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2025 Lawns & Gardens Thread. Making Lawns Great Again


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25 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Why anyone would want weeds for a lawn just boggles the mind 

:lol:

Nothing looks worse to me than an unnatural, OCD, monoculture green lawn. Screams cookie cutter suburbs and keeping up with the Jones’s. But we don’t have to go down that path again this year.

I have mostly grass, but I let whatever wants to grow, grow with it. Different folks different strokes. I know you’re an OCD guy and a weed feels like a blemish or speck of dirt on your truck. 

It’s mostly rural here though. There’s probably only a couple of pristine green lawns on the street. We don’t worry about that shid.

But I’m not going to hijack your lawn thread this year with anti monoculture lawn posts. I’ll just stick to my trees and plants. 

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48 minutes ago, dendrite said:

:lol:

Nothing looks worse to me than an unnatural, OCD, monoculture green lawn. Screams cookie cutter suburbs and keeping up with the Jones’s. But we don’t have to go down that path again this year.

But I’m not going to hijack your lawn thread this year with anti monoculture lawn posts. I’ll just stick to my trees and plants. 

Oh alright, I guess I'll give it a rest, too.

 

Now that the snow has mostly melted I can see the brown rats I tried to eradicate with traps last year had a prosperous winter.   Tunnels under the snow and grass throughout the raised beds, fruit trees, and cedars.  Under the shed too.

No obvious food source - chicken feed is in a galvanized bin.  Compost pile has been limited to coffee and coop waste for the past 7 months.  Bastards ate a bunch of my carrots last Fall.  Hoping they haven't hit my garlic yet.  I'd cry.

No sign of them within 15 yards of my coop or run.  Keeping them from free ranging until the migratory waterfowl have mostly passes, anyway, but I don't need them interacting with rats.

Tried trapping and baiting (equal parts sugar, Cornmeal, baking soda) last Fall and it made a dent, but it doesn't matter now - they've taken over.

I think my only option is bait stations as far away from the run as possible. 

Unless anyone else here has had success using a different method.

 

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Went organic last year, but results were hit and miss. I didn't use any sort of weed/feed in the spring, and other than some dandelions that emerged temporarily..it wasn't bad. I've never done any pesticides. Corn Gluten didn't seem to do jack shit with the crab grass. 

I am going back to regular pre-emergent this year, and will try and stick to mainly non-synthetic afterwards.  Soil temp is still 46° so a ways to go before it can be applied. 

 

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4 hours ago, tunafish said:

Oh alright, I guess I'll give it a rest, too.

 

Now that the snow has mostly melted I can see the brown rats I tried to eradicate with traps last year had a prosperous winter.   Tunnels under the snow and grass throughout the raised beds, fruit trees, and cedars.  Under the shed too.

No obvious food source - chicken feed is in a galvanized bin.  Compost pile has been limited to coffee and coop waste for the past 7 months.  Bastards ate a bunch of my carrots last Fall.  Hoping they haven't hit my garlic yet.  I'd cry.

No sign of them within 15 yards of my coop or run.  Keeping them from free ranging until the migratory waterfowl have mostly passes, anyway, but I don't need them interacting with rats.

Tried trapping and baiting (equal parts sugar, Cornmeal, baking soda) last Fall and it made a dent, but it doesn't matter now - they've taken over.

I think my only option is bait stations as far away from the run as possible. 

Unless anyone else here has had success using a different method.

 

Oh man you have legit rats?

I’ve got tons of tunnels in the snow and ground from the voles. Hopefully they haven’t girdled any of my fruit trees this season. They got a galarina apple last year.

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5 hours ago, dendrite said:

:lol:

Nothing looks worse to me than an unnatural, OCD, monoculture green lawn. Screams cookie cutter suburbs and keeping up with the Jones’s. But we don’t have to go down that path again this year.

I have mostly grass, but I let whatever wants to grow, grow with it. Different folks different strokes. I know you’re an OCD guy and a weed feels like a blemish or speck of dirt on your truck. 

It’s mostly rural here though. There’s probably only a couple of pristine green lawns on the street. We don’t worry about that shid.

But I’m not going to hijack your lawn thread this year with anti monoculture lawn posts. I’ll just stick to my trees and plants. 

I’m generally in strong agreement but a carpet of healthy grass does do a lot to protect the home/building foundation. 

It’s unnatural but can be practical especially if you have gutter systems directed to handle most of the watering in dry/hot spells. 

 

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30 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Oh man you have legit rats?

I’ve got tons of tunnels in the snow and ground from the voles. Hopefully they haven’t girdled any of my fruit trees this season. They got a galarina apple last year.

Sucks.  That was always my fear with voles, especially when we woodchipped everything.   We haven't lost anything to girdling yet, thankfully. 

 

Yeah legit brown rats.  They're small, but there's a lot more of them than the Fall.  I really don't want to use rodentcide.  I'm making a half dozen bait stations and going to see what I can do with my home mix.  I only had one last year so hoping this is more effective.

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18 minutes ago, tunafish said:

Sucks.  That was always my fear with voles, especially when we woodchipped everything.   We haven't lost anything to girdling yet, thankfully. 

 

Yeah legit brown rats.  They're small, but there's a lot more of them than the Fall.  I really don't want to use rodentcide.  I'm making a half dozen bait stations and going to see what I can do with my home mix.  I only had one last year so hoping this is more effective.

Yeah you really don’t want to poison since you risk killing predatory birds or other mammals. 
 

