Repairing a lawn with 'buried rock syndrome'
girlfromthegarden
17 years ago
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Comments (7)
yarddoctor
17 years agogirlfromthegarden
17 years agoRelated Discussions
West Texas bermudagrass lawn needs help!
Comments (64)I'm going to go ahead and resurrect this old post so hopefully someone can learn and hear from a different perspective from a professional. I would first like to mention, TexasWeed, I know who you are, I've read many of your post, and you have some knowledge. With all due respect, I respectively disagree with you in many aspects though. One of the paint points I disagree with you on, is you suggesting a SLOW RELEASE FERTILIZER in the original posters situation. While slow release fertilizers can be great in many areas, and especially in particular times of the year. This was not a great suggestion for the poster in my honest and fair opinion. Why? The poster is growing a lawn on sand. We know what that means. Lower CEC levels, and little nutrient holding power. Nutrients will never last as long in Sand. The same PPSCU, XCU, and Sulfur coated fertilizers that may claim 2-3 months, is not near the case for turf growing on Sand. Even for lawns growing on Clay such as myself here in Central Texas, many people fail to understand how "Slow Release" products work. Knowing the growth characteristics will put you far ahead of the game. Many PPSCU and various other slow release products contain coatings which are dependent on various factors. If you study these factors, most of these coatings are designed to be broken down with the main factor being "TEMPERATURE." Slow to release nutrients when cool, and they literally dump nutrients when soil temperatures are very warm. In Texas, this is the majority of the time, so what you get left with, is an over-priced bag of "Slow Release" that's dumping much quicker then "SLOW" due to high temperatures being exhibited. My approach, especially on dealing with "SAND" such as the poster is SPOON FEEDING quick release fertilizers. Bermuda especially, needs to be supplied adequate nitrogen for outstanding turf quality, density, and color. The goal is to feed the turf what it needs as it uses it. By doing so, the turf will continue to be fed, and the sandy soils that don't hold nutrients will continue to be ideal for the turf. The original poster had great improvements from doing 1/2 applications from Ammonia Sulfate every few weeks and this supports exactly what I'm saying. However, to the original poster, you are forgetting many important nutrients. A soil test will be MANDATORY for the perfect lawn. Without a soil test, I can't recommend phosphorus, I see enough of it around my parts of Texas. The problem is much of the phosphorus isn't available. Same with Potassium, except I consider this CRUCIAL. Your lawn needs potassium to aid in extreme temperatures and disease pressure such as what we have here in Texas. Potassium is a luxury consumption nutrient, meaning you put it down, the turf is going to use it, if in available form. Much of our potassium in our soils is NOT AVAILABLE when comparing from my recent soil test, to actual TISSUE TEST. Also, using 21-0-0 provides lots of Sulfur that will aid in bringing Texas's natural high pH down and will also aid in uptake up other nutrients, including our long lost Iron. If you've ever applied Iron in Texas, you'll notice, there might or might not be a response, if you get a response, it doesn't last. This is pH related and calls for using only CHLEATED IRON products which is much more usable and available to the turf in our area. If you want a usable mix, trust my word on this, try it, and come back to me and tell me you have the best lawn in the neighborhood after half a growing season. (You might have to source these products), but they are all available in Texas. Depending on your work schedule and free time you can adjust your rates and applications, but you need to apply in adequate water to avoid burn potential. Most likely, you will have to go with the lower spray rates and more often unless you have a high volume sprayer like we use that holds hundreds of gallons. Bermuda: Weekly Fertilizer Mix: .25N per 1,000 Sq. Feet (From Ammonia Sulfate 21-0-0) .25 (SOP) per 1,000 Sq. Feet (Potassium Sulfate) .50 ounces per 1,000 Sq. Feet (Micro nutrients with chleated Iron and mg and mn. The micro nutrient product is really important and will aid in giving your turf the color you are looking for. I (HIGHLY) suggest either using (FeATURE 6-0-0) by loveland products or Main Event Chleated Micro nutrients If you don't have the time to spoon feed your lawn weekly, you can adjust the rates, either double for bi-weekly, or multiply x 4 for monthly. Don't go longer then month long applications. The only catch is, 21-0-0 has burn potential. You will need at (MINIMUM) of 1 gallon of water per 8 ounces of 21-0-0 in your mix to avoid burn potential. Do not adjust the rates above, this mix is tried and true on Texas Turf and will leave you with the greenest lawn in the neighborhood. If you don't have a large enough sprayer with capability of putting out enough water volume, you're better sticking with granular fertilizers. We use 200+ gallon tanks, with walking booms for an even application. Nozzles on the sprayer are also important. We use TeeJet Air Induction and FloodJet tips to reduce drift, depending on the water needed for the application....See MorePlanting lawn in new/old area
