Lawn care and whatnots

[Krob95]

Bought my first house last year in September, now that it's spring it's time to start lawn care and what not. My question is how to combat patchy spots of grass to get a fuller looking lawn.

Any recommendations on what product or seed I should use or stay away from? I live in northern Colorado and have a sprinkler set up for the front and back yards. I have aerated and fertilized already as well.

 

[JMGlasgow]

Hopefully the fertilizer doesn't have a weed killer in it (Scotts weed and feed). Everything I've read it won't allow grass seed to germinate. And based on my experience that is true.

I'm trying to rejuvenate my lawn as well so any input I'll be interested in.

 

[NoDopes]

Patchy can be disease, bugs, sprinkler missing a spot, fertilizer miss or odd isolated soil conditions. You'll need to deduce before you can treat. Generally fuller grass probably need soil amendments and/or more fertilizer.
Gypsum may help if you have clay like soil.

 

[Maggot]

In Virginia we have the VPI (Virginia Polytech Institute) extension program which is there to help farmers, ranchers and homeownerss with that kind of thing. There is probably something similar with U Colorado.

I went with sod. Instant nice lawn thugh you do have to water it a lot at first. Pretty cheap if you pick it up at the farm, something like a 2'x4' roll for $3.00.

Google brought this:

extension.colostate.eduExtension - Providing trusted, practical education to help ...​

12345 Extension is dedicated to serving current and future needs of Coloradans by providing educational information and programs that safeguard health, increase livelihood, and enhance well

 

[Bigfatcock]

53% glyphosate because fuck grass.

 

[Krob95]

53% glyphosate because fuck grass.

I have 47% for killing the weeds

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I've heard that Loooey is the one to ask.

 

[elwarpo]

Dig a bit in the patchy areas, do you see grubs? The eat grass roots and create patchy spots? Did the previous owner have dogs, or do you? Dog pee, especially females can burn grass, leaving dead areas. Since you fertilized, i would recommend seeding if the patchy spots are here and there. If big areas, then there probably is another issue. Seeds take a few weeks to germinate, so water well. Do not water too much, you can get mold and fungi growth that kills grass. Since you have sprinklers, turn them on and look for areas getting too little or too much water.

 

[Krob95]

I have one female, and one male dog, and the previous homeowner had a couple dogs. Thank you for the advice, I'll dig a few small holes in those spots and see if there are any grubs. Thank you!

 

[eflyguy]

I have tried for decades to grow grass here in GA, on 4 different properties. Unless you have very deep pockets it's pretty much a lost cause.

So I just mow the weeds. They're mostly green anyway.

 

[Wyo_Jo]

I'm on the prairie of central WY and have mostly clay with a lot of sand in the soil. My spring lawn wake up routine is power rake, aerate, then spread 10-10-10 fertilizer with some grass seed mixed in. The triple 10 can be found at walmart in a plain white bag. Ive found its very hard to overdue it with this but it also grows everything. Kinda why i mix in the grass seed to choke out some the weeds. An as mentioned water, especially if the winter was dry.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

The question of "What's your budget" is being hinted to (above).
Go cheap with weed n feed and grass seed from a local supplier.
Go all out.... Remove the top 6" of soil and back fill with some rich topsoil from a proven nursery, roll out grass, keep it watered...

What chemicals are in the water you are using?
Full sunlight or shaded areas ?
What does your neighbor's yards look like ? Manicured or weed patch ?
Do your neighbors use a lawn care service that sprays 2 0 3 times a year ?
Wind will blow some nasty weeds into your yard....
Step back and look at the overall picture... Talk to the neighbor with the perfect yard... Asking here will get non regional replies.

Best of luck.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

Watering with city water full of chemicals is probably not helping.

 

[JMGlasgow]

I don't think the water in NoCo is an issue. Ft. Collins, Windsor, Severance, Eaton, even Greeley all have really good water out of the tap. There are plenty of very healthy lawns in that area and are watered on city water.

 

[918v]

Urine is a terrific fertilizer. Cheap too.

 

[JMGlasgow]

@Krob95, how close are you to the sheep farm on HWY 257 heading north out of Windsor? You can buy fertilizer there and sprinkle that over you lawn.

My dad did that when needed and also made a concoction from beer, coca-cola, tobacco juice, and a few other ingredients that he would spray on the lawn every year. It seemed to work well. I wish I would have paid more attention to his lawn care growing up.

 

[Krob95]

About 30min south. I'm not sure how my neighbors would feel about that tho lol

 

[JMGlasgow]

It really doesn't smell bad. Not like it does driving by that place.

 

[Krob95]

Yeah, my neighbor next to me and behind me both have nice lawns. May catch em out when they're mowing and ask them too. All the city water around northern Colorado seems to grow pretty good grass. I'm not in Flint.

Fair enough, I'll look into it! Thanks man!

 

[JMGlasgow]

Murdochs also sells a grass seed mix for our region. It's from X-seed and it comes in cotton bags. 1 bag covers 3500sqft for $25.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

About 30min south. I'm not sure how my neighbors would feel about that tho lol

One way to find out...

 

[JMGlasgow]

I found this.

Secret Lawn Tonic Recipe From Golf Course Groundskeeper

The lawn tonic recipe came from a former groundskeeper at a golf course. All you need are 5 common household ingredients and a 10-gallon hose-end sprayer.

www.wisebread.com

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Sod, lots of sod and dirt.
This has been my project for the last couple of weekends. This is over half a pallet, and still have a long way to go.

