1,662]

I would like to know the cheapest, lazist way to have a decent patch of grass...I'm hoping one of you dooshbags actually knows what you r talking about

[Chronic Husker 85]

I would like to know the cheapest, lazist way to have a decent patch of grass...I'm hoping one of you dooshbags actually knows what you r talking about

Where do you live?

[jerryskids 6,617]

I have two teenagers who do the mowing now. I do the edging, leaf blowing (onto the grass for mowing, the kids hate when I do it), and weed maintenance. I wouldn't say I'm a total lawn guy like Newbie and Bunny are describing; I like it when it is done, but it isn't an obsession for me.

 

Summer grass is bermuda; in winter you can optionally plant a rye. This year I only overseeded the front (smaller patch, maybe 1000 sq ft) to save money/water. This fall I'll probably do the back since we will have a big graduation party in the spring and my wife will kill me if it doesn't look good. It's hit or miss if the summer grass will take by May, and I have a problem with the bermuda -- we have some sishu (sp?) trees near the grass, and for a long time they weren't getting watered correctly, so the roots grew out towards the grass. So I have these arcs of dirt where there should be grass. Interestingly the rye grows there no problem. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.

 

The one thing I do take pride in is our quarterly bulk trash collection. We have a lot of trees and I whack the bejeebus out of them, then have the complaining kids drag them to a pile in the front. We usually have the biggest pile in the neighborhood, and I love looking at it knowing the work that went into it. Our neighbor always comments on how great it is that we have our kids help; we live in an upscale neighborhood and a lot of the kids do nothing. Well, maybe drugs.

[kutulu 1,662]

Where do you live?

mass, on the RI border

[Chronic Husker 85]

mass, on the RI border

 

K, without seeing even a pic of your lawn, I have a plan that will work but it will take effort (minimal, at that).

 

The easiest grass to grow and maintain is tall fescue. What you'll need to do is rent a slice/seeder (from Home Depot or anywhere) and enough seed to cover the square footage of your lawn. Don't you have teenage kids? You can make them do the backwork. It's a bit late in the season to do lawn seeding but as far north as you are, you should be OK. This will be a good spring to do it with all the winter moisture you got.

 

I'd also highly recommend you get soil testing, based where you live. The reason is, your soil is likely very acidic. If you just want to go ahead and assume the soil is acidic without bothering with testing, just buy a big bag of lime. Lime is cheap but will likely be needed to get a good lawn, quick.

 

Another cheap product you can purchase vs. it's value is Revive. I believe you can buy it online. It will help seed germinate.

 

Rent a slice/seeder. Buy seed, lime, revive, starter fert. Slice/seed the lawn and put down the other stuff with it (doesn't matter which order), keep it watered, and voila. You got a lawn, guy.

[Cloaca du jour 2,147]

My front is alway cut, my back....jungle.

[Cruzer 1,995]

Bought and spread 32 bags of mulch Saturday - still need another 20 to finish it up. Also planted another rose bush and some New Guinea Impatiens.

[Mungwater 596]

I had to re-seed my lawn after we got some work done on the back of the house. I was out of town and the contractor left all the taken off hardiplank all over the back. Left a ton of nails too, between that and my dog, it was a mess. It's been a week, and it's starting to look good again. I thought the amount of rain would have washed most of it away, but it's coming in now.

[Magnificent Bastard 191]

I had to re-seed my lawn after we got some work done on the back of the house. I was out of town and the contractor left all the taken off hardiplank all over the back. Left a ton of nails too, between that and my dog, it was a mess. It's been a week, and it's starting to look good again. I thought the amount of rain would have washed most of it away, but it's coming in now.

That's bull spit. I've wanted to strangle a couple of contractors. I've learned you just can't pay them all the money up front. They don't like it, but I tell them tough, I've been burned before.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Chronic Husker, on 17 May 2015 - 4:02 PM, said:

K, without seeing even a pic of your lawn, I have a plan that will work but it will take effort (minimal, at that).

 

The easiest grass to grow and maintain is tall fescue. What you'll need to do is rent a slice/seeder (from Home Depot or anywhere) and enough seed to cover the square footage of your lawn. Don't you have teenage kids? You can make them do the backwork. It's a bit late in the season to do lawn seeding but as far north as you are, you should be OK. This will be a good spring to do it with all the winter moisture you got.

 

I'd also highly recommend you get soil testing, based where you live. The reason is, your soil is likely very acidic. If you just want to go ahead and assume the soil is acidic without bothering with testing, just buy a big bag of lime. Lime is cheap but will likely be needed to get a good lawn, quick.

 

Another cheap product you can purchase vs. it's value is Revive. I believe you can buy it online. It will help seed germinate.

 

Rent a slice/seeder. Buy seed, lime, revive, starter fert. Slice/seed the lawn and put down the other stuff with it (doesn't matter which order), keep it watered, and voila. You got a lawn, guy.

Around here, he may need a lot of big bags of lime. I buy like 40 of them to do 30,000 sq ft. If there is lots of pine around, the soil will be acidic.

 

Best bet is to use a contractor mix that has a mix of fescue, rye and blue grass. Fescue is quick, but it is not as pretty as bluegrass. Overseed in the fall (mid September here).

[Cruzer 1,995]

That's bull spit. I've wanted to strangle a couple of contractors. I've learned you just can't pay them all the money up front. They don't like it, but I tell them tough, I've been burned before.

If you want it done right, you have to hire brown.

