How many square feet of turf do you have?

 

$200 - $500 / month for water. $3k - $5k irrigation installation. Wow. Sounds like Martha Vineyard prices. Seems steep.

Is there really a minimum or maximum cost? I think not. My wife caps me at $300 for fertilizer, herbicide, fungicides.... My single most expensive purchase has been Azoxy and Pylex (tag teamed with a neighbour)

Rather than removing existing soil, we should be building the soil profile. Add humic, compost, manures....

TTTF and PRG will germinate in 3 - 10 days, FF and KBG 7 - 21 days

 

This is a great topic and we're probably going to see a different range of answers. Everybody has a unique situation and certainly money comes into play.

Personally, I have never sat down and budgeted out what a typical year costs - however, this is something that I plan to do during the off season.

In terms of time spent; I average 7-10 hours each week. This has gone up over last year partly because I bought a reel mower and prior to investing in PGR, I was mowing every other day.

Because of cultural practices last year and the early part of this year, the time spent pulling/spraying weeds this summer as significantly gone down - I have done just one blanket app for weeds in my backyard.

For me, I don't have any other hobbies. Prior to my youngest being born, I coached a highly competitive baseball team that had me travel an average of 20+ days to the US during July, along with 4 games every weekend during May and June and September. I have since invested that time in my lawn and have loved every second of it.

I don't wood work. I don't fix cars. I can't fix plumbing. But I can grow grass and do it fairly well.

It's also important to point out that this isn't my "forever home." So I keep that in the back of mind when it comes to spending money.

I would say I am 80% of the way to where I want my lawn to be. To the average homeowner (or to any of my friends), most would say I'm crazy for the amount I do to my lawn. But I also get a ton of compliments and "holy crap!" And that's part of why I do it. It's my creation.

In terms of the minimum someone would need to spend? Difficult to answer given all the products available at local big box stores. I have told friends that if all they do is fertilize once in the Spring and once again in September; cut and water once a week, they would likely have the nicest looking grass in the neighbourhood.

There are a ton of people in my area that use a service to spray weeds. And these companies put stakes in the ground with their logo. The irony is the lawn is infested with weeds still. Not sure why they advertise a service when the very lawn they are advertising on is 75% weeds.

 

I think it's a good question and I even question it myself sometimes. I don't spend crazy amounts of money on my lawn but I spend a lot more then your average homeowner I would guess. I live in the country too so don't even have neighbors to compare it to or try to impress. Honestly last summer when my lawn went to hell due to heat and drought I kind of said screw it. I no longer had the motivation to make my lawn "perfect". Then Fall set in and that bug hit me again. Then I found this website in September and boom it has motivated me to an even higher level.

I still try to keep cost in check but I've bought a few things like a battery powered backpack sprayer, N-EXT biostimulant package, etc that I wouldn't have bought if it wasn't for this site.

But like @Harts this is my main hobby. I love to golf but it doesn't work with my schedule and the kids as well. Hard to go play 18 holes and take 4 or 5 hours of my day when I have a full time job, kids and a wife. Not to mention golf isn't cheap either. Hell just spent $1000 on new irons last year. So this is the 1 thing I'm fairly good at and I can do it at home. So to me as long as I don't get crazy with buying new equipment or products then it's worth it for me.

 

I personally have a high and low input lawn. My front is high and only 2.5M/sqft and the back is 9-10M/Sqft which is low input.

The back just gets fert ( urea in fall) and pre emergent.

Most treatments /products I buy for front last a long time. Since I'm going full KBG in front my water bill will go up.

Really all has to do with your sqft. I think it's a fairly reasonable hobby overall and I get a lot of satisfaction.

No idea how much I spend but good thing is I don't pay for it all at once

 

It's like any hobby.. It gets more expensive when you are really into it... Does spending 2x get you twice the lawn.. Not usually, but like most hobbies the cost is not something rational...

 

I subscribe to the 80/20 rule. I fertilize 4-5x a year, including one with a pre emergent. I mulch mow regularly at 3.25 inches with a sharp blade. I spot spray weeds with big box weed killer.

Doing only those things probably gives me 80% (or more) of the possible results and costs me maybe about $150 a year for my 8k square foot lawn, including gas and the cost for me to change my oil, plug, and air filter. Maybe $200 a year if you include mower depreciation. If I need to seed some spots, maybe $225 tops. I spend a couple hours a week out there.

It doesn't cost much time or money to maintain an above average lawn once you've got a good foundation.

