#7066849 - 05/13/13 04:33 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: titty sprinkles]
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LNXGUY
Tougher than Logan Roy
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 08/06/00
Posts: 107825
Loc: Barrie, Ont,
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Buy a bag of that Scotts coated shit.. if it doesn't grow, replace grass with 18x18 patio blocks and paint them green.
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-Bill The GN would OWN you, your children and your children's children. Left foot, right foot, just keep moving!!! -Jeffrey P. Murphy 
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#7066948 - 05/13/13 05:29 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: LNXGUY]
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The Postman
A-List Member also The Man
Post Master Sr
Registered: 02/13/02
Posts: 5069
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It takes about 30 days for the seeds to germinate. Its also been a bit cool and not really all that wet the past few weeks (not ideal), so it might take a bit longer to work. Ive done basically the same things you have and mine has barely grown at all. Topsoil, overseed and water once the weather gets warmer.
For weeds, I use a DIY mix of vinegar, salt, dish soap in a plastic bottle. Pull whatever weeds you can, and/or squirt the mix on whatever is left. It usually kills the weed within a day or so. The store bought stuff here in Canada is crap.
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#7067150 - 05/13/13 07:27 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: titty sprinkles]
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loudsubz
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 08/16/01
Posts: 11334
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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just be glad you get crab grass 
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#7067165 - 05/13/13 07:34 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: loudsubz]
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LNXGUY
Tougher than Logan Roy
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 08/06/00
Posts: 107825
Loc: Barrie, Ont,
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Fucking crab grass is taking over my lawn.
I need to over seed with some wild fescue and let that shit take over.
_________________________
-Bill The GN would OWN you, your children and your children's children. Left foot, right foot, just keep moving!!! -Jeffrey P. Murphy
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#7067177 - 05/13/13 07:39 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: loudsubz]
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The Postman
A-List Member also The Man
Post Master Sr
Registered: 02/13/02
Posts: 5069
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I'm not Portugese or Italian, so my grass advice isn't perfect lol.
Topsoil then over seed on top. I've been told to mix the seed in, but not cover it totally with the top soil as it won't grow. Over seeding shouldn't hurt but too much fertilizer will. I actually went out and spent $50 of one if those wheeled spreader things so the seed and fertilizer goes on even.
My DIY weed killer works great from my experience. I use a squirt type bottle, an empty dish soap bottle for example so it doesn't spray all over the place.
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#7067657 - 05/14/13 02:08 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: civic13]
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qwiksi
Member
Registered: 05/28/00
Posts: 877
Loc: North Pole
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I do seeds,top soil,then seeds again on top and it always works.
You can water it till your blue in the face(and your water bill hits $1000 a month),lawns need natural rain,the hose is good for a quick sprinkle just to keep the seeds moist.Throw some more seeds on there and try to rake it in the soil a bit and then throw more seeds on top and call it a day,birds prob ate all the seeds on top. As for weeds,you have to stay on top of them,as soon as you see one go pull it out asap because it you dont your grass will be 98% dandelions within days.Weed be gone works just dont do it if theres rain in the forcast otherwise it will just wash away.As for crab grass I use a thachting rake to pull them out
Yes im Italian and have beautilful grass 
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#7067720 - 05/14/13 06:57 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: qwiksi]
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Wildout
Post Master Jr
Registered: 11/26/07
Posts: 1767
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The easiest way with little effort Fuzzy is to go to the states and grab the real Weed B Gone with the pesticides in it. Weeds, crab grass dandelions etc will all shrivel up and die in 3 days. Spray it on & don't let any pets or kids on it for an 1hr and after that it'll dry to the leaves. Won't wash off after a heavy rain fall, watering etc. It won't harm the grass or grass seed. I grabbed mine from Home Depot in the states. You don't have to worry about it having pesticides as farmers here still use it on our foods.
As for growing the grass back to making it thick and green, your doing everything correct, but it'll take the rest of the summer if you don't put down some Scotts fertilizer. Manure, topsoil with fertilizer in it etc is good for building up your topsoil so that the grass has the cushy carpeted feeling/look when you walk on it which is good and holds more moisture in so that you don't have to water as often. So just grab some fertilizer and you'll be good to go in terms of growing back green healthy grass in a short period of time. More grass seed would only help you out, although the birds will eat it, lol.
