CW-DXer
09-22-2011, 07:17 PM
Hello all,
For the last 6 years I've been fighting a losing battle with the lawn, for one reason or another. I'd been seeding in April but with no pre-em, weeds were taking over in July, consumer-grade weed killers (Weed-B-Gon) in 80-degree August meant die-out by September, followed by more hit-or-miss treatments. Starting this year I'd like to do it properly, but I have more questions than viable answers.
I had a great afternoon's chat with the gents at my local Lesco (JDL) and they provided me a decent tentative maintenance schedule but what it doesn't seem to take into account is what products to use when I need to overseed.
I've just sent a soil sample for analysis and should hopefully know the results in a week or two. Assuming average-for-the-area conditions, they've tentatively suggested the following, and I'd greatly appreciate any feedback. Note that I'm in northern NJ, near NYC.
55-degree average soil temp, hit it with Dimension+Fert, then again in late-April/early May.
Eliminate Herbicide at the same time and again early September (*).
Allectus .225%+Fertilizer late-June
24-0-11 mid-September (**)
30-0-10 mid-November
Lime in August (??)
Aerate and spot-seed in April and September as needed. In my case, I'll probably need more than spot seeding for a couple of years until the lawn really come in better than it is now (very sparse).
I had the 10k SqFt. lawn core-aerated professionally and Lesco Parks & Athletic mix was overseeded on top of the plugs, along with a grub killer a couple of days ago. I'd put down Home Despot's fungicide a week prior. After seeding I applied Scotts starter fertilizer. They clued me in to Lesco after they'd done the work and, after all that, is when I went up and got their recommendations.
(*) (**) Per Lesco's recommendations, how can I spot-seed in the spring and fall if I'm using combination products like Dimension+Fert (Lesco 084176) and 026538 in the fall? My understanding of both these products is that they'll kill any seedlings.
My main lawn nemesis is plantain in the hot weather and crabgrass around the curb lines, oniongrass in the spring and what looks like bentgrass (very bright green broadleaf grass) coming in by air from two nearby golf courses, again, in late-summer. Until now, my lawn is the Lesco Parks & Athletic in the front, where there's a lot of sun and Scott's Deep Shade Mix of fescues and Ryegrass for the shady back yard and north side of the house. Very little Kentucky present.
I have an irrigation system that I run typically every 3 days for 30 minutes per zone in a normal summer (though in 2011, with the weather we've had, I've used it less than 8 times all summer since 2-3" of rain a week has been commin in 2011). I cut to 3" in the summer and about 2-3/4" spring and fall, ensuring sharp blades always.
That's about all I can think of. I know it's a lot of info (probably too much), but I confess to knowing almost nothing about doing lawn care the correct way and frankly I'm tired of just winging it and getting poor results over the long-haul. I would be extremely grateful for any constructive advice in unlearning old bad habits and in learning to do things right.
Cheers,
Pete
For the last 6 years I've been fighting a losing battle with the lawn, for one reason or another. I'd been seeding in April but with no pre-em, weeds were taking over in July, consumer-grade weed killers (Weed-B-Gon) in 80-degree August meant die-out by September, followed by more hit-or-miss treatments. Starting this year I'd like to do it properly, but I have more questions than viable answers.
I had a great afternoon's chat with the gents at my local Lesco (JDL) and they provided me a decent tentative maintenance schedule but what it doesn't seem to take into account is what products to use when I need to overseed.
I've just sent a soil sample for analysis and should hopefully know the results in a week or two. Assuming average-for-the-area conditions, they've tentatively suggested the following, and I'd greatly appreciate any feedback. Note that I'm in northern NJ, near NYC.
55-degree average soil temp, hit it with Dimension+Fert, then again in late-April/early May.
Eliminate Herbicide at the same time and again early September (*).
Allectus .225%+Fertilizer late-June
24-0-11 mid-September (**)
30-0-10 mid-November
Lime in August (??)
Aerate and spot-seed in April and September as needed. In my case, I'll probably need more than spot seeding for a couple of years until the lawn really come in better than it is now (very sparse).
I had the 10k SqFt. lawn core-aerated professionally and Lesco Parks & Athletic mix was overseeded on top of the plugs, along with a grub killer a couple of days ago. I'd put down Home Despot's fungicide a week prior. After seeding I applied Scotts starter fertilizer. They clued me in to Lesco after they'd done the work and, after all that, is when I went up and got their recommendations.
(*) (**) Per Lesco's recommendations, how can I spot-seed in the spring and fall if I'm using combination products like Dimension+Fert (Lesco 084176) and 026538 in the fall? My understanding of both these products is that they'll kill any seedlings.
My main lawn nemesis is plantain in the hot weather and crabgrass around the curb lines, oniongrass in the spring and what looks like bentgrass (very bright green broadleaf grass) coming in by air from two nearby golf courses, again, in late-summer. Until now, my lawn is the Lesco Parks & Athletic in the front, where there's a lot of sun and Scott's Deep Shade Mix of fescues and Ryegrass for the shady back yard and north side of the house. Very little Kentucky present.
I have an irrigation system that I run typically every 3 days for 30 minutes per zone in a normal summer (though in 2011, with the weather we've had, I've used it less than 8 times all summer since 2-3" of rain a week has been commin in 2011). I cut to 3" in the summer and about 2-3/4" spring and fall, ensuring sharp blades always.
That's about all I can think of. I know it's a lot of info (probably too much), but I confess to knowing almost nothing about doing lawn care the correct way and frankly I'm tired of just winging it and getting poor results over the long-haul. I would be extremely grateful for any constructive advice in unlearning old bad habits and in learning to do things right.
Cheers,
Pete