Lawn Rehab

[Austin]

When we bought this house the yard was a mess, I now at least have it all green, but it's not that sexeh thick Green Green lawn. I've really been trying to avoid using chemicals because we have chickens and I want bees next spring. SO I've been watching a lot of The Lawn Care Nut and GCI Turf Services where they both recommend keeping fescue are 4-4.5". The taller it is the better it drowns out the sunlight for the weeds n shit. Well I tried that, I have my cutting blade at exactly 4.5" off the garage floor and have been cutting at that for about a month now. All I got is bigger weeds and bigger patches of clover .....

I have about 3 acres I finish cut and I want it to look amazing ... its really my first lawn lol.


Where I'm at now:

• I think I have a few diffrent types of grass over the whole lot, I'm not 100% whats what.
• I did a major detaching last fall, I doubt it's ever had it done.
• I picked up a sprayer with a boom and I plan to spray Tenacity w/surfactant ... but I'm not sure when it's best to.
• This super tall grass is giving me bigger weeds, not drowning them out
• I bought an aerator and will do that this fall... will over seeding be worth it if I can't water it all?

This is kind of rant and looking for guidance on any of those bullet points .....

 

[bigun]

When we bought this house the yard was a mess, I now at least have it all green, but it's not that sexeh thick Green Green lawn. I've really been trying to avoid using chemicals because we have chickens and I want bees next spring. SO I've been watching a lot of The Lawn Care Nut and GCI Turf Services where they both recommend keeping fescue are 4-4.5". The taller it is the better it drowns out the sunlight for the weeds n shit. Well I tried that, I have my cutting blade at exactly 4.5" off the garage floor and have been cutting at that for about a month now. All I got is bigger weeds and bigger patches of clover .....

.

BUild a chicken tractor to keep the chickens in one spot till they eat the grass down to the level you want then move them and reseed behind them

 

[det107]

...we have chickens and I want bees next spring.

​​​​​

...and bigger patches of clover .....

Keep the flowering clover for the bees, you're off to a great start. Switch to rabbits to eat the patches of green clover-

 

[Mr Stubs]

Do a little research on clover... it grows well when PH levels are in its favor. I have decided that I will let it grow in my yard, bees enjoy it if it gets tall enough to blossom and in late summer it’s still green unlike the grass at that time.

 

[Thefishguy77]

Do a little research on clover... it grows well when PH levels are in its favor. I have decided that I will let it grow in my yard, bees enjoy it if it gets tall enough to blossom and in late summer it’s still green unlike the grass at that time.

This is where I am at as well. Cut about 3/4 of an acre and I want a durable turf that tolerates heat and abuse. I over seeded 2 pounds of white clover this spring. About 1/2 flowers below the cut height. Probably going to open up about another acre this summer for a future house site as well as making it more enjoyable.

 

[tracyb]

looks good to me, and knowing when to say good enough was half the battle when i got a good sized lawn. turning point for my lawn was when i went and talked to the local farmer supply, as every region and soil needs something different. i cut back on fertilizer and watering, and stepped up on leveling with sand and overseeding. i honestly never considered overseeding as a part of lawn care, but i learned. a cut lawn doesn't seed and dead spots create holes or weeds. i have a small home, my yard is the living rm, i keep it nice and its important to me.

i'm in the PNW, but all my family is St louis/ St Charles area, the grass is very different. my cousin has Liscombe Tree Service, and before that was in lawn service. if the name rings a bell might be worth giving him a call and picking his brain.

 

[dnsfailure]

I hate grass. I like my dirt yard with just trees and bushes growing.

 

[tracyb]

I hate grass. I like my dirt yard with just trees and bushes growing.

liar.

nobody hates grass, they just hate taking care of it. you lazy

 

[dnsfailure]

liar.

nobody hates grass, they just hate taking care of it. you lazy

If I drop a bolt in the grass, it sucks trying to find it. Dirt? Boom, it's right there I can see it.

 

[Thefishguy77]

I hate grass. I like my dirt yard with just trees and bushes growing.

I hate dust so I grow turf, grass/clover, it also helps keep the “feels like” temperature cooler in the summer heat. Mulch all summer, thatch and reseed in spring. Need to start sanding.

