A bit early..but a lawn question

[Tomtint]

We have a fairly big yard here..about 38-40k sf of lawn. .. Every single mer itlooks good in the spring.. like crap I. July /Aug then good again in the fall. I know much depends on watering ..and we have irritation that runs virtually every day in the summer. We also pay a company to do the fertilizer applications. ..who I'm not very pleased with their results. The lawn appears to look a bit worse every year..instead of better every year. A friend of mine has a much smaller lawn and he does his fert by himself.. all he uses is starter fertilizer all spring/summer and fall.. nothing else.. he does 5 or 6 applications a near and his lawn looks incredible... anyone else have a system that they use similar to this ?

 

[Diggin It]

Only water mine gets is rain. I fertilize once in the spring and maybe once in late fall. I'm kind of relieved when it goes brown in summer since I don't have to mow it.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Lawn grasses are difficult at best. Sun, shade, soil type, ph, geographic location, etc are all part of an equation that is hard to balance. Sometimes starting over is best. First step is to diagnose your soil for soil type, condition, and ph. Second, find the grass that is best for your area and sun or shade requirements. Irragation is not always the best thing; watering daily keeps the root system from going deep, and the grass will burn out quicker in the summer heat. Find a county extension agent or ag college for some tips.

 

[om21braz]

Irrigation can help a yard survive, but if the water is too cold it can shock the grass. There is a reason sod farms have ponds - to pull water off the top, much warmer. Steppie has good advice in calling on a local Ag ext. office too.

 

[oosik]

I have 3/4 of an acre of "lawn". Its actually field grass that has been mowed for the 37 years I've been out here. It dies during the heat of the summer and comes back with the fall rains. I've never done anything - water, fertilizer, chemicals - to it. Its a nice, big, 'ol green lawn.

I just mow it.

Its got patches of dandelions here/there - its sometime thin in spots - the pocket gopher will play havoc in places.

Hey - this is the country and this is a country lawn.

 

[RNeumann]

They make fertilizer for fall and another for spring. Those are my tricks from an “old timer”. The summer fertilizer and water is pretty straight forward. If the lawn doesn’t look good in spring it’s kuz it lacked the nutrients to get going. I use Scott’s products.

 

[fried1765]

I have 3/4 of an acre of "lawn". Its actually field grass that has been mowed for the 37 years I've been out here. It dies during the heat of the summer and comes back with the fall rains. I've never done anything - water, fertilizer, chemicals - to it. Its a nice, big, 'ol green lawn.

I just mow it.

Its got patches of dandelions here/there - its sometime thin in spots - the pocket gopher will play havoc in places.

Hey - this is the country and this is a country lawn.

I have a "country lawn" also.
No options in my very sandy soil.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The perfect lawn is probably as unnatural as you can get, next to astroturf. I have a lot of grass and it goes from looking great to looking like crap. Sometimes there are so many dandylions, you don't think it will ever look like a lawn again, but even without chemicals, it does.

I have friends that fertilize and I think they are nuts. Why spend the time and money to make yet even more work for yourself mowing? Then they remove all grass clippings (which is fertilizer) but go out and buy fertilizer. Makes not a lick of sense to me.

 

[Macinnis]

Scott’s has a pretty good free app. Put in you grass type...it will remind you what and when to put it down.

 

[jay3534]

Over watering can cause a shallow root system that in turn leads to issues. Dethatch and aerate could help.