F...Cutting grass

Every now and then I get homesick and think of moving back easy. Then I read a thread like this and enjoy my zeroscape.

I do miss the yard size though.

Thank you guys very much. I thought people were going to be critical. Like everyone, I like things that look well maintained and neat, but what I really pride myself on is simplicity and ease. Ive read a lot and talked to a couple people about nice grass. Having perfect grass in the mid-alantic is expensive as shit or a tireless effort. Having grass that regularly looks really good; although, is very possible. Since ive gotten complements Ill share what ive done to get my grass looking like this.

When I first moved in I had very average grass. Just like everyone else’s lawn, I had an average amount of weeds that would come and go, or come and stay. In early summer of 2010, on the advice of a retired grass cutter that I sold my broken mower to, I stated mowing high. Since then ive read a lot of stuff and have talked to a couple other people. Heres what I do and what can be done by anyone to have nicer grass. Ill start it off based off of the season we are in right now. Also this is for fescue or cool seasons grasses only.

Now:
Figure out what type of grass you mostly have (fescue, bermuda (warm season), or blue grass (if you have blue grass your lawn probably already looks amazing, stop reading here).
Cut on the highest or second highest setting you have
Look, youre not gonna have to cut that much more, youre really not, I promise. Its just gonna be hard if you end up missing a cut because you wont be able to go any higher.
Put down a granule (bag and spreader) weed control/killer that also has a pre-emergent/weed preventer/crab grass/grassy weed preventer in it. You really just want the weed stuff not the weed and feed (fertilizer), but if you can’t find it, weed and feed is better than nothing.

Summer:
Mow even higher if youre not already mowing at the highest for some reason. Try and cut only before it rains or when you absolutely have to.

Fall:
Keep cutting high
By October you should get a sense as to how bad your grass really is or if its worth trying to keep nice, if it needs a complete renovation, or if you just really don’t care
If it turns out you have something worth working with put down some weed and feed between September up until mid-November.

Winter:
Stay warm

Next year:
As soon as you start seeing these daffodils (http://www.stephenmorrisauthor.com/daffodil-the-flower-of-march/)poking up through the ground (late January to early February in Richmond); It’s the most important time of the year.
Get off the couch, put on a sweatshirt and lay down some pre-emergent asap!!!!
If you have some weed and feed left over go ahead if you really want to, but just know youre going to have to cut more.
Put down some more pre-emergent about 2-4 months later once everything is blooming (like right now)
Be careful with your second application of pre-emergent, as you really don’t want to use a fertilizer here. Giving your grass fertilizer before Summer can burn it out if you don’t get enough rain.
Your lawn should probably look 10x better than it did this time last year (today….)
Keep mowing high and it will look even better come Fall

Going forward:
2 doses of pre emergent (1 in the winter/spring, the other in mid to late spring)
Weed and feed in the fall (September to mid-November)
Cut high

Notes:
Pre-emergents are often only called “crab grass preventer”. I always get the cheapest one or Preen because I like Preen's other stuff.
I only mulch, I don’t bag. Mulching is supposed to give you pretty much all the fertilizer you need, and why Im resistant to use the weed and “feed” stuff.
Ive never watered. There are gonna be times during the summer you think you just wasted any extra time, money and effort your put into your yard. Don’t worry it will come back even stronger.
I try and cut the good spots first. You don’t want to be spreading weeds from the front to back or vice versa.
I don’t think ive ever mixed the weed and feed, pre emergent or anything else correctly before. All it takes is one mosquito bite and you too will say f’it to trying to guess the sq footage of your lawn, what the dial numbers on your spreader mean, and how youre supposed to calculate the spread. I think I end up staying conservative most of the time and putting less down than the instructions indicate though. I adjust over bad/good parts too, or when I feel like it. Im purely guessing on the application a lot of times. The most important thing is that you get it down at the CORRECT time (or at least Im guess that’s what matters the most…..).


Extras:
Last fall I actually over-seeded my lawn as I wanted to introduce some different fescues and hybrid bluegrasses into the yard to have better summer drought hardiness and to help it choke out weeds. But I promise, my grass looks worse because of it right now (there are a lot of things you do to grass that make it look worse before it looks better, or so im told…..). And if I could go back in time I wouldn’t have over-seeded, as I think it was overkill and went against my theme of simplicity and ease. If anyone has any questions about over-seeding and any leasons I leaned Id be happy to answer.

