grass :p

[spongebob lover]

ok doods please tell me your secrets .

how do you keep or what do you do to mantain a grass green?
our grass looks green but some parts look like it's turning goldish .
do you guys feed your grass anything?
do you water your grass everyday?

the husband said that we have to water the grass everyday if we want to keep it green or greener, but to be honest i feel like i'm the only nut one throwing water at the grass with a hose (we don't have sprinklers :lol: ) and going with a bottle of weed killer all over place :lol:

so any ideas on what you throw at your grass would be helpful

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Grass requires good deep rich alkaline soil, lots of water, nutrients. Grass grows in prairies. Here in the N/W wh have forest land, here we grow moss. Unless you want to add Iron, limestone and fertilize every year or twice a year and water frequently, it will look mediocre at best. Plant a garden, grow some tomatoes instead, lawns are a total waste unless you are raising a nice succulent goat...

 

[bighitrider45]

i would say (im no ecpert..or am i?) bu anyways i would say that you should go to home depot or somplace like that and get a sprinkler that rotates or somthing that attaches to your hose and let it run for a few hours every day,oh andmy grass isnt grren but thats because I have a dog that poops an peesall the time, so that might be your problem, if u have a dog.

 

[spongebob lover]

Grass requires good deep rich alkaline soil, lots of water, nutrients. Grass grows in prairies. Here in the N/W wh have forest land, here we grow moss. Unless you want to add Iron, limestone and fertilize every year or twice a year and water frequently, it will look mediocre at best. Plant a garden, grow some tomatoes instead, lawns are a total waste unless you are raising a nice succulent goat

hmm i goat would be nice.... i guess i could milk it and have it as my lawnmower :lol: .
ya i know grass here is a joke, but i look at my neighbours yard and their grass is so freaking pretty and green that makes my yard look like a joke .
i'm not good at plants dood... i really tried hard to do it, but the whole worms, spiders....specially spiders made me say ... there's no way in hell i'll do flowers

i would say (im no ecpert..or am i?) bu anyways i would say that you should go to home depot or somplace like that and get a sprinkler that rotates or somthing that attaches to your hose and let it run for a few hours every day,oh andmy grass isnt grren but thats because I have a dog that poops an peesall the time, so that might be your problem, if u have a dog.

ya that's what we've been thinking about, we don't have a dog so no one to poop around .

 

[Damsel13]

Don't do goat. there is actually a thread on here about grass and goats... actually it is in a fish tank though . I think Mojo participated.

 

[Brenden]

Try planting other plants around your grass to camouflage it. If you don't black helicopters with men in funny suits carrying guns will land and steal your grass. :badgrin:

 

[spongebob lover]

Try planting other plants around your grass to camouflage it. If you don't black helicopters with men in funny suits carrying guns will land and steal your grass.

i see, can i put bushes instead? also i noticed that we got a snail problem (cheese i wish i had the same problem with my tank :lol: ) somehow we got tons of snails eating the plants :shock: , any ideas on what should i do?
i've seen snail killer, but do they work? or what should i do?

 

[Krish]

ROFL! Jon is a grass expert (burning2nd) but I doubt it's the same type:shock: :lol:

 

[spongebob lover]

i've seen in some restaurants they serve a drink of grass

 

[NaH2O]

i see, can i put bushes instead? also i noticed that we got a snail problem (cheese i wish i had the same problem with my tank :lol: ) somehow we got tons of snails eating the plants :shock: , any ideas on what should i do?
i've seen snail killer, but do they work? or what should i do?

Ugh - I hate slugs and snails in a garden. I'm always happy though to see snakes and lizards. I know they're over there eating something

Gaby - check this out and give it a try for your snail problem: DIY Garden Snail traps

As far as your lawn goes, we have a lawn company come out and do our fertilizing, weed killer applications, grub stuff, aeration, etc. whenever each thing is supposed to be done. There are time frames on some of this stuff. If the lawn is bad, then it might be next year before you have a noticable difference. Go to the library and check out a book or two on Lawn-Care. It might help you take care of the lawn, and you can purchase the items you'll need at Home Depot/Lowes/Ace, etc.

The frequency of watering your grass depends on your soil and weather. Sandy soils dry out more then heavy soils do, so more watering is needed in those areas. I just pulled out a book on lawn care and here are a couple of quotes on watering:

There are no exact rules governing the frequency of watering. As a simple guide, water once a week under ordinary dry conditions. In abnormally hot weather or on free-draining soil this can be increased to twice a week, and in cool weather it can be decreased to every 10 days.

