Lawn Thread - MEGA

[90_Shelby]

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Any suggestions for fertilizer during the summer or pick a decent one that's on sale and call it a day?

I usually pick one that’s priced in the middle, not the cheapest but not necessarily the most expensive. I usually fertilize twice through the summer, and I water regularly. If I see a section of grass getting a bit more brown then the rest of the lawn, I increase the time that I water that section. A few spots in my yard get a lot of sun or they’re under spruce trees so I water these spots much more then the rest.

[suntan]

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Any suggestions for fertilizer during the summer or pick a decent one that's on sale and call it a day?

Spruce It Up sells one that's suited for Calgary. Has a lot of P.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Any suggestions for fertilizer during the summer or pick a decent one that's on sale and call it a day?

I buy Scott's when it's on sale.
I used to have more experience with Evergro and it looks like Nutrien owns them, now. So maybe that's a more "locally" supporting fert, if that floats your boat. At least it's proper, uniform prills instead of that mess of Scott's dust.

[littledan]

I'm trying this out at the moment. The dandelions love it so far. Its eco-green so I get carbon offset credits to use against my future v8 vehicles.

https://www.scotts.com/en-ca/product...wn-food-27-0-4

[88CRX]

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Spruce It Up sells one that's suited for Calgary. Has a lot of P.

Its called 'Green it up' and its what I just used for the first time. I've always just used the cheap Scotts shit from Home Depot. We'll see if it makes any difference.

Edit: When I spread it I noticed that its not dusty at all and the pebbles were significantly larger then the normal Scotts stuff (which was always quite dusty as noted above).

[Kg810]

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Watering everyday got my lawn through the heat wave.

I had a lot of winter kill in the newly planted garden and had to replant a number of shrubs and plants as well.

Nice work man! Lawn is looking lush.

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Any suggestions for fertilizer during the summer or pick a decent one that's on sale and call it a day?

You could do a soil test to see what you are lacking or you could just find something with a good amount of nitrogen, potassium and iron.

[suntan]

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Its called 'Green it up' and its what I just used for the first time. I've always just used the cheap Scotts shit from Home Depot. We'll see if it makes any difference.

Edit: When I spread it I noticed that its not dusty at all and the pebbles were significantly larger then the normal Scotts stuff (which was always quite dusty as noted above).

Cool, it has a name. My FIL buys it and he says it's the best stuff he's ever used by a country mile. He can never remember what it's called though Just "the stuff with the high middle number"

- - - Updated - - -

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Nice work man! Lawn is looking lush.



You could do a soil test to see what you are lacking or you could just find something with a good amount of nitrogen, potassium and iron.

You also need phosphorus here because of our alkaline soil.

[Kg810]

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You also need phosphorus here because of our alkaline soil.

I would say phosphorus is less of a priority during summer when you're trying to keep the grass green and manage heat/drought stress rather than promote root growth and/or germinate new seed. Phosphorus is best for Spring/Fall.

I think putting down more phosphorus to a heavy clay based soil isn't going to do much good either. You're probably better off getting a soil test done to see where the deficiencies are and where your pH level is and adjust those accordingly. There may be more than enough phosphorus in our clay soil, but it's bound to other elements (ex. calcium) rendering it unusable (ex. calcium phosphate). So rather than putting down more and potentially having that also be bound up, you'll actually unlock your usable phosphorus if you get your pH level lower.

[Disoblige]

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I would say phosphorus is less of a priority during summer when you're trying to keep the grass green and manage heat/drought stress rather than promote root growth and/or germinate new seed. Phosphorus is best for Spring/Fall.

I think putting down more phosphorus to a heavy clay based soil isn't going to do much good either. You're probably better off getting a soil test done to see where the deficiencies are and where your pH level is and adjust those accordingly. There may be more than enough phosphorus in our clay soil, but it's bound to other elements (ex. calcium) rendering it unusable (ex. calcium phosphate). So rather than putting down more and potentially having that also be bound up, you'll actually unlock your usable phosphorus if you get your pH level lower.

Can you just take care of my lawn for me?

[killramos]

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Can you just take care of my lawn for me?

This seems to be the correct answer from what I am hearing

[suntan]

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I would say phosphorus is less of a priority during summer when you're trying to keep the grass green and manage heat/drought stress rather than promote root growth and/or germinate new seed. Phosphorus is best for Spring/Fall.

I think putting down more phosphorus to a heavy clay based soil isn't going to do much good either. You're probably better off getting a soil test done to see where the deficiencies are and where your pH level is and adjust those accordingly. There may be more than enough phosphorus in our clay soil, but it's bound to other elements (ex. calcium) rendering it unusable (ex. calcium phosphate). So rather than putting down more and potentially having that also be bound up, you'll actually unlock your usable phosphorus if you get your pH level lower.

It is impossible to lower soil pH for any length of time that matters. Most of Calgary sits on limestone. Your bag of sulphur is useless against the bedrock.

