New lawn help

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Kevin1973
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Location: Central NJ
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New lawn help

Post by Kevin1973 » October 12th, 2020, 12:45 pm

Over seeded lawn in September with black beauty ultra and using milo and N EXT soil amendments..seem to have different shades of green throughout lawn...wondering if it is N deficiency is some areas or poor dispersal of Milo.. any advice as very novice and new to this
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MorpheusPA
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Re: New lawn help

Post by MorpheusPA » October 15th, 2020, 8:22 pm

Has nobody answered this? Cretins. Cowards. ... Busy people. :-)

It looks like poor dispersal, really. Milo's one of those things you can lower the number on and move closer than you think you "should." If you end up dropping it kind of heavy, even 1.5 times as heavy, that's not a problem. Twice as heavy might theoretically start to be a problem...but it probably won't be. Ask me about the time I spilled a bag in the lawn. It did burn a little, but only right where I couldn't get the worst of it up. Most of the area just turned a really, really dark green and spread back into the burned area in record time. That's no excuse for not being careful.

You're in central NJ, you could apply again if you want, or just wait for the last app of the season which goes with the last mow (usually around Thanksgiving for us, could be earlier). That should be a fast release nitrogen, so a synthetic. Milo just won't decay at those temperatures, or at least not at any appreciable speed.

Kevin1973
Posts: 4
Joined: October 12th, 2020, 10:38 am
Location: Central NJ
Grass Type: Northern mix
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Re: New lawn help

Post by Kevin1973 » October 16th, 2020, 9:24 am

Thank you...I was figuring operator error but just wanted to make sure...I may drop some around Halloween next week for a nice green. Then I would drop a synthetic as the last treatment...any issue with finishing off my starter fert that was 18-24-12 for the last treatment? I have enough to get up to .75 N /1k

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MorpheusPA
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Re: New lawn help

Post by MorpheusPA » October 16th, 2020, 12:12 pm

In Central NJ? I would...rather not see the last drop be starter fertilizer. Fertilizer stores well, so save that for next May 25th, when a lower drop of N isn't a bad thing (grass is not a heavy spring feeder and the extra P is not going to be a problem at that time).

Phosphorus, dropped late, sits on top of the soil. As the ground freezes, it still sits because it doesn't penetrate easily. As snow (if any) or freezes (often) come and go, runoff happens and carries the fertilizer and bits of soil that have lots of phosphorus in them away. Some run off into the gutter, and into water sources like rivers, streams, and the ocean. That's bad--it causes algae blooms.

For that reason, we try to restrict phosphorus levels in our soil to reasonable rates, and phosphorus applications to times in the year when it'll penetrate long before frosts and freezes arrive.

Plus, the final application of nitrogen should be rather heavy--1 pound fast nitrogen--to assure that the lawn has a really good feeding as it goes to sleep, if it's going to (mine usually doesn't). I play the game a little differently, which I won't detail here as it doesn't apply, as mine is usually awake 12 months a year in a colder environment than you have (yes, you can do this too, eventually, it's not hard, it just takes work!)

I'd recommend anything with a high first number, low second number, and I don't care about the third number. High or low is fine, but if you don't have a soil test, low will be cheaper and it's not a problem. Pure urea will be your cheapest option (46-0-0) in most cases, be slightly harder to handle, but not much of an issue in November. Most commercial high-N fertilizers (buy them early as the shelves churn in late October!) will be around 35-0-5 or so and they're fine. That's just an example number. 32-2-3 is great. 30-0-6 is wonderful. It's all relative; a large first number, small second and third.

Look for a very large amount of fast nitrogen (it'll say it on the back in the Guaranteed Analysis section, usually as Derived From Urea, or at least not say X% Slow Nitrogen derived from Methylurea or Sulfated urea). If X is low, that's fine. If X is 35%....er, not fine. Also probably rather expensive.

Seriously, go cheap. We're not paying for quality here, we actually want the cheap, fast-release stuff. :-)

If any of that is unclear, ask! I or somebody else will be happy to clarify. And it may help to print that out and take it with you. Or just ask somebody there for a cheap, fast-release, high-nitrogen fertilizer. They'll know what you mean--or should.