Comments (26)do your neighbors have subsurface drip irrigation systems? Apparently, with SDI, if you do rototill in amendments, make sure to re-compact the soil nice and firm afterwards. If the soil is too loose and well draining, the SDI system might not work very well. Check out this link, about a third of the way down the page: http://www.jstryker.com/goofing/houselandscape/index.htm quote: "subsurface system on the lawn has been a disappointment. My lawn has had numerous dry spots that developed shortly after the sod was installed, and I have been unable to eliminate them by adjusting the water run times... I had used a similar product on commercial systems several years ago with success, so the problem is specific to my situation. It appears the problem is due to a combination of porous soil and insufficient soil compaction. The idea of the subsurface drip is that the water comes out of the emitters (holes) on the tubes and then it moves through the soil, by capillary action, up and sideways to wet the entire area. However the soil in my yard is very porous and was dug up to remove roots, so it was very loose. As previously noted we rototilled the soil to remix it and put a lot of organic amendments into it. After we aerated the soil we then compacted it to industry standards using a water-filled roller. We then installed the sod and compacted it again using the weighted roller. Unfortunately, while this is the normal procedure for installation of a new lawn, this apparently was not sufficient on our very porous soil to create enough contact between the soil particles to allow the water to move by capillary action.... ....the water is going straight down in the soil and only wetting the area directly below the tubes. I believe this is because the soil needs to be compacted a lot more firmly when using the subsurface system than occurs when using the standard weighted roller compaction method I used.... The lesson learned is that the subsurface drip system does not work well in porous, well-draining soils, and if it is to be used in a well drained soil it is important to over-compact the soil.... ....If your soil is less porous, then the subsurface drip system can work well. I have used it successfully on lawns in several locations, but in all those cases the soil was compacted using heavy tractor mounted compaction equipment."...See MoreCan/should I repair a damaged spot on the vine
Comments (5)If you want to be 100% sure it's not borer, you could take a knife and carefully slit the stem open to check. Either way, I would bury the damaged part of the stem so that it doesn't dry out and it will potentially form additional roots in that area. The danger of SVB and other damage to the stem is that water will be unable to be delivered from the roots to the end of the vine through the damaged stem. If you can encourage more roots to form further down the vine or near the site of the damage, water will have a clear path of delivery again. That is why many of the vine type squash are considered somewhat "resistent" to SVB, because they form roots at node sites, so even though a plant may be damaged by SVB, the plant doesn't die because the additional node roots keep the water flowing to the plant. Other squash are resistent because their vine is solid rather than hollow, and therefore a more difficult evironment for the SVB to settle into. Best of Luck! Susan...See MoreHow to create a beautiful lawn?
Comments (5)Glyphosate (an easy word to misspell) is the active ingredient in RoundUp, but it is also available in more generic branding. It kills everything eventually. Since you have 3 acres to work on, you might start slowly on the 1/4 acre nearest your house. Practice there this fall and keep the rest mowed down to 4 inches. If you try to seed now, the seed will die from the summer heat while the summer weed seeds will thrive. So if you want it green, just watering should do the trick. I wouldn't waste money on grass seed now only to watch it die in July. Then in the fall, do what becky suggests. And you can rake up the leaves now, compost them, and water any bare spots left under the leaves. Just treat the lawn like it's a perfect showplace. It's surprising how nice well watered and mowed weeds look. Do you have a preference for Scott's type of synthetic fertilizer or would you consider organic? Three acres is a lot of land to be just grass, Here are some alternatives to consider to reduce the amount of time you spend on lawn care... accent lighting in trees arbors (for vines) bamboo beds (perennials, annuals, bulbs, herbs, ferns, roses, hostas, container plants, rock, and fruits). bee keeping benches butterfly garden decks decorative gates (may be free standing) dog run or kennel edibles (veggies) fences (accent) fences (privacy) fountains fragrance garden gazebo greenhouse ground covers hedges herb garden hot tubs hummingbird garden Japanese garden jogging track moon garden (plants and lights for night time viewing) orchard ornamental grass garden other groundcovers out buildings (like sheds) outdoor theater overhead sunshades parcours (exercise stations) parking area party room (free standing for games, theater, pool table, etc.) patios picnic or barbecue area play yard for children ponds or garden pools pools potting bench or shed putting green rock garden rolling hills rose garden screened rooms (free standing) screens (foliage hedges or growing on a wire mesh) sitting or reading area sports courts statuary steps storage buildings sun room (free standing) swimming pools tool shed topiary trees (shade) trees (accent or decorative) tulip garden vining plant garden walkway (formal paved) walkway (informal path) walls (retaining) walls (accent or decorative) wildflowers Zen garden...See Moreyarddoctor
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