- Location
- Grantsville, Utah
I admit that I lost some sleep last night over my jealousy of your turf. I need to get my ass in gear, at least for the front yard.
Let's Talk Lawns
- Thread starter UT410
- Start date
SLC97SR5
IDIesel
- Location
- Davis County
SLC97SR5
IDIesel
- Location
- Davis County
Thanks, we've been in this house for 4 years and the yard was hammered. Sprinklers inop, weeds, spurge, crabgrass...just a mess. It has been fun getting it to look decent.
We have a female Lab and her urine is hard on the grass but other than some dry patches from compacted soil and poor drainage it is coming along ok.
I've had some fairy rings in the front yard and applied some BioAdvanced granular fungicide and it has done a pretty good job controlling it.
- Location
- Grantsville, Utah
I'm digging my lawn up and replacing it with rock.
Dont do it.
Spork
Tin Foil Hat Equipped
- Location
- Saratoga Springs, UT
Cement is the answer, rock you are stuck trying to kill off all the weeds.
BCGPER
Starting Another Thread
- Location
- Sunny Arizona
This isn’t exactly true. A proper weed blocker installed before the gravel goes down will cure that. I may pull one weed a week off a half acre. The worst yard chore I have is raking the tire marks out of the gravel from bringing my trailer out, but that’s maybe once a year. However, I would never do this kind of landscape if I had little kids.Cement is the answer, rock you are stuck trying to kill off all the weeds.
SLC97SR5
IDIesel
- Location
- Davis County
Looks like Spurge.
www.domyown.com
Spurge Identification Guide
Knowing what spurge looks like will help you catch this weed growing in your lawn or garden early enough to control it. This guide will show you how to identify spurge.
www.domyown.com
I get the same stuff all the time. We are on irrigation water, so it brings a lot of weeds. I have found that if I spray it each time after I mow, it eventually dies. Takes a few consistent weeks though.
We are on irrigation water as well. I’ll start spraying it with a vengeance. Thanks for the reply. 😎
Have you looked into reel mowers at all? I'm starting to consider one cause I'm thinking I might try and mow down to +/- 1". I'll need some leveling and some other work to get there but its on my radar.
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
That's pretty rough on lawns for the non golf course superintendents among us. I've always been told to keep my lawns at 2.5-3" or so. (I have 2 brother-in-laws that are course superintendents)
this is what I have read as well. The taller grass helps to shade itself, keeping it cooler, requiring less water, and making it healthier.
I'm not saying its not the case because I've typically cut it in the 3"+ range but I'm thinking about going for it.
I've been reading and watching videos for a week and think it might be feasible. My honda mower goes to 3/4" but what I've read is that without a reel mower that balances on drums you risk scalping bad when one of your wheels drop into a low spot. With the drums it kind of floats above though and helps get an even cut without chunking in uneven areas.
Connor Ward up in Garden City has been doing videos for a while and has a 20k sqft lawn that is amazing. This one shows him down to 1/2" but if I remember right he typically keeps it around 5/8". From what I've read most people to cut super low tend to let it grow out a little in the hot heat of summer then cut it back down in the spring and fall. I'm talking like 1 1/4" for the "long" cuts though so its still pretty darn short.
I've been reading and watching videos for a week and think it might be feasible. My honda mower goes to 3/4" but what I've read is that without a reel mower that balances on drums you risk scalping bad when one of your wheels drop into a low spot. With the drums it kind of floats above though and helps get an even cut without chunking in uneven areas.
Connor Ward up in Garden City has been doing videos for a while and has a 20k sqft lawn that is amazing. This one shows him down to 1/2" but if I remember right he typically keeps it around 5/8". From what I've read most people to cut super low tend to let it grow out a little in the hot heat of summer then cut it back down in the spring and fall. I'm talking like 1 1/4" for the "long" cuts though so its still pretty darn short.
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
I think you'll end up using quite a bit of water but it would for sure look nice. I think you'll need to mow a few times a week?
What I've read the process to get to 1" cut height from the more typical 3"+ is the following:
- Dethatch to remove thatch and thin out the crown. Do this with a power rake, verticutter, seed slitter, or a dethatcher.
- Cut lower than what your target height is. This will scalp to a certain extent but will "reset" the crown height. The lawn will turn brown but in a couple weeks it'll green back up. (Do this when its not crazy hot out, i.e. spring or fall.)
- Fertilize, water, and mow. You gotta mow at least a couple times a week to maintain the lower height since you don't want to cut more than 1/3 the length of grass at a time.
Additionally you'll also want to level and over seed, all steps might not be needed if you do the top list at the same time:
- Cut as short as you feel comfortable.
- Dethatch
- Aerate heavily then rake up and dispose of the plugs.
- Top dress with masons sand (fine sand but not powdery sand), then use a drag mat and push broom to work the sand into the canopy. Keep to a thin layer of sand so it doesn't smother the grass.
- Over seed
- Dethatch to remove thatch and thin out the crown. Do this with a power rake, verticutter, seed slitter, or a dethatcher.
- Cut lower than what your target height is. This will scalp to a certain extent but will "reset" the crown height. The lawn will turn brown but in a couple weeks it'll green back up. (Do this when its not crazy hot out, i.e. spring or fall.)
- Fertilize, water, and mow. You gotta mow at least a couple times a week to maintain the lower height since you don't want to cut more than 1/3 the length of grass at a time.
Additionally you'll also want to level and over seed, all steps might not be needed if you do the top list at the same time:
- Cut as short as you feel comfortable.
- Dethatch
- Aerate heavily then rake up and dispose of the plugs.
- Top dress with masons sand (fine sand but not powdery sand), then use a drag mat and push broom to work the sand into the canopy. Keep to a thin layer of sand so it doesn't smother the grass.
- Over seed