Grow some catnip and get the neighborhood cats hanging around. :lol:

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4 hours ago, dendrite said:

Oh man you have legit rats?

I’ve got tons of tunnels in the snow and ground from the voles. Hopefully they haven’t girdled any of my fruit trees this season. They got a galarina apple last year.

I have cats that take care of that for me, they drop them on the porch all the time, occasionally a chipmunk or rabbit also.

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13 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Finally seeing some lawn green up today . 
Tiger Lillies are poking tips up above ground now. It’s coming. 

Really greened up here the last week. First cut probably coming up this weekend. 

Screenshot_20250319_063529_Ring.thumb.jpg.8f8cdaa91dc56aa043f13f0a1360f3e6.jpg

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On 3/15/2025 at 11:18 AM, SouthCoastMA said:

Went organic last year, but results were hit and miss. I didn't use any sort of weed/feed in the spring, and other than some dandelions that emerged temporarily..it wasn't bad. I've never done any pesticides. Corn Gluten didn't seem to do jack shit with the crab grass. 

I am going back to regular pre-emergent this year, and will try and stick to mainly non-synthetic afterwards.  Soil temp is still 46° so a ways to go before it can be applied. 

 

This is what I use on my organic lawn.

Ive had really really good results with the Purely Organics fertilizer from home depot. It's made from waste distillery grains.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Purely-Organic-Products-25-lb-Dry-Lawn-Food-Fertilizer-LFJRDK1/204279747

 

For weeds I have had good look with Tenacity which is all natural and derived from the bottle brush plant. 

Tenacity herbicide can be used for pre- and post-emergence control of more than 46 broadleaf weed and grass species. Its active ingredient, mesotrione, is based on a naturally occurring compound produced by the bottlebrush plant (Callistemon citrinus) that inhibits photosynthesis in susceptible plant species. It is absorbed by plants through the roots, shoots and leaves and distributed throughout the plant by both xylem and phloem translocation.

Active Ingredient(s): Mesotrione

 

 

Screenshot_20250319_064926_Gallery.jpg

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On 3/15/2025 at 10:01 AM, dendrite said:

:lol:

Nothing looks worse to me than an unnatural, OCD, monoculture green lawn. Screams cookie cutter suburbs and keeping up with the Jones’s. But we don’t have to go down that path again this year.

I have mostly grass, but I let whatever wants to grow, grow with it. Different folks different strokes. I know you’re an OCD guy and a weed feels like a blemish or speck of dirt on your truck. 

It’s mostly rural here though. There’s probably only a couple of pristine green lawns on the street. We don’t worry about that shid.

But I’m not going to hijack your lawn thread this year with anti monoculture lawn posts. I’ll just stick to my trees and plants. 

 

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On 3/15/2025 at 9:50 AM, dendrite said:

Didn’t think you were all grass all the time. 

 

20 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

You didn't know they call him Lesco Legro?

I have neither the time nor the patience to go all grass all the time, but the clover drives me nuts. Most of the time it grows taller than the grass and the damn white flowers everywhere. The only time it has been useful is during drought when it stays green and doesn't go nuts flowering. I'm stuck with it though.

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On 3/19/2025 at 6:47 AM, BrianW said:

Ive had really really good results with the Purely Organics fertilizer from home depot. It's made from waste distillery grains.

this, and spent brewing grains work great too.  they add nutrients and organic material. 

organic material is the key ingredient and adding it will help the lawn build back better than the fake chemical stuff 

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18 hours ago, OceanStWx said:

 

I have neither the time nor the patience to go all grass all the time, but the clover drives me nuts. Most of the time it grows taller than the grass and the damn white flowers everywhere. The only time it has been useful is during drought when it stays green and doesn't go nuts flowering. I'm stuck with it though.

Ha. I overseed with it. Sprinkle it in baby.

image.jpeg

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I’m trying to do a solid mix of hardy shrubs/small trees with a carpet of grass in the front. 
 

Grass is overrated for many reasons but I also think the fact you lose the green in winter is another big negative. I really enjoy maintaining color in the darkest and coldest periods of winter which is why I’m looking for various shrubs/coniferous small trees to take up a lot of the grass area. 
 

Year round Color/hardiness (very low maintenance)/water absorption; has been my ongoing project in the front.

 

You guys have any good recommendations? I’m in an urban setting so deer and varmint threats are non-existent. 

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17 minutes ago, jbenedet said:

I’m trying to do a solid mix of hardy shrubs/small trees with a carpet of grass in the front. 
 

Grass is overrated for many reasons but I also think the fact you lose the green in winter is another big negative. I really enjoy maintaining color in the darkest and coldest periods of winter which is why I’m looking for various shrubs/coniferous small trees to take up a lot of the grass area. 
 

Year round Color/hardiness (very low maintenance)/water absorption; has been my ongoing project in the front.

 

You guys have any good recommendations? I’m in an urban setting so deer and varmint threats are non-existent. 

As long as you don't have any snow falling from roof issues, I have a Stewartstonian azalea that is a really nice year round plant. It never drops its leaves, but they become a deep reddish green in winter. 

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On 3/15/2025 at 4:36 PM, dendrite said:

Yeah you really don’t want to poison since you risk killing predatory birds or other mammals. 
 

Grow some catnip and get the neighborhood cats hanging around. :lol:

You laugh but my brother in law does just that, he brings over the catnip for our cat he gets so much.

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