Lawn renovation – cool season grasses
What is lawn renovation? For lawns that have suffered severe damage from insects, disease, weeds or drought, or if you’re just looking for a re-do with an enhanced cultivar, a complete lawn renovation is often the best option. In this article we will discuss renovation using the two most popular two season grasses – Kentucky Bluegrass and Tall Fescue. Unlike overseeding, a renovation involves killing your entire stand of grass and starting with a clean slate. As with all…
Battle of the hose-end sprayers : Chapin G362D vs. Ortho Dial N Spray
Spraying herbicides or nutrients using a pump sprayer can be very time consuming , labor intensive, and getting complete coverage is problematic even when using a marker dye. Hose-end sprayers – though not appropriate for all situations – can make the task much easier and faster. Two of the most popular hose-end sprayer on the market are the Chapin G362D Professional All Purpose Hose End Sprayer and the Ortho Dial N Spray Multi-Use Hose-End Sprayer. Having used both of them, here are…
Seed counts per pound
When mixing seed, it is important to know that different grass seeds have different sizes. A Kentucky Bluegrass seed for example is about 10 time smaller than a Tall Fescue seed. By law, all bags of seed must have a label attached detailing – among other things – the percentage of each type of seed inside the bag by weight. This means that a cool season mix with “a little KBG” (10%) and “a lot of fescue” (90%) is actually a 50/50…
Tank mixing order
It is not uncommon for multiple pesticides and fertilizers to be mixed together in the same sprayer tank so they can all be applied in one go. Most pesticides labels provide information on compatibility with other pesticides and fertilizers, but testing of all combinations is impossible. If a substance is not specifically mentioned as compatible, follow the label to perform a compatibility test. To minimize the risk of active ingredients of different formulations interacting with each other, the following mixing…
Orbit 4 zone watering system review
As those of us without an irrigation system know all too well, keeping seed moist during a seeding project with hoses and sprinklers can be challenging, especially if the area is large. The Orbit 4 zone watering system aims to make the process easier by automating the task of watering for up to 4 zones. Since the standard hose bib doesn’t have enough water pressure to run more than one sprinkler, the controller turns on each of the zones one at…
Overseeding fescue lawns
Tall fescue is one of the most popular turf grasses in the transition zone due to its ability to form a great looking lawn, while exhibiting better heat and drought resistance than other cool season grasses. However, unlike other grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass, tall fescue does not spread on its own. Overseeding is a great way to make up for summer losses and increase lawn density in fescue lawns. It is also a great way to introduce new cultivars into your existing…
Controlling broadleaf weeds in cool season lawns
While a good pre-emergent program will keep most annual weeds out of your lawn, perennial broadleaf weeds like dandelions, white clover and buttonweed will be unaffected and will need to be removed using a selective post-emergent herbicide. Post-emergent herbicides come in a variety of forms. Weed and feed type products are the worst choice, because: The timing for fertilization and weed control is never the same. It must be applied to the entire lawn whether there’s weeds or not to avoid differences…
Mulching leaves on your lawn
Note : the article below was written by fellow lawn care enthusiast MorpheusPA and is being reproduced here with his permission. Head on over to his blog for more great tips on lawn and garden care : The Green, Green Grass of Home So what do leaves do? They raise the organic matter percentage in the soil, provide fall food for your worms and micro-arthropods living in your soil, encourage bacterial and fungal activity in the soil, and mulch the…
Foliar Iron Application
Note : the article below was written by fellow lawn care enthusiast MorpheusPA and is being reproduced here with his permission. Head on over to his blog for more great tips on lawn and garden care : The Green, Green Grass of Home Iron applications help with the lawn color, but generally do little for the soil. They’re always optional, but if you find your lawn color is more yellow than you like, they will help restore color. There are three…