Root growth is extremely important. It lets the grass get moisture from deeper depths.

[Kg810]

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Can you just take care of my lawn for me?

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This seems to be the correct answer from what I am hearing

Lol I'm still learning and improving like many of you guys. I'm just really addicted to learning what works and what doesn't. I used to hate lawn work, but so far it's been quite rewarding and therapeutic despite being frustrating at times.

[Disoblige]

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... but so far it's been quite rewarding and therapeutic despite being frustrating at times.

Sounds good. Let me know what time you can swing by on a weekly basis. You're welcome to do more than once a week if you feel like it will be more rewarding and therapeutic.

All good man, no need to thank me or compensate with beer.

[90_Shelby]

Soil tests, PH levels, fancy fertilizers, none of this matters if the lawn isn't watered enough and I'd argue that's what matters most in Calgary.

My lawn was brown and in very rough shape when I moved in 7-8 years ago and I've done the following:

- aerated once or twice in this timeframe
- power rake in the spring
- never top dressed the grass
- I've applied some seed where the grass was completely dead
- never tested the soil or checked the Ph
- I fertilize twice a year and never paid attention to the number on the bag
- I water at least 2-3 times a week (20-30 minutes), more if it's really dry, less if it rains, but always the spots that don't get hit by rain or dry out due to trees.
- Mow once a week
- I haven't sprayed for weeds in 2 years but I will pick the odd big one. (I will likely spray for weeds again this year if I find time.

I don't think it's rocket science to get a green lawn, but you should fertilize at least once a year and you must water it multiple times a week.

[ExtraSlow]

Giving a shit about your lawn will make the biggest difference.

[Kg810]

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It is impossible to lower soil pH for any length of time that matters. Most of Calgary sits on limestone. Your bag of sulphur is useless against the bedrock.

Root growth is extremely important. It lets the grass get moisture from deeper depths.

I agree that you won't be changing your soil pH permanently with a bag of elemental sulfur, but you can introduce practices to your lawn program to gradually adjust your lawn's pH which will require yearly maintenance to keep it from getting too high again.

But unless your entire lawn is close to 8.0 pH I probably wouldn't bother.

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Sounds good. Let me know what time you can swing by on a weekly basis. You're welcome to do more than once a week if you feel like it will be more rewarding and therapeutic.

All good man, no need to thank me or compensate with beer.

hahah oh man, thanks, how generous.


But yes basically what Shelby and ES said, water and giving a shit about your lawn is the key haha.

This is my first full season of managing the lawn since moving in Sept 2018. I didn't do much heading into Winter of 2018 aside from the occasional mow.

2019 had some renos going on during the entire summer and wasn't able to manage the lawn, which presented a ton of weed issues since I'm backed onto natural green space. Once I moved back in the entire time I had left with the 2019 season was battling Canadian Thistle, Dandelions, Quack Grass, Clumping TF, White Clover, Goat's Beard and a variety of wild flowers.

This season I've done
- Two core aeration (hired someone the first time late April, second time did it myself manually mid June)
- Power Rake (Late April) and light manually dethatch (mid June)
- Applied first application of Tenacity start of May
- First application of micro algae and liquid aerator
- Spot sprayed several spots where Thistle popped up again and clusters of dandelion in early June
- First blanket spray of Roundup of the natural overgrowth behind my fence
- Scalped, overseeded with Perennial Ryegrass (I wanted fast germination and establishment) after the previous spot spraying took effect and put down second app of Tenacity along with starter fert second week of June
- Second micro algae and liquid aerator application
- Ripped out a dying tree on my front lawn and two perennials and then overseeded with the same Perennial Ryegrass early-mid June
- June 21st I laid down 14 rolls of KBG sod in between my house and the neighbor's house where his kids trampled over the grass and applied a couple strips to the front lawn area where ground squirrels decided to fuck shit up when I was away in the 2019 season.
- Watered like hell almost every other day with the occasional syringing on hot days since the second week of June
- Second blanket spray of Roundup behind my fence
- Did my first mow of the overseeded grass July 3rd
- Put down a touch of a 24-8-15 fert July 4th before the rain

Pretty happy with the germination and green up despite going through two rough heat weeks.

June 5

June 28


June 19 and July 6 comparison


July 3rd mowjob


June 21 and July 6 comparison

[Disoblige]

Is that a dwarf Alberta spruce on the July 3rd mow job on the right?
I have a similar issue but I've been slowly bringing it back. Put in fertilizer sticks last fall and been watering it regularly this year.

[Kg810]

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Is that a dwarf Alberta spruce on the July 3rd mow job on the right?
I have a similar issue but I've been slowly bringing it back. Put in fertilizer sticks last fall and been watering it regularly this year.

Yeah, when I moved in it was literally half dead and I have two of them. I think it's struggling to fight off insects so I've been applying some insecticidal soap and trying to water it a bunch. It's slowly coming back to life.

[littledan]

When your neighbour doesn't even lawn, bro.

[Brent.ff]

Little checkerboard action