Happy new Year everyone!!

Am I the only one that took advantage of the warmer temps and got out in the lawn today? It was wet as heck but got all the leaves up that have blown over from the neighbors.

I also got the push mower out with the bagger and cut about 50% of the lawn. Pretty sure I'm the only one that did that :dunno:

 

I blew a few wet, matted leaves off the lawn in a high traffic area which I cordoned off during the fall to aid new seedlings. I had planned on throwing some seed down on New Year's Day as a dormant seed, but it hit 62* in the late morning, before the front came through, so I scrapped the plan for today. I'll be able to do it soon enough, though. I usually get caught up with other things and wind up dropping it a little on the late side in late March, so I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. Sorry for the bad pun.

I attached and ran my new hedge clipper attachment for my Echo PAS. It seems like a nice piece of equipment. I like all my other PAS attachments, and I think I'll like this one too.

 

I sprayed a random persons lawn in Arizona to start the year out right!!!! (with their permission of course) Felt so good!

 

I put some PGR out here in Queensland, Australia.

 

My Mazama and Beyond 50/50 blend arrived yesterday and went right into the freezer. Today, ~22 hours later I blended it with the Bewitched I had on hand to arrive at equal proportions (33.333%), and dormant seeded my entire yard at approximately 1 lb./k. I made extra passes over damaged/thin areas.

I know overseeding of kbg is not extremely effective. However, I've had some success, and am always trying to repair/improve areas.

I'm always fighting some type of battle (traffic, shade, animals, time, etc.) and need all the ammo that I can get.

 

My Mazama and Beyond 50/50 blend arrived yesterday and went right into the freezer. Today, ~22 hours later I blended it with the Bewitched I had on hand to arrive at equal proportions (33.333%), and dormant seeded my entire yard at approximately 1 lb./k. I made extra passes over damaged/thin areas.

I know overseeding of kbg is not extremely effective. However, I've had some success, and am always trying to repair/improve areas.

I'm always fighting some type of battle (traffic, shade, animals, time, etc.) and need all the ammo that I can get.

Did you overseed in areas of full sun with the Mazama and bewitched as well?

 

Snow covered.. but measured the back yard for potentially installing some kind of above ground sprinkler system.

 

Threw some chunks of ice that came off the car into the yard.

 

My Mazama and Beyond 50/50 blend arrived yesterday and went right into the freezer. Today, ~22 hours later I blended it with the Bewitched I had on hand to arrive at equal proportions (33.333%), and dormant seeded my entire yard at approximately 1 lb./k. I made extra passes over damaged/thin areas.

I know overseeding of kbg is not extremely effective. However, I've had some success, and am always trying to repair/improve areas.

I'm always fighting some type of battle (traffic, shade, animals, time, etc.) and need all the ammo that I can get.

Did you overseed in areas of full sun with the Mazama and bewitched as well?

Yes. I seeded about 99% of my yard with the equal 3-way blend. I stayed away from two very small areas that would be considered mini-renos (Bewitched) which came in very well. It was all that I had kbg wise at the time. I'm also looking to see how uniform the monoculture comes out and how it performs...kind of a mini test plot.

 

Hi Chris,
I had very good results with a dormant seeding of TTTF last year. Germination was surprisingly good! My only problem was that I didn't get down a second app of Tenacity in the spring, so I had a bit of crabgrass and weeds come in.

 

Hi Chris,
I had very good results with a dormant seeding of TTTF last year. Germination was surprisingly good! My only problem was that I didn't get down a second app of Tenacity in the spring, so I had a bit of crabgrass and weeds come in.

Can you describe your process dormant seeding TTTF? I'm in Western Mass and have some bare spots from this fall seeding that I want to tackle this spring, and would love any tips you can provide!

My plan was to seed the first week of April (weather permitting) with Milorganite and Scotts Starter with Mesotrione, and then put pre-emergent down mid-May.

 

I spread seed moments before the first substantial snowfall of the season and that's it. It was probably December or January last year. The thinking is the action of freeze/thaw and the snow melting in the spring works the seed into the soil a bit, eliminating the need for top dressing or manually working the seed in. It does seem pretty effective and I would definitely do it again. I was lucky and had good moisture and no late spring hard frost to mess things up. That's the chance you take. But I figured it's almost no labor, just the cost of seed that you risk. Also keep in mind that the TTTF takes off and gets rooted faster that KBG so will be better established when the heat comes.

