Probably The 13th Lawn Thread 2022

[Baroclinic Zone]

5 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Effing chipmunks are eating my tomatoes. Anybody have a good trick to repel them?

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/animals/chipmunk-control.htm#:~:text=Common chipmunk repellents are pureed,of oil.

[CoastalWx]

6 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/animals/chipmunk-control.htm#:~:text=Common chipmunk repellents are pureed,of oil.

I actually saw that website. I tried coffee grinds too, but to no avail. Never had them eat tomatoes before.

[SJonesWX]

BB gun repels them nicely

[tunafish]

53 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Effing chipmunks are eating my tomatoes. Anybody have a good trick to repel them?

Used as a last resort as I hate killing things unnecessarily, especially in this semi-humane manner...5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of water, handfull of sunflower seeds on top.  piece of scrap wood 2x4 as a ramp.  Check for bodies 1-2x a day, refill with seeds as needed.

[dendrite]

A longer term solution would be hardware cloth around the garden area that's also buried 6-12" deep to prevent the tunneling underneath.

Or attract hawks.

[tamarack]

45 minutes ago, tunafish said:

Used as a last resort as I hate killing things unnecessarily, especially in this semi-humane manner...5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of water, handfull of sunflower seeds on top.  piece of scrap wood 2x4 as a ramp.  Check for bodies 1-2x a day, refill with seeds as needed.

For lethal weapons I'd choose rat traps.  When my corn was being ravaged by non-raccoons, I set several thinking that red squirrels were the culprits - those traps were the right medicine for the reddies that invaded our back porch before I scribe-cut two pieces of plywood to block the holes I'd not noticed earlier.  Caught none, then observed blue jays dive-bombing the ripening ears, and now I plant other things where the corn would've been.

[tunafish]

I've got hardware cloth for the primary veggie garden (for groundhogs) as well as for the coop (predators).  I had considered rat traps, but with chickens and children and songbirds I decided against to avoid any accidents.  

They weren't a nuisance to my garden, but their tunneling was causing sinkholes to pop up dangerously close to the footing of my deck.  I was content coexisting with them until then.

[backedgeapproaching]

3 hours ago, SJonesWX said:

BB gun repels them nicely

My cat is less than a year old and has easily killed 100 this summer.  Its been great..lol.

[CoastalWx]

I'll try the cloth next year. Won't bother now.

[CoastalWx]

3 hours ago, tunafish said:

Used as a last resort as I hate killing things unnecessarily, especially in this semi-humane manner...5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of water, handfull of sunflower seeds on top.  piece of scrap wood 2x4 as a ramp.  Check for bodies 1-2x a day, refill with seeds as needed.

Bucket of death.

[Flying MXZ]

22 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

Bucket of death.

Works amazingly well.  I've had as many as 5 in the same bucket.  You'd think they'd see their friends and decide not to jump, but alas....

[Brewbeer]

On 8/31/2022 at 12:14 PM, CoastalWx said:

Effing chipmunks are eating my tomatoes. Anybody have a good trick to repel them?

I'll echo backedge.  When I had a cat, I had a garden and no chipmunks.  Now I have no cat and no garden.

[dendrite]

The cat is a good method too…handles the voles, mice, and moles as well.

[tamarack]

22 minutes ago, dendrite said:

The cat is a good method too…handles the voles, mice, and moles as well.

Less effective here, thanks to a healthy coyote population and a fair number of fishers.  Inside cats live longer.

[backedgeapproaching]

3 hours ago, tamarack said:

Less effective here, thanks to a healthy coyote population and a fair number of fishers.  Inside cats live longer.

Yea, we have that worry here too. Our cat was a barn cat and was an outside cat from the day we got him. Worst part is he loves to be out at night. 

[mreaves]

1 hour ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Yea, we have that worry here too. Our cat was a barn cat and was an outside cat from the day we got him. Worst part is he loves to be out at night. 

We rescued our cat when he was like 9-10 weeks old. Tried hard to make him an indoor cat but he just never took to it. We finally made peace with the fact that at some point he probably just won’t come back. He’s gotten beaten pretty good by something twice. One time, he had a big puncture on one side of his spine and three more on the other. I think a hawk or owl grabbed him but he got loose. I don’t know how he made it back to the house. That adventure cost us almost $2000. He’s 10 or 11 now. Oh and we don’t have mice issues around the house. 

