# Lawn Care



## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

All right all you lawn boys here's the deal. My kids are on my lawn for hours on end. Usually at least 8-10 hours a day on the weekend and from 5-8 on weekdays. They are outside freaks. Every evening i feel like i just got done pitching a 9 inning game. My son loves his baseball. They are just hard on my lawn. It gets a beat down.

Anyway...my question. I bought a de-thatching lawn mower blade and used it last night. Worked pretty good, i was satisfied. Now should i core aerate right away here or should i wait a while. (and what do you guys do with the plugs..i have mowed them up in the past..they look like dog duke) And when do you guys put on your fertalizer. What's the public think when it comes to lawn care?


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## drjongy (Oct 13, 2003)

Plugging your lawn would probably be the best thing you can do. If your kids are on it that much you have soil compaction. Don't use just a puch aerator, this only causes more soil compaction, you must use a plug aerator. You can just leave the plugs right on the lawn and they will dissapear in a week or two, depending on rain amounts. You may also want to overseed your lawn after de-thatching and plugging...you can find varieties that are specific for heavy traffic. Fertilization is best in the fall, but you can also fertilize in the spring if you wish. Overfertilization can lead to thatch problems. Thatch is not formed by mulching or leaving clippings on the lawn, as many people believe. In fact, mulching is by far the best for your lawn as it helps preserve soil moisture and nutrients.


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

Thanks for the input. That is just what i was thinking.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

Best time to water your lawn is early in the morning. Before sun up preferable. 
Drongy hit everything else right on the nose!


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

yeah, it is said that watering in the evening promotes weed growth.


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## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

fishhook:

Core aerating is great to revitalize a lawn, but it is best done in the fall. By the way, my kids are baseball nuts too, and I currently have nice bare spots around the batters box and pitchers mound, but it is a cheap way to keep them busy.

Here is my advice on lawn care by season:

1. Spring- Dethatching like you described is great. I also recommend laying down some fertilizer high in nitrogen with crabgrass preventer. If you overseed in the spring, lay down the spring fertilzer, but do NOT buy the crabgrass preventer because it will prevent your grass seed from germinating.

2. Summer- Keep the grass cut relatively high to reduce weed competition. You can also lay down some more nitrogen if you get adequate rainfall, preferably in late June or early July. Summer is also the time to make some spot applications to keep the annual weeds at bay.

3. Fall- This is when you can core aerate. If you do core aerate, make sure that you lay down crabgrass preventer in the spring to control all the weed seeds that the core aeration will raise. Don't rake up the cores, just let them lay. Fall is also a great time to overseed a lawn to fill in the bare spots, but like I stated above, don't lay down crabgrass preventer the next spring if you overseed in the fall.

Fall is also the time to lay down some fall fertilizer high in phosporus. Remember, nitrogen in the spring and phosporus in the fall. Phosphorus helps with root development and will help your lawn get a great start the next spring. Also, fall is the time to lay down broadleaf herbicides, and this is best done late in the fall when we first start getting night frosts. The perennial weeds will be stroring water and nutrients for the winter, and they will pump 2,4-D, dicamba, and other broadleaf herbicides down to their roots. They won't stand a chance the next spring when they start to grow again.


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## MOB (Mar 10, 2005)

Core aeration would be excellent for your lawn. If you aerate before dethaching, the power rake will break up the cores and effectively top dress your lawn. Otherwise just mulch mow them.
Your spring application of fertilizer should have a preeemergence herbicide such as pendimethalin (Prowl) or team for annual grass control (crabgrass,foxtail, etc.). Scotts calls their pendimethalin "Halts". Make sure you aerate before your spring application of fertilizer, so you don't punch holes in your herbicide barrier. We usually apply this early to mid May. If applied too early, you will lose efficacy late season (August) when you need it. It's effective for around 12 weeks. 
You should fertilize twice in the fall - Sept 1st and late October. Nitrogen carried over from the late fall application will help greenup in the following spring.
Broadleaf weeds are also most effectively controlled in the fall. With a good fall spraying you won't have a yellow (dandelion) lawn in the spring.
Morning watering is best, evening watering in the heat of summer can and does promote fungal disease problems from the grass being wet all night.

Mark


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## PSDC (Jul 17, 2003)

BigDaddy,

Why is core aerating better in the fall, when most golf courses
do it in the spring? Just curious. I have one rented to do my
yard this weekend. The rental shop told me to do this when
the ground is moist. I am guessing must be easier on the yard?


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

I too have been told that core aeration is best done in the fall. Also I have found that I really like the fleet farm brand of fertilizers. BD nailed it with everything else!!

One time someone said to me...."are you raising a lawn or raising kids"?? I used to get worked up over the brown spots far a while too but I actually love the fact that the entire neighborhood comes over when I am out there pitching to my kids. Maybe its because they know I serve up gopherballs more than Joe Mays!!  Anyway, I love having our house and yard be the "hood" gathering spot!!!


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## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

PSDC: There are a couple of reasons for doing the core aeration in the fall.

First, you can't core aerate when it is muddy or the soil is overly wet. It is normally drier in the fall than the spring. If you wait long enough in spring for the soil to dry sufficiently to core aerate, you may very well be beyong the time when some weed seeds start to germinate. Some folks may lay down their crabgrass preventer early, but you defeat the purpose because the core aeration will bring up more seed.

Second, many weed seeds can lay dormant in the soil for long periods of time. I have read that bringing seeds up in the fall through core aeration will result in a higher percentage of them breaking their dormancy and germinating the next spring. You can then control them because they are no longer dormant seeds. If you core aerate in the spring, you may have more seeds that do not germinate, causing you problems in subsequent years.


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## PSDC (Jul 17, 2003)

Thanks Bigdaddy,

I will wait till fall to plug. My yard is two years old and looks
like the gates of hell. Don't know were to start, but will go
by your 1st thread. Have to stop using the yard for a 
runway for gas planes! Unfortunately, sometimes it is also
a crash site!


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

Thanks for the input everyone...i think i'm gonna wait till fall to aerate my yard also.

Big Daddy...one thing. When you say fall do mean say end of august, middle of september, or beginning of october? I know it's a bad question, but i'm just curious cause you would want to give the overseeded lawn time to germinate and establish a bit wouldn't you?


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## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

PSDC:

When you say that your yard is two years old, do you mean that it was only established and planted two years ago, or do you mean that you have only lived there two years?

If the lawn was only established two years ago, I seriously doubt that you already need to core aerate. Instead, you might want to take the cash that you would have used to core aerate and use it to overseed, water, and fertilize. You also might want to invest in some soil testing to see what is limiting your lawn from being its best.


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## PSDC (Jul 17, 2003)

BigDaddy,

Established only two years ago. Will go get the soil tested.

Any advice on seed(s) for a lawn that gets no or little shade from the
sun?

Thanks,


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## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

PSDC:

Getting a lawn established in ND is tough. I live just north of Bismarck, and I had my lawn seeded in the fall of 2002. Part of the yard was seeded in a mix of crested wheat and perennial rye, while the other part was planted in a similar mixture with bluegrass. I can tell you that the bluegrass did not do well at all.

Where are you located? My advice would be to call the Chesek Seed House in Bismarck (701-223-0391). Larry Chesak has lots of different seed mixtures, and I would ask him what he thought of a mix called country mix in your situation.


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

Call your county extension agent.


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