Weed killer I use
Lawn Fertilzer
My lawn for example... I cut for the first time this year a week ago because my dog had trouble pooing since it was too high, lol. I haven't had the chance to do anything to it this year at all. I plan to take care of it over the long weekend.
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#7067917 - 05/14/13 08:52 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Wildout]
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Riskhe Business
Provides a Great Work Environment.
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 05/17/10
Posts: 45627
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Wildout, any thoughts on my situation?
I had an issue with my grass not growing due to shade. I recently put down scott's dense shade seed and some tripple mix (thin layer) after aerating the lawn. The grass is coming up, but it requires to be watered daily so I am going to put in an irrigation system.
Having said that, I put the rocks around the tree to hide the roots. I want to put something in there, was thinking 3-4 inches of top soil and 2 inches of mulch. Only problem is the maintenance required (mulching every year). Any thoughts on alternative like gravel maybe?
The seeding was done 1 week ago, when should I fertilize and what brand?
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#7067952 - 05/14/13 09:10 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Riskhe Business]
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Screamin' Type-R
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 02/20/01
Posts: 47928
Loc: T.O. - Canaduh
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^sounds like you need more lawn soil on your lawn, also dont cut the grass to often/soon, as grass (especially newly seeded/sprouted grass) needs deeper roots to grow faster and stronger. water water water is key, especially in our harsh summers (like last year). the rest of the stuff you did thus far sounds great though. use a nice lawn soil (i bought vigoro half price at home depot), dont use a cheap 'top soil' on it. mulch is not really needed for lawn, that's more for bare soil/base of trees to keep the moisture in.
it's been a 3 yr project for my lawn, it's small but needed help...and im proud to say it's one of the nicest on the street - i pretty much aerated every OTHER year thus far, i actually did the first one in autumn, then the next one the spring afterwards (nothing yet this year...ideally spring, but autumn is ok too).
i used decent LAWN soil, as my original grass/lawn was very thin...and had sunk spots in it. i originally overseeded in early spring (april) but i find that overseeding in autumn (say early Oct) works before, before the ground gets to cold...as the seeds sink in and take, with great sprouting in spring (ie. this year...lol my grass was ready to cut may 1st). even online many sites tell you overseed in autumn.
another reason for this - many folks will add a weed/feed in spring with grass seed, which is wrong. the 'weeding' aspect of the weed/feed fertilizer will kill off any chance of your grass seed growing, so it's a waste.
i find it's best to weed/feed in early spring...i waited until that hot week last week which was to late even! (then overseed with good grass seed in fall). as someone mentioned already, the "weed be gone" sprays seem to work best to kill off stuff, weed/feed pebbles dont see to work for me as well i find...or im just adding it to late?
honestly, the best thing to kill weed/dandylions is the shit the pros use...stuff ive used "helps" but can't kill them all. i still manually pluck the small amt of dandylions i get on my lawn itself. the bottom "government" part past the sidewalk is loaded with dandylions and some crabgrass/etc - so much so i dont even bother now lol. we get blowby from the school park up the road which lands all the seeds onto our bottom portion (myself and neighbours).
oh and winter fertilizer ive done the past two autumns (this is after the grass seeding), and i find it helps bigtime when spring comes around 
Edited by Screamin Babies (05/14/13 09:16 AM)
_________________________
 "Ban low performance drivers, not high performance cars"
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#7067963 - 05/14/13 09:26 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: civic13]
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porschetr
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 05/15/01
Posts: 23393
Loc: WBridge
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#7067978 - 05/14/13 09:35 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: porschetr]
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The Postman
A-List Member also The Man
Post Master Sr
Registered: 02/13/02
Posts: 5069
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Grubs fuck me. I found tons of those little fucker when pulling my weeds. No wonder my lawn is all brown. I just though they were little normal worms lol.
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#7068115 - 05/14/13 11:05 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Screamin' Type-R]
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civic13
Post Master
Registered: 04/18/01
Posts: 2658
Loc: You Know
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I tried the Green Earth Grub Busters Nematodes from crappy tire during that hot spell we had a few weeks ago. Hopefully that'll work.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/2/...s.jsp?locale=en
My front lawn is a mess...bare patches, lumpy, clovers, and other shit. Had two bags of those ez seeds left over from last year. put that shit on and we'll see how that does. But I think I need probably tones of topsoil to level the whole yard out and then over seed the fuck outta it.
