The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

[Swansong]

Just what we need, more Roundup spread around so we can have 100% of the folks in the US with traces of Round up in their urine instead of just 80%

In for a penny, in for a pound?

[dxmnkd316]

Just what we need, more Roundup spread around so we can have 100% of the folks in the US with traces of Round up in their urine instead of just 80%

Citation needed.

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

You can't kill it with herbicides? This summer has been brutal on my yard. It rained all of april and may and then hasn't really rained since. My irrigation system is the only thing keeping it remotely green.

I have to spray it with herbicide about once a month as well, just to clear the stupid broadleaf garbage (the field violets, various garbage grasses, and the bamboo that some wretched ****bag introduced many years ago). This weekend I'm going to put down some weed n feed, as I sprayed last week and don't need to do that again. It's so frustrating because I actually sprayed a pre-emergent this spring (some expensive one that everyone says is the best).

Not sure how big your yard is, but honestly, if you aerate and overseed well, that will help discourage weeds and lead to less poison needed. Takes some time but I’ve seen a huge difference in 3 years in my yard

[Swansong]

I have a small yard. I haven't aerated it yet (tough to justify the money on a machine) and I'm a bit nervous to use one anyway with the installed irrigation system. Although I could just put flags up and avoid them. Perhaps this fall.

[dxmnkd316]

Have you considered hiring it out?

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Yeah I just have someone do it for me as I have no interest in doing that

[Swansong]

I have... but haven't been able to convince the ol' lady that it's worth the cost. Yet.

[dxmnkd316]

I have... but haven't been able to convince the ol' lady that it's worth the cost. Yet.

I think there are two things worth doing every year
1. Fall application of fertilizer (Get the generic brands. I use Menard's and it works great.)
2. Hiring out core aeration in the fall (this is a new one for me since my lawn has become so compacted w/ clay. If you don't have a severely compacted yard, you can probably make this an activity performed every other year or less).

This is my favorite resource for lawns:
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-g...-care-calendar

YMMV, but I suspect Rutgers' and/or Penn State's extension program is an excellent resource for the northeast. I have read articles from both over the years and they seem to match a lot of the guidance Minnesota's Extension program does, save for a few details that are specific to each region. I'd generally recommend any of the Big Ten's Extension programs. They're all major research institutions and do a hell of a lot of cooperative work on these topics.

[Slap Shot]

I'd also recommend at least an occasional mulching and as such then at least every other year a de-thatching.

[Swansong]

I do fertilize spring and fall (and the occasional augmenting, like I'll do this week) and then overseed spring and fall as well. This summer has been especially dry here so I want to make sure no area bakes too much so I've been mowing higher than normal. My mower has a perfectly adequate mulch function so I just use that. It gets de-thatched in the fall when I rake up the leaves... ha


That said, I just reached out to a lawn care company for aeration quote and tips. Most of what I know about lawncare I've learned via youtube videos... or the hard way.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Lawns are dumb. I mow every couple of weeks so it doesn't get white trashy, and I occasionally hit the front with selective broadleaf killer to deal with dandelions so that we don't get in trouble with the city code enforcement busybody. Otherwise IDGAF and I'd just as soon turn my front lawn into something ultra low-maintenance. We do have to keep the back as long as we have a dog, but we're planning on eventually paving over part of it, installing some borders and planting beds, and transforming it into the bare minimum amount of grass needed for a dog run.

[Swansong]

This surprised no one more than me, but I've really enjoyed yardwork since moving out of condo life and into a single family home. My yard is small - the whole lot (plus house, garage, driveway, patio, deck, walkway, sidewalk) is like 1/6th of an acre so it's not like there's a ton to do.

But I've found it super rewarding to see an immaculate lawn.

[French Rage]

We had some grass recently placed in our front yard (maybe 1000 sqft?) before we moved in, probably to look nice and get the house sold, but it's been getting weaker over the past year plus. I was more than happy to mow it, since that amount takes all of 5 minutes, but it seems to be a losing battle to keep it alive. Plus they've cut back on lawn watering here to two days a week, and the grass was doing weakly at 4 days a week, so I think we may be fighting a losing battle here. We already have some fake turf in out side yard, and I've been seriously thinking about doing that in the front yard too. It does look nice, it's easy to keep raked, and it feels like having actual grass here is getting more and more irresponsible and untenable.

[LynahFan]

Lawn care here in Florida is amusing to me. Trying to keep nice grass growing on sand is….challenging. The good news is that groundwater is only ~6 ft down, so everyone just drills a pipe and plops a pump on top. The water filters through the sand and right back into the aquifer, so no harm ho foul. Unfortunately, most of the groundwater here is loaded with sulfur, so my kids coined the phrase, “stinklers,” which is perfect. Everything *except* grass grows like the land wants to return to the jungle, so I pay just as much in tree maintenance as I do in lawn care.

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Oh god the sulfur is so bad. I once had a corporate apartment in jax. The sprinklers at night made area smell like rotten eggs. I started washing my hair in distilled water jugs from Publix because the water was so gross