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  • Grass. Help me with my grass.

    Not "really" home improvement, but I think it belongs here.

    When spring hit, my grass looked great! I was very proud. I even had new little babies growing from the seed I laid last fall that didn't quite make it to germination.

    Then the weeds started to sneak in, so I sprayed some weed-be-gone... and it seems like not only did it take the weeds, but my new little sproutlings...

    Now, I am just trying to keep the weeds at bay until cooler weather when I will lay seed once more.

    I am learning, but what tips do you have? What can I do and did the spray really kill my new grass? TIA.

  • #2
    Originally posted by SuperGabers View Post
    Not "really" home improvement, but I think it belongs here.

    When spring hit, my grass looked great! I was very proud. I even had new little babies growing from the seed I laid last fall that didn't quite make it to germination.

    Then the weeds started to sneak in, so I sprayed some weed-be-gone... and it seems like not only did it take the weeds, but my new little sproutlings...

    Now, I am just trying to keep the weeds at bay until cooler weather when I will lay seed once more.

    I am learning, but what tips do you have? What can I do and did the spray really kill my new grass? TIA.
    Your spray will kill everything. The best thing to prevent weeds is a thick lawn. The crabgrass loves the heat and will grow while the rest of the grass suffers. Really it needs to be pulled up from the root and discarded and then come fall overseed like crazy. They have crabgrass preventer you can lay down in the spring but the stuff I have seen is heavily dependent upon weather. Lay down too soon or too late and it won't do any good. And given the unpredictability of VA weather it's kind of a crapshoot. But if your neighbors have crabgrass it's going to be nearly impossible to prevent unless your lawn is so thick it can't take root.
    "Nobody listens to Turtle."
    -Turtle
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    • #3
      Originally posted by Surfah View Post
      Your spray will kill everything. The best thing to prevent weeds is a thick lawn. The crabgrass loves the heat and will grow while the rest of the grass suffers. Really it needs to be pulled up from the root and discarded and then come fall overseed like crazy. They have crabgrass preventer you can lay down in the spring but the stuff I have seen is heavily dependent upon weather. Lay down too soon or too late and it won't do any good. And given the unpredictability of VA weather it's kind of a crapshoot. But if your neighbors have crabgrass it's going to be nearly impossible to prevent unless your lawn is so thick it can't take root.
      Along the same lines, don't cut the grass too short. If you're in restoration mode, then keep the mower pretty high (at least 3"). Similar to the thickness factor Surfah mentioned, and in conjunction, having taller grass means less room and sunlight for potential weeds to take root.
      "What are you prepared to do?" - Jimmy Malone

      "What choice?" - Abe Petrovsky

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      • #4
        Just put down some artificial turf. It also looks great in the house in your game watching area and gives more of that at-the-game feel.
        "If there is one thing I am, it's always right." -Ted Nugent.
        "I honestly believe saying someone is a smart lawyer is damning with faint praise. The smartest people become engineers and scientists." -SU.
        "Yet I still see wisdom in that which Uncle Ted posts." -creek.
        GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

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        • #5
          This is secretly a thread about a real-life "Weeds" scenario, right? Housewife, mother, "grass"....
          I have nothing else to say at this time.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Parrot Head View Post
            This is secretly a thread about a real-life "Weeds" scenario, right? Housewife, mother, "grass"....
            Dang. You found me out. I have never inhaled.

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            • #7
              I've decided to buy a mower and start doing my own lawn. The kids from the ward do a good job, and I've had no problem paying them to do it, but part of me has wanted to start doing the lawn myself. So I'm going to buy a mower and start doing it myself. Any guidelines you all can give me regarding horsepower, size, etc.? I'm seeing a Troy-Bilt 6.75 torque 21" gas mower for $199 at Lowe's. Good mower? Good price?
              Visca Catalunya Lliure

