The Ghost of Foley's – General Chat

I have a lawn care guy who does everything but cut, he puts down all the chemicals. I'm sure he already did the herbicide. Would love to follow up in spring when you start to seed and what not. Compare notes haha.

See I am the opposite. I do all my own chemicals but my brother in law owns a landscaping company so I have him do the weekly cutting/edging/blowing/etc. I cut my front lawn a second time myself between his cuts but I don't do the extras. I don't have time to be doing all of that with two toddlers at home. My wife bitches enough that I waste my time doing a second cut, they just don't get it lol. I also did my dethatch/aerate/overseed job myself.

I have close to an acre and the first couple of years owning this house was a real struggle to figure out exactly how to upkeep the lawn. Pretty sure I have mod5 of it down. The hottest summer month though still ends up with some I’ve gotten the fall and spring mixes at a point where the lawn is healthy enough to thwart most weeds and crab.

 

I will say this. Fall probably is the most important season for your future lawn. Really establishes how everything will turn our next year.

Iirc you live in the Babylon area, right? And you have almost an acre of land? Jesus. But yes, the fall is the most important time to set yourself up for success the following spring. I really put all my effort into my front lawn this fall. I should have put at least some effort into the area of my back yard that I plan to bring up to par with my front. I'll make it work in the spring though.

Lawn seeding is best in the fall (mid September - late October). Spring seeding is tough due to colder ground temps (slowing germination) and then what germinates must fight weeds and then harsh summer heat and humidity.

 

2 years ago I started from scratch due to a new build home and two autumns with aeration and overseed have helped immensely. Still need another year or two to get things where I’ll be happy.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Depending on air temps its actually best to do it early to mid September. As I mentioned earlier, you need a good 45(more if you're seeding with Kentucky Blue Grass as that takes up to three weeks just to germinate) days post germination to give the grass time to grow and roots to establish. The goal is at least 2 cuts before the lawn goes dormant, which happens around 55* soil temps.

Spring seeding isn't bad if you have the right tools to help it along. I cleared a bunch of land in late April/early May and planted new grass that grew in beautifully(though I did fight a little bout with either large patch or brown patch fungus in July). But you are right, the biggest problem is the new grass has to contend with crabgrass. This goes back to having the right tools to help the grass. Jonathan Green makes a fantastic starter fertilizer that also has a crabgrass preventative in it. Their seed is also top notch. As far as soil temps go, in the spring, its not much of a problem as the soil temps are climbing. That is why you want to seed in early September as the ground temps are starting to fall. You just need to find the right window where the air temps aren't going to spike up again and zap the new grass.

I’m getting inground sprinklers installed in a week. Haven’t been excited about something like this in years. Lol.

 

All controllable through an app. on my phone. I can’t wait!

I had an in ground irrigation system installed the second year we were in the house, man was that such a game changer. I've been wanting to upgrade my computer to one that has wifi capabilities, that is fucking awesome. I'm jealous of that, Parsley.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

I have a landscaper and my grass still isn’t as good as it should be, wtf

What services does he do for you?

Make sure you get a rain sensor with it

Those are a total waste. They break easily. Its especially a waste if he can control the system from his phone. If it rains just turn the shit off.

Sorry these were posted while I was penning my previous novel lol

Lol. True, but I?m tired of watering by hand with hoses. Plus they are setting up two zones of drip irrigation for all my gardens which alone will save me a ton of hassle. Definitely a luxury. Something I never had but dreamed about as a lawn/garden nut.

 

After this miserable year, cancelled vacations, etc....money saved. I said fuck it. Time to splurge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

The drip irrigation is awesome! My wife wanted to plant some actual flower gardens this year instead of just doing pots. I told her not unless they're hit by the sprinkler system because you may want the damn flowers but I am going to be the idiot to end up watering them twice a day. Of course I ended up being right. She knows me too well. I am too frugal to let her waste money on flowers and just let them die. So my dumb ass always ends up watering them lol.

Will do. I believe the controller ?smart irrigation controller? is tied into local weather stations and can also adjust watering off of that if I want it to. Obviously, as a weather guy I?ll have all the info I need.

 

I hear soil moisture sensors are even more helpful so I may look into that at some point.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

That is fucking cool too.

