Do you use chemicals on your lawn?

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Today I applied fertilizer/crab grass preventer. I also applied grub killer.
In the summer I often use ant killer granules because the ants just love my sandy soil.

How about you guys? Serious about lawn care? Let others do it? Let it go natural?
 
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Nuke it every year.
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No weed n feet though as have oaks that are sensitive to it. Good ole triple 13. Bifen granules for ants and pests. I also use bifen xts in a hose end sprayer around the parimiter of my house as a bug deterant.
 
I have a lawn care professional apply the fertilizer, weed control, bug control. The new laws require that any chemical be applied as a reaction to the problem, not allowed to do anything pre-emptive. As well, what they are allowed to use now is pretty lame compared to 10 years ago. No chemicals used in backyard due to our dog.
 
I draw the line with grub killer. I read how the life cycle of grubs works, and decided it's not worth the trouble to kill beneficial bugs and make the birds sick on the chance that grubs would hit my lawn. I got hit once around 22 years ago. I reseeded the affected area and never got hit again.

To me it's about taking a calculated risk and not poisoning nature any more than I have to.
 
I quit poisoning the ground when I saw what diazinon was doing to birds and bees.
 
Originally Posted by ZZman
Today I applied fertilizer/crab grass preventer. I also applied grub killer.
In the summer I often use ant killer granules because the ants just love my sandy soil.

How about you guys? Serious about lawn care? Let others do it? Let it go natural?


I apply a high N granular material every few years and lime every 8-10 years.
Overseed thin areas each spring and mulch the leaves and pine needles each fall.
I have a nice but not Augusta National quality lawn as a result.
I don't used herbicides or pesticides since these are not environmentally justified for mere lawn care.
 
Americans are too focused on perfect lawns and monoculture. There was a time when groundskeepers specified clover seed mixed in with grass seed. Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil. Then along came chemical companies and told us how horrible it is to have ugly clover on your lawn.
 
Just pesticide, I hate spiders. And hate is an understatement. Once and awhile I'll throw down some fertilizer/lawn food, but otherwise I let it do it's own thing.

Some of my neighbors will go out and water their yards when we hit a hot dry spell in the summer. Never understood that. Water ain't free, and I have to cut it. Mines never completely died off.
 
I do the Integratated Pest Management (IPM) route touched on by Kestas. Keep your lawn reasonably healthy, use low to moderate amounts of nutrient addition, and only use pesticides when pests (weeds,insects,disease) reach a threshold, either impending or already there. It's good to do a soil test to know where the pH and nutrient levels are and management can be done if required. In Michigan, it is usually not good to apply N before the grass has started to grow. The roots are full of nutrients stored from last fall and early N encourages over growth in spring, which is not healthy for the grass and encourages disease. Fertilize after that first heavy growth is over - after several mowings. And, return all the clipping nutrients back to the soil. Use a good slow release fertilizer or some of the organic products if that is your choice. Don't fertilizer through mid summer if you don't irrigate. Let the lawn go dormant. Fertilize again in early fall when the grass is storing nutrients for the next year. My goal is to keep the lawn reasonably healthy to avoid getting into that high fertilizer/pesticide regime. That means I tolerate some imperfection: weeds, etc..
 
I use this selectively with a sprayer. Weed N Feed type chemicals are not available in BC. My lawn is pretty good and I have underground sprinklers I use in July and August. I spread some granular fertilizer that a local guy re-bags from bulk agricultural stuff. We live in a rain shadow between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains. Hardly any rain in the summer. Perfect forest fire weather.
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I have one year old sod at my new home. I just put down Scott's Turf Builder (w/Halts Crabgrass preventer) and this past fall I put down Scott's Turf Builder WinterGuard. I irrigate as well (only when needed). So I'm just getting it going.

My neighbor has an immaculate yard (also sodded but two years older than mine) and he puts down sugar (I know, I know). Not sure what else he does.
 
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Feed lawn … but don't use the weed type …
chase ants one mound at a time … spot treat weeds where I have mulch or gravel …
 
We use nothing and the lawn grows just fine. We rake in the spring. Our neighbors have grubs and they never venture onto our lawn because the weeds , dandelions, etc. just don't taste good. We use a mulching mower. Lately clover has taken over the yard.

We used to fertilize but the lawn grew annoyingly fast. Without fertilizer, we only have to mow once a week, less during the height of the summer, more in the spring to cut down the dandelions. We always avoid weed killer and pesticides because of kids and pets.

I don't see any reason to disrupt a balanced ecosystem with chemicals.
 
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