Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
I think it’s finally finished.
I did the last big cleanup last week. The Oak leaves finally decided to fall so I had my work cut out for me. When the Oak leaves fall, the entire ground is basically covered. It’s much worse than when all the other leaves fall. Oak leaves are big and thick. They fill up the bagger very fast and have a tendency to clog the chute.
The way I got around the massive amounts of leaves clogging things up was to give the lawn a quick mow first. I lowered the cutting deck to 3 1/2 inches and ran over the grass a few times. This chopped up the leaves nice and fine. Then, I attached the bagger and went to town. Things still filled up fast, but I didn’t have to stop to dump nearly as often. Also, stopping the tractor to unclog the chute lessened as well.
The Scotts Lawn Service visits are over for this year as well. They came out 3 times, since I called them in October. The first time they came, they put down a slow-release fertilizer and a grub control. The second time they came out (just a few days ago), they put down a winterizer fertilizer. Yesterday, they came out and put down a dolomitic pelletized limestone. I have been waiting for this lime application because I think this is one of the major problems with the soil here. It will…
“…help balance the soil PH and contains calcium and magnesium for improved health of the grass plant.”
I got that from the invoice.
The grass actually is looking better already. I am impressed. There were a bunch of larger brown areas from all the junk grass dying from the cold, but those areas are now turning green. My little over-seeding episode that I performed a while ago helped, I’m sure. Oh yeah, I also aerated the lawn about a month ago too.
I am planning on the grass coming back with a vengeance in early Spring. The Scotts people said that I am most likely going to have to mow twice as much. That’s fine with me, now that I have the ride-on mower and the bagger. No more clumps of grass shooting out of the side making dead spots all over the place.
Ahhh, the life of a guy who thinks about grass way too much.
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Posted in Home Improvement, Landscaping, Spring, Summer, Winter | No Comments »
Monday, October 13th, 2008
A few days ago, I gave up. I admitted to myself that my patchwork ideas and techniques were no match for this large semi-terrible lawn. Sure, it was beautiful during the Summer, but now its true self is showing.
Ever since it started getting chilly outside, parts of the grass have been turning brown. I know it’s normal for grass to turn brown, but not so early in Autumn. I looked up a few things online and discovered that there were some issues with the lawn. Then, I called Scotts Lawn Service. You know the company…they are the ones that make all the stuff you see on the shelves at Home Depot and Lowe’s. I know, I didn’t know they had a lawn service either.
The guy came out and checked the place over. He gave me a write up of what they would do and how much it would cost. I asked him if this would make the lawn green and thick. He gave a slight chuckle and said “yes.”
That’s all I want, a nice healthy, green, thick lawn. I don’t want to see bare spots, moss, brown spots or weeds. They seem to have the cure for this.
They came out today for the first application. They put down some fertilizer and grub control. During the next visit, they are going to put down some lime and a winterizer fertilizer. He said this is to establish good roots and an early green up in Spring. That’s all for this year.
Next season, starting in the early Spring, they are going to come back out and put down some weed control. That should get rid of the brown parts of the lawn, because that is what’s dying right now, causing all the brown areas. Throughout the season, they are going to fertilize, lime, kill grubs, aerate and reseed. By next Autumn, I think the lawn should be ready for a magazine. Well, that’s my hope anyway.
You know, the funny thing is that I think I am actually saving money by having someone else do this. I priced out 11,000 square feet of fertilizer today at Home Depot and it was about twice as expensive as what they charged me for that part of today’s service. Same for the grub control. Strange.
One thing I am going to do myself if aerate. John Deere sells a tow-behind aerator that I am going to get. This should pay for itself in one and a half visits of what they charge.
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Posted in Autumn, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Spring | 1 Comment »