I feel like all of this conversation is probably better suited for the home improvement thread, right? It really took off lol.

You provided a lot of good info in that post above.

My aeration and overseeding this year was around September 10th. It was perfect. Last year it was at the end of September and it still went well but the extra 2-3 weeks this fall has clearly been beneficial. Been mowing basically every 3 days since the start of October. (Waited 3 weeks after overseed to mow)

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

I have a landscaper and my grass still isn’t as good as it should be, wtf

To be honest, landscapers are never going to be as good as doing it yourself in terms of lawn and for one reason mostly. Guy down the block uses your same guy. He does his lawn first. Problem is, guy down the block has a shitty lawn full of clover, crabgrass, moss, whatever the eff. Landscaper uses same equipment on every lawn understandably. So he cuts fresh weeds and brings them to your place right after circulating it to you.

What do you expect? If you decide on one step to do something yourself vs pro do it choose to mow yourself and have someone else do chemicals and seeding. You’ll get a better lawn every time. Personally I do it all myself but I’m fairly particular.

 

Iirc you live in the Babylon area, right? And you have almost an acre of land? Jesus. But yes, the fall is the most important time to set yourself up for success the following spring. I really put all my effort into my front lawn this fall. I should have put at least some effort into the area of my back yard that I plan to bring up to par with my front. I'll make it work in the spring though.

off.

Man I’m super north shore. Belle Terre area (within Port Jeff village as north as u can go before hitting the ferry to CT). Lots of deer, turkey, property, and all that stuff out here without being eastern LI and in no mans land. I work in Nassau and my wife works in Easterm Suffolk so we are in the middle between each other although her drive is easier but I make less appearances for work.

We too neglected s lot of the back lawn because we are gutting it all this coming spring and doing a 2 tier Trex deck, hot tub, gazebo, full landscaping and all that good stuff plus leveling it so really no need to go nuts with it right now outside of mowing so ticks don’t thrive.

To be honest, landscapers are never going to be as good as doing it yourself in terms of lawn and for one reason mostly. Guy down the block uses your same guy. He does his lawn first. Problem is, guy down the block has a shitty lawn full of clover, crabgrass, moss, whatever the eff. Landscaper uses same equipment on every lawn understandably. So he cuts fresh weeds and brings them to your place right after circulating it to you.

 

What do you expect? If you decide on one step to do something yourself vs pro do it choose to mow yourself and have someone else do chemicals and seeding. You?ll get a better lawn every time. Personally I do it all myself but I?m fairly particular.

Whatever he's doing is working.

Man I?m super north shore. Belle Terre area (within Port Jeff village as north as u can go before hitting the ferry to CT). Lots of deer, turkey, property, and all that stuff out here without being eastern LI and in no mans land. I work in Nassau and my wife works in Easterm Suffolk so we are in the middle between each other although her drive is easier but I make less appearances for work.

 

 

 

We too neglected s lot of the back lawn because we are gutting it all this coming spring and doing a 2 tier Trex deck, hot tub, gazebo, full landscaping and all that good stuff plus leveling it so really no need to go nuts with it right now outside of mowing so ticks don?t thrive.

For the first time ever I had a company do a fertilizer application this fall. Not a cheap application (and it can be done by anyone) but I wanted an expert to throw down the right amount. The dry pellet manure was a great source of Nitrogen while the biochar over time helps my shitty (new construction) soil.

***SPREADABLE LAWN TOP DRESSING

Dramatically improve the soil in your lawn without the expensive labor of traditional topdressing. We use a new and innovative top dressing material that can be spread out of traditional broadcast spreaders in a single high-rate application. The top dressing material consists of hardwood biochar and poultry manure that will yield results you can see.

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Within weeks of the application my lawn was the deepest green in the neighborhood. Like, strikingly dark green.

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Milorganite. Learn to use this stuff. It’s absolutely a,aging for making your lawn emerald green, won’t burn in, idiot proof, and can be applied and not affect other stuff mostly. Love this stuff.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Milorganite-Milorganite-32-lb-Bag/1000822132?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-lwn-_-google-_-lia-_-107-_-fertilizers-_-1000822132-_-0&placeholder=null&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9Yi605La7AIVgZ6zCh3CKwpLEAQYAiABEgJzrPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

You provided a lot of good info in that post above.

