First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

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mark321aldridge
Posts: 1
Joined: April 24th, 2020, 11:48 am
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Grass Type: Fescue/ Rye (I think)
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First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by mark321aldridge » April 24th, 2020, 12:31 pm

Hi everyone.

I recently moved to Media, PA with my wife after living in Philly for 2 and a half years. This is the first time we have ever owned any land/backyard space, and the first time I've ever taken responsibility for looking after grass.

When we moved in, the yard had not been maintained, was essentially a wasteland (it was not fenced before we bought it). There were a lot of tree roots on either side of the yard, so I built a floating deck on one side to cover the large roots, and built a gravel pit for a firepit/eating area on the other side of the yard.

The grass was daunting to me as I knew it was a science. I roto-tilled it myself (which I have read on this forum isn't always recommended) and raked, and then planted new grass seed. I went with Scotts Extreme Sun and Shade mix. It actually sprouted pretty quickly. I planted the seed March 14th. It is however thin in a lot of places. It's also patchy and I'm having a hard time growing in the patches. I had a lot of those agressive weeds (no idea what they are call) where the root looks like a giant seed, so I dug them out and replace the area with top soil and grass seed. And the other patches is were large collections of clover were that I killed and now waiting for the grass to grow in.

I really feel like I am at a standstill. I have not mowed the lawn for the first time yet as I have read you should wait about 2 months, but the grass doesn't seem to be getting any longer either, and the patches/thin spots aren't growing in.

I recently subscribed to "Get Sunday" Lawn care and am expecting my first set of fertilizer in the next week, as well as returning my soil for a soil test which should hopefully educate me further too.

I thought I'd join this forum to see what advice people could share on improving my lawn - I'd love for it to ultimately be a carpet of grass for my family to enjoy!

Here are some pics - the one is showing how it was when we just moved in, and the other 3 how it is right now.

Thanks in advance!!



Image

Image

Image

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » May 3rd, 2020, 3:37 pm

You need to stop and take a breath. You're making one mistake after another. You're reading into the advice on this forum and misinterpreting it.

Before I get into specifics you're not going to like, thats a beautiful job with the deck and the backdrop on the fence.

The "grass" you described is nutgrass, which is really a sedge called nutsedge. It can be killed only with a sedge killer and no other product. It is also a swamp type plant, so I'm thinking you're over watering. Then again you planted new grass seed in the spring, which is another mistake you made. But the nutgrass loves that type of frequent watering, especially if the soil becomes soggy. LOVES IT!

At this point you need to be winding this down on the overabundance of love you're giving the lawn. The last thing you need to do for this season is to fertilize on Memorial Day. Cancel your fertilizer deliveries asap. Use what you have LATER in the year. In your case the only fertilizer I would recommend is soybean meal at 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. The reason for that is that you cannot screw it up. If you apply too much, no problem. Too little and you'll see some light green in among the deep green spots. Set your mower at the highest setting and don't mow until it gets up to 5 inches high. Leave your mower at that level for the rest of the year.

Now that you have germinated all the grass, what is your watering schedule? Watering is critical for you, because you seeded in the spring and you threw in rototilling on top of that. What normally happens next is a metric craptonne of crabgrass seed germinates along side the grass seed. Crabgrass is a summer annual plant that germinates faster than other grasses and spreads like crazy. The fescue you planted has weak roots and needs extra water this summer to make it through the heat. Had you seeded last August, after the summer heat broke, then your new fescue would be fine for this summer. But here we are. As for your watering now, you should be watering enough to keep the roots damp for a couple days. That's probably 1/4 to 1/2 inch, all at one time, every 3rd or 4th day. Watch your grass carefully to see if that is enough water. If it seems to dry out before the 3rd to 4th day, then water LONGER and NOT more frequently. The nutsedge will thrive with this watering schedule for this year. You want to eventually (next year) stretch out the watering schedule to once a month in the early spring and gradually bringing it to once a week in the hottest heat of summer. I have a suggestion for that, but that is a long time in your future. You just need to deal with the immediate situation and get through the summer. After you get fully into deep and infrequent watering, the nutsedge will weaken quite a bit.

In the fall, be ready to repeat your lawn installation. Why? Because a lot of this will die and be replaced with crabgrass. August/Fall is the time to renovate a lawn in your area. Please ask for advice here before doing that job. There is an approach that works and a lot of approaches you will regret...like rototilling or adding topsoil. I sense you are a bit of a perfectionist. We can help you, but not if you make the mistakes anyway.

Whatever you planted back against the fence, they are too close and will either damage the fence or damage themselves rubbing against the fence.

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LeftField11
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Re: First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by LeftField11 » May 13th, 2020, 9:21 am

I actually don't think that looks too bad for what it's been through. Like Dchall said - all you can do at this point is nurse the grass you have through summer. If it survives and you start working on it August 15th, you could very nearly have that carpet of grass you're looking for by October. Look through the "Renovations" section, people start from scratch in August (they actually starting killing in July), and have very nice lawns by the end of the growing season. You have a nice layout, your backyard could look very good.

