Winterizing Poll

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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For Winterizing this year, how much Nitrogen do you plan to spread?

1.00 lb/K Nitrogen
19
73%
0.50 lb/K Nitrogen
5
19%
0 - not winterizing this year
2
8%
 
Total votes: 26

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Winterizing Poll

Post by deboy922 » October 14th, 2019, 11:01 am

Please make a selection a feel free to discuss.

If you plan to spread more than 1 lb, maybe just select the 1 lb and then state how much you plan to apply. And if you plan to spread less than 1 lb (for example 0.33 lb), just select 0.50 lb and state how much you plan to apply.

Thanks!

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by bpgreen » October 14th, 2019, 2:37 pm

I voted for 0, but that's because I have a lawn with lots of native grasses and I'm basically ignoring the more traditional grasses.

agn015
Posts: 176
Joined: April 2nd, 2016, 11:32 am
Location: Long Island, NY (Suffolk County)
Grass Type: Hogan Blend - GTO/Hemi/Hot Rod TTTF Everest/Award/Everglade/Midnight KBG
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by agn015 » October 14th, 2019, 4:55 pm

I also voted zero but that’s because it’s illegal to apply nitrogen fertilizer in Suffolk county NY from November 1 to April 1. Otherwise I have gone aggressive on the N getting weekly apps down since September 2. If all goes well I will have 4lbs of N down by between 9/2 and 10/31. Hoping the grass sucks it all up and won’t be starving too badly for any kind of winterizer after growth truly stops.

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by Green » October 14th, 2019, 8:44 pm

I would vote, but I'm not seeing a way to vote...I'm only seeing the results. Not sure why that is. Is the poll expired or closed?

Anyway, I'm in the 0.5 lb or less Winterizing group. Will be going with 0.50 lb on the main lawn areas (same as last year) because newer research points to that being almost as good in terms of results as 1.0 lb but with less waste to leaching on sandy loam (the same research also suggests not winterizing sand-based soil at all because of extreme leaching and no nutrient benefit). I will also will be trying 0.333 lb on another area to see if it works as well as 0.50. Might also do test plots of 0.50 and 1.0 lb in that area to put all three rates against each other. Historically I've done 1.0 lb, but started reducing the amount a few years ago, first to 0.75 lb, then 0.67 lb, etc. The highest I've ever used was 1.25 to 1.5 lb per K.

User avatar
andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by andy10917 » October 14th, 2019, 9:18 pm

I'm not a fan of managing a lawn or landscape by polls or popular opinion. I have found in my experience that things turn out best when you decide an approach and stick with it all the way through -- whether that's high-input, low-input, natural/organic, or something else. Every approach has upsides and downsides (cost/effort/time/etc). Switching horses in the middle of the river all the time due to popularity isn't a plan, it's a mess. It's the "mixed vegetables" of lawn/garden care, IMO. I have enormous respect for folks like BPGREEN that stay their own course year after year, and make it work.


deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by deboy922 » October 15th, 2019, 9:38 am

Appreciate everyone’s input...thank you for sharing. I greatly enjoy reading the different approaches. It is very educational and interesting!

@Green - your comments above are exactly my reason for this poll. I have been reading a lot of differing theories on winterizing and am curious to see the thoughts of this community. Please keep us posted on your results with the differing amounts of N.

I plan to do 1 lb for winterizer this year. I was only able to apply 2 lbs this fall, as it has been very dry, and I rely on rain to water-in the fertilizer. If I would have been able to maintain being “aggressive” and got down 3 lbs or more, I may have skipped the winterizer.

Please keep posting your plans, as this is a great place to learn.

Thank you.

Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Experienced

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by Green » November 24th, 2019, 7:11 pm

deboy922 wrote:
October 15th, 2019, 9:38 am
Green - your comments above are exactly my reason for this poll. I have been reading a lot of differing theories on winterizing and am curious to see the thoughts of this community. Please keep us posted on your results with the differing amounts of N.
Partly because of your post, but also because I've been wondering how low I can go and still get the effect of the fertilizer, plus some more recent research showing best "bang for the buck" (my takeaway from their data) with late-season apps occurred at approx. 0.5 lb/K on loam (fraction uptaken versus that leached off) I decided to run a little informal test this year. I marked off some plots yesterday, and then applied differing amounts of winterizing Nitrogen in each, spanning from 1 lb/K, all the way down to none at all as a control. We'll see in the Spring how much difference there is between the plots in terms of green-up speed, color, density, growth rate, etc. Traditionally, I have not fertilized with Nitrogen in Spring at all until at least early June. I credit the winterizer app with supplying the Nitrogen that is used in the interim, as well as some organic Nitrogen and methylene urea stocks that I've built up in the soil over time (coupled with the organic matter from mulching leaves, etc.).

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Winterizing Poll

Post by deboy922 » November 25th, 2019, 10:42 am

Green wrote:
November 24th, 2019, 7:11 pm
deboy922 wrote:
October 15th, 2019, 9:38 am
Green - your comments above are exactly my reason for this poll. I have been reading a lot of differing theories on winterizing and am curious to see the thoughts of this community. Please keep us posted on your results with the differing amounts of N.
Partly because of your post, but also because I've been wondering how low I can go and still get the effect of the fertilizer, plus some more recent research showing best "bang for the buck" (my takeaway from their data) with late-season apps occurred at approx. 0.5 lb/K on loam (fraction uptaken versus that leached off) I decided to run a little informal test this year. I marked off some plots yesterday, and then applied differing amounts of winterizing Nitrogen in each, spanning from 1 lb/K, all the way down to none at all as a control. We'll see in the Spring how much difference there is between the plots in terms of green-up speed, color, density, growth rate, etc. Traditionally, I have not fertilized with Nitrogen in Spring at all until at least early June. I credit the winterizer app with supplying the Nitrogen that is used in the interim, as well as some organic Nitrogen and methylene urea stocks that I've built up in the soil over time (coupled with the organic matter from mulching leaves, etc.).
I will be following your journey. Thanks for taking it on!

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