 

My aeration and overseeding this year was around September 10th. It was perfect. Last year it was at the end of September and it still went well but the extra 2-3 weeks this fall has clearly been beneficial. Been mowing basically every 3 days since the start of October. (Waited 3 weeks after overseed to mow)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Thanks I appreciate that. I have learned a lot over the past 7-8 months. I had nothing else to do with my primary hobby, men's league hockey, being shut down.

I did mine on 9/14. I waited about three weeks to cut it as well. Every 3 days is perfect. What type of grass did you overseed with? What height are you cutting at?

To be honest, landscapers are never going to be as good as doing it yourself in terms of lawn and for one reason mostly. Guy down the block uses your same guy. He does his lawn first. Problem is, guy down the block has a shitty lawn full of clover, crabgrass, moss, whatever the eff. Landscaper uses same equipment on every lawn understandably. So he cuts fresh weeds and brings them to your place right after circulating it to you.

 

What do you expect? If you decide on one step to do something yourself vs pro do it choose to mow yourself and have someone else do chemicals and seeding. You’ll get a better lawn every time. Personally I do it all myself but I’m fairly particular.

Bingo. Its the biggest reason I cannot wait to do it all myself. Thankfully my brother in law is pretty particular about the properties he cuts so he tries his best to not take on jobs like that if he doesn't need to.

Man I’m super north shore. Belle Terre area (within Port Jeff village as north as u can go before hitting the ferry to CT). Lots of deer, turkey, property, and all that stuff out here without being eastern LI and in no mans land. I work in Nassau and my wife works in Easterm Suffolk so we are in the middle between each other although her drive is easier but I make less appearances for work.

 

 

We too neglected s lot of the back lawn because we are gutting it all this coming spring and doing a 2 tier Trex deck, hot tub, gazebo, full landscaping and all that good stuff plus leveling it so really no need to go nuts with it right now outside of mowing so ticks don’t thrive.

Idk why I thought you were in the Babylon area. I must be thinking of a different member. Your plans sound great! We're chipping away at our back yard little by little. Making it more and more "hosting friendly". Its pretty bare as it is except for all the kids toys. We added a little 12'x12' floating deck back in July just to have some extra seating space.

Bingo. Cutting grass isn't rocket science, I can do that myself. But the chemicals I leave to pros. Everyone on my block uses the same chemical guy and he comes and talks to everyone about what's going around that year and what he's doing to prevent it, if the guy next to me has an issue he uses a preventative to treat my lawn.

 

Whatever he's doing is working. Same lol. Not doing a 2 level deck tho. Not yet anyway.

That is super convenient for everyone involved. Keeps everyone's lawn in the same shape. Easy to treat things in advance as you mentioned. Was that coordinated by neighbors or did the guy just do a good job selling his services?

Milorganite. Learn to use this stuff. It’s absolutely a,aging for making your lawn emerald green, won’t burn in, idiot proof, and can be applied and not affect other stuff mostly. Love this stuff.

 

 

 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Milorganite-Milorganite-32-lb-Bag/1000822132?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-lwn-_-google-_-lia-_-107-_-fertilizers-_-1000822132-_-0&placeholder=null&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9Yi605La7AIVgZ6zCh3CKwpLEAQYAiABEgJzrPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Miloooooooooooooo!!! Ahhh the smell of success!! I mostly use Jonathan Green products but I started adding Milo to my arsenal this year too.

That is super convenient for everyone involved. Keeps everyone's lawn in the same shape. Easy to treat things in advance as you mentioned. Was that coordinated by neighbors or did the guy just do a good job selling his services?

Guy did a good job selling his services. New people move in, they ask who we use. We use George. New guy calls George and George says "Well you live next to Bob, and Bob's house butts up against the commercial building and they have weeds or some invasive stuff, so Bob has it too. I have to use some harsh shit to manage Bob's lawn, I'm gonna spread this preventative for you, so you don't get it from Bob".