One other note: you could get a soil test right now and start working on any needed corrections.

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andy10917
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Re: First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by andy10917 » May 13th, 2020, 10:07 am

If you decide to do a soil test and want us to interpret the results and build a plan, make sure to read the "Posting a Soil Test for Interpretation" thread at the top of the Soils Forum".

Jackson
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Re: First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by Jackson » May 20th, 2020, 3:58 pm

You picked an interesting spring to start lawn care. Around here (Chicago) it has been unseasonably cold and wet. There are parts of my yard that are still waking up that are usually awake the first 2 weeks of April.

Honestly, you're off to a good start. I do agree that right now watering too much after tilling is essentially 'fallowing' your lawn (encouraging every single weed seed to germinate). What I can ascertain from Get Sunday's website is that it is an idiot proof liquid spray application. I hope they are sending you the "Lawn Starter" because it's the only one out of their varieties that I would put on your lawn right now because it has NPK. That being said, you're not getting much in those pouches - the pouch only has .27 lbs of nitrogen per 1k/sq feet - Most people shoot for 1lb/1k sq ft.

If I were you - I would get a cheap Scotts spreader and some 'starter fertilizer' and apply it at a rate to get 1 pound on N per 1k. You have 3k sq ft - you need 3 lbs of Nitrogen - multiply the weight of the bag by the first number - a 40 lb bag of 10-10-10 has 4lbs of Nitrogen. You don't need to be exact as long as you are in the area of 1lb per sq foot. And just leave it alone - don't water it in - let the rain do its magic. You're not trying to do anything other than give the existing grass enough nutrients to prepare the grass for the summer heat.

As for mowing, I would set my mower to the highest setting and wait for the grass to get that tall till you mow.

Put a bag of Milorganite / Organic Fert on July 4th and then start Andys aggressive Fert plan in the fall. By winter your lawn will be amazing.


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Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3339
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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Re: First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » May 22nd, 2020, 6:58 pm

You don't need to be exact as long as you are in the area of 1lb per sq foot. And just leave it alone...
Just a slight typo in that statement it should be 1lb per 1,000 sq ft.

Wazowski
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Joined: May 26th, 2020, 6:46 am
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Re: First time backyard owner looking for some tips on my new grass!

Post by Wazowski » May 29th, 2020, 2:35 am

Dchall_San_Antonio wrote:
May 3rd, 2020, 3:37 pm
You need to stop and take a breath. You're making one mistake after another. You're reading into the advice on this forum and misinterpreting it.

Before I get into specifics you're not going to like, thats a beautiful job with the deck and the backdrop on the fence.

The "grass" you described is nutgrass, which is really a sedge called nutsedge. It can be killed only with a sedge killer and no other product. It is also a swamp type plant, so I'm thinking you're over watering. Then again you planted new grass seed in the spring, which is another mistake you made. But the nutgrass loves that type of frequent watering, especially if the soil becomes soggy. LOVES IT!

At this point you need to be winding this down on the overabundance of love you're giving the lawn. The last thing you need to do for this season is to fertilize on Memorial Day. Cancel your fertilizer deliveries asap. Use what you have LATER in the year. In your case the only fertilizer I would recommend is soybean meal at 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. The reason for that is that you cannot screw it up. If you apply too much, no problem. Too little and you'll see some light green in among the deep green spots. Set your mower at the highest setting and don't mow until it gets up to 5 inches high. Leave your mower at that level for the rest of the year.

Now that you have germinated all the grass, what is your watering schedule? Watering is critical for you, because you seeded in the spring and you threw in rototilling on top of that. What normally happens next is a metric craptonne of crabgrass seed germinates along side the grass seed. Crabgrass is a summer annual plant that germinates faster than other grasses and spreads like crazy. The fescue you planted has weak roots and needs extra water this summer to make it through the heat. Had you seeded last August, after the summer heat broke, then your new fescue would be fine for this summer. But here we are. As for your watering now, you should be watering enough to keep the roots damp for a couple days. That's probably 1/4 to 1/2 inch, all at one time, every 3rd or 4th day. Watch your grass carefully to see if that is enough water. If it seems to dry out before the 3rd to 4th day, then water LONGER and NOT more frequently. The nutsedge will thrive with this watering schedule for this year. You want to eventually (next year) stretch out the watering schedule to once a month in the early spring and gradually bringing it to once a week in the hottest heat of summer. I have a suggestion for that, but that is a long time in your future. You just need to deal with the immediate situation and get through the summer. After you get fully into deep and infrequent watering, the nutsedge will weaken quite a bit.

In the fall, be ready to repeat your lawn installation. Why? Because a lot of this will die and be replaced with crabgrass. August/Fall is the time to renovate a lawn in your area. Please ask for advice here before doing that job. There is an approach that works and a lot of approaches you will regret...like rototilling or adding topsoil. I sense you are a bit of a perfectionist. We can help you, but not if you make the mistakes anyway.

Whatever you planted back against the fence, they are too close and will either damage the fence or damage themselves rubbing against the fence.
Wow... Thank you! You prevented me from making so many mistakes...

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