Lawns, the care/feeding/maintenance of

[LOL!]

Our St Augustine grass practically takes care of itself. We have automated in-ground sprinklers that need maintenance since my wife cannot seem to drive only on the driveway. My kids mow the lawn. Fertilizer is trivial: When the dog pee spots are greener than the rest of the lawn, then it is time to fertilize. The property does not have grass everywhere. It is probably half lawn and half "beds"' of trees and native plants.

Total cost per year is less than $100 including the gas for the mower and the plastic line for the string trimmer.

 

[JoeWras]

St. Augs was a breeze when I lived in FL. But you need the heat. Oh, and will bite you back. Not so nice on bare feet. Probably doesn't matter anyway, because in most places where there is St. Augs, there's fire ants.[emoji34]

 

[Walt34]

My sprinkling system waters the lawn daily. Even with watering, my lawn looks worse in the summer than it does in the spring.

According to every book I've read on lawn care, daily watering is one of the worst things to do because it "teaches" the grass plants that they need not expend the effort to put roots down deeper and leads to shallow roots. This in turn limits the storage of carbohydrates, which are stored in the roots, so when the least little stress comes along, like insects or fungus, the plants don't have the reserve energy to deal with it.

Better to water, wait until the grass shows signs of being too dry, then water deeply, (1/2" to 1") and then wait again. That's according to the books anyway. Me, I just don't water at all unless I'm starting new seed.

 

[Midpack]

According to every book I've read on lawn care, daily watering is one of the worst things to do because it "teaches" the grass plants that they need not expend the effort to put roots down deeper and leads to shallow roots. This in turn limits the storage of carbohydrates, which are stored in the roots, so when the least little stress comes along, like insects or fungus, the plants don't have the reserve energy to deal with it.

Better to water, wait until the grass shows signs of being too dry, then water deeply, (1/2" to 1") and then wait again. That's according to the books anyway. Me, I just don't water at all unless I'm starting new seed.

+1. I use 1" a week (in one shot) as a good rule of thumb FWIW.

 

[ERD50]

...

Better to water, wait until the grass shows signs of being too dry, then water deeply, (1/2" to 1") and then wait again. That's according to the books anyway. Me, I just don't water at all unless I'm starting new seed.

Yes, that seems to be solid advice. But we are on an acre and private well. Watering an acre to 1/2" is almost 14,000 gallons. If I could get a constant 3 gpm from my well around the clock (not likely), it would take over three days to cover everything, so about a week if done 12 hours a day (or get up at 3AM to move the sprinkler! ). So then I could start over again. Not gonna happen!

It's been dry here, but just enough rain to keep things from being too bad. But I just looked at the 10 day forecast, nothing but a few sprinkles (0.1" or less) predicted over 10 days . That lawn will be dormant and the ground will be rock hard. But of course, the weeds will carry on (our spring was so wet, I never really got to spraying). Needless to say, my lawn won't win any awards.

-ERD50

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Used to take care of the lawn but soon realized it meant more mowing. Let it die! I don't need to impress anyone.

 

[Ronstar]

According to every book I've read on lawn care, daily watering is one of the worst things to do because it "teaches" the grass plants that they need not expend the effort to put roots down deeper and leads to shallow roots. This in turn limits the storage of carbohydrates, which are stored in the roots, so when the least little stress comes along, like insects or fungus, the plants don't have the reserve energy to deal with it.

Better to water, wait until the grass shows signs of being too dry, then water deeply, (1/2" to 1") and then wait again. That's according to the books anyway. Me, I just don't water at all unless I'm starting new seed.

I think I’ll start a different watering routine. I currently have 3 zones watering 20 minutes each every day. I think I’ll switch to only doing one zone per day for an hour. Then alternate zones per day so that each zone gets watered only once every 3 or 4 days.

That’ll get the water deep with less frequency

 

[Marita40]

Mine is a postage stamp sized urban lawn, and I just reduced it a lot this summer by adding some new perennial gardens. Luckily this is Minnesota where we don't have to deal with it all year:generally it grows really well for May, June, and July, then goes dormant/dried up for August, September, October. I mow (takes 45 minutes for both front and back) and have a company fertilize and put down weed killer 3 times per year. So it is not a very expensive or time consuming thing. I'd rather give attention to my perennial gardens.

 

[ERD50]

I think I’ll start a different watering routine. I currently have 3 zones watering 20 minutes each every day. I think I’ll switch to only doing one zone per day for an hour. Then alternate zones per day so that each zone gets watered only once every 3 or 4 days.

That’ll get the water deep with less frequency

Even every 3-4 days seems like overkill. Why so often?

Mine is a postage stamp sized urban lawn, .... I mow (takes 45 minutes for both front and back) ...

I'm having trouble understanding how a postage stamp sized lawn can take 45 minutes to mow. Do you use a scissors?

We called the lawns of our city relatives "postage stamp" lawns, they were tiny, 12'x16' in the front, at most? Maybe twice that in the back (if they had a back)?

