Forsythia blooms are a great trigger for Dimension, although if you go a bit early or late with that stuff you'll find it still works very well. Dimension has a post-emergent effect on crabgrass while it's still small (2 leaves or less, no tillering).

So don't panic if you're a bit off on that.

Agreed, although cheapo seed may cover the soil a bit better, and if it can root...if...you might get a better situation than the mud you have now. Since fescues and rye don't regenerate easily, maybe the cheapest bluegrass would help a bit, or the other solution would be to mulch it as David sugges...

I had great success with Sluggo, and have heard that Escar-Go works well, too.

Sluggo's iron phosphate, so it's harmless to mammals (in reasonable quantities) and breaks down beautifully to feed the gardens with iron and phosphorus.

Total +1 Andy. Keep feeding. I rotated between soy, Milorganite, and alfalfa, but you don't have to do that. Those tiny sprouts will be hungry when they start growing, and the better you feed 'em the better they grow. Within limits, of course, but organics aren't going to step outside those limits a...

With adding OM from "Milorganite" (using that as the stand-in for all OM sources) at a very high rate, I went from essentially zero to 4.6% in 2 years.

This year I went even heavier since I had the time. My ultimate goal is 6 to 8 percent, but a sustained 5% would make me very happy.

+1 JG. Nothing beats observation on your watering system. Mine required ten minutes per zone, three times per day (full sun from sunrise to sunset over most of the property), but your mileage will differ. I also agree with going low and making many passes. It reduces the missed spots considerably. I...

Now that is a seriously dying lawn! Congratulations!

I didn't have to throw or mow. Compost temperature dropped to six degrees above ambient, more than close enough to use as topdressing. So the front tree garden, which always has water retention problems, got most of it. I'm duly impressed; the color's not that different from the mulch. And the pile'...

Not even close to the strangest. One package I had delivered, 2 boxes of 55 pounds each, nearly had the guy dying in the driveway. I told him what was in it (he asked), he replied in that incredulous tone of voice, "A hundred pounds? Of...kelp...meal?"

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Oh, you'd NEVER get away with that commercial in the 'States. Which is too bad.

Agreed. You can get a spike into the 8-ish range after a liming until it distributes, and that takes a while. If you were going to lime, I'd do so at the end of the season but before ground freeze. Lime and urea don't get along well at all. You'll get a lot of outgassing from the urea, and it's a wa...

Thanks everyone!!! That helps a lot. So Eric, are you saying that the Vigoro product is urea? That one is, anyway. It's Vigoro Super Green. With a name like that I expect it to wear a cape and have a big letter G on the bag. http://www.toledodesigns.com/supergreen/product.html It also has 5% iron, ...

Totally agreed with RCNaylor; apply no more than 1 pound quick release N. I use Vigoro 35-0-4 which is 2/3 quick release urea and 1/3 coated for slow release. It's harder to mess up since it's essentially 23-0-4 but a touch more expensive. Since I need so little, it doesn't really matter. I'll end u...

It would certainly be nice to get the kernel since that has a lot of resources in it. However, mass-wise, the chaff is the greater amount, and the more fibrous stuff. That's what I'm interested in adding to the soil.

Chunks do not bother me. :-) I'll "screen" it by picking up any pieces I throw down that are too big and dropping them back into the next pile. The mower will get the rest well enough. I figure I topdress with the raw organic material in the form of grains, so this certainly shouldn't be a problem. ...

pcrispy wrote:

I totally hate you.

Yeah, I was hoping somebody would get the idea of what I wanted. You did. I'm really looking for topdressing, and we're getting closer to the part of the year where yard waste starts to increase exponentially. I can certainly let this sit for at least 2 more weeks, perhaps even more, until that wast...

I started my compost bin on July 18th, and I've been turning it every other day. The compost is now brown to black, although you can still recognize the occasional bit of stuff. That's getting rare, however. Sow bugs and earthworms have invaded and are happily chewing their way through (I don't mind...

clay&crabgrass wrote: now, how many times does $1500 go into $13,000?

Sears got a sale going on?

Eight and two thirds. It would have to be a HECK of a sale...

Thanks for the info Eric. Man, we went down to 52F last night and now it's 55F. I know that soil temp is different from air temp. However, the seeds are just on top. Is this bad for the seeds? Not in the slightest. Although you're at the minimum, you aren't below it. I looked up your weather and yo...