The guiding principle is to allow the lawn to dry out to some extent between waterings so as to let air in and stimulate deep root development. Sprinkling every day or two is bad practice - it will lead to the spread of moss and pearlwort and the production of a shallow rooting system.

Watering must never be used merely to dampen the surface - this will do more harm than good. The ground should be soaked toa depth of at least 4 in.

Check out this website and see if it helps you. Or just search lawn care in your favorite search engine. http://www.yardcare.com/

edit: I just found this in the link above - go to your region to see more tips on lawn care where you live

In the Pacific Northwest, morning is the best time to water your lawn. Our cool summer nights invite disease problems on lawns that are watered in the evening or at night.

 

[spongebob lover]

awesome Nikki !!! ... again Nikki saves the day .
i didn't know about snails loving beer... but that's awesome !! .
i'll look for a library around this neighbourhood and see what they got but mainly i'll see if lowes or home depot have a few books on these gardening things just because i'd like to keep a few books hehe.

 

[LottaRox]

How did I miss this? Sorry to chime in late....I love garden raving, I'm not nuts, just passionate about it.

What is the obsession with keeping plants that don't want to grow here? HereFishy is right. The light, pH, and nutrient levels are all wrong for us to be keeping lawns. I would suggest trying eco-lawn or eco-turf. It really cuts down on the maintenance. I hate mowing so I may be biased. I collect too many trees, shrubs and perennial plants to afford space for lawn and if I want to look at lawn, well everyone else has it.

SBLvr, if you must keep lawn, I can help.

How old is your lawn?
Was it seeded or sodded? Has it been overseeded lately?
How many hours of direct sun does it get late June/early July?
Any moss? Stringy or clumpy?
What kind of weeds do you have growing in it?
How long have the yellow patches been there? Check out IPM on this site to see if you have a problem with Crane fly larvae AKA leather jackets. http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Yard/Natural_Lawn_&_Garden_Care/Natural_Lawn_Care/index.asp
What has changed?
-Do you have a new puppy? Active kids? Rogue mole? Was there big lumps of snow on those yellow spots during this winter? LOL-Are you emptying your skimmer cup on it to reclaim the nutrients?
How do you use the lawn? Wear and tear-Just watch it grow or play rugby on it?
What's the current maintenance of it?
-water (frequency/duration), fert, lime, aerate, de-thatch, moss-control, weed-control, pest-control.
What is the soil like in that area? New topsoil over glacial till, mostly clay?

We really don't need to water just yet, its been a pretty cool spring so far but I'd see what the texture (% of sand, silt, clay) and structure(the arrangements of those particles) of your soil is before you go nuts on the water this summer. You can always take a sample of it to a Master Gardener Clinic and they can look at it for you free of charge. There is a pretty good debate in the local hort circles about letting your lawn go dormant for the summer vs. keeping it green. Not to mention the water restrictions the last few years.

Seeing as you're in Everett, chances are pretty good that you live on the same cruddy clay that everyone else has around here. Don't add sand, you'll end up with concrete and then you'll really have water movement issues.

If you weren't considering eco-turf b4, I'll bet you look into it now. LOL! Oh, and there's also that fake lawn that has recently hit the market. Fuzzier than astro-turf but still feels weird (kinda plasticky looks great though, no yellow spots). Hope I can help, I know that those are a lot of questions but believe it or not it will help figure out what's wrong, how to fix it, and hopefully make it easier to take care of.

I'd avoid the weed-n-feed type products. The feed is highly soluble, washes away with our rain and the weed doesn't become active 'til the soil temps are up around 50-55, weeds get the jump start. Not to mention the chronic exposure related health issues. Healthy soil and turf will resist weeds, pests and disease. (Boy, this is starting to sound familiar.) Look into an organic pre-emergent treatment or spot treat with non-selective herbacide. The products containing acetic acid and clove or cinnamon oils are good, and safe if you go to play on the lawn after 24 hrs. I'd watch the minimum active temps on the glysophate products(round-up, etc.) as they are the most effective when air temps are 70+ and it doesn't rain for a couple of days after application. Again health concerns with the glysophate. Read the label, suit up. It's the long term exposure to read up on....scary.

I can't contribute much on the reef side so there's my .02 about ornamental turf grass.

My favorite tools for dealing with slugs and snails is a pair of chopsticks and a jar of old tank water. FIZZZzzzzz. That or the flameweeder, they bbq up pretty good. They're cannibals ya know, smush one and the next morning 20 of his buddies are scraping him off the sidewalk. Happy hunting.