the thread for obsessing over the yard.

first question - what temperature is too hot for newly planted warm weather fescue grass seed?

i know, i know, the fall is the best time to lay seed - but i was too busy.



[Edited on April 4, 2010 at 6:03 PM. Reason : ]

4/4/2010 5:58:12 PM

ohh fall shmall...

its not as much temp as it is moisture... go into a green house even one growing grasses is hot as hell and wet as crap... seeds need to be damp but not flooded or they will rot, not grow.

good luck.... water it often but not a lot... plant it while its nice!

4/4/2010 11:35:31 PM

it's not worth the herculean effort nor the water bill to seed fescue in the spring and keep it alive over the summer. This summer is probably going to be hotter and dryer than last year.

If you have an irrigation system, you might have more success.

If you don't have HOA guidelines preventing it, go for bermuda.

4/5/2010 7:40:51 AM

if you have kids or like to play anything other than golf in your yard.... don't go for bermuda.
its itchy and in my opinion ugly as sin.

I worked at a golf course and i wouldn't have it in my yard

4/5/2010 11:49:14 AM

I'd argue that for a high traffic area, bermuda is superior, given that it requires less water, is much more heat tolerant, and when bare spots appear from kids, pets, running around, etc., it spreads to fill itself in.

With fescue, bare spots stay bare or fill in with weeds until the bare spot is re-seeded.

Fescue is definitely better looking, no question about it, but goddamn it's a pain in the ass (I has a fescue lawn)

[Edited on April 5, 2010 at 12:01 PM. Reason : Sru, did you move? If you're still at cornerstone, doesn't the HOA do all the lawn care?]

4/5/2010 12:00:35 PM

still at Cornerstone - HOA does it all.

this is for my parents in Cary. and its just the front lawn - about 900 sq ft that's miserable. i didn't get a chance to rescue it in the fall, and i've been busy as hell since the snow ended.

i went ahead and tilled it and laid fescue - the Scott's "watersmart" brand. this afternoon through Wednesday i will have to water it diligently just to keep the ground from heating up too much, and then i plan on watering it lightly once a day for a month and half.

this coming weekend would've been better weatherwise, but its off the books since i've got too much else to do.

4/5/2010 12:26:35 PM

Does anyone have a commercial walk-behind mower (or heavy duty)? I have a Honda self propelled, that is super nice (starts on the first pull, and I've owned it for 6 years). Problem is that it can't really pull itself very well up all the steep hills in my yard. It takes a lot of energy to cut my yard. The hills are a little too steep for a riding lawn mower. I am considering much higher powered walk behinds, like this:

http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_14101_1403536_33831_-1_600000_1210164

This will have no problem getting up the hills, but not sure how well it will do when I am coming down them (will it slide uncontrollably).

Anyone have any advice? Whats sad is my yard is less than a 1/4 acre. I have no business owning a large mower, but I need something with some power so I dont have to do so much damned work pushing.


The hill is steeper than it looks...

[Edited on April 7, 2010 at 1:26 PM. Reason : ./]

4/7/2010 1:21:18 PM

mow side to side?

4/7/2010 2:17:48 PM

That doesnt work. Its such a slope that the downhill side of the mower sinks a little lower than the uphill, resulting in uneven cuts. I literally cut the hill up and down, and cross ways. It is the only way to get it remotely even.

As you can see in the pic, on this day, I just cut up and down. And the damned Honda mower, as well as it runs, has never done the best job cutting evenly, and still left some uneven edges. That situation is made worse cutting cross ways.

[Edited on April 7, 2010 at 2:49 PM. Reason : .]

4/7/2010 2:47:41 PM

My side yard is sloped about like that, and I just do it side to side.

Either I've got harder dirt, a sharper blade, or care less. Or all three.

4/7/2010 2:58:23 PM

Got this finished yesterday. By the time we were done we were too tired to plant, so we will be doing that in the evenings this week.

BEHOLD!

5/3/2010 10:13:41 AM

WTF are you gonna grow man! That's some serious work there.

5/3/2010 3:04:07 PM

Hey if your looking for a commercial mower check out these guys http://betteroutdoorproducts.com/
There out of Winston I think, good pricing. You'll be happiest with a mower that has a hydro drive especially on hills. The cub cadet is a good brand but it's seems to be belt driven so it'll sllip.

