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Lawn renovation

6 years ago

Utah Lawn hasn’t been taken care of. Started watering and had someone come aerate, fertilize and overseed it with KBG and was told to water each section about 15 min and about 4 times a week. Just wondering if anyone har any other suggestions on anything else I can do to improve it and get it ready for Winter and then Spring?

Comments (5)

  • 6 years ago

    With the overseed, water it three times per day to get the seed to sprout--but only five or ten minutes at a time. It only has to be damped down, but seed has to remain damp or it dies quickly.


    Once sprouted (7 to 28 days; 28 if it has bluegrass in the mix, 7 if it's only fescue and rye) back off to once a day for 20 minutes for a week if the weather hasn't gotten chilly yet to let the roots grow in a bit. Then once every three days for a week. Then once every five days for a week (by this time, it's certainly getting colder) if it isn't raining that often. With dropping temps, the times probably don't have to be increased that much as long as you notice the soil is staying damp.


    Other than that, the gold standard of lawn care would be a Logan Labs or UMass soil test (Logan by preference), which I'll happily read for free. Others...I often won't have time to research, or will look at and tell you just how bad that test really was. :-)


    Feed four times yearly, if you can (three should be possible): Memorial Day, Labor Day, October 1, and the last one if the lawn is still green at the last mow, and that date is at least November 1st. That last one can be skipped if growth stops in October or the weather turned in October and the lawn is dormant. Barring a soil test that says otherwise, use a synthetic fertilizer with a high first number (nitrogen) and low second and third numbers. Or use any organic like soybean meal, cottonseed meal, or Milorganite at bag rate.


    Spot treat weeds with the appropriate Weed B Gon product (Clover, Chickweed and Oxalis, or their Crabgrass products are both pretty wide-spectrum). Some grassy weeds and oddball things may need a specialty product like Tenacity, but...


    We don't recommend Weed and Feed because it does both at the wrong time and in the wrong way. :-)


    And water, if you wish to, about an inch a week (test this with tuna cans; people guess their watering completely wrong) all at once if you can. In more arid locales, you may want to water 2/3" every 5 days or so, that's fine, too.

  • 6 years ago

    Looks like you have started the TLC, that’s going to take you a year or two. With winter approaching, glad you got the aeration and seeding and fert done. Thats pretty much all upkeep before winter hits. Water daily for a couple of weeks if its been just seeded unless you have been getting enough rain( doesnt look like it from ur pics). Starting spring, detatch your lawn in spring and then fert. In summer fert and mow frequently and keep the grass 3-4 inchs tall. It will recover and thicken quickly. If you live in a clay dense soil, then topping with a layer of compost every year or other year will help.

  • 6 years ago

    Northern Utah? Southern? If northern, then you have a neighbor who's quite a lawn guru. Search Google for "bpgreen lawn care" and don't let Google change it to "bp green". He used to be active on this forum, so you could search this forum, but he's currently active on another one. I'd link you but that violates the TOS. Google is pretty good. Back when he was on this forum he converted his bluegrass lawn to native grasses like wheatgrass and blue grama. It looks pretty good. Here's an old picture from this forum.


    The strawberry clover is there on purpose. If you find him on the other forum you can ask how it's doing now. He went with the natives to cut down on watering. He waters several times per YEAR starting about July. I think he mows it monthly.

  • 6 years ago

    @orion_hamal
    Yes I have clay. Should I aerate again and overseed again in spring?

  • 6 years ago

    See how it does with just fall aeration and fall overseeding. For zone 5 or so, fall if better time for those. If the grass is struggling, by the second year, then might benefit from twice a year.. the key lies in regular mowing tall in the growing season and as someone said natural fert 4 times a year.. like milorganite or something similar. Water deep and infrequently ingrowing season. Good luck with the lawn...