Lawns

[abefroman]

Renovation, overseeding, seasonal maintenance?

Post your solutions/tips here

 

[CDGator]

If it weren’t for the weeds, we wouldn’t have green.

We have 5 acres so we will never have a manicured lawn but I over-seed some section every year just for kicks. Fertilizer helps too in the spring. I don’t really like to use chemicals on it because of the garden in the pasture but sometimes I get desperate enough when the dandelions, pennywort(?) or some other random weed takes over in the front yard.

Weeds are my nemesis.

 

[cover2]

We just put down some weed killer, do that every year at this time and seems to help. We have one particular weed this time of the year that stays close to the ground but sprouts a million little stickers. It eventually will die back on its own but until then the stickers get in your shoes and socks and walking barefooted is out of the question. The weed killer helps expedite the process.

Otherwise, I just keep it mowed weekly during the growing season. We had four older pecan trees taken down that weren’t producing nuts anymore and the extra sunlight has helped with the grass. We basically have centipede over the majority of the yard except the front and one side of the in-laws old house (that is next to ours) that has Zoisia, which is very hardy and requires no maintenance outside of mowing.

I also mulch the leaves every 2-3 weeks during the Fall/Winter. We have an X-Mark z-turn that is great for the mowing and a little 30 hp Kubota and a finish mower for the mulching. The entire area of the yard I keep up is nearly 3 acres. It’s more of a hobby or getaway for me than a chore. I get a lot of great thinking done on the mower or the tractor.

 

[CDGator]

We just put down some weed killer, do that every year at this time and seems to help. We have one particular weed this time of the year that stays close to the ground but sprouts a million little stickers. It eventually will die back on its own but until then the stickers get in your shoes and socks and walking barefooted is out of the question. The weed killer helps expedite the process.

Otherwise, I just keep it mowed weekly during the growing season. We had four older pecan trees taken down that weren’t producing nuts anymore and the extra sunlight has helped with the grass. We basically have centipede over the majority of the yard except the front and one side of the in-laws old house (that is next to ours) that has Zoisia, which is very hardy and requires no maintenance outside of mowing.

I also mulch the leaves every 2-3 weeks during the Fall/Winter. We have an X-Mark z-turn that is great for the mowing and a little 30 hp Kubota and a finish mower for the mulching. The entire area of the yard I keep up is nearly 3 acres. It’s more of a hobby or getaway for me than a chore. I get a lot of great thinking done on the mower or the tractor.

We keep the mulching blades on the zero turn year around. Although it makes it difficult to mow when the grass is thick, I prefer the look of the chop and drop mulched clippings rather than spraying them into the next row.

Our yard has so many old growth trees that there’s a lot of shade. We will never have an award winning yard. Sigh

 

[cover2]

We keep the mulching blades on the zero turn year around. Although it makes it difficult to mow when the grass is thick, I prefer the look of the chop and drop mulched clippings rather than spraying them into the next row.

Our yard has so many old growth trees that there’s a lot of shade. We will never have an award winning yard. Sigh

Mowing every week during the growing season keeps the clippings small and they usually dry up and “disappear” in a day or so. One thing I hate is that our little road that we live on is a cut-thru used by a lot of folks on Sunday traveling from town to a little farm up the road that has 4-5 soccer fields with multiple games every week. The increased traffic results in a lot more trash thrown out on the sides of the road than ever before. This is a GIANT annoyance for me as one who takes a lot of pride in the yards and property in general. Not only the trash, but the stream of cars are always driving excessively fast on those days and I’m always fearful of a potential accident. Then there will also be some vehicles that stop up and down the road for some sort of “transaction” . Our neighbors have complained to the SO on several occasions as a lot of these stops are in front of their house, but we rarely if ever see a deputy out this way (9 miles from town). *Sigh* Things just aren’t as they used to be and not in a good way.

 

[CDGator]

Mowing every week during the growing season keeps the clippings small and they usually dry up and “disappear” in a day or so. One thing I hate is that our little road that we live on is a cut-thru used by a lot of folks on Sunday traveling from town to a little farm up the road that has 4-5 soccer fields with multiple games every week. The increased traffic results in a lot more trash thrown out on the sides of the road than ever before. This is a GIANT annoyance for me as one who takes a lot of pride in the yards and property in general. Not only the trash, but the stream of cars are always driving excessively fast on those days and I’m always fearful of a potential accident. Then there will also be some vehicles that stop up and down the road for some sort of “transaction” . Our neighbors have complained to the SO on several occasions as a lot of these stops are in front of their house, but we rarely if ever see a deputy out this way (9 miles from town). *Sigh* Things just aren’t as they used to be and not in a good way.

We can commiserate with the trash, speeding vehicles and teenagers in heat parking at the end of the road. Seedy and I pick up trash on our lane and it's disgusting the things you will find. At one point for 2 years we would have someone dump beer bottles just as they were leaving the lane. It was such an odd selection too. Usually fruity and boutique beers. Never a 6 pack of the same kind. It abruptly stopped right after covid. Wonder if they were vaccinated? Hmmm

 

[soflagator]

I try to seed/fertilize twice a year in spring and fall. Other than that, it’s part of my HOA. So my best tip is to look the other way on the occasional Modelo or Rolling Rock(kind of surprising) tall boy that gets left behind.

 

[bradgator2]

We keep the mulching blades on the zero turn year around. Although it makes it difficult to mow when the grass is thick, I prefer the look of the chop and drop mulched clippings rather than spraying them into the next row.

Our yard has so many old growth trees that there’s a lot of shade. We will never have an award winning yard. Sigh

I never could find mulching blades that I liked for our zero turn. Plus, they are pricey. We have so much sand that I have to replace all 3 blades every year.

So I have the chute secured in the "up" position. The grass blows out shockingly far and never ever clumps or drops into the next row over. The most important thing for me is always the direction of the chute

 

[CDGator]

I never could find mulching blades that I liked for our zero turn. Plus, they are pricey. We have so much sand that I have to replace all 3 blades every year.

So I have the chute secured in the "up" position. The grass blows out shockingly far and never ever clumps or drops into the next row over. The most important thing for me is always the direction of the chute

Sand has never once caused our blades any problems.
It's the rocks that mess with ours.

 

[TheDouglas78]

This is the first year in a few that I had to worry about a lawn, but I start off with trimming the trees, and work my way down. I have a large oak in my front yard now, so I'll use my mulcher to gather those, then I mow once a week. When we had a house in clearwater, during the summer it was mow twice a week, and weedeat/edge once a week.

 

[Nalt]

I rarely ever mow my lawn at our house since I have had kids living there since we built it 22 years ago. I usually just make one of them do it after they have voluntarily let it grow for two or three weeks beyond it needing cut.

Mrs. Nalt's mother's yard is a different story. Since I began mowing it six to eight years ago I am particular about keeping it mowed every week. Sometimes I will let one of the boys use my commercial zero turn mower but those times are rare...

 

[bradgator2]

Sand has never once caused our blades any problems.
It's the rocks that mess with ours.

We have zero rocks. But we have 5 acres of bahia which sit on near perfect beach sand. The blades are literally half gone at the end of every year.

 

[Nalt]

We have zero rocks. But we have 5 acres of bahia which sit on near perfect beach sand. The blades are literally half gone at the end of every year.

I'm sure that "mowing" sand is very hard on the blades. But have you ever seen a rock fly out from beneath a mower deck? Those things can be lethal. They also wear out the blades and destroy whatever they happen to hit. Don't ask me how I know that they are rough on vinyl siding and full glass storm doors...

 

[AlexDaGator]

Do you guys like it mown all the way down to stubble or just trimmed?

Neatly manicured with tidy, sharp edges, or a more natural look?

I don’t think anybody likes an unkempt, overgrown thatch.


Alex.

 

[CDGator]

Do you guys like it mown all the way down to stubble or just trimmed?

Neatly manicured with tidy, sharp edges, or a more natural look?

I don’t think anybody likes an unkempt, overgrown thatch.


Alex.

 

[GatorFL]

After decades of buying weed and feed, fertilizer, milorganite, etc I gave up. My bug guy was spraying the yard and I asked him if he knew anything about weed control. He told me he also offered quarterly lawn maintenance. For less than I used to spend on all that junk, he handles it. Yard has looked great for several years now. He knows what to put down and when and I think that's the difference.

On the other hand, my neighbor told me about this Sunday company and I then saw them in Costco with a pop up shop. You send them soil samples and they custom blend the right fertilizer for what your yard needs. I haven't used them but interesting concept. Sunday Lawn Care

 

[CDGator]

After decades of buying weed and feed, fertilizer, milorganite, etc I gave up. My bug guy was spraying the yard and I asked him if he knew anything about weed control. He told me he also offered quarterly lawn maintenance. For less than I used to spend on all that junk, he handles it. Yard has looked great for several years now. He knows what to put down and when and I think that's the difference.

On the other hand, my neighbor told me about this Sunday company and I then saw them in Costco with a pop up shop. You send them soil samples and they custom blend the right fertilizer for what your yard needs. I haven't used them but interesting concept. Sunday Lawn Care

Nice service.
For the garden I can take a soil sample to the local Ag Ext office and they will analyze it to see what I need to add. I'm assuming the same could be done for the lawn. Our garden nutrients were fine but I add leaves to it in the fall and some potash (ash) from the bonfire. The soil has always been fertile and lots of earthworms.