5/3/2010 4:49:49 PM

it will get burned out

fescue seed is put out in the fall

[Edited on May 3, 2010 at 7:37 PM. Reason : ]

5/3/2010 7:35:43 PM

Quote :

"WTF are you gonna grow man! That's some serious work there."

lol, a little bit of everything. All the usual suspects. We got it all planted this week. Tomatoes, cucumbers, green pepers, potatoes, onions, garlic, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, watermelon, canteloupe, and several others I can't remember.

And the irrigation system is working PERFECTLY. I got a 4-way splitter with valve shut-offs for the soaker hoses. It is 10 times easier watering than it was last year.

5/7/2010 10:47:07 PM

i've got some pansies and the whole big pot just wilted yesterday....i'm wondering if i overwatered or underwatered.....

5/8/2010 9:21:20 AM

pansies are on their way out now that we're getting hot.

5/8/2010 1:43:15 PM

Here are some pics I just took while I was watering:

Here is the Romaine Lettuce. I like the one taken through the water spray!




A few of the GARDENDOME!!!!!!!








And finally, a little lizard that hangs out by the hoses. We have tons of these little guys that hang around the house, but I think he's cool because he lost his tail.

5/10/2010 5:17:58 PM

haha, his nickname should be "nubbin"

5/11/2010 5:23:40 PM

just curious what those aluminum pie pans are for

5/11/2010 8:32:20 PM

What are the pie tins hanging on the fence for?

5/11/2010 8:34:55 PM

i think the shiny/noise distracts animals. hey dj, wanna post some BIGGER fucking pictures?

5/11/2010 9:04:32 PM

They bang against the fence when the wind blows to deter animals in the evening.

And sorry, I am too lazy to resize my pictures.

5/12/2010 10:36:52 AM

I WAS SERIOUS. I WANT HORIZONTAL SCROLLBARS WITH THUMBS 1 PIXEL IN WIDTH.

5/12/2010 1:19:40 PM

Here are some pictures I took this morning. (smaller pictures by request)

The Garden:



Romaine Lettuce:


Watermelon (we didn't plant it, it just came back from last year):


One of the Apple Trees:

5/24/2010 8:41:50 AM

Finally got around to downloading pics off my camera, from a couple of weeks ago

5/27/2010 2:48:36 PM

Wow, that looks tight. I remember you posting in the homeowners thread a while back and that backyard looked like Afghanistan.

Nice work.

5/27/2010 5:08:34 PM

Currently building a house that should be done at the end of October. My driveway is about 1400ft long. I will need to plant grass close to 50ft on either side of the drive and probably close to an acre of grass at the road. I know there is no point in seeding the yard at the house yet because of trucks and stuff. But my question is should I try to seed the driveway now or wait till fall? My front yard is probably 1.5 acres and the back will be closer to 3.5 acres. I really want to minimize the amount of watering this fall so if I can put something on the driveway now that would be great. What's everyone's opinion on timing and type of grass?

One more note: I will probably be paying someone to seed the yards/landscape in the fall and I will just follow up with watering.

5/27/2010 11:09:22 PM

^^ Thanks, yeah it's come a long way from this:



[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 12:20 AM. Reason : .]

5/28/2010 12:19:50 AM

very nice! I love the fence

5/28/2010 8:16:25 AM

I'm sure the fence was $$$. We just enlarged our deck by a considerable amount, and the lumber alone was about $1000. Made me realize why fences cost so much.

But thankfully, all the labor is free My wife's dad was a general contractor, has all the tools, and knocks that shit out in a heartbeat.

I have evil plans of fencing in my yard as soon as the left neighbor fences in her yard (very soon). the right neighbor already did it, and one of the two rear neighbors also has it done. I'll just have to fence in a small amount of my yard

5/28/2010 1:38:05 PM

Bttt

9/8/2011 9:30:47 AM

is there a better time of year to buy pinestraw? i know it's always expensive, but maybe the quality is better in the fall or something...? best places to buy it?

after a 5 year battle with my front yard, i've finally given up on having grass. i got rid of the english ivy that covered 75% of it, but it's still full of leftover roots from the ivy & living roots from the 2 old slash pines, 2 dogwoods, & 1 giant maple tree. the only thing that will grow is rye. not even crabgrass, which my entire neighborhood seems to have a big problem with, will grow. so i'm at peace with the fact that grass will never grow there & i'm going to cover it all back up with pinestraw. just like it was when i bought it, minus the ivy.

