Let's Talk Lawns

[SLC97SR5]

The results are great! How is the Fertilome stuff spread and where do you get it?

Amazon stocks it as do most nursery's. Surely Mill Creek gardens would have it.

I purchased the bottle with the integrated hose attachment. The key to spraying is start with the water pressure set very low in the gutter, once the pressure is adjusted to a gentle spray, begin just wetting -NOT WATERING- the lawn. I started at the furthest corner from the spigot and worked my way back. It is pricey ($40ish) but it will treat a .25 acre at least 3 times.

For me this has worked FAR better than hoping the granules stick to wet leaves.

Keep in mind this is mostly 2,4-D so keep the kids/dogs off the grass until it is dry. The smell dissipates in several hours.

I accidentally shot some ground cover and quickly rinsed it off, it did not damage the Bishops weed.

 

[nnnnnate]

I thought I'd post up an update of my seed growing. I was able to drop the seed on Tuesday 5/9. I don't have any before pictures but it was just dirt, use your imagination.

On Thursday 5/18 my wife said that she could see some of the seeds sprouting. I tried to look but it was too dark and I didn't try that hard. I did go out the next day though and took some pictures.

You can see that its coming in, there is definitely a green tint to the dirt. This is 10 days from seeding.


Over the weekend I did a bunch of yard work and got my list of stuff mostly finished up. I have my sprinklers turned off but still needed to keep the seed wet so I hosed down the area this morning before leaving for work and decided to take another picture to show how much its improved even since Friday. This is 13 days from seeding.



So after I posted up what I was going to do for prep Jeremy said that I should just flip over a rake and drag it on the seed after I spread it out. Jeremy is a good dude with a real nice yard so I'm not dogging on him but I didn't do it how he suggested and I wanted to explain why I do it my way. There are plenty of methods but thought I'd just try and give the background reasoning for why I did it this way.

When you lay down seed it needs to stay damp continually until it sprouts and becomes established. If it starts to sprout but then drys out the seed will die and that seed is done. This is why you need to water more frequently after seeding and adjust it with the current conditions. I get a lot of wind at my place and my yard is south facing. Knowing that I need to keep the seed wet I wanted to add a light layer of mulch on top of the seed because mulch is like a sponge, it holds a lot of water which will help the seed stay damp for a long time as well. Towards the west side of the yard the wind blew off some of the mulch and the seed didn't stay wet enough and hasn't grown at all. Could be for a bunch of reasons but this is kind of the reason I do add the mulch layer. I'll also say that the seed I used was from 2015. I had a small bag I had bought to overseed that I never used and my brother gave me some that he had left over. I didn't really expect to have great results just because of the age of the seed but am very pleased with how its turned out. I may end up getting another small bag for the areas that haven't come in as well but am going to give it another month before I look closer at that.

I'll update in another week with more pictures.

 

[Tonkaman]

Looking good!

 

[Spork]

So stupid question for the day, do you apply revive through the summer? or just a spring application?

My stupid trick for seeding is get the lawn aerated first and if nothing else it looks like a bald guy with hair plugs until it fills in.

 

[Hickey]

I usually apply revive twice a year. Once in the spring, and again when my lawn is showing the worst brown spots from the heat. Revive will not burn your lawn.

 

[Hickey]

On a more somber note, I've been attacked.

Some little bastard voles have been sampling my front lawn and digging holes. I've fought them off successfully in the backyard, but they've never dared disrespect my front lawn. I've applied the poison already, but it takes about 2 weeks to kill them off. There's already 4 holes, maybe more since I haven't seen it for 4 days.

If they are still creating more holes by next week, I'm gonna make napalm, or build a rodenator (youtube that). Assholes!

 

[Hickey]

 

[jeeper]

I've got a small grove of aspen trees that provide shade for my backyard. This year a few of them have died, leaving only two alive. This was very sad for me, as I don't have any other trees in the yard. But just this morning I have found about 20 Little shooters coming up for my lawn. There are a few of them that run along my Fenceline that would be awesome to have turn into full trees. The Internet seems to think it's possible to nurture these and turn them into full-grown trees. Does anybody have personal experience or recommendations on how I get these little shooters to grow big and tall?

 

[Spork]

I've got a small grove of aspen trees that provide shade for my backyard. This year a few of them have died, leaving only two alive. This was very sad for me, as I don't have any other trees in the yard. But just this morning I have found about 20 Little shooters coming up for my lawn. There are a few of them that run along my Fenceline that would be awesome to have turn into full trees. The Internet seems to think it's possible to nurture these and turn them into full-grown trees. Does anybody have personal experience or recommendations on how I get these little shooters to grow big and tall?

If they are anything like I've seen other places just don't run them over with the lawn mower. Even if you run them over with the lawn mower I can't guarantee that will kill them. A lot of times when trees die they will attempt to regrow from what is left of the roots.

 

[Hickey]

I've heard that aspens are sensitive to the heat, but they are quick to grow. I planted a few at my first house, but they died quickly. I assumed it was the soil that may have been tainted with a lot of concrete product.