 

Does really a hobby have a price tag...Sure, but a much lower looking price tag tan anything that ain't a hobby.
For hobbyists as almost all of us out in this forum are, the question is do you really enjoy the journey.
So the initial split, before you even start evaluating cost/benefit is, do you really do this for a cost/benefit or because you like doing it.
Absolutely NO offense to the original poster @rtdad , but at this point the question is: if 8 days watering by hand seems like hell, obsessed lawn care may simply not be your 'thing'. Which is absolutely fine. I find fishing a non sense...

 

How many square feet of turf do you have?

Not much.. About 3800 total

 

This is a great topic and we're probably going to see a different range of answers. Everybody has a unique situation and certainly money comes into play.

Personally, I have never sat down and budgeted out what a typical year costs - however, this is something that I plan to do during the off season.

In terms of time spent; I average 7-10 hours each week. This has gone up over last year partly because I bought a reel mower and prior to investing in PGR, I was mowing every other day.

Because of cultural practices last year and the early part of this year, the time spent pulling/spraying weeds this summer as significantly gone down - I have done just one blanket app for weeds in my backyard.

For me, I don't have any other hobbies. Prior to my youngest being born, I coached a highly competitive baseball team that had me travel an average of 20+ days to the US during July, along with 4 games every weekend during May and June and September. I have since invested that time in my lawn and have loved every second of it.

I don't wood work. I don't fix cars. I can't fix plumbing. But I can grow grass and do it fairly well.

It's also important to point out that this isn't my "forever home." So I keep that in the back of mind when it comes to spending money.

I would say I am 80% of the way to where I want my lawn to be. To the average homeowner (or to any of my friends), most would say I'm crazy for the amount I do to my lawn. But I also get a ton of compliments and "holy crap!" And that's part of why I do it. It's my creation.

In terms of the minimum someone would need to spend? Difficult to answer given all the products available at local big box stores. I have told friends that if all they do is fertilize once in the Spring and once again in September; cut and water once a week, they would likely have the nicest looking grass in the neighbourhood.

There are a ton of people in my area that use a service to spray weeds. And these companies put stakes in the ground with their logo. The irony is the lawn is infested with weeds still. Not sure why they advertise a service when the very lawn they are advertising on is 75% weeds.

Great response, thanks!

 

I think it's a good question and I even question it myself sometimes. I don't spend crazy amounts of money on my lawn but I spend a lot more then your average homeowner I would guess. I live in the country too so don't even have neighbors to compare it to or try to impress. Honestly last summer when my lawn went to hell due to heat and drought I kind of said screw it. I no longer had the motivation to make my lawn "perfect". Then Fall set in and that bug hit me again. Then I found this website in September and boom it has motivated me to an even higher level.

I still try to keep cost in check but I've bought a few things like a battery powered backpack sprayer, N-EXT biostimulant package, etc that I wouldn't have bought if it wasn't for this site.

But like @Harts this is my main hobby. I love to golf but it doesn't work with my schedule and the kids as well. Hard to go play 18 holes and take 4 or 5 hours of my day when I have a full time job, kids and a wife. Not to mention golf isn't cheap either. Hell just spent $1000 on new irons last year. So this is the 1 thing I'm fairly good at and I can do it at home. So to me as long as I don't get crazy with buying new equipment or products then it's worth it for me.

Average home owners around here do literally nothing but chop their grass once every week or two.

 

I subscribe to the 80/20 rule. I fertilize 4-5x a year, including one with a pre emergent. I mulch mow regularly at 3.25 inches with a sharp blade. I spot spray weeds with big box weed killer.

Doing only those things probably gives me 80% (or more) of the possible results and costs me maybe about $150 a year for my 8k square foot lawn, including gas and the cost for me to change my oil, plug, and air filter. Maybe $200 a year if you include mower depreciation. If I need to seed some spots, maybe $225 tops. I spend a couple hours a week out there.

It doesn't cost much time or money to maintain an above average lawn once you've got a good foundation.

No seed? I feel like that's a big cost.. along with anything major like top dressing..

 

Does really a hobby have a price tag...Sure, but a much lower looking price tag tan anything that ain't a hobby.
For hobbyists as almost all of us out in this forum are, the question is do you really enjoy the journey.
So the initial split, before you even start evaluating cost/benefit is, do you really do this for a cost/benefit or because you like doing it.
Absolutely NO offense to the original poster @rtdad , but at this point the question is: if 8 days watering by hand seems like hell, obsessed lawn care may simply not be your 'thing'. Which is absolutely fine. I find fishing a non sense...