-ERD50

 

[Marita40]

You’re thinking too hard Erd, but glad my post kept the wheels turning. �� Ok, a tad bigger than postage sized. And a crappy small electric mower that needs to be run twice over most areas and the cord tangles up. Oh, and a huge oak tree the small branches and droppings of which have to be gathered up first. Whew!! I’m exhausted just thinking about it!

 

[jazz4cash]

It’s amazing how invasive weeds evolve. I’m cursed by neighbors on both sides that do little more than have commercial mowers cut every week whether they need it or not. I believe these mowers spread weed seeds around. Lately we get this Japanese stiltgrass which is not too hard too pull by hand if you don’t let it get a foothold. It’s an annual too, I think. I had a couple patches of burmuda and found a Beyer product that is also supposed to kill the JSG.

 

[JoeWras]

It’s amazing how invasive weeds evolve. I’m cursed by neighbors on both sides that do little more than have commercial mowers cut every week whether they need it or not. I believe these mowers spread weed seeds around. Lately we get this Japanese stiltgrass which is not too hard too pull by hand if you don’t let it get a foothold. It’s an annual too, I think. I had a couple patches of burmuda and found a Beyer product that is also supposed to kill the JSG.

JSG is very hard to control. It goes to seed really fast, and you can't easily see them. When you pull, the seeds release really easily.

I tried for a few years. Then I had back surgery and on the advice of our extension agent, got a herbicide specific for it that wouldn't kill most perennials. It worked great, saved my back. The problem was it was a) expensive and b) now off market. I don't like herbicides in general, but I really needed to save my back yard woods and get this stuff without killing the perennial vinca below it.

Our JSG problem in NC blew up in 1996 when a huge hurricane came through. The stuff infests every roadside and the borders of every woods here. Since then, I'm sure we've been exporting our seeds farther north in various storms. Sorry about that, Maryland.

 

[Ronstar]

Even every 3-4 days seems like overkill. Why so often

-ERD50

I have very sandy soil.

 

[street]

I do all my own maintenance etc.. I just dug/drove in a sand point/shallow well for watering. Cost of city water limited me on how much I wanted to water. Now I can water for 24 hours straight and electricity cost less then 3 bucks.
I fertilize 3 times a year but one 20 pound bag last for the three feeds. I don't fertilize very heavy. I usually dig my weeds instead of using chemical.

 

[DayDreaming]

According to every book I've read on lawn care, daily watering is one of the worst things to do because it "teaches" the grass plants that they need not expend the effort to put roots down deeper and leads to shallow roots. This in turn limits the storage of carbohydrates, which are stored in the roots, so when the least little stress comes along, like insects or fungus, the plants don't have the reserve energy to deal with it.

Better to water, wait until the grass shows signs of being too dry, then water deeply, (1/2" to 1") and then wait again. That's according to the books anyway. Me, I just don't water at all unless I'm starting new seed.

Or, don't water at all. I actually look forward to my lawn turning brown and crunchy in August so that I don't have to mow it for 2 or 3 weeks. And I'm really disappointed that it's lush, green, and growing this August.

 

[EastWest Gal]

For the last 20 years, I have not watered a lawn, except when reseeding. Neither have my neighbors. In PA and much of the eastern US, watering lawns is a silly waste of water.

In 2002 we had a dry huge heat wave, but we were away for 2.5 weeks. When we got back everyone’s lawn was brown. Oh well. They roared back when the hot dry spell ended. We didn’t need to mow. Lawns go dormant here; they don’t generally die.

Growing up in California, lawn watering was necessary for lawn survival. During the 1976-77 short but extreme California drought, my parents collected the rinse cycle water from the washing machine in the garage and we judiciously watered the small lawns with that. It worked.

We tried using lawn-mowing services here in PA but were always disappointed with the results. For a couple of years, some high school students organized a small yard service business. They weren’t perfect, but better than the “pros”. But they all went off to college, so that ended. We mow and edge our lawn but use a service for fertilizer, weed and pest control, etc.

We have invasive Bermuda grass in our lawns these days. We control it in the beds with weekly weeding and local soraying, but on the lawn, it’s green in the summer, so let it go. It cannot be removed. Waste of time and money.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I have about a half acre of grass that I mow. Yes I water it and fertilize it and aerate it and thatch it myself. I spend about an hour a day maintaining the property.

 

[ERD50]

I have very sandy soil.

Ahhh, that can make a big difference. Our front yard was back-filled with "sandy loam" to support the septic field, and that's the first to go brown.

For the last 20 years, I have not watered a lawn, except when reseeding. Neither have my neighbors. In PA and much of the eastern US, watering lawns is a silly waste of water.

In 2002 we had a dry huge heat wave, but we were away for 2.5 weeks. When we got back everyone’s lawn was brown. Oh well. They roared back when the hot dry spell ended. We didn’t need to mow. Lawns go dormant here; they don’t generally die.....

