Awesome. Should I still use the Scotts stuff I purchased?

9/6/2013 2:26:09 PM

I would. This is a proper time of year for fungicide on warm season grasses. Follow the bag label instructions and heed any warnings they have for warm season grasses.

I would also recommend using a similar treat/prevent fungicide around April 1st of next year to ensure it's kept at bay.

9/6/2013 4:41:16 PM

I am planning on renting a tiller next weekend for my back yard. It is about 1500 square feet that has never seen sun until I bought the house and cut down trees. I plan on tilling the whole yard and mixing in compost with it then dragging it to smooth everything out.

This is the seed I am looking at.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/groundworkreg%3B-ultra-premium-tall-fescue-grass-seed-mixture-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

I honestly dont want to put too much money into the yard because I usually have 3 or more dogs (I foster) running around back there and I know my back yard will never be great. Looking for more of something that looks decent and wont be a mud pit when it rains.

9/6/2013 8:39:05 PM

correction, 15,000 square feet.

too late to edit.

9/7/2013 8:23:21 AM

the state says I need 2,400 lb of lime in my yard. Ha!

Better than last year's 3,100 lb needed.

9/7/2013 10:58:02 AM

Any suggestions on DIY stump removal? Trying to avoid getting any major machinery for it.

Someone told me to drill holes and stuff it with epsom salts. Any thoughts on that?

9/10/2013 10:36:39 AM

Stump grinding is cheap. Find some toothless Ricky and pay him $40. Anything less and you'll just end up with a low spot for years as the roots slowly rot.

9/10/2013 10:59:59 AM

I noticed on my drive home the other day that someone was burning a stump in their front yard. I had never heard of that approach, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.

9/10/2013 3:07:07 PM

It doesn't work because it doesn't get anything below grade

9/10/2013 3:08:16 PM

Quote :

"It doesn't work because it doesn't get anything below grade "

Iiiiiiiiii...... beg to differ. Had an old stump that had been cut for some years, the center was somewhat rotten so I dug out as far down as I could and let it burn.... It ended up burning a hole down about 30" or so as it followed the tap root.

9/10/2013 9:34:01 PM

did it get the roots that went out to the sides as well?

i'm a cheap son of a bitch, but god damn, it's just not worth the trouble for $50 or less.

9/10/2013 9:38:25 PM

it was not a 100% complete burn; no argument with you, just had a story to tell

9/10/2013 9:54:22 PM

Who do you guys recommend for tree removal?

4 trees, all less than 5 feet from my house, can not be felled, have to be cut from the top down. 100ish feet tall, probably 18" diameter trunks. Stump ground and debris trucked away.

I got one estimate for $2500 and another guy coming Thursday night for an estimate.

$2500 seems high, but maybe not??

9/11/2013 7:44:37 AM

Directional Falling out of Pikeville/Goldsboro

[Edited on September 11, 2013 at 7:48 AM. Reason : asdf]

9/11/2013 7:48:33 AM

ArborMax
Leaf & Limb
Audubon Tree Service

I've used all three and they are all local to Raleigh. ArborMax will probably give you the best deal.

9/11/2013 10:12:42 AM

Has anyone used ETM or Fairway Green? Thoughts, advice?

9/11/2013 10:46:26 AM

I've hired Fairway to do my front lawn this fall. So I can't speak to their actual services yet. I didn't care to hire out this work, as I can technically to most/all of what they do on my own, but the combination of no time this fall (studying for PE), no success with past seedings (new lawn), erosion, and weeds, I just bite the bullet. I primarily wanted them for their slit-seeding and weed control, just to get me on a good start, since I haven't had any luck yet.

I was very disappointed with several things on the startup: they won't break up your yard beyond front/sides/back. They'll service one, two, or all three of those regions, even though you may have physical barriers that separate them into sub-regions. I have a ditch on my property line that needs lots of attention. I said I'd pay for the service and get my neighbor's permission (and hopefully some money) to do the entire ditch (my side and his).... but they won't do that... just my side only, leaving me with a potentially half seeded ditch. They require the neighbor to do their own service package. They won't do any type of small earthwork (filling in low/eroded areas, etc.), which I kind of understand, but it's something easy enough that a full-service company should be able to do. They won't do weed/fertilizer service on a newly established lawn, unless they established it. If it's already established, then they will. Lastly, it's expensive as shit for something you can do much cheaper on your own, especially with thinning grasses like fescue.