First, I've never planned on becoming an obsessed lawn care person. I never planned on spending more than a few hours a week on lawn care.

My goal is improving the lawn as much as reasonably possible (time and money).
I work 2 jobs. Have 2 kids. Coach kids my son's sports. And have other hobbies. So there is definitely a time constraint factor.

Do I enjoy the journey? Well I've enjoyed everything up until last year, top dressing was brutal manual labor, and results this year were not good. So my return on investment has been bad.

And I've reached a bit of a fork in the road as far as irrigation. Irrigation system is too pricey and I don't plan on watering 6x / day after seeding ever again.

Maybe I'll just settle having a decent lawn for now...

But glad I made this post for all the feedback.

 

With that said, I have a lawn that is mostly weed free, but it's bumpy (possibly from lack of irrigation) and the seedlings haven't germinated yet since last Sunday. I'm questioning whether an irrigation system is worth it ($3-$5k, plus another $200-$500/month increased water costs)

From some of the information I've gathered on irrigation systems you're estimates appear crazy high, especially for a 3800/ft2 lawn. I'd go back to drawing board here and do some recalculation. Ask a neighbor or coworker if they have an irrigation system and how much it increased their water bill each month.

Good luck with the lawn!

 

Great question - cost / benefit. Something I've been thinking about more and more. No question that it has to depend on the use of the lawn. I don't have kids or dogs so my own lawn is purely ornamental. The more time and money I put into it, the more I start thinking about alternatives to having a lot of it. If I look at the rest of my landscape, the trees are like young adults, pretty much self sufficient and maybe need some help once or twice a year. The shrubs and beds are like teenagers, they go off and do their own thing independently but need some regular care and attention. Turf is the infant, needs its diaper changed constantly, is always getting sick, has to be fed and watered or it doesn't have a chance, and always seems to hit the wallet much more than the other "kids."

I'm starting to think caring for so many infants is dumb. A few turf paths surrounded by low input dense ground covers and shrubs and trees might make a heck of a lot more sense for folks who don't actually use the whole of their lawns. Children that used to play in the yard grow up and go off to do other things; maybe the landscape generally needs to grow up and do other things too.

 

I've been thinking the same thing lately. I bought my house recently, so my costs are going to be high until I get it to where I want it. My annual ongoing maintenance budget is going to be $1,000. That is for a 5,500 square foot front yard that I want to be Tier 2 and a 10,000 square foot back yard that I want to be Tier 1 (Tiering as defined by the Cool Season Lawn Guide). I don't know what your situation is but I look at it as an investment in my home.
Your irrigation estimates seem high to me. At those prices I would look at having a well drilled for irrigation ($6,000). I do know that certain municipalities will allow you to have an additional water meter installed for your irrigation system and the water that is used for your lawn can be deducted off of your sewer bill (because its not going down the drain). Ryan Knorr on YouTube had a above ground system that seemed to work pretty well, you may want to look that up since it probably cost only a few hundred bucks and he had a pretty nice lawn. I definitely would not hire a lawn care company for anything. Some are good, but NO ONE cares about my yard as much as I do. My next door neighbor has a lawn care company do all of his fertilizing and his yard looks pretty good, but his blades need sharpened badly (and I'm not going to be the one to tell him LOL). As far as milo goes, its a great product, but the cost vs actual visual results isn't there, however, I continue to use it. I personally have seen some Tier 2 yards on this forum that are maintained with the cheapest fertilizers available. One thing you didn't mention is the visibility of your yard. If you live in a very low traffic area where you are the only one that really sees your yard then I would dial back on the annual spending. I live on the corner of a pretty active neighborhood where my work and my investment is seen by many people walking by (and if we are really honest with ourselves isn't that why we spend the hours and the money?) My grandfather never spent a penny on weed control or irrigation, but kept his yard trimmed PERFECTLY and it looked very good from the street. Whatever you decide to do, just having the knowledge from this forum will likely result in you having a very nice lawn, if not one of the best in the neighborhood.

 

I subscribe to the 80/20 rule. I fertilize 4-5x a year, including one with a pre emergent. I mulch mow regularly at 3.25 inches with a sharp blade. I spot spray weeds with big box weed killer.

Doing only those things probably gives me 80% (or more) of the possible results and costs me maybe about $150 a year for my 8k square foot lawn, including gas and the cost for me to change my oil, plug, and air filter. Maybe $200 a year if you include mower depreciation. If I need to seed some spots, maybe $225 tops. I spend a couple hours a week out there.