 

[tracyb]

#allyardsmatter (am i doing this right?)

i apologize, i didn't mean to put dirt yards on a back seat, all yards have equal value. shit you can find bolts? i just always thought green was gooder.


edit;
i have probably an acre of my 2.8acre lot paved. great for biz and the deliveries. but the yard makes my place enjoyable, and the concrete builds alot of heat. this time of year when i'm done in the shop for the day, i walk out front to the yard where the wife and kids are and its heaven. i'm yard biased

 

[evernoob]

If you turn that into a Monoculture you are literally a bad man. That lawn is fine and healthy, full of many different plants. There are plenty of critters there, clover for rabbits to eat, all kinds of diversity... diversity is actually good.

Just leave it alone man that is a natural paradise, also it will be more resilient to diseases and droughts.

Just do fertilizer and it will thicken up. Let it grow sometimes so the bees and rabbits have sometime to eat, clover honey is the shiz. .

I have to be full Tree Hugger on this: they are absolutely right, monoculture lawns are the devil. Help the Bees you bastard!

 

[Hippie666]

I would aerate, over seed and then spread a compost mulch. I always did this to my lawn 3 times a year, spring, summer and fall. After a while it looked like a commercial for chem lawn. Yours looks under nourished.

The cut height is correct at the 4-4.5 inches but you have an up hill battle to get rid of all the clover and weeds without chemicals.

 

[crispins]

Dude I have the same thing.

I have chickens, ducks, wild rabbits.

I wanted the thick lush yard too.

After 7 years I have just settled

for green.

Your yard looks fine, enjoy it.

Cut it lower than the 4.5", that is too high, it gives the weeds too much room to grow tall between cuttings.

I cut mine to around 3 - 3.5"

 

[mdmike]

Same thing here. We have a TON of clover this year for some reason.

I used to want a really lush/green lawn, but then the boy and I got into ATV riding and that was that.

My lawn is still nice and green, regardless of whats growing, so now I pride myself on my mower lines instead of the quality of my grass.

 

[ChiScouter]

I never had very much clover before. this spring I fertilized with Milorgonite and 1/3 of my lawn turned into a flowering clover field

 

[rockota]

two schools of thought, I guess.

1 - kill it and start over.
2 - make it work.

Since you mentioned chickens and bees, I'd say make it work.

 

[Clb]

3 acre is a multi year plan to get right
make it easy, start by cutting at a height that stops the weed seed set.
Spray out the noxious weeds.
Aireate thatch, seed, feed, and build the soil to enhance drainage and root zone (sanding adds firmness) think putting greens here.
Once you hae the weeds under control step to enhancing the turfgrass you like.
Once you get to a "control" point you can just feed a few times a year and spot spray.
Happy owner.

Of course this is how we did it back during the pre Prius days...
Nice place, enjoy it, don let it run you.

 

[45acp]

Leave it. Light fertilizer, keep it mowed "tall", let mother nature take its course.

Years ago i moved from the standard 1/3 acre mono-yard in suburbia to 4.25 acre yard on the edge of town with about 50 types of grass in the yard. Unless you're retired, prepared to dedicate your life to lawn care and have $50k sprinkler system, just let it go.

We'd pay a guy every year that sprayed for bahia, other than that I just let that shit go and kept it mowed.

 

[Pt_Ranger_v8]

Leave it.


Fertilize it, mow it, and send it.

As long as it's green and even, and it doesn't grow shit that hurts your feet, it's fine.

 

[edglock21]

.....

Is that a Grasshopper mower?

 

[Austin]

Is that a Grasshopper mower?

yup, 725D 60" deck

 

[Clemson13]

yup, 725D 60" deck

I have the same issue as you, but my yard looks a lot worse than yours. More weeds than grass. :rolleyes:
Here i was hoping they would give you answers i could steal. The best one i saw so far for me was "Overseed for clover, its green" Might just do that, clover looks ok ish

 

[trampas]

It looks good. Very good.

 

[Deuce 40s]

You've got a perimeter of natural habitat like I do, but a little more yard. I'd douse the whole thing with broadleaf killer.

 

[Tin Roof]

Try mowing it shorter for awhile. The taller it is, the more chance the weeds have to grow. I cut mine 2.5-3" and leave it a little longer when it's been dry for awhile so it doesn't die off. Outside of that I don't do shit to it and have little to no weeds and very thick grass.