When I had some grading/seeding done a few years back, I asked the landscaper about the newer hybrids of grass seed that were supposed to be more drought resistant, as I was thinking about having them reseed. He said, yes, they are more drought resistant, but there's no magic. In a drought, they may go dormant a little later than the other grasses, but they'll all go dormant - and come back with the fall rains.

-ERD50

 

[REWahoo]

Of the 50 or so homes in our rural subdivision (3-5 acre lots), I can think of only two that have a lawn with actual grass. Not only is maintaining one a PITA and a shameful waste of water here on the edge of the Chihuahuan desert, feral hogs will destroy them. Here is what they did to an area golf course:

 

[JoeWras]

Not only is maintaining one a PITA and a shameful waste of water here on the edge of the Chihuahuan desert, feral hogs will destroy them. Here is what they did to an area golf course:

Hogs are thinking: I LOVE this nice, soft ground. Thanks guys!

 

[Midpack]

Of the 50 or so homes in our rural subdivision (3-5 acre lots), I can think of only two that have a lawn with actual grass. Not only is maintaining one a PITA and a shameful waste of water here on the edge of the Chihuahuan desert, feral hogs will destroy them. Here is what they did to an area golf course:

I spend too much time-money-resources on maintaining an above average lawn (having the best lawn isn’t my goal). We should all let our lawns go natural, but I don’t think that would be accepted in developed subdivisions? It simply wouldn’t in my neighborhood, the HOA would act. Hopefully natural lawns will be a growing trend one day...

 

[Walt34]

We should all let our lawns go natural, but I don’t think that would be accepted in developed subdivisions? It simply wouldn’t in my neighborhood, the HOA would act. Hopefully natural lawns will be a growing trend one day...

In a lot of places (including here) the HOA covenants prohibit any grass over 18 inches high. Over that, and they will send a crew to mow it and send the owner the bill. The original Levittown, NY forbid any grass over six inches or they'd send a crew to mow and send the owner the bill. That may have been relaxed since it was built. One hopes so.

In other places the "grass lawn" is even in the county laws or zoning laws. Helps keep out all those nonconformist nutjobs, y'know....

In further lawn news, I found out yesterday that England hosts the world's only known Lawn Mower Museum. This is fitting, since it was invented there. I ordered one of their books (via Amazon) Lawnmowers: an Illustrated History. Blame it on COVID and boredom. From Amazon's description:

This concise book follows the journey of this quintessentially great British invention, often thought never worthy of a picture, and celebrates the mundane with its fascinating history, aided by superb unique pictures rarely seen before. From lawnmowers that manicured great palaces to those that groomed the hallowed turf of Wembley, Wimbledon, golf courses, and cricket grounds around the world, this book features a variety of machines and their stories. Also included are the first lawnmower; the biggest; smallest; most expensive; and fastest. There’s also a glimpse of "Lawnmowers of the Rich & Famous." This unique book follows the story before the invention of animal-powered grass cutting machinery and the internal combustion engine up to the present-day robot mowers and into the future.

 

[NateW]

Walt34 you have it good. The HOA I am bound by only allows grass 6 inches or less (and no more than 25% weeds).

This year was the first time I used a weed & feed product. (ER'ed in 2018 and in 2019 moved to a lower cost of living area and for the first time owned a house with a HOA. Previous owner let the lawn weeds get out of control). My problem, after using Scott's Turf Builder, is after it killed the weeds, there were several bare patches in the lawn and crabgrass quickly grew in the bare areas and spread to the other areas of the lawn. So now I have a big crabgrass problem. Not sure how to handle that!

 

[jazz4cash]

Sad to say I use a variety of chemicals but I do try to take precautions and use in moderation. Another amazing new to us amazing weed responds well to most broadleaf herbicides but it goes to seed as it’s dying. It expels many dozens of seeds several feet in all directions. If you brush or touch the plant the seeds pop. It’s called bittercress. It’s edible but I’m sure I wouldn’t with all the chemicals I use.

https://youtu.be/b5JicZvq8TQ

 

[augam]

I’ve always mowed my own but after years of a lawn fertilizer/weed/insect service with mediocre results, with our new house I am attempting to DIY my lawn in an attempt to have an above average lawn. I follow a schedule that’s a mix of two sources, I use mostly organic products (not Milorganite) and put down a lot of soil remediation products (humic acid & biochar) - that will slow when I get the soil in good shape. Controlling weeds has been the biggest challenge (broad leaf weeds are easy, grassy weeds are not), but I think I have weeds under control now, and pre-emergents should do much of the work from now on vs spot treating. I’m spending more than a lawn service but I’m getting better results too. Done right, watering can be the most expensive part of lawn care, but once I get my soil in really good shape (deeper roots and more organic activity - something you can’t get with synthetics alone), I’ll be able to water less. I scalp in Spring and core aerate in Fall. That’s the plan for me. I’d like to overseed but I’m told I have to water every day for 4 weeks - that’s an expensive PITA I’m not willing to take on?

I have a Flume water use device strapped to my water meter. @ 6 zones watering 10k square feet of grass adequately at current rates it's $8.35/day.