 

[hino895]

You have country grass and city grass.
City grass is like a fine carpet that you hire someone to keep it alive….
Country grass is, if it’s green it’s good…fuckit.

 

[MtnCreek]

Glyphosate and plant it in browntop in a couple wks. Shoot doves over it come sept.

 

[Statusquo]

1. Mow it short, almost scalp it
2. Thatch it. Get one of those electric thatchers for $100 and thatch it 2 or 3 times, change direction
3. 16-16-16 fertilizer, double dose
4. Over seed it. Pick appropriate seed mix
5. Spread a 1/8” layer of peet moss or compost or combination of both over lawn.
6. Keep soil wet for 2 to 3 weeks.
7. Raise mower height, don’t mow too short during the growing season.

 

[The D]

Murdochs also sells a grass seed mix for our region. It's from X-seed and it comes in cotton bags. 1 bag covers 3500sqft for $25.

Thanks for this. I’ll be heading to Murdoch’s to get a bag

 

[trob]

Bought my first house last year in September, now that it's spring it's time to start lawn care and what not. My question is how to combat patchy spots of grass to get a fuller looking lawn.

Any recommendations on what product or seed I should use or stay away from? I live in northern Colorado and have a sprinkler set up for the front and back yards. I have aerated and fertilized already as well.

I watched a lot of YouTube videos. ryan knorr lawn care, the lawn care nut, and Conor ward helped me a ton. watch the videos Ryan knorr does on fixing patches from dogs over winter. Basically, scratch the surface, put down a little top soil, seed, PEET MOSS, water 5x a day for 5 or so minutes. Keep it damp.

you’ll see results. Use the peet moss

 

[Major Wader]

Aerate and overseed clover. Prettiest green, easy to care for.

Monoculture lawns suck.

 

[Buzzinga]

 

[EddieNFL]

Weed n Feed should be renamed...Weed Feed.

 

[Mike Casselton]

I've heard that Loooey is the one to ask.

I thought he was the sausage expert...

 

[powdahound76]

Bought my first house last year in September, now that it's spring it's time to start lawn care and what not. My question is how to combat patchy spots of grass to get a fuller looking lawn.

Any recommendations on what product or seed I should use or stay away from? I live in northern Colorado and have a sprinkler set up for the front and back yards. I have aerated and fertilized already as well.

Some areas are soon to pay you to convert to a low to no water landscape plan in CO.
Some new house bill.
Using tax $ to reduce water use….
Might be your only chance to get some of your tax dollars back.

Unless you are set on the grass, might be a way to save $ in the long run too.

 

[LuvDog]

I tell myself every year that I'm not going to care about my lawn and then every spring I jump in a thatch, seed, fertilize, etc. It looks great and then summer comes around and my town has a permanent water ban, where we can only water 2 days a week and for certain hours.

Then part way through the summer they say it's another drought and cut off all outside watering so it goes dormant and weeds take over.

I just need to give in and not care.

 

[JMGlasgow]

I'd be more inclined to use less water if they billed it differently. Every 100 gallons for instance. Here they bill it every 1000 gallons. So if I use 1001 gallons I have to pay for 2000. If I'm paying for every 1000, I'm going to damn well use it.

 

[Snipe260]

Sand, ammonium nitrate, and lots of water after seeding

 

[Snipe260]

 

[BytorJr]

Hah...I just put a new sprinkler system in. Don't mind telling you. I have second thoughts on if I should have hired it out. Damn clay around here becomes brick in like 30 minutes!

 

[Pre64]

Are your patched round or irregular?, typically grubs, disease, mold and such will be irregular, dog spots will be almost perfectly round.

 

[DetroitRearView]

Gravel, river rock and boulders…native trees and bushes NW Wyoming. So great to be done with fake lawn care.

 

[Bigfatcock]

I know it's been a while since this thread was active, but I'm in a similar situation with my backyard. I recently bought a house, and my garden is a complete mess! So, I totally get your struggle with patchy spots on the lawn.

53% Glyphosate and put down rock. Fuck grass.

 

[Redmanss]

I know it's been a while since this thread was active, but I'm in a similar situation with my backyard. I recently bought a house, and my garden is a complete mess! So, I totally get your struggle with patchy spots on the lawn.

So you signed up on a long range precision shooting forum to respond to a lawn care thread? Nope, not a fucking chance in the world.

Fuck off spammer.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

Just waiting for all the new landscapers about to cross the border. Landscaping/lawn service is about to get really inexpensive

 

[Redmanss]

Just waiting for all the new landscapers about to cross the border. Landscaping/lawn service is about to get really inexpensive

Your optimism in believing they’ll actually want work is impressive.

 

[Bigfatcock]

Just waiting for all the new landscapers about to cross the border. Landscaping/lawn service is about to get really inexpensive

I believe this to be incorrect. We are not getting hard working Mexicans trying to live a better life.

We are literally getting the bums, whores, and drug users/dealers of these 3rd world shit holes.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

So you signed up on a long range precision shooting forum to respond to a lawn care thread? Nope, not a fucking chance in the world.

Fuck off spammer.

And "from" Seattle, no less. And not just any thread, a year old thread.
I hope you put a knife to it, I know I did.

 

[supercorndogs]

Your optimism in believing they’ll actually want work is impressive.

They want to work. They don't want to pay taxes, or loose welfare benefits, and finding good sized companies run by Mexicans who don't want to pay payroll taxes is getting easier and easier. "I have all these kids and no monies."