9/11/2013 11:38:47 AM

^Sounds like they arent very willing to work with you at all.

Rented a split drive Classen aerator yesterday, and aerated my front and back yard, and threw down 50lbs of High Green Fescue, and 50lbs of 18-20-02.

Did this last year, and had an amazing looking yard....until brown patch made it die.

9/11/2013 11:47:14 AM

Agreed it's expensive as shit, but right now I don't have time

9/11/2013 1:25:24 PM

^^Brown Patch killed all of it? Any idea why you got it so bad?

9/11/2013 1:36:39 PM

^Yeah the brown patch killed pretty much all of it, the fungicide didnt really work.

I think it happened so bad because of several things. Too much rain at the start of the summer, and then to add insult to injury I added fert and 2-4-D at the right time...I just shouldnt have added it knowing the yard had brown patch (which I didnt know).

9/11/2013 4:27:59 PM

Quote :

"then to add insult to injury I added fert and 2-4-D at the right time"

When was that?

9/11/2013 6:24:45 PM

I did it in June sometime, according to a schedule John Deere Landscape provided.

It would have been spot on, if the lawn didnt already have brown patch

9/11/2013 6:56:29 PM

I think fertilizing in June was way too late...

As far as I can tell this is the bible of fescue maintenance:
http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/maintenance_calendars.aspx#000017

which says: "DO NOT fertilize after March 15th"

9/11/2013 8:13:40 PM

What recommendations do you guys have for a backpack blower. My electric one doesn't have enough power for the deluge of leaves I get all fall

9/14/2013 9:10:58 AM

I have a Stihl BR350 and its perfect for the homeowner. Its the high grade consumer blower, but it blows much better than my dads BR400 commercial. I think it was $299 as well.

If you dont want to go new, look for a used Echo, Stihl, Redmax or Shindaiwa blower on Craigslist. Stay away from cheap Ryobi or Black and Decker stuff for the most part.

9/14/2013 1:32:02 PM

i got the older version of the Stihl BR350 (i don't remember the number, 3XX) for $250 off craigslist in very good condition. guy inherited it when his dad died, but he lived in a townhouse. it works really well. starts in 4 or 5 pulls (no primer bulb on this model), plenty of power. only complaint i could possibly make is it's pretty loud, but most good ones are. if you keep an eye on craigslist and you're able to jump on a good one pretty quick, you can get a good deal.

9/14/2013 4:32:37 PM

Finally had a day off yesterday so I pulled up all of my summer veggies (except a row of peppers that are still doing really well). I tilled, fertilized, and planted 3 rows of winter veggies. I'm starting everything from seed, so fingers crossed. I planted Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Broccoli, Carrots, and Arugula. I've never done winter veggies before, because I am usually over the garden by this point. But I had the seeds, so I figured what the hell. I guess we'll see in about a week what actually comes up.



And This:

Quote :

"If you dont want to go new, look for a used Echo, Stihl, Redmax or Shindaiwa blower on Craigslist."

Another word of advice, if you want to go new I'd wait until like January. The prices on all the new stuff will be jacked up right now since we are just heading into the fall. After the season has passed, the prices will drop. Also, check out front of Lowe's for returns. A lot of people buy shit to just use it once, then return it. Not only are those items marked down, but the Managers are always willing to negotiate on price. I got a great deal on my tiller and lawn sweeper that way, and both were only used once.

[Edited on September 18, 2013 at 9:12 AM. Reason : a]

9/18/2013 9:04:37 AM

^that's also where they put busted equipment that was returned for sale. Like lawn tractors with bad transmissions.

9/18/2013 9:14:31 AM

^ right, but it says on the ticket why it's out there. And they still back the stuff with their return policy, so you can return it. My lawn sweeper was missing the pin that attaches it to the tractor, so he dropped $20 off the price. I walked into Lowe's and bought what I needed to make a pin for $1.

[Edited on September 18, 2013 at 9:33 AM. Reason : a]

9/18/2013 9:33:43 AM

^Returns on returned equipment like that is typically 30 days.