 

[Bart]

Aspens grow quickly and are a great shade tree. With that said, I would kill them them all and I can say that because I did. I had 5 aspens in my front yard and they grew quickly and were great trees. After about 6 years I started to see the "little shooters" that you are talking about. I worked on them diligently with Round Up and other means to keep them in control. Nothing worked. Within 5 more years they were all across the front yard and in the flower beds. They grow a massive root structure about 12" to 18" below the surface and will eventually take over. I tore down my trees, tore out the flower beds and front lawn and rented a mini X to dig down and massacred my front lawn. It was the only way to kill them. I treated everything with killer while it was torn up.

With that said and back to your question, yes, each of those shooters will most likely grow into a tree, with little or no nurturing from you. Because they are there you have a root structure in place and they will also multiply quickly.

 

[RogueJeepr]

Over the last part of winter I noticed dirt mounds in my backyard (gopher). Probably from the construction nearby.
Had about 10+ mounds by the fenceline.
I was told to find the first and last holes, uncover the tunnel, stick a flare in, cover with a bucket but.......
I found a open hole by my shop and poured 5 gallons of used coolant in. Amazingly it took it all. Pretty sure the gopher is dead. No more mounds.

Sent from my H1611 using Tapatalk

 

[nnnnnate]

As far as trees are concerned, if you are thinking about bringing one down or want shade you need to plant a tree now. They take a while to establish, like a few years before they'll really start growing well.

When I was looking for trees I searched and searched online and found a lot of good articles from the USU extension. This is a good article to check out and may give some ideas on where to look. I've planted a bunch of trees and replaced a few that didn't work out. Currently I have 3 bur oaks, 1 red oak, 1 columnar oak, 1 linden, 1 kentucky coffee tree which are all expected to grow tall and provide shade down the road. I also have some ornamental trees that are more for looking pretty than for shade, they are...1 spring snow crab apple, 1 coralburst crab apple, 1 prairiefire crab apple, and 5 flowering pear trees. All the crab apples are doing great and are staying long term. The flowering pears are kind of garbage but I bought them for almost nothing a few years ago. I'll likely pull these out in the next while and replace them with something that will look good and provide better shade long term. I did have some sycamore trees that didn't make it, in my opinion due to their size in the pot I got them in, and I didn't untangle their roots. I've also managed to kill a magnolia as well.

I would never plant an aspen or cottonwood. I grew up with aspens at my home and had the same experience Bart did, I hate them as yard trees. I do miss the sound the leaves make when the wind blows through them but not enough to plant those damn trees. My parents have also had really good luck with honeylocust trees both at their old house in kearns and their new one in west jordan. These are nice because they grow pretty quick and the leaves are real small so you don't have to rake, they mulch with the mower really well.

One last thing on trees. I prefer to buy and plant smaller trees than to pay buckets of money for big trees. The smaller trees cost less, are easier to manage, and hurt less if they die. The big trees in the small buckets are missing a ton of roots and take a long time to get back established where the smaller ones seem to bounce back quicker in my opinion. Regardless, its going to take years to get real growth anyway.

 

[Hickey]

I have 10 trees at my house. My favorite are the 2 Sycamores in the front. They are also the only trees I am allergic to. They grow very well in Northern Utah. They will eventually get pretty large, but they are a moderate growth tree, so that will take a long time.

I'm really liking my 2 Purple Ash trees. They won't get as big as the Sycamores, but they grow even slower. They are my hammock trees. I finally used a hammock on them last year. They are 7 years old. I would recommend these to you Brent for your specified use.

Then I have a purple maple. That sucker will be a nice big beautiful tree for my great grandchildren.

Lastly, I have 5 Souixland Poplars, also known as Cottonless Cottonwood. They are fast growing large trees. I don't love them, but i don't hate them. They are a great shade tree, but have shallow roots, and you wouldn't want them near a house/barn. They grow as fast as a Willow and have a pear shaped canopy.

 

[jeeper]

I have a pretty large project coming up.. I have a property who's yard is a giant cesspool of goat heads. Been that way since I bought it years ago.
On monday I went over and placed a stop and waste, along with some sprinkler control valves.
On Saturday I plan to go scrape the yard with a skid steer. (I will have about 12 yards of fill dirt if anyone needs it) I hope to get all the dirt work done in 1 day.

I will have to add sprinkler pipe, and then Sod. Anyone have a hook up for sod, or recommend a place? Property is located in Midvale.

 

[jeeper]

I have a couple spots where I could use some clean fill. I'd love to come shovel some out when the pile is ready.

It's all going in a trailer.. how much do you need? Where do you live?

 

[nnnnnate]

Spring and fall are he best times to plant but you have enough big trees and relative shade I think you'd be alright planting now. You would need to make sure they got enough water through the heat which usually means letting a hose drip on them for a while a few times a week.

 

[ID Bronco]

I've heard there are aspens that don't spread or reproduce. Is that true? Anyone have experience with them?

 

[Hickey]

I looked them up and the size works for the space I have. Fall is a better time to plant from this point forward, right?

I'd go ahead and plant now, as long as it's in a lawn area where watering is already happening.

 

[bryson]

I've heard there are aspens that don't spread or reproduce. Is that true? Anyone have experience with them?

Yup.



I have a few aspens in my yard, and like some others, I like the shade, sound of the leaves in the wind, etc, but they are pretty wimpy trees, and there are a TON of suckers that make them a pain to maintain. In my park strip, I yanked 4 aspens out last year, and I still can't keep up with all the suckers the left-over roots keep sending up. Other than the smartass reply above, I don't know of aspens that don't spread. It'd be neat if they do exist though...