lawn care

[chiefsfan1]

Who all does there own lawn care, pay someone or do nothing.

I fertilize my own using Hummert products using a Scott's spreader. Rubber wheels make a HUGE difference.
I spot spray weeds no weed and feed for me.
Your local Extension Office has great info on lawn care.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I have it done every other week for $50/mo.

 

[jmsjags]

Mowing the grass is relaxing to me, so I actually enjoy the time I get to spend on my new zero-turn. I don't do any fertilizer or grass seed; I just let the yard grow however it wishes.

 

[LoneRanger]

I roll my own, too. Just put down Scotts fertilizer w/ Halts crabgrass preventer this past weekend. I usually use Stay-Green brand but it wasn't in stock for some reason so I had to pony up for the costlier Scotts. Scott's clogs my spreader worse than Stay-green, too many wet clumps in Scotts.

I also put a 2nd treatment of antifungal on a Golden Niobi Willow tree that got Willow blight fungus last Autumn bad enough to cause some die back. 1st treatment was in Autumn, 2nd this past weekend, both on recommendation of local certified Arborist. Told me to use Monterey Fungi-Fighter w/ Propiconazole, mix at proper rate and pour into shallow trench in perimeter around trunk to enable root take-up of the product. I'm glad to report the tree is covered in new leaf shoots as we speak so we didn't lose it, which was a concern due to the die back. There is some apparent bark loss around the trunk right at the dirt level that concerns me though. It is an awesome tree and is on the southwest corner on our side of a shared 100' x 68' pond and looks very good there, do not want to lose it. Got a little concrete sittin' bench by it and all.

 

[Nick1994]

I wish I had someone to mow the grass, especially when it's the summer time. Even if I wake up at 6:00 a.m. It's still 100 degrees outside.

 

[LoneRanger]

There's grass in Arizona?

 

[dlundblad]

Yard mowing is a hobby of mine. Takes 20 mins to do the house yard and I get to use one of my 2 stroke Lawn Boys.

The pond is on 5 acres but I mow about 2.5. Takes about an hr and a half. I use a little diesel Kubota and Pandora Radio. Usually Elvis or the Who era tunes.

 

[chiefsfan1]

I like to mow as well. Bought a Honda self propelled for my 12K square foot yard.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
There's grass in Arizona?
Lol yes, there's actually grass everywhere. I'd say about at least half of homes here have grass lawns while the others are gravel.

 

[barkingspider]

I do my own landscaping. If I can do a decent job at something, I will do DIY. Plus, I need to save as much $ as I can so I can go on yearly vacations

 

[Patman]

The first summer in this house I paid a company to do the fertilizing, weed spraying, overseeding, etc. and I really wasn't that impressed with the results, so for the past three seasons I have taken over the job myself, with considerably better results. It takes a lot of work, but in the end it's worth it to do it yourself. Nobody will take care of your own lawn as good as you, as those lawn care services just don't have that much time, they are in and out of your property so quickly.

 

[LoneRanger]

I watch the guy from one of the big lawn care franchises do the neighbors lawn. He practically trots with the sprayer he's hurrying so much, hap hazardly flinging it about. No thanks.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
..............
I also put a 2nd treatment of antifungal on a Golden Niobi Willow tree that got Willow blight fungus last Autumn bad enough to cause some die back. 1st treatment was in Autumn, 2nd this past weekend, both on recommendation of local certified Arborist. Told me to use Monterey Fungi-Fighter w/ Propiconazole, mix at proper rate and pour into shallow trench in perimeter around trunk to enable root take-up of the product. I'm glad to report the tree is covered in new leaf shoots as we speak so we didn't lose it, which was a concern due to the die back. There is some apparent bark loss around the trunk right at the dirt level that concerns me though. It is an awesome tree and is on the southwest corner on our side of a shared 100' x 68' pond and looks very good there, do not want to lose it. Got a little concrete sittin' bench by it and all.


Lone Ranger,

A number of details regarding your Willow blight program raises red flags for me. Willow blight is a generic term applied to foliage and twig dieback when 2 different diseases coexist: Scab (Venturia spp) and black canker (Glomerella miyabeana). The infection period for these seems to mostly be in spring and early summer. An autumn application of fungicide would seem to have little effect (at least in my region).

Propiconazole is mostly recommended as a foliar spray every few weeks during the infection period. Flare bark injections can be utilized for a few specific problems. I do not see scab/black canker on the label for willows and this treatment requires special injection equipment. Pouring the product around the root collar seems ineffective, since the material needs to get into the transport tissue underneath the bark. Soil contact tends to bind it up and hastens break down.

Commercial product label: http://www.cdms.net/LDat/ldUJQ002.pdf 14% active ingredient vs. 1.5% for yours.

I will be interested to have you come back this fall and share your results. Also, ask your tree care person if he has personal experience with this technique. Maybe its something thats used in the trade circles that circumvents the label instructions. I haven't heard of this system in my area.

Make sure you do general tree care that involves removing all of the old infected leaves/twigs from last year and maintain good vigor(adequate soil and water health). This will help the tree resist infections naturally.

Take care.

 

[ragtoplvr]

I have no homeowners association telling me what and how

I mow every 2 to 3 weeks cutting the grass at 4 inches. It has enough leaf, so it does not regrow as fast. There is room for the hay. We have nightcrawlers here, so in 2 weeks the old hay is worm, worm casting, and mole poop. If you cut the grass tall the mole runs are mostly invisible. Dandelions do not like tall grass. Plantains do. I may have to do something about them.

Any tree that can not make it dies, gets cut down and burned.

No fertilizer.

ROD

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I have about 3 acres that gets finish mowed, and another 5 that gets bush hogged. I normally don't put down fertilizer-my 757 chops the clipping fine enough to decompose pretty quick, and it would be foolish to fertilize rough cut acreage.

I enjoy the time on the mowers. The 757 is just fun to operate, and the 8N that I bush hog with is very relaxing. I can't imagine paying someone else to have this much fun.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
I spot spray weeds no weed and feed for me.


Why no Weed&Feed? I'm sure you have a good reason; I want to know why.

 

[chiefsfan1]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
I spot spray weeds no weed and feed for me.


Why no Weed&Feed? I'm sure you have a good reason; I want to know why.


Use of weed-and-feed is inherently wasteful. In most yards, the weed killer is distributed over the entire yard, even areas without weeds. In some very weedy yards, the opposite may be true – the fertilizer may be wasted because there is too little grass to fertilize.

Its better to keep them separate and much better results. And using just fertilizer the lawn thickens thus choking most weeds.

 

[Lapham3]

I do my own, but see more and more people that pay the health club for their exercise and the 'lawn care' folks to do the work. I'm slowly letting the woods creep in more and more as I cut less. In time, I think in many places the tradition of the old 'English lawn' will fade away.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Use of weed-and-feed is inherently wasteful. In most yards, the weed killer is distributed over the entire yard, even areas without weeds. In some very weedy yards, the opposite may be true – the fertilizer may be wasted because there is too little grass to fertilize.

Its better to keep them separate and much better results. And using just fertilizer the lawn thickens thus choking most weeds.


OK, what do you use to kill broadleaf weeds without killing the grass? 2-4-D ?

 

[MCompact]

I have @3 acres to cut; I have a 42" Dixon ZTR and a 54" Cub Commercial ZTR. Anything that I can't reach with one or the other gets either pruned, soaked with Roundup, or cut down. I cut the grass every 7-10 days, tops. No neighbors within a mile, so I never encounter the old coot with wraparound glasses and ball cap asking me if my mower is broken.
I HATE yard work.