9/8/2011 11:01:41 AM

Have you thought about doing native plantings and doing a naturalized yard? No need to just go to bare pine straw. My grandmother has done her front yard naturalized and it's much nicer looking than her neighbors' yards that all struggle to keep grass in place. She barely has to water it in the summer too which saves her a ton of money.

I wish I had pictures but I don't. If you go to Quail Ridge Books though they have tons of magazines and books on the topic you can flip through to get ideas.

9/8/2011 11:25:41 AM

i'm in RM. any idea on what types of plants she uses?

9/8/2011 12:08:22 PM

The Master Gardener program is the resource I know she uses to decide what plants to use.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/masgar/

I would definitely contact them to ask them for advice. It's free!

9/8/2011 12:23:02 PM

I wonder if you can change the soil pH where that pinestraw used to be?

9/8/2011 6:24:22 PM

i've applied pelleted lime several times

9/8/2011 8:34:11 PM

^^since pinestraw makes soil extremely acidic, i can't see why not. can't remember off the top of my head what the standard offsetting ingredient would be. it will def take many applications to reverse the effects of years of old pinestraw though.

bout the only things that like growing in areas full of pinestraw are azaleas and more pines.

9/9/2011 12:08:17 AM

^it's LIME

9/9/2011 8:18:52 AM

hahaha

9/9/2011 8:51:51 AM

well i got an email back from our local extension office. he said to cover it up with mulch/pinestraw, or remove the trees, remove the roots, & replace all of the soil w/ good soil.

yeah, so when is the best time to buy pinestraw?

9/9/2011 8:17:15 PM

lol oh well it was worth a shot I wonder if you could do raised beds though with added topsoil.

9/9/2011 9:38:24 PM

yeah definitely worth a shot. thanks for suggesting it.

9/10/2011 9:12:50 PM

Irene left behind a half inch of sound muck in my yard. Killed my tomatoes, watermelon & strawberry plants.

9/10/2011 9:49:46 PM

for some reason lime just didn't sound right in my head, but i haven't needed such info for a really long time.

with my house being a constant construction site since i bought it the only lawn and garden work i've done is clear it of debris from the previous tenant, storms, and projects. i did build some dirt jumps for riding my bike, but they've been outta commission since the tornado. i'm thinking after i get my siding on this next couple weeks i will start planning for landscaping in the spring, maybe start a couple shrubs this fall.

9/12/2011 12:12:32 PM

does anyone have any good advice for how to get rid of english ivy? I have that crap everywhere in my backyard, and I absolutely hate it...not to mention it suffocates the trees.

9/27/2011 4:18:25 PM

I need a pretty big load of metal edging. Lowe's and Home Depot both sell 8 ft lengths for 9.97 (1.36/ft). Anybody know of anywhere to get it cheaper? I need 250+ ft. I want to try to go ahead and layout some new planing beds this fall so that they are ready to plant this spring.

9/29/2011 7:55:15 AM

^^ Kill it with fire

Seriously though, if you want to go the organic route, take a weed wacker to it like there's no tomorrow. Then pull up as many as the roots you can. Then lay down a black plastic tarp and leave it there for as long as it takes for anything underneath to die.

Goats are also super effective if you have a friend with a goat

For non-organic, again cut the ivy down to the stubs. Then spray an herbicide, brush-be-gone works well, mixed with methionine sulfoximine. That will help cut through the waxy layer of the leaves. But then you'll have a chemical wasteland which you may not want.

9/29/2011 8:46:40 AM

anyone have any experience with zosia? i'm getting tired of the normal fescue headaches. I have a tiered front yard where the small upper tier is not really visible from the road and i've had major problems with the fescue dying in the summer, so I'm thinking of experimenting in that small patch (~800 sq. ft.) this spring with some zoysia. I know it turns brown when it goes dormant in the winter, but i'll take brown in the winter over brown/dead in the summer. Looking for any experience with planting (plugs vs. sod vs. seeding) and maintenance and overall satisfaction with the stuff. thanks!

9/29/2011 11:16:45 AM