So I was going to run to the Depot tonight and get a spreader and some spring time Weed & Feed. I've generally got a dandilion & Crab grass problem. What would you guys suggest?
Dandilions are inevidable, they blow over from the neighbors yard. Go the natural method and walk your yard every evening and pull out the weeds right down to the very bottom of the roots (they have weed pullers like small spades). Eventually you'll get rid of most of them. Dandilion season is usually only the first part of spring/summer. After that you have to worry about burns/scorches, bugs and worms from watering/not watering enough.
Yeah I started that battle last year. I was one of the only yards in the neighborhood that had them - and they blew in from the field next to me. Last fall, they put about 2' of dirt over them, so this is my chance!!! I rock the irrigation system, so I'm good there, I just know that the lawn was never taken care of from the previous owners, so I wanted to get a jump on it and feed it what it needs, and NOW is the time.
just get yourself a good crab grass preventer with spring feed and lay it down, its going to rain a lot this week so get it down now before the crabgrass has time to germinate edit:sorry mods forgot i was logged into this account ~AspitFire
just hire a lawn care place like chemgreen and get them to treat it.. I battled that crap for over a year at my shop.. they sprayed twice in 6mths and almost got 98% of it...
My suggestion would be to find a Co-Op or a store that carries professional lawn care products. And get some grass friendly weed killer. I believe the lawn care company I worked for used a product called Trimec...not sure. The stuff works, I would spray the weeds then throw down a good fertilizer. Get that grass in shape and the weeds shouldn't be an issue anymore.
Parex with pre-emergent. Get it now, it's like 22 bucks for a giant 50lb bag of it. Should be enough to spread a 1/4acre lot at least 2 times. Put it down now, and I suggest de-thatching first. You can rent a de-thatcher for about 30-40 bucks for a day, or you can just bust your ass raking it. Eitherway, it is best to de-thatch, then put down your pre-emergent. Then, after about 4 weeks, I suggest another light sprinkling of the Parex. Keep your lawn at around 3-3.5" tall, this also helps keep the weeds at bay as the thick tall grass chokes them out. Keep it like this till mid July, then you can start chopping it back down to 2.5" or so for fall. Also, like it was mentioned above, go pick up a weed spike from Menards. They are like 2-3 bucks for the non fancy wood handled ones. And I don't think every evening is really necessary, but every time you mow would be fine, and any time you see one out in the yard. The key is to get them when the flower is still yellow, if it goes white, you are screwed and will be dealing with more of the little bastards in no time.
Put the crab grass preventer down as soon as you can. Wait a week or so before thatching. (I like for the ground to dry out a bit and dont typically thatch til early May.)
How about fixing / preventing dog piss spots? I've heard of tomato juice on their food to prevent them, but is that a wife's tale or are there any tricks that work?
Go pick up a 20lb bag of lyme. I usually just take a small bucket of it out back with a plastic Solo cup and sprinkle it on the spots. It balances out the acidity of the urine burns.
So, where he goes more often, you water more often. Sprinkle some lime in the area. Lime is good for lawns. Its alkalinity will reduce the effects of the acidness of the pee. Or sprinkle some gypsum...powdered gypsum...will also act like lime. No lime...no gypsum....then use baking soda, sprinkled on the surface will act much the same way.
My biggest problem isn't pee spots, but the wore out areas along the fence and the corners where the dogs always pack down from walking/barking at passers-by. I can't get grass to grow there unless I fence the dogs off of these areas all summer and then they make new wore out areas. Anyone have luck with patch repair kits?
As long as you have heavy/steady traffic on it...the patch (seed or sod) will get worn down just as well. Thought about wood chips of some kind?
I use Trugreen. My lawn is like a golf course. It is very pleasing to rip out a lunker dandelion by its roots. I have one of these http://www.hound-dog.com/weed_hound.htm and it works really well. Not to mention it's a hell of a lot better than stooping over.