My backyard is a different story. Dug all of it out and plan to re-sod. That was last year...or maybe two years ago..lol
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#7068543 - 05/14/13 02:27 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Screamin' Type-R]
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Wildout
Post Master Jr
Registered: 11/26/07
Posts: 1767
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Risky I posted in your OT thread so here's what I said there
I am going to run an irrigation system for sure and set it on timers as I don't have time for this. The mulch I don't mind.
So you are saying to add more top soil over some landscaping fabric and then 2-3 inches of mulch? How much of each should I be adding? I want to make sure it's good for the tree, i don't want to ruin it.
Yes add landscaping fabric around the tree's base, then an inch of top soil on top of the fabric, then add as much mulch as you desire to get the look you want. 2-3 inches is fine, but you may need more. It won't hurt anything and help hold in the water.
Since there's nothing you can do right now about the tree's roots other than cut them, to prevent them from pulling up more you need to throw some fertilizer down across the whole lawn, not just the base of the tree. Do it every 2 months along with your annual aeration, seeding & top soil and you'll be good. Do the aeration, topsoil, seeding & fertilizer once again in the fall and you'll have a beautiful low maintenance lawn next year.
The reason the roots are coming to the surface is because your soil has been compacted for too long, and the nutrients aren't reaching deep down. Since you already did the aeration, you just need fertilizer to speed up the process. I wouldn't put anymore topsoil down because your just wasting your money since it'll just wash away until the grass gets thicker to hold the soil together.
You don't need an irrigation system, the lawn just needs a help starting back up, then watering twice a week in our climate will be fine. 3 times on the hot drought days.
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#7068568 - 05/14/13 02:39 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Wildout]
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Wildout
Post Master Jr
Registered: 11/26/07
Posts: 1767
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Yah, I read corn-gluten is good.
Any recommendations on that type of fertilizer?
Also any recommendations on how thick you should lay down the topsoil??? 1,2,3"?
Any popular dry based fertilizer cil/scotts/vilago. Use the spreader, don't do it by hand lol.
As for topsoil it's good for maintained lawns 1-2", but if yours needs a lot of help its better to de-thatch & aerate then overseed & fertilizer.
Screamin any weed killer in Ontario sucks due to the regulations. I tried it for years along with weekly pulling of the weeds by hand. It was completely pointless, they came back in 3 days lol. So I sucked it up and went to the states and bought the real stuff (what farmers use here), I've sprayed it a total of one time over the entire lawn front & back and after that, no more weeds even though my neighbours have tons of them. The one neighbour got fed up and asked what I did and I told her, not her lawn is weed free too lol
Eff bending down and doing manual labour to kill them every week, now I just focus on cutting & edging, gotta figure out a easy way to edge though.
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#7068612 - 05/14/13 02:56 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Wildout]
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Screamin' Type-R
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 02/20/01
Posts: 47928
Loc: T.O. - Canaduh
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Yah, I read corn-gluten is good.
Any recommendations on that type of fertilizer?
Also any recommendations on how thick you should lay down the topsoil??? 1,2,3"? Any popular dry based fertilizer cil/scotts/vilago. Use the spreader, don't do it by hand lol. As for topsoil it's good for maintained lawns 1-2", but if yours needs a lot of help its better to de-thatch & aerate then overseed & fertilizer. Screamin any weed killer in Ontario sucks due to the regulations. I tried it for years along with weekly pulling of the weeds by hand. It was completely pointless, they came back in 3 days lol. So I sucked it up and went to the states and bought the real stuff (what farmers use here), I've sprayed it a total of one time over the entire lawn front & back and after that, no more weeds even though my neighbours have tons of them. The one neighbour got fed up and asked what I did and I told her, not her lawn is weed free too lol Eff bending down and doing manual labour to kill them every week, now I just focus on cutting & edging, gotta figure out a easy way to edge though.
ahhh, k, that'd be why they suck lol, figured as much. yeah i knew there was 'other' stuff to get, just not sure how or where. US based eh? shit must be craycray. well my lawn is tiny, so i dont mind picking them out, but fuck me it's killer work  as you said.
and +1 for spreader! mine's the adjustable hand held one, works very nice. or you can get a push style one for bigger lawns. i did it by hand my first time...had burnt marks all over the lawn  - i crop circled that shit 
nice to have learned shit over the years from trial+error, the net...and of all folks, a gardner from mongolia! (used his services a couple of times, and he taught me some good tips/tricks)
Edited by Screamin Babies (05/14/13 02:58 PM)
_________________________
"Ban low performance drivers, not high performance cars"
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#7068764 - 05/14/13 04:27 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: Wildout]
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civic13
Post Master
Registered: 04/18/01
Posts: 2658
Loc: You Know
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Yah, I read corn-gluten is good.
Any recommendations on that type of fertilizer?
Also any recommendations on how thick you should lay down the topsoil??? 1,2,3"? Any popular dry based fertilizer cil/scotts/vilago. Use the spreader, don't do it by hand lol. As for topsoil it's good for maintained lawns 1-2", but if yours needs a lot of help its better to de-thatch & aerate then overseed & fertilizer.
So no topsoil? My front is very patchy, bumpy/uneven, and the tree roots are showing a bit. So I thought I could throw some TS on...about an inch maybe and then seed.
What's your thought on the Scott's coated seeds and the sun/shade mix?
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#7068917 - 05/14/13 05:48 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: civic13]
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xza8
Sr Member
Registered: 12/18/09
Posts: 1065
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Remove the grass
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#7070161 - 05/15/13 10:53 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: xza8]
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The Postman
A-List Member also The Man
Post Master Sr
Registered: 02/13/02
Posts: 5069
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I think we really just need some appropriate growing weather too. I weeded, topsoiled, seeded and fertilized last Thursday. With the rain and bit of sun we have had over the past week, my lawn looks pretty good.
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#7070249 - 05/15/13 11:27 AM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: The Postman]
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Wildout
Post Master Jr
Registered: 11/26/07
Posts: 1767
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Yah, I read corn-gluten is good.
Any recommendations on that type of fertilizer?
Also any recommendations on how thick you should lay down the topsoil??? 1,2,3"? Any popular dry based fertilizer cil/scotts/vilago. Use the spreader, don't do it by hand lol. As for topsoil it's good for maintained lawns 1-2", but if yours needs a lot of help its better to de-thatch & aerate then overseed & fertilizer. So no topsoil? My front is very patchy, bumpy/uneven, and the tree roots are showing a bit. So I thought I could throw some TS on...about an inch maybe and then seed. What's your thought on the Scott's coated seeds and the sun/shade mix?
No topsoil is good, just don't do it again if you've already done it. It'll just wash away if your grass is really thin, since there's nothing there to hold it.
So do a a good de-thatch, aerate & toss some seed & fertilizer down and you'll be good to go. You can add top soil into that mix if you want it won't hurt anything, but it does get costly to completely do the front and back with 1-2" of topsoil.
Scott's coated sun/shade mix is perfect, or even the non-coated. It's what I use.
I think we really just need some appropriate growing weather too. I weeded, topsoiled, seeded and fertilized last Thursday. With the rain and bit of sun we have had over the past week, my lawn looks pretty good.
I love the rain the last two weeks we've gotten as usually by now I'm done all the lawn work I need to do as it just helps everything along faster. Why I waited till upcoming long weekend to do this shit I dunno. I should of at least thrown some fertilizer down bah!
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#7070533 - 05/15/13 01:36 PM
Re: help with my lawn....ver. can't grow grass/weeds
[Re: civic13]
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Screamin' Type-R
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 02/20/01
Posts: 47928
Loc: T.O. - Canaduh
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usually a good grass seed with top top/lawn soil and watering should be fine. if you lawn needs help/kickstart and is in bad shape, then maybe some fert. wont hurt (just take it easy as you dont want to burn the lawn).
like wildout mentinoed in his above post, follow that and you'd be good. also coated grass seed is not really required....gimmicky more than anything.
i used to buy that topsoil, still do just to fill anything dug out by my dog in the wifey's garden. it isn't ideal but it'll do if you're on a budget...you'll notice it's not as soft/moist and has lots of small bits/twig type things in it. as i mentioned above, if trying to get your lawn into shape, i prefer a true Lawn Soil...ie. the HD one was 2.59 or 2.99/bag instead of $5-something...but again small lawn so i can manage that. if you need tons then maybe use the cheaper stuff.
also, if you REALLY need a lot, you can get a huge sack of soil dropped off at your house lol, i've seen more than a few folks use this method and it seems to work out nicely for the cost. then you can cover off your front and back yards.
http://www.fairgreensod.com/Soil.html
lol csi, forget cars, here for all your gardening needs!!!!111
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