2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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andy10917
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2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by andy10917 » February 3rd, 2016, 11:03 am

This is a continuation of the very successful thread about the everyday things we do to our lawns.

This is the 2016 version -- the previous one is now locked.

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bauer time
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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by bauer time » February 3rd, 2016, 8:16 pm

Came home after all the rain today melted the snow to a pond in my backyard. All the spots I tried my hand at dormant seeding are relatively dry so I'm hopeful there was no runoff.

I honestly can't wait for my first cut.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by Green » February 3rd, 2016, 9:16 pm

bauer time wrote:Came home after all the rain today melted the snow to a pond in my backyard. All the spots I tried my hand at dormant seeding are relatively dry so I'm hopeful there was no runoff.

I honestly can't wait for my first cut.
Same here. Actually, it got me thinking...is there a product that can make the seed stick batter and not get washed away when the area ponds? Maybe a coating of topsoil? Paper mulch? A seed tackifier substance? I will be looking into various options.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by fusebox7 » February 3rd, 2016, 9:23 pm

Same here. Actually, it got me thinking...is there a product that can make the seed stick batter and not get washed away when the area ponds? Maybe a coating of topsoil? Paper mulch? A seed tackifier substance? I will be looking into various options.
Not sure if there's anything magical that can be done besides a compost/soil topping, rolling and/or straw blanket. Not sure you want to do that for a dormant seed though because of the snow and rain. Unless the seed gets into a core-aerated hole, it's likely going to move around.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by Green » February 3rd, 2016, 9:25 pm

fusebox7 wrote:
Same here. Actually, it got me thinking...is there a product that can make the seed stick batter and not get washed away when the area ponds? Maybe a coating of topsoil? Paper mulch? A seed tackifier substance? I will be looking into various options.
Not sure if there's anything magical that can be done besides a compost/soil topping, rolling and/or straw blanket. Not sure you want to do that for a dormant seed though because of the snow and rain. Unless the seed gets into a core-aerated hole, it's likely going to move around.
Thanks. I started a new thread on tackifiers, something which I have no experience with. Hopefully someone here does, and has input.


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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » February 3rd, 2016, 11:16 pm

I swear with the run of temps in the 50s for a few days the grass started to green up, but I think it's just my eagerness to get out there hahah

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by Green » February 4th, 2016, 12:32 am

Got an inch and a half of rain today. Hardly any snow left in the street or anywhere. Going to be in the low 50s again tomorrow, and then going to get cold again for next week.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by LoneRanger » February 4th, 2016, 10:07 am

I was the lucky recipient of a SESC violation sign in my front yard. Really?! This time of year?

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by BuckeyeChuck » February 4th, 2016, 10:57 am

All snow is gone. For now. Grass has greened up with rain and temps.

About 1/2 of regular spring green.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by chrismar » February 4th, 2016, 12:16 pm

(im)Patiently waiting for April so I can get a sh*t load of OceanGro (see what I did there?). According to their website they've pulled a milorganite and reduced the bag size (to 45#) and the price along with it (now $8.99). Because of that I'm guessing the April sale will be for $6.99 (maybe? hopefully?).

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by Bdezz » February 4th, 2016, 3:04 pm

Now that the snow is melted, I noticed these large patches of moss in my front yard that weren't there last year. I'm going to try spraying them with a dish soap solution this weekend and see if that gets it under control.

I have a huge pine tree that dropped a bunch of needles in the fall that I just mulched into the soil. I have a suspicion that this made the soil acidic, so I'm waiting for the ground to warm up to get a soil test done to check the PH.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by andy10917 » February 4th, 2016, 3:38 pm

I have a suspicion that this made the soil acidic
I have a suspicion that you are reading Old Wife's tales again.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by oze » February 4th, 2016, 5:06 pm

andy10917 wrote:
I have a suspicion that this made the soil acidic
I have a suspicion that you are reading Old Wife's tales again.
But I sure do wish it was true!

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by Bdezz » February 4th, 2016, 5:11 pm

Is it false that pine needles make soil more acidic? I'm just going by what I've read. If I'm wrong, that's great because I'd much rather continue mulching than having to clean up needles. :) Either way, I do need to check my soil to see if I need to add lime.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by TimmyG » February 4th, 2016, 6:13 pm

Bdezz wrote:Is it false that pine needles make soil more acidic?
'Tis false. It's the other way around: the pine tree is there (or at least is happy to be there) because the soil is acidic, not the soil is acidic because of the pine tree. The needles are pretty much pH neutral. Same goes for oak leaves, another falsely accused bystander. Mulch away.

If you read to the contrary on this site, subsequent replies likely squashed that misinformation so as not to propagate the old wives' tale. There have been some excellent contributions here on the subject. Try searching for, say, "mulch pine needles pH".

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by andy10917 » February 4th, 2016, 9:42 pm

Either way, I do need to check my soil to see if I need to add lime.
Which brings us to Point #2 -- "pH" is a general indicator, and "Lime" (of unnamed type) is not a single thing. Is your pH low because of low Calcium, Magnesium, or Potassium. Throwing an unnamed "Lime" at it stands a 2 in 3 chance of being the wrong thing, and this is how perpetually "hard/compressed" soils happen.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by probasesteal » February 5th, 2016, 2:18 pm

andy10917 wrote:
Either way, I do need to check my soil to see if I need to add lime.
Which brings us to Point #2 -- "pH" is a general indicator, and "Lime" (of unnamed type) is not a single thing. Is your pH low because of low Calcium, Magnesium, or Potassium. Throwing an unnamed "Lime" at it stands a 2 in 3 chance of being the wrong thing, and this is how perpetually "hard/compressed" soils happen.
I was sold on lime by a Pennington salesman doing pH testing at my local Ace Hardware.

I've learned quite a bit over the past couple years on this site.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by tlinden » February 5th, 2016, 2:52 pm

There was a university that did a test on mulching leaves and they did some kind of crazy amount. I'm bad at remembering names otherwise I'd find the link for you. But it addressed the ph and "too many" leave problems that most people argue. If I remember correctly previous tests were on the leaf or needle but what they found was the ph neutralized while it broke down.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by Green » February 5th, 2016, 6:39 pm

Got roughly 8 inches of wet snow last night and this morning.

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Re: 2016: What did you do to or on your lawn today?

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » February 5th, 2016, 6:41 pm

tlinden wrote:There was a university that did a test on mulching leaves and they did some kind of crazy amount. I'm bad at remembering names otherwise I'd find the link for you. But it addressed the ph and "too many" leave problems that most people argue. If I remember correctly previous tests were on the leaf or needle but what they found was the ph neutralized while it broke down.
Well look at jglongislands threads. the poor guy busted his hump increasing OM by mulching leaves while watching his pH fall through the floor.

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