It doesn't cost much time or money to maintain an above average lawn once you've got a good foundation.

No seed? I feel like that's a big cost.. along with anything major like top dressing..

I added $25 a year for seed. At $2.50 per pound and 4 lbs per 1,000 square feet to overseed, that gives me 10 lbs a year or 2,500 square feet worth of seed. Again, just seeding bare spots here and there, I don't use anywhere near that amount.

Top dressing falls into the 80% of things that only give me 20% of the results. I don't know anybody personally who has ever top dressed their lawn, including myself, and I know a lot of people with very nice lawns. So I don't consider it necessary to have a well above average lawn.

 

My lawn is roughly 10k sq ft and I spent no more than 200 bucks on it last year, excluding water. This year I'm between 1k and 1.5k. I bought a bunch of chemicals, new honda, new to me reel mower, sprinkler upgrades, and seed. Next year, I will add new zones on my sprinkler line but that will probably be my only purchase besides some PGR.

For the benefit side, my kids love doing the yard with me and they run around barefoot and roll around in it. That's enough for me. I also went from a 10k golf membership/yr before my kids to lawn care so I'm essentially saving money - at least that's how I justify it to my wife xD

 

It's very simple. Get the scotts/vigoro fertilizer when it's on sale. You can skip the weed & feed since you will be spot spraying. You can also skip the insect summer guard (orange bag) for 2 bags of milorganite or equivalent organic for the summer months.
Let me break it down a few ways:

The traditional 4 step program (scotts in this case but vigoro or menards brand is fine and a little cheaper.
$25 Crabgrass preventer
$23 Weed & Feed
$25 Summer Guard
$17 Green bag

Total: $90 on Fertilizer

My Way:
$15 Milorganite (for 2 bags, sale price, otherwise I won't buy)
$16 Winterizer (probably the most important step for cool season grasses)
$25 Urea
$18 Ironite

Total: $74

But the Urea lasts more than one year for 5000sqft lawn (it's a 50lb bag)

Add to the above
Prodiamine: $6/yr applied at max label rate
Bifen: $3/yr but also used indoors
Azoxystrobin Fungicide: $5 per application on 5k sq ft.
Weed Killer concentrate for spot spraying: $1/yr

Overall you're looking at $100 just on chemicals and Fertilizer

Water: $100 over July/August. For an established lawn the rest of the time it can do without irrigation if you get rain.

 

Aside from the renovations I don't spend much.

I fertilized once back in May. Spot sprayed weeds here and there with Tenacity I've had for a few years now and it's still half full. Have the 50# bag of urea from two years ago. I don't irrigate.

 

Not sure why they advertise a service when the very lawn they are advertising on is 75% weeds.

I think they are required to put them down as a notice to people that product has been applied. I used a company last year to spray for weeds and they said I needed to leave them out for 24h, but I always pulled them out when I got home.

I think its mostly courtesy because the Fiesta product is heavy iron and I think it can stain. they never sprayed close to the concrete so the areas that needed the most work were still weedy.

 

For me taking care of my own lawn became my antidepressant treatment.

I have been suffering some depression for the past few years (probably middle age crisis ) combined with some panic attacks that will send me to ER thinking I was having a heart attack.

Ever since I'm doing stuff around the yard my panic attacks have ended and I feel much better.

For me this is priceless...also I wanted to Thank @thegrassfactor who has a huge heart! He somehow knew I was having this condition and sent me a care package to lift me up. I love you brother!

 

Pesticide treatment signs with applicator info are required by law in NJ when they are non-diy. Although NJ is a nanny state, I imagine it's that way everywhere.

 

How many square feet of turf do you have?

Not much.. About 3800 total

Then your answer will be much different than mine. I've got 20k feet of turf. No irrigation and the install cost would be ridiculous due to living in an area with a high cost of living.

I admit that I don't think I'd want to take care of much more than 30k sf of grass.

 

You can't really compare apples to apples given your situation compared to another's. There's way too many variables.

My initial costs were high when I was buying herbicides and equipment, but since those are paid for my yearly expense has been mainly fertilizer, water, fungicide, and my time. Most of my neighbors pay for lawn service and none of them have an exceptional lawn. On a cost comparison basis I don't think I'm spending nearly as much per year to maintain my lawn. I've also found a good balance of budgeting my time and money on my lawn to achieve results I am happy with.

I think a healthy dose of glyphosate, water and N is all most lawns need.