[backedgeapproaching]

27 minutes ago, mreaves said:

We rescued our cat when he was like 9-10 weeks old. Tried hard to make him an indoor cat but he just never took to it. We finally made peace with the fact that at some point he probably just won’t come back. He’s gotten beaten pretty good by something twice. One time, he had a big puncture on one side of his spine and three more on the other. I think a hawk or owl grabbed him but he got loose. I don’t know how he made it back to the house. That adventure cost us almost $2000. He’s 10 or 11 now. Oh and we don’t have mice issues around the house. 

We feel the same way, knowing really any day could be the last. Ours was 3 months old when we got him. Also tried the indoor route, but just no way. 10 or 11 years old in VT is pretty nice run as an outdoor cat. 

He kills so much stuff, its kind of shocking..ha. I find random corpses around the yard all the time.

[moneypitmike]

Most of my lawn has come through the worst of the drought fine.  With the recent rains you'd never know it's been dry.

 

There are a few patches that got really burned.  Any thoughts on  these areas?  Would you rake them out and reseed as if it were a spring clean-up?

 

Thanks!

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

15 wheelbarrows full of thatch from just the front and side yard. Ready to overseed soon 

[moneypitmike]

3 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

15 wheelbarrows full of thatch from just the front and side yard. Ready to overseed soon 

 

Glad we dont live there.

[tunafish]

On 9/3/2022 at 5:01 AM, moneypitmike said:

Most of my lawn has come through the worst of the drought fine.  With the recent rains you'd never know it's been dry.

 

There are a few patches that got really burned.  Any thoughts on  these areas?  Would you rake them out and reseed as if it were a spring clean-up?

 

Thanks!

Pull the dead grass..  do the roots come with, or does it snap off at the surface?

[OceanStWx]

Took advantage of this cool/rainy Labor Day and threw down the nematodes last evening. I know it was their parent grubs that ate my lawn, but I'll take the children as revenge. 

[CoastalWx]

What is the cheapest way to overseed? Mow-->rake--> aerate-->seed?   Stein killed half my yard and I don't feel like taking out a HELOC for it.

[Baroclinic Zone]

29 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

What is the cheapest way to overseed? Mow-->rake--> aerate-->seed?   Stein killed half my yard and I don't feel like taking out a HELOC for it.

Do what I did and Brett is doing.  You need to basically scalp the lawn.  Make sure to kill off any weeds.  Once that is done, you need to dethatch/aerate the **** out of it to give the seed good soil contact.  Find a good seed and starter fertilizer and rake into loosened soil to cover seeds just enough.  Keep the ground you overseed moist but not drenched.  I was watering a couple times a day to keep mine moist.

[CoastalWx]

1 minute ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

Do what I did and Brett is doing.  You need to basically scalp the lawn.  Make sure to kill off any weeds.  Once that is done, you need to dethatch/aerate the **** out of it to give the seed good soil contact.  Find a good seed and starter fertilizer and rake into loosened soil to cover seeds just enough.  Keep the ground you overseed moist but not drenched.  I was watering a couple times a day to keep mine moist.

Ugh, that sounds like a PITA.

[dendrite]

Spread the seed before the first snow and just let it sit dormant all winter? It may not work down there as well as it does up here since you don't have the pack we get, but it makes for good soil contact when it all thaws out in the spring.

[tunafish]

1 hour ago, CoastalWx said:

What is the cheapest way to overseed? Mow-->rake--> aerate-->seed?   Stein killed half my yard and I don't feel like taking out a HELOC for it.

Cheapest way?  Let mother nature do it for you.  Don't do anything at all.

After a few years it'll be a vibrant, natural, FREE, ecosystem of native and non-native "weeds" and grass.

[CoastalWx]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Spread the seed before the first snow and just let it sit dormant all winter? It may not work down there as well as it does up here since you don't have the pack we get, but it makes for good soil contact when it all thaws out in the spring.

I've had that happen. I guess we'll see how the next week goes and if it slowly fills in. 

[Baroclinic Zone]

1 hour ago, CoastalWx said:

Ugh, that sounds like a PITA.

Took me 2 weekends to do it.

[backedgeapproaching]

54 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

I've had that happen. I guess we'll see how the next week goes and if it slowly fills in. 

It is definitely going to green up, but there will probably be some dead spots too. Just too dry for there not to be some die off, but you will have no clue what is dead and not unless you wait a bit.