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

For the first time ever I had a company do a fertilizer application this fall. Not a cheap application (and it can be done by anyone) but I wanted an expert to throw down the right amount. The dry pellet manure was a great source of Nitrogen while the biochar over time helps my shitty (new construction) soil.

 

***SPREADABLE LAWN TOP DRESSING

 

Dramatically improve the soil in your lawn without the expensive labor of traditional topdressing. We use a new and innovative top dressing material that can be spread out of traditional broadcast spreaders in a single high-rate application. The top dressing material consists of hardwood biochar and poultry manure that will yield results you can see.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Bio char is good stuff. Caring for the soil is just as important as caring for the grass. Check out Jonathan Green Magical Plus.

Thanks I appreciate that. I have learned a lot over the past 7-8 months. I had nothing else to do with my primary hobby, men's league hockey, being shut down.

 

I did mine on 9/14. I waited about three weeks to cut it as well. Every 3 days is perfect. What type of grass did you overseed with? What height are you cutting at?

It was a mix of rye and bluegrass. I?m trying to ween off rye and go with more blue since I hear rye struggles more with disease issues in the summer months. For now I haven?t been able to cut below 3.5? since it?s growing like crazy. Would like it under 3? in a few weeks.

My neighbor on the other hand is going with a Tall fescue grass. Amazing the differences. Obviously the blue grass is going to have the stellar deep green color but I hear the fescue is more disease resistant vs blue or rye grass.

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Guy did a good job selling his services. New people move in, they ask who we use. We use George. New guy calls George and George says "Well you live next to Bob, and Bob's house butts up against the commercial building and they have weeds, so Bob has weeds. I have to use some harsh shit to kill Bob's weeds, I'm gonna spread this preventative for you, so you don't get it from Bob".

 

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Hahaha that's great.

It was a mix of rye and bluegrass. I’m trying to ween off rye and go with more blue since I hear rye struggles more with disease issues in the summer months. For now I haven’t been able to cut below 3.5” since it’s growing like crazy. Would like it under 3” in a few weeks.

 

My neighbor on the other hand is going with a Tall fescue grass. Amazing the differences. Obviously the blue grass is going to have the stellar deep green color but I hear the fescue is more disease resistant vs blue or rye grass.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

I have mostly TTTF with some KBG mixed in. I love the fat blades of the TTTF. KBG is nice too because it can spread via rhizomes. I was cutting at 4.25" for the first several cuts post overseed. I've gradually taken it down to 3.75". I'll take it down more to eventually 2.5" for the winter.

I have mostly TTTF with some KBG mixed in. I love the fat blades of the TTTF. KBG is nice too because it can spread via rhizomes. I was cutting at 4.25" for the first several cuts post overseed. I've gradually taken it down to 3.75". I'll take it down more to eventually 2.5" for the winter.

Nice. This wet and chilly weather will start to slow the grass growth some. November could (looks that way to me)be mild though so mowing likely to continue.

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Nice. This wet and chilly weather will start to slow the grass growth some. November could (looks that way to me)be mild though so mowing likely to continue.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

All this rain is killing me. My grass is all laying over like a limp dick since it was so high. If it was shorter it wouldn't be so bad.

Bingo. Its the biggest reason I cannot wait to do it all myself. Thankfully my brother in law is pretty particular about the properties he cuts so he tries his best to not take on jobs like that if he doesn't need to.

 

Idk why I thought you were in the Babylon area. I must be thinking of a different member. Your plans sound great! We're chipping away at our back yard little by little. Making it more and more "hosting friendly". Its pretty bare as it is except for all the kids toys. We added a little 12'x12' floating deck back in July just to have some extra seating space.

You’re probably thinking about the nypd guy here NYR2711 or whatever Chris’ screen name is. I believe he’s somewhere around there on the South shore.

You’re probably thinking about the nypd guy here NYR2711 or whatever Chris’ screen name is. I believe he’s somewhere around there on the South shore.

Idk, maybe lol

All this rain is killing me. My grass is all laying over like a limp dick since it was so high. If it was shorter it wouldn't be so bad.

Rain today, below freezing temps. tonight, more rain Sunday night and Monday then milder with sun most of next week and the week after. Lets see how the yard holds up the next few days.

Is it ever going to stop raining?

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk