The 2020 Lesco & Lawn Thread

[OceanStWx]

1 hour ago, PowderBeard said:

If it is well above 7 then spreading ammonium sulfate or sulfur-urea are decent and also help out nitrogen levels prior to seeding. A lot less work too. I wouldn't seed right after putting down given the fast release N might be too much for seedlings. 

 

https://www.seedworldusa.com/products/ammonium-sulfate-21-0-0-granular-fertilizer-50-lbs?variant=35959584977&currency=USD&utm_campaign=gs-2018-11-14&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy6CX0ZrF6QIVA9vACh0dbADBEAQYBCABEgJ8YPD_BwE

That's why I want to run the soil test first, but all signs pointing towards at least slightly alkaline at the moment. 

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

13 hours ago, PowderBeard said:

Trying to level areas or just topdress? 

Both but more top dressing. I’m going to core aerate in the fall and topdress my acidic lawn. Just getting fed up with the battle of my shit soil. I’ve limed it several times the past two years...no improvements. I’m running anywhere from 4-5 on the ph scale in certain spots.

[moneypitmike]

21 hours ago, PowderBeard said:

Trying to level areas or just topdress? 

What and how much did you put down when? What do you want to do for weed control/what issues do you have?

 

I had used some starter fertizer (I had overseeded in the back) over a month ago.  The back in particular has a lot of leafy crap growing in it.  So, I was thinking some type of weed/feed might do the trick.  Or some broad-leaf weed stuff.  I think there's a mix of crap I'm trying to rid.  Forutnatley, I don't think crabgrass is an issue.

[TheBudMan]

Had a bunch of work done on my house over the last several months that dug up the lawn.  Spread 20 yards of screened loam last weekend then 40 lbs of seed Sunday night.  Soil temp is good but obviously bone dry.  Trying to water 2x a day and hoping the seed will take.   Could sure use a wheel of rhea right about now   

[Baroclinic Zone]

On 5/20/2020 at 8:06 PM, Baroclinic Zone said:

Reminder that I need to drop 2nd round.

Dropped round 2.  Round 3 in July.

[dendrite]

Gonna try the hortimulch from dirt doctors, in CON, on top of my garden beds this year. It’s a blend of aged spruce, fir, and hemlock mulch mixed with compost. After seeing how it looks I may spread it around the shrubs too. Good stuff.

[dendrite]

And oh yeah, we pawpaw...

 

And the american chestnut tree out in the back woods of my yard is leafing out. If you click and zoom you can see how much skinnier the leaves are compared to the beech tree on the left in the 2nd picture. It’s getting to be that size where the blight should start becoming a problem. The tree is developing some slight furrows near the bottom. 
 

[BrianW]

I had 2 100+ year old green ash trees that I have been treating with a soil drench of insecticide against EAB for the last 5 years. One didn't make it and the canopy completely died so I had it cut down last fall and the other one trimmed. I counted the rings on the stump and it was over 100 years old.

The arborist from the tree company said he has seen some older ash show some resistance to EAB. Every single Ash has been completely killed around here from the Emerald Ash Borer.

Nice to see this one still hanging in there. It's such a cool looking tree. It was also cool to see the shoot from the old stump come up this spring. 

[dendrite]

Supposedly blue ash has shown the most resistance to EAB, but unfortunately that’s not native to New England. I have a bunch of ash growing here that hasn’t succumbed yet.

[BrianW]

22 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Supposedly blue ash has shown the most resistance to EAB, but unfortunately that’s not native to New England. I have a bunch of ash growing here that hasn’t succumbed yet.

I have been using a bottle of Dominion 2l that cost like 25$. Depending on the tree size its really cheap to treat them. The other Ash tree was like 2500$ to cut down so it seems worth it. 

I read last year they genetically modified american chestnuts against the blight. I thought I read they were going to have them available soon. I am going to have the ash stump removed and plant another tree. Will have to look into doing a chestnut if they are available.

[dendrite]

4 hours ago, BrianW said:

I have been using a bottle of Dominion 2l that cost like 25$. Depending on the tree size its really cheap to treat them. The other Ash tree was like 2500$ to cut down so it seems worth it. 

I read last year they genetically modified american chestnuts against the blight. I thought I read they were going to have them available soon. I am going to have the ash stump removed and plant another tree. Will have to look into doing a chestnut if they are available.

Yeah that was a post from me. They the need FDA/govt okay before they can release them since they are technically GMO...even if it’s only 1 gene altered out of 40k. Rumor is they’re hoping for the green light next spring. I’m on the waiting list to get one. They recommend that you have one growing on your property so that it can pollinate the transgenic tree when it starts producing flowers. That gives the nuts genetic diversity and only half of the nuts will carry the blight resistant gene. 
 

Go Native Trees has some for sale right now. Gene and I have gotten chestnut trees from them before. I direct seeded some last year as well and I think those will perform better. 
 

https://www.gonativetrees.com/american-chestnut/

[BrianW]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Yeah that was a post from me. They the need FDA/govt okay before they can release them since they are technically GMO...even if it’s only 1 gene altered out of 40k. Rumor is they’re hoping for the green light next spring. I’m on the waiting list to get one. They recommend that you have one growing on your property so that it can pollinate the transgenic tree when it starts producing flowers. That gives the nuts genetic diversity and only half of the nuts will carry the blight resistant gene. 
 

Go Native Trees has some for sale right now. Gene and I have gotten chestnut trees from them before. I direct seeded some last year as well and I think those will perform better. 
 

https://www.gonativetrees.com/american-chestnut/

Thats right I think I read that here. 

I have been tempted to plant a Tulip Poplar. They can get insanely big. I don't think they grow north of the CT coastline. 

 This one is around the corner from me and there are a few saplings in the ground nearby. It has to be 150+ years old. 

[dendrite]

There’s tulip poplars in VT and MA. I got one from Go Native trees a few years ago and it’s doing well in the back yard. It just needs a stake to straighten it out a bit. I’ll get a pic of it later. 
 

If you want to try something from scratch you can try getting seeds from Sheffield seeds and germinating them yourself. I’ve direct seeded some tree seeds from them. I just find it superior to pot growing and then transplanting. I’m trying air pots right now to see if the fibrous root pruning claims are as good as they say they are. 
 

edit... there it is. It should be pretty easy to straighten out.

[moneypitmike]

Pictures are better than reality.  

[S&P]

13 hours ago, moneypitmike said:

Pictures are better than reality.  

Nice , I prefer to use a spray on broadleaf weed killer only, rather then combining with fertilizer. In reference to an earlier question you had about treating broad leaf weeds. This way you don’t have to worry about timing.

[Ginx snewx]

On 5/22/2020 at 9:16 PM, dendrite said:

And oh yeah, we pawpaw...

 

And the american chestnut tree out in the back woods of my yard is leafing out. If you click and zoom you can see how much skinnier the leaves are compared to the beech tree on the left in the 2nd picture. It’s getting to be that size where the blight should start becoming a problem. The tree is developing some slight furrows near the bottom. 
 

Did those seeds ever germinate 

[moneypitmike]

6 hours ago, S&P said:

Nice , I prefer to use a spray on broadleaf weed killer only, rather then combining with fertilizer. In reference to an earlier question you had about treating broad leaf weeds. This way you don’t have to worry about timing.

Thanks--timing notwithstanding, does a broad-leaf fertilizer work as well?

[moneypitmike]

I went to buy a blower for my post-mowing clean up.  I ended up coming back with a nice back-pack blower instead.  I'm ready for fall clean-up.

[dendrite]

6 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

Did those seeds ever germinate 

We wait. They came out of the fridge about 10 days ago.

[dendrite]

8 minutes ago, moneypitmike said:

I went to buy a blower for my post-mowing clean up.  I ended up coming back with a nice back-pack blower instead.  I'm ready for fall clean-up.

Nice. I did the whole yard last fall with a backpack. Fun stuff.

[moneypitmike]

I rented a lawn edger for the weekend. It did a pretty good job on the front walkway, probably added close to a foot of width and I didn't break any pavers in the process.  The edge around the city sidewalk is a different story.  The yard had really spilled onto the side walk so while the edge did a fairly good job at separating cement from the yard, I now need to go back through and clear the overgrowth that is sill on the sidewalk. 

The funny thing is i used a snow shovel to pick up the stuff that l used the blower for, and for clearing the sidewalk, I'm going to try using an ice scraper.  I didn't need these in January and February, but Memorial Day weekend?  Break out the winter equipment.

[S&P]

17 hours ago, moneypitmike said:

Thanks--timing notwithstanding, does a broad-leaf fertilizer work as well?

Depends on what you use. I haven’t used the fert in a while so not sure what the process is, but in past you had to apply when wet and ensure it didn’t rain with8n a certain time period. There was also the risk of over application and burning the lawn. So yes as effective, but lots of moving parts . Spray is kind of dummy proof.

[dendrite]

Anyone have any recommendations on a gas powered brush cutter? I want to wipe out a lot of this buckthorn. Some of it is 1-2” diameter, but I suppose I could lop the biggest ones.

[forkyfork]

maybe turf grass doesn't belong here and that's why it's so much work to keep it alive

[moneypitmike]

10 hours ago, dendrite said:

Anyone have any recommendations on a gas powered brush cutter? I want to wipe out a lot of this buckthorn. Some of it is 1-2” diameter, but I suppose I could lop the biggest ones.

I had rented one from Taylor rental.....pretty much a one-and-done deal when I needed it.

[dendrite]

Neighbors had a huge fireworks show last night and this morning I have a crap ton of debris in my backyard and woods. Yeah, it’s pretty, but why do they allow this crap again?

[Baroclinic Zone]

5 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Neighbors had a huge fireworks show last night and this morning I have a crap ton of debris in my backyard and woods. Yeah, it’s pretty, but why do they allow this crap again?

That sucks.  We had a neighbor behind us shoot off some around 3pm, which set of our dog.  He's hates fireworks.

[dendrite]

7 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

That sucks.  We had a neighbor behind us shoot off some around 3pm, which set of our dog.  He's hates fireworks.

My cats and chickens were petrified and hiding. 

[klw]

39 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Neighbors had a huge fireworks show last night and this morning I have a crap ton of debris in my backyard and woods. Yeah, it’s pretty, but why do they allow this crap again?

Live free or die.

 

Worst I have ever had it was the summer of 03.  We were living in W. Warwick RI at the time.  The neighborhood sounded almost like a warzone on July 4.  The dogs were manic.  Making it hard to understand was that we lived about 4 blocks from the Station Nightclub and the fire had just been about 4 months earlier.  Only having one neighbor within a half a mile has lessened this issue.

 

[Ginx snewx]

34 minutes ago, dendrite said:

My cats and chickens were petrified and hiding. 

3 of my dogs shake uncontrollably so we have to keep the music blaring and windows closed during fireworks nights. For our littlest guy we have a natural sedative we give because he totally freaks out. I am all set with fireworks. Public displays are great,  yahoo's setting off quarter sticks not so much.