Double Bonus:
Articles to get you excited about grass:
SULIS - Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series: U of MN. (http://www.sustland.umn.edu/maint/ts-selecting-cool-season.htm)
Inventor cultivates no-mow, easy-grow grass | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/08/inventor-cultivates-no-mow-easy-grow-grass/)
New blend of tall fescue and hybrid bluegrass gets good research report from Virginia Tech - dailypress.com (http://www.dailypress.com/features/family/home-garden/outdoors/diggin-in-blog/dp-new-blend-of-tall-fescue-and-hybrid-bluegrass-gets-good-research-report-from-virginia-tech-20120805,0,6396034.story)
Preen Lawn Weed Control Plus Crabgrass Preventer | Preen.com (http://www.preen.com/products/preen-lawn-weed-control-plus-crabgrass-preventer)

So I have been following this to the T.

What does everyone think of my yard so far?

https://twitter.com/SuperSkin1/status/366940311278206978/photo/1

So I have been following this to the T.

What does everyone think of my yard so far?

https://twitter.com/SuperSkin1/status/366940311278206978/photo/1

Too subtle.

So I have been following this to the T.

What does everyone think of my yard so far?

https://twitter.com/SuperSkin1/status/366940311278206978/photo/1

I like the tag line.

Maybe the @Redskins (https://twitter.com/Redskins) should ask THIS homeowner to handle the re-sodding of FedEx Field

mlmpetert wonder if you give some words for fall care? Like what weed and feed you like to use etc... THANKS!

Also mlmpetert. When I'm watching the game on my back porch will it kill the grass if I just pee in the back yard so I don't miss any of the game.

Also mlmpetert. When I'm watching the game on my back porch will it kill the grass if I just pee in the back yard so I don't miss any of the game.

It will I pee in my backyard all the time and it burns a spot. Kind of sucks but Idon't feel like going in then up the stairs etc....

1- i find this thread highly pompous to draw attention to the fact that the contributing posters on here own a lawn.
2- i alos take offense to the thread title. it is clearly a thinly vailed attempt to draw attention to the fact that you own a lawn by disguising it as some "woe is me" tale of lawn ownership and the ensuing responsibility. enjoy the fact that you own a lawn because some asshole like me will get drunk and lay passed out on it while you drive to work wondering whether to call the police.
3- dont pee on your own lawn. pee on your freaking fence. not only does it not leave a dead grass circle it also marks your territory and border for any intruding bugs, etc
4-i cant wait to own a lawn. ive owned some decks and rented some lawn area but never owned my own lawn. highly looking forward to it.
5-im a big fan of super skin. he hits on the right note of cheesy comic book physical comedy bravado.

mlmpetert wonder if you give some words for fall care? Like what weed and feed you like to use etc... THANKS!


I've always just bought the cheapest stuff, definitely weed and feed though, not just "feed". I do, however, like Preen products so if they have a weed and feed at the store and its not too much more than the generic stuff I might be compelled to buy that. I also like the granule stuff, I find sprays much harder to use and messy.

If you stuck with it and mowed high throughout the summer you should start seeing results within the next few weeks (if not already). End of summer isnt just football weather, its grass weather.

Also, if you want to aerate and over seed your yard now is the time to do it. But if you aerate and over seed, know that you cant really put down any weed preventers/killers. So you have to decide if you'd rather control weeds or introduce more grass. If you want more grass, I would say DC area people have 7 days or so days left of the optimal time period to put seed down. Probably an extra week for Richmond and VA Beach.

Make sure it rained leading up to the aeration or that you water the shit out of your yard the night before you get it done. When I put some seed down last year I finally had good results with "GREENVIEW SEED ACCELERATOR", after struggling with lots of other fertilizers.

I might have mentioned this earlier, but something to remember is that there are no indigenous perennial grasses in the mid-Atlantic. Before America was called America, there was nothing but weeds in this area. So unless you want to spend a TON of time and money, pretty good from 15 feet is what you should be aiming for.

1- i find this thread highly pompous to draw attention to the fact that the contributing posters on here own a lawn.
2- i alos take offense to the thread title. it is clearly a thinly vailed attempt to draw attention to the fact that you own a lawn by disguising it as some "woe is me" tale of lawn ownership and the ensuing responsibility. enjoy the fact that you own a lawn because some asshole like me will get drunk and lay passed out on it while you drive to work wondering whether to call the police.
3- dont pee on your own lawn. pee on your freaking fence. not only does it not leave a dead grass circle it also marks your territory and border for any intruding bugs, etc
4-i cant wait to own a lawn. ive owned some decks and rented some lawn area but never owned my own lawn. highly looking forward to it.
5-im a big fan of super skin. he hits on the right note of cheesy comic book physical comedy bravado.


1 & 2) Not every one that has a yard owns a property. Maybe we are all just renting a house as opposed to an apartment?

3) Completely agree. Peeing in areas that are inaccessible to mowers can reduce your weed wacking time too.

4) I cant wait to pass out drunk and pee on it

5) He seems pretty sweet