9/18/2013 4:15:53 PM

you should know withing 1 day if something you bought has a bad transmission.

9/23/2013 9:20:32 AM

Tilled half the back yard last weekend (the other half will stay natural) and planted some seed. Went out of town this weekend and came back yesterday to see this! I think the weather has been perfect, cool with sun and rain.

9/24/2013 7:49:27 AM

Link with information pertaining to the trend of failing carburetors on power equipment due to gasoline with ethanol in it and what you can do to prevent damage to your equipment.

http://www.echo-usa.com/warranty/learn-about-ethanol

9/27/2013 9:09:15 PM

^

That's why all of my power equipment runs 100 octane, ethanol free gas.



Would some people on TWW be interested in splitting a day or weekend rental of an aerator? I don't have the vehicle to transport it, but would be happy to help coordinate if we can get enough. My grass has never been aerated, as far as I know.

9/28/2013 5:59:25 AM

I'm interested depending on the weekend and where you live (I live in north east Raleigh around buffalo rd and wouldn't want to haul that thing if you live in apex or something).

Also I've never operated an aerator before, I'm pretty handy so I'm sure I can figure it out.

When were you thinking of doing it and how much does it cost?

9/28/2013 7:51:42 AM

Justin found a guy on Craigslist to come aerate our yard for 45.

9/28/2013 8:41:17 AM

Aerator rentals are around $45-$55 for 3-4 hours. If you have something to haul it, and somewhere to get it out of the back of the truck when you get home...get the split drive aerator. It drives like a zero turn lawnmower, where as the normal drive unit you have to manually turn.

Both are extremely tiring to operate, but the split drive makes it much easier.

9/28/2013 3:19:58 PM

All of my winter veggies have emerged. I wasn't very optimistic considering the seed was several years old, but everything looks good so far!

Anyone ever grown carrots? I've got half a row of carrots that have also emerged, but my concern is that my soil is VERY hard. It's pretty much all clay. I have never had any luck with onions, garlic, or potatoes because of this. Should I expect carrots to be any different?

9/30/2013 7:46:45 AM

My front yard right now. This is why I can't have flowers in that natural area.

9/30/2013 9:27:00 AM

damn those flying bugle playing flower eating angels!

9/30/2013 10:40:58 AM

Now that I think about it, maybe the fly bugle player is calling in the deer. I knew I should have gotten rid of that thing years ago.

But as an aside: I walked out on the front porch after taking that last pic and the Doe just stared me down and stomped her foot at me several times before running off. What a bitch.

[Edited on September 30, 2013 at 11:17 AM. Reason : a]

9/30/2013 11:14:39 AM

Quote :

"Justin found a guy on Craigslist to come aerate our yard for 45."

Who did you use and how big is your yard? I need about a .2-.25 acre area done.

Also, would it be too late at this point to have it done (in NC)?

10/17/2013 10:25:56 AM

Naw you're still good to plant seed if that's what you're considering...

10/17/2013 2:55:10 PM

Eh, you're at the end of the best time to seed, but should be ok. Just hope the next 6-8 weeks don't bring some really cold weather (which hasn't really been a problem in NC for a while...). Even if that does happen, you'll still get some decent germination now and in the early spring as well. This October was nearly perfect for seeding fescue - my front yard has done quite well... thought about seeding some bare spots but I just don't have the time.

10/17/2013 6:01:19 PM

Okay cool. I was hoping it wasn't too late to seed. My whole yard is basically weeds, so I gotta do somethin. Here's to hoping for a little more mild weather.

10/17/2013 9:12:01 PM

New house, new lawn....getting there



[Edited on October 17, 2013 at 11:36 PM. Reason : ]

10/17/2013 11:35:11 PM

is it too late to seed a yard, or has that ship sailed for the year?

10/21/2013 1:07:22 PM

getting close to that point, but you can probably still get decent results.

10/21/2013 10:44:37 PM

So it's supposed to frost tonight. I planted my Lettuce, Spinach, Cabbage, Broccoli, Arugula, and Carrots from seeds on 9/17. Everything has come up and looks great, and I thinned them all last weekend. Is a frost this early going to totally fuck me?

10/23/2013 10:40:51 AM