Sigh - it's a long, drawn out affair - I'm hoping I can find the Dear Abby of lawn care. So, here goes:
Dear Lawn Expert,
DH is always trying - he keeps buying new seed (different types of seed), feeding the birds, etc. I've finally implored that we do it right - have a long range plan, do it right according to our locale, upkeep preferences, etc. and get one kind that works well in our area. We are not looking for the perfect lawn, just one that is reliably average. My flower beds can be perfect. :)
Painting the picture for you:
Albany, NY - right in the city
City lot
50 X 150 yard, some sunny, some shady, some mixed (morning v. afternoon)
No in-ground watering system (although spigots for hoses in two areas)
We do have grass everywhere, varying kinds, lots of crabgrass and also a few dead spots - we'd like to consolidate to a single variety, mowing once a week at the most and rely (most of the time) on average rainfall conditions.
The house is in the middle of the lot and we have grass and flower beds 360 degrees around the house. The "blocks are as follows:
Northwest (10 X 50 feet) mostly shady, next to the house
North/Northeast (20X 40) morning sun
East/Southeast - 2 portions, either side of front walkway (10X20)
Southwest - 50X50 roughly, lots of sun, except one area under neighbor's tree, gets pretty shady
I'd love some recommendations:
What type of grass?
Can we reseed a good reliable grower over the existing grass?
Or is real solution to rip out everything and start over? -- I just cannot fathom that level of effort.
Does it make sense to go portion by portion (with burlap on top) or blitz the entire yard?
If there is a better forum for this, please let me know.
Signed,
Just want a good lawn in NY
This message was edited Mar 22, 2009 11:46 AM
This message was edited Mar 22, 2009 11:47 AM
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Renewing our sad lawn - help!
First thing you should do is get a soil test done so you know what fertilizer you need, otherwise you could be putting stuff down you don't even need.
Your local garden center would know what the best seed for your area is.
Fall is the best time to overseed.
I've used the Scot's patchmaster on small patches with success.
thank you - we'll check that out. It's a bit past Fall, but I'll definitely check it out.
Anyone else for recommendations? :)
Not into lawn myself, but I recommend doing the soil test AND getting the advice of your local extension office. They know your area best.
Sorry, the lawn is on its own here. LOL Good ideas so far, though, it seems.
sbarr: I feel your pain. When we moved into our new house 8 years ago, the landscapers had sodded the lawn but had not bothered to improve the cruddy soil beneath full of rocks, stones and construction debris the developer had left. So within two years, the sod lawn was gasping for breath. I tried reseeding, did not do it right, and got spotty results and lots of weeds. Finally last year I hand weeded a 50 x 50 foot patch and reseeded again. From the looks of things this spring, it is finally beginning to take, but I have my fingers crossed.
From my experience, I would say that it is much easier to rip everything out, amend the soil properly, and start from scratch, using mechanical help rather than try to patch a large lawn that was in bad shape by hand.
Do not use just one type of grass seed. Monocultures are prone to accidents. Most commercial mixes include three or four varieties. If one fails, the others will take over. There are undoubtedly books in your local library on lawn installation. There are even some which advocate not having lawns. (My wife objected to that one!) From your description, you need to get both sun and shade mixes for your different areas. The labels on the containers tell you the percentage of each component in the mix. If you make sure that there is one variety of seed which is common to each mix (Ky. blue or whatever you choose) and you blend from one to the other where your different areas meet, you hopefully won't notice the difference.
I'd have to take a stick of dynamite to my lawn to make it look better. I've even tried those lawn seeds they advertise on TV. You know the ones that are "grass seeds on steroids". It looked like it was going to work well but all of a sudden they just pooped out. My game plan for next year is to till up the entire lawn and start from scratch. Wish you luck with yours.
Greg
Check out Dutch White Clover. It spreads by runners, only gets about 5 inches high so doesn't need much mowing, if any, and snuffs out a lot of the weeds and other stuff. I'm trying it for the first time but it sounds like it is the way to go. Do a Google search and you'll find out a lot about it.
Good luck to both of us.
Berengaria
I feel your pain, too. We have the world's ugliest "lawn". Everything that could be wrong with it, is. Grubs, moss, weeds, you name it. My husband and I are clueless about how to get and maintain a nice lawn, and frankly I'm too tired from all the other stuff in my life to try to educate myself about it. I keep hoping my husband will make the effort, but that will probably never happen.
We do have a lot of clover taking over, and I will admit that those areas look nicer than the rest. However, the clover flowers attract a lot of bees, which is a big issue for me since one of my small dogs had a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting.
I'd love to have green, lush lawn, because I think it would actually make the garden areas look nicer.
Me too, but don't want to use chemicals. So far my experience with organic lawn care means living with an ugly lawn.
Yeah, that's the other issue for me, too. We tried putting some organic fertilizer down and that stuff was irresistible to my dogs..they couldn't stop eating it. And it didn't make any difference in the lawn that I could see. So I feel like it's just a lost cause, but it bums me out. The yard looks half decent after he mows it, but lousy two days later when the weeds pop back up.
My lawn is very sad too.
Sbarr, You were looking for advice and its turning into a support group!
I get really envious when I'm driving somewhere and notice someone laying down a whole carpet of new, perfect sod in their yard. Man, I'd love to be able to afford to do that...just start over. But I'm sure eventually it would end up looking like what we've got now because of the maintenance issue.
Advice, support - we're all in it together. We finally put down seed last week when it was rainy - and then most of it got mashed down when workers poured a slab for our patio. I don't think John realized this yet. *wry grin* I'm hoping that most of it will survive.
We're going to keep trying - I do want to stay as organic as possible because of this little miss playing in the grass.
I'll share my pictures when things clear up. I'm waiting for the forsythia to bloom so I can put down the crab grass killer. Slow and steady - maybe each year we get a bit further. I also look forward to other yard-challenged people sharing and commiserating.
What a cutie!
She's my inspiration for a lovely, safe yard - and because of her, I've also signed up for an organic CSA, buy my meat in bulk (grass-fed, no pesticides) - we are truly going back to basics. This weekend, putting in the strawberry beds for fruit next year.
Outhouse??^_^
Ummmmm, no - not to say she'll never squat somewhere in the summer with no warning - probably to the immense amusement of guests , but errr, ummmmm, no - Child Protective Services would be at my door if I send a toddler out in 2 feet of snow to go to the bathroom. Funny visualization though. :)
That's one happy baby!
And a great reason to go organic.
Bluegrass needs a lot of water. Have you looked into the fescus. I think county agent would have better luck than local garden center--they just need to sell stuff.