Kevin1973
Posts: 4
Joined: October 12th, 2020, 10:38 am
Location: Central NJ
Grass Type: Northern mix
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Re: New lawn help

Post by Kevin1973 » October 16th, 2020, 8:45 pm

Thank you...just saw a 30-0-5 at the big box...will pick some up to get to the 1lb of N. other than the usual polar vortex that comes for a week in January here in jersey has been warm here without snow the past couple years...thank you again...also uploaded some pics of closer up and trying to determine if that is a fungus or N defeciency...worst part is I have color perception issue so using my wife to determine true color..the closeup shot is the from the right side of the bigger pic
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MorpheusPA
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Re: New lawn help

Post by MorpheusPA » October 16th, 2020, 9:53 pm

If you've seen the artists' thread, I don't have color perception issues, so you kind of lucked out on this draw. The running joke is that I have nine different yellow paints comprising three colors (no, not really, but some people claim they can only see three tones of yellow among the nine yellows I seem to absolutely require in my paint box).

I see no current evidence of any fungal issues, but of course, that doesn't mean one isn't waiting right in the wings. Fortunately, in October, that would be exceedingly rare, particularly with the dry weather we're having (I'm right over in the Lehigh Valley, so we're actually slightly wetter than you are right now). Your worst threats would be some red thread and rust, both of which are easily cured--by feeding the lawn and overgrowing the fungus! You can usually tell you have rust from the rusty red dust on the grass...and your pants, your shoes, your socks, your carpet...

I could be incredibly specific about the tonal variances in your lawn in terms of greens (which humans see very, very well), but I'll spare you because--tiresome. The patterns are in lines, with the darkest green lines definitely showing me where you walked, and the distribution of darker areas and lighter zones showing where you sped up and slowed down with the spreader, or where the material caked and threw slightly as it fell apart. And one pass that looks like a complete miss to the far right.

It's...actually kind of an attractive linear abstract pattern, really, but not generally what one wants in one's lawn.

We've all done this. It just needs a feed, a rainfall, and a bit of time to look great again, and to thicken back up in places where it thinned out. The next time, I'd also feed in the perpendicular to see that it gets covered in a different pattern. Any minor misses (set the spreader lower and walk much closer to assure complete coverage) will be hidden in the cross-patterning and shouldn't be anywhere near as visible.

And even without it? Look across the street and tell me it already doesn't look ten thousand times better than...whatever that is.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: New lawn help

Post by ken-n-nancy » October 16th, 2020, 10:25 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
October 16th, 2020, 9:53 pm
And even without it? Look across the street and tell me it already doesn't look ten thousand times better than...whatever that is.
OK, the above had me cracking up. I hadn't even noticed the "whatever that is" across the street until you mentioned it!

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MorpheusPA
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Re: New lawn help

Post by MorpheusPA » October 16th, 2020, 10:51 pm

I like horror as much as the next guy (more, I have CreepyPasta Radio running most nights while I paint--some good, most indifferent, some bad), but there's a limit. And that's well over it.

Fix it and feed it, people. Lawns should never be beige in October. Heck, lawns do not have to be beige in February.

Now that's a horror story.

Ugh.

Kevin1973
Posts: 4
Joined: October 12th, 2020, 10:38 am
Location: Central NJ
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Re: New lawn help

Post by Kevin1973 » October 21st, 2020, 5:28 pm

I took some close ups of the problem area and trying find out of a fungus form overwatering...also applied milorganite at bag rate this past weekend...
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MorpheusPA
Posts: 18129
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 7:32 pm
Location: Zone 6 (Eastern PA)
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Re: New lawn help

Post by MorpheusPA » October 21st, 2020, 8:13 pm

#2 might show a touch of decay fungi or mildew in it, but so far, I see no reason to be concerned about it. It's definitely to be put on the "keep an eye on it" list, but color is actually excellent otherwise--a good deep, dark green and it has some nice saturated blue tones.

Photos 1 and 3 are of a paler yellow-green grass that looks like it needs feeding and is definitely slightly chlorotic. Milorganite should take care of both.

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