[Chronic Husker 85]

Around here, he may need a lot of big bags of lime. I buy like 40 of them to do 30,000 sq ft. If there is lots of pine around, the soil will be acidic.

 

Best bet is to use a contractor mix that has a mix of fescue, rye and blue grass. Fescue is quick, but it is not as pretty as bluegrass. Overseed in the fall (mid September here).

I hear ya. Depends upon pine trees, rainfall, etc. Not a bad idea to lime, anyway, because lime will react with fert for growth and color.

 

30k? Fock that.

 

Bluegrass is prettier, but tall fescue is the easiest to grow. If you have a lawn with both, the fescue will look like shizz. A lot of people mistake it for crabgrass. But if your lawn is all fescue, it looks fine.

[BunnysBastatrds 2,336]

I hear ya. Depends upon pine trees, rainfall, etc. Not a bad idea to lime, anyway, because lime will react with fert for growth and color.

 

30k? Fock that.

 

Bluegrass is prettier, but tall fescue is the easiest to grow. If you have a lawn with both, the fescue will look like shizz. A lot of people mistake it for crabgrass. But if your lawn is all fescue, it looks fine.

How does the winter grass stay alive with all of the cold and snow? Why bother is a better question? Keep it neat and tidy. Wait for spring.

[Chronic Husker 85]

How does the winter grass stay alive with all of the cold and snow? Why bother is a better question? Keep it neat and tidy. Wait for spring.

 

Ummm, it just goes dormant. Stops taking in nutrients and goes into a state of hibernation, per se. Will go dormant in the summer if too hot and dry, as well.

 

There's likely a month or two where your St. Augustine more or less does the same. Aren't there folks in your area that grow rye Jan-Feb?

[hoytdwow 202]

Actually in the market for a new mower. Any recommendations? Thinking Honda or Toro.

[IGotWorms 4,057]

Actually in the market for a new mower. Any recommendations? Thinking Honda or Toro.

I've got a self-propelled Toro that is pretty nice and has held up well over a couple years so far. I had previously tried a Honda and found it to be unwieldy. However the Honda was a RWD which I think just didn't work for my particular lawn.

 

Have heard good things about Husqvarna as well

[hoytdwow 202]

I've got a self-propelled Toro that is pretty nice and has held up well over a couple years so far. I had previously tried a Honda and found it to be unwieldy. However the Honda was a RWD which I think just didn't work for my particular lawn.

 

Have heard good things about Husqvarna as well

all the Husqvarna's rated by consumer reports got bad ratings.

 

My current mower is a Troy-Bilt push mower. I like it and it runs fine but it is 10 years old. My FIL has a Toro with front wheel drive and I hate it; it kind of shimmies around a lot and makes it hard to cut straight lines. I was thinking I would go rear wheel for my new one in the hopes that it's a more stable drive system.

[BunnysBastatrds 2,336]

 

Ummm, it just goes dormant. Stops taking in nutrients and goes into a state of hibernation, per se. Will go dormant in the summer if too hot and dry, as well.

 

There's likely a month or two where your St. Augustine more or less does the same. Aren't there folks in your area that grow rye Jan-Feb?

 

 

Ours goes dormant from late December to early March. We don't, I should say I don't, know anyone who does anything else to their lawn during that time. I just wait till it starts to grow back in. That's why I was curious about why you would try to grow a differnt kind of grass.

[Magnificent Bastard 191]

Actually in the market for a new mower. Any recommendations? Thinking Honda or Toro.

I have a self propelled toro, no complaints. I also just bought a rider from Sears. I did a lot of research, and I found everyone has something bad to say about all brands of riding mowers. I went with Sears. They delivered and took away my old rider no charge. I broke down and bought the extended warranty. The price of the mower also dropped a few days later and they refunded me the difference(166 bucks). I was looking at cub cadet and John Deere but I found plenty of complaints about them too. I got a 42 inch 19hp. Big enough for my acre and 1/2. Paid around 1700 with 3 year warranty.

[IGotWorms 4,057]

all the Husqvarna's rated by consumer reports got bad ratings.

 

My current mower is a Troy-Bilt push mower. I like it and it runs fine but it is 10 years old. My FIL has a Toro with front wheel drive and I hate it; it kind of shimmies around a lot and makes it hard to cut straight lines. I was thinking I would go rear wheel for my new one in the hopes that it's a more stable drive system.

I would urge you to try out a RWD before committing. They are very unwieldy and basically lack any turn radius whatsoever. They are intended for big fields (when a riding mower would be better but more expensive) or areas with a significant incline. They really aren't suitable for your typical yard imo.

[hoytdwow 202]

I would urge you to try out a RWD before committing. They are very unwieldy and basically lack any turn radius whatsoever. They are intended for big fields (when a riding mower would be better but more expensive) or areas with a significant incline. They really aren't suitable for your typical yard imo.

good info. Thx!

maybe it's just the model my FIL has. He always buys the cheapest possible version of everything.

[BunnysBastatrds 2,336]

Lawn talk

[Reality 3,120]

On 5/15/2015 at 9:43 AM, Reality said:

1/3 of an acre treat, push mow, edge, and blow. I would never let my kid (12) touch it. Love doing it myself and love to sit on my a$$ and drink a beer while admiring my work. I will mow it myself as long as I am physically able, until the bitter end.

 

My yard is foking immaculate and it is a full on competition in my neighborhood, all the men who are real men know it, nothing ever needs to be said. We just give each other the nod of approvement or disapprovement.

Different house, different yard, same story.