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Tim View Post
                I've decided to buy a mower and start doing my own lawn. The kids from the ward do a good job, and I've had no problem paying them to do it, but part of me has wanted to start doing the lawn myself. So I'm going to buy a mower and start doing it myself. Any guidelines you all can give me regarding horsepower, size, etc.? I'm seeing a Troy-Bilt 6.75 torque 21" gas mower for $199 at Lowe's. Good mower? Good price?
                Personally I wouldn't buy anything other than a Honda or Toro. Mabye a Husquvarna if the price was right. It is a good time of the year to buy. Is your yard flat or is there any hills? If there is any hills or evelation then I would get a rear wheel drive too. They are usually more expensive but worth the money.
                "Friendship is the grand fundamental principle of Mormonism" - Joseph Smith Jr.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Sullyute View Post
                  Personally I wouldn't buy anything other than a Honda or Toro.
                  This is what I was about to say. My dad's Toro lasted 20 years. When it finally gave way, he went with the $200 special at Home Depot. In the 6 years since, he has been through two other $200 specials. Just drop the $400 on a Toro and consider it a 15-20 year investment.
                  Prepare to put mustard on those words, for you will soon be consuming them, along with this slice of humble pie that comes direct from the oven of shame set at gas mark “egg on your face”! -- Moss

                  There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese. --Coach Finstock

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                  • #10
                    I bought a $200 yard machine from Home Depot and I am not on year 6 with no problems. At the start of every spring after sitting all winter it fires up first pull every time. Briggs and Stratton mother, I guessing most lawn mowers use either Briggs and Stratton or Tecumseh motors.
                    *Banned*

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                    • #11
                      does toro still use that awful bag system with the plastic door flap, making it very difficult to empty clippings into a garbage bag? if so, i would stick with honda. you probably don't need one that will idle without the blade engaged, so you can get one pretty darn cheap.
                      Te Occidere Possunt Sed Te Edere Non Possunt Nefas Est.

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                      • #12
                        I was able to fertilize/weed my lawn by myself until we moved to TN.
                        After a year I gave up and have a lawn care company come quarterly. Quid well spent. The lawn is a lush weed free carpet, and no headaches for me.

                        I will never give up cutting and trimming the lawn. I'm on my 2nd $200 sears craftsman mower since I became a homeowner. My dad was real keen on buying the top of the line mower growing up, and it never seemed to significantly outlast the neighbor's craftsman. Ye wimps that hire it out miss out on the supreme satisfaction of overlooking a finely trimmed, and cut carpet, and patting yourself on the back. If I had the time, I'd cut it twice a week, so that it always had that neat trim look to it.
                        Oh, and make sure you have those giant paper bags for the clippings. They stand up on their own while you dump. No more issues with trying to hold open the plastic bag while emptying.


                        Note to CJ: This is not sports related, so I'm assuming I don't need a green light to post in this thread. PM me if I my assumption is awry.
                        I intend to live forever.
                        So far, so good.
                        --Steven Wright

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                        • #13
                          I had to replace my $200 Lowes special this spring after 15 yrs so your milage may vary. I got a 21" with a 6.75 hp b&s engine. While looking for the replacement this spring - evey mower except the hondas had a b&s or temcumseh engine.
                          Last edited by happyone; 09-07-2011, 12:53 PM.

                          I may be small, but I'm slow.

                          A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Sullyute View Post
                            Personally I wouldn't buy anything other than a Honda or Toro. Mabye a Husquvarna if the price was right. It is a good time of the year to buy. Is your yard flat or is there any hills? If there is any hills or evelation then I would get a rear wheel drive too. They are usually more expensive but worth the money.
                            Originally posted by Donuthole View Post
                            This is what I was about to say. My dad's Toro lasted 20 years. When it finally gave way, he went with the $200 special at Home Depot. In the 6 years since, he has been through two other $200 specials. Just drop the $400 on a Toro and consider it a 15-20 year investment.
                            Originally posted by cougjunkie View Post
                            I bought a $200 yard machine from Home Depot and I am not on year 6 with no problems. At the start of every spring after sitting all winter it fires up first pull every time. Briggs and Stratton mother, I guessing most lawn mowers use either Briggs and Stratton or Tecumseh motors.
                            Although I prefer Lowe's (NC pride!), Home Depot has a Toro 22 in. High Wheel Recycler Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Power Mower for $279. Maybe I'll go check that one out.
                            Visca Catalunya Lliure

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                            • #15
                              Just look at what brand of motor the mower has. Getting something besides a Honda or Toro is fine as long as it has a Briggs&Stratton motor.
                              "It's devastating, because we lost to a team that's not even in the Pac-12. To lose to Utah State is horrible." - John White IV

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