I put down the Scotts with Meso in the spring but I think you really need to follow that up in 4 weeks with a spray app of tenacity. I missed that app. I finally got down some fert w/Dimension but believe I was too late. I fought crabgrass and other grassy weeds until I sprayed with tenacity as a post emergent, then applied prodiamine. All the while hand pulling undesirables, even though they were dying, because I couldn't stand the sight of them! The prodiamine stopped further germination in its tracks and it's what I'll used this coming spring.

 

I posted this on another thread. I am going to try on some thin spots in a month or so. TLDR: February is the best month, at least in Kansas. Might be a little later for you further up north. But their research had pretty good results by the time summer heat hit.

https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/agent-articles/lawns/dormant-seeding-lawns.html

 

I posted this on another thread. I am going to try on some thin spots in a month or so. TLDR: February is the best month, at least in Kansas. Might be a little later for you further up north. But their research had pretty good results by the time summer heat hit.

https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/agent-articles/lawns/dormant-seeding-lawns.html

Good point! I usually plan to dormant seed around that time, but either I get too busy with work, life, etc. and/or there is snow cover. I wind up seeding a bit late (March) for a dormant seed, so I aimed for January, with the hopes of better results. I've heard of people casting seed on top of snow, but that's not for me.

 

So i guess the question is, which option is best:
1 - dormant seed in February, ahead of a snow storm, pre-emergent when the forsynthias bloom
2 - seed in early April once ground temps are above 50 with Tenacity, 4 weeks later Tenacity
3 - seed in early once ground temps are above 50 with Tenacity, pre-emergent 6 weeks after seeding
4 - 1 + 2 + 3?

 

@MassHole I might do Option 1... but do Tenacity when the forsynthias bloom, then pre-emergent 4 weeks later (only to the areas I dormant seeded).

Or, I might just do plugs. Haven't decided yet.

 

@MassHole I might do Option 1... but do Tenacity when the forsynthias bloom, then pre-emergent 4 weeks later (only to the areas I dormant seeded).

Or, I might just do plugs. Haven't decided yet.

I like it. :thumbup:

 

I did a full renovation in the spring and the grass is looking really great.

Today in my micro yards:

Raised the mower to the highest position and mowed the front.
Put down some Humic acid granular.



I had some fungus about a month ago and treated it. Fungicide seems to have worked as the brown blades are much less now. I'll have to keep an eye out for more.
Some areas are a little thin still and not growing thick blades but it's getting better. I think the cold winter weather has made those areas dormant. I'm in San Diego so not that cold.



The backyard is looking good. I haven't mowed the back in a while and the grass is very green and getting thicker. Lots of shade in the back yard during the winter so the blades are very thin and growth is slow now.

I need to be thinking about pre-emergents soon in my lawn and beds. I don't want to be pulling weeds when spring comes. Every year it's the same. Seems like overnight I end up with 1' hedge grass that Round Up seems to be the only way to kill it. I need to find a better grass killer for the flower beds. Thoughts?

I have areas that have moss on the patio and some of the grass that is always in the shade this time of year. I need to fix this soon.

 

Cut up leaves with the mower. 3 different passes, pretty sure my neighbors thought I was crazy.

 

Likely they always thought so; now it is confirmed.

 

Hand-pulled some poa annua that I found growing near the house and fed those to the compost tumbler.

 

I have areas that have moss on the patio and some of the grass that is always in the shade this time of year. I need to fix this soon.

There is a product called Wet N Forget available at Lowes and HD but it is way cheaper at Costco. It is perfect for any living discoloration on hard surfaces. Apply it to dry surfaces above 60F with a sprayer. It did wonders to 100 year old headstones (repeated apps, a month or more apart) covered in moss and lichens with no damage like bleach can cause, even on marble.

 

Sprayed some dallisgrass with roundup while everything is still in the dormant stage. Hopefully I can rid my yard of this horrible weed.

 

Leaf blew the rest of the leaves that were hanging around on the grass before the snow came in.

Also purchased 2 of the 4 gallon GCF custom combos that are now available.

 

Well past 1:00AM and I hear someone snow blowing. Looked out the window and sure enough...