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Heavy heavy lawn thread 2019


Damage In Tolland
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16 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

I have 14 different types of Mushrooms in my yard mostly near the trees I had cut down. No idea if any of them are edible but I cleaned them out so the dogs wouldn't be tempted. They grow back sometimes every night 

It's the season for birch boletes - stocky 'shrooms, a reddish cap with pores rather than gills, and a stout stem.  Likes birches and aspens, and quite tasty.  Its relative boletus edulis is said to be even better but I've never found one.  They live in the spruce-fir woods.
Puffballs are pretty good as well if you catch them early.  One bit of brownish interior makes them trash.

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2 minutes ago, tamarack said:

It's the season for birch boletes - stocky 'shrooms, a reddish cap with pores rather than gills, and a stout stem.  Likes birches and aspens, and quite tasty.  Its relative boletus edulis is said to be even better but I've never found one.  They live in the spruce-fir woods.
Puffballs are pretty good as well if you catch them early.  One bit of brownish interior makes them trash.

Have identified 3 edibles but zero chance I try them. 

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1 minute ago, Ginx snewx said:

Have identified 3 edibles but zero chance I try them. 

The friend who introduced me to boletus Betula had a 2-inch-thick book on mushroom ID, stating which were poisonous, which were good eating, and a lot which were labeled "not poisonous" - probably the ones like shelf mushrooms that are hard as wood.  His tongue-in-cheek method of testing for poison was "Take a bite and wait 20 minutes.  If you start feeling dizzy don't eat any more."  :lol:  (Some of the most deadly ones don't show symptoms until 4-6 hours after consumption, and have no antidote.)

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Wife and I were talking about the issue with trying to get the grass to grow well in front of the oak tree mostly due to the oak itself and steep slope. One alternative option would be to do a retaining wall with backfill, mulch, then plant shrubs, blueberry bushes, etc. We had a landscaper come out last summer to discuss. Other than the high cost ($4k+) the challenge in doing it is setting the first layer of rocks or masonry blocks in the ground. The granite is only ~4" below the grass surface so not sure this is enough to create a strong foundation. The other issue is the amount of backfill required to essentially create a level ground from about the oak tree to the driveway. I've not measured the height difference, but it's got to be at least 4'.

My least expensive option is to buy more metal edging and create a barrier from the oak tree down around and back up. Then kill the grass, dig out and replace with topsoil, mulch then the bushes. However, the slope will remain and my concern will be runoff and possibly poor shrub growth due to little water retention. Any other thoughts on this? Thanks.

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1 hour ago, Chrisrotary12 said:

Bought a house over the summer.  Landscaping was ok, but in rough shape because previous owners moved out in April.  Everything I've done (cutting grass, pulling weeds, removing shrubs, etc.) has been about setting up yard for next year.  What should I be doing to "put the lawn to bed" for the winter?

At this point, you can still dethatch, aerate, and topdress the lawn. Lastly, make sure to put a "winterizer" fertilizer down in late October/November.  You may want to still to your early fall lawn feeding as well.

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8 minutes ago, amarshall said:

Full on lawn repair mode at Casa Marshall right now.  Got one quote for aerate and overseed at $1k f that.  I'll do it myself for $90 

Yeah I split a rental aerator with my neighbor ($45 each) plus the seed and otherwise all it cost we was a full day of working in the yard.

Currently growing better in some places than others (sure could use a good rain) but at least it's taking. Unfortunately the weedy grasses are also growing fast too, so I'm going to be pretty overgrown if I wait a full two weeks to mow.

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Well I'd say last year's hydroseeding was nearly a complete failure. Seems we're right back to where we started, less money. I've sent some soils samples out for testing including other areas of the property which also didn't grow well. I think the rock garden idea suggested for this pic is probably the best option and we'll tackle that in Spring.

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1 hour ago, Lava Rock said:

Well I'd say last year's hydroseeding was nearly a complete failure. Seems we're right back to where we started, less money. I've sent some soils samples out for testing including other areas of the property which also didn't grow well. I think the rock garden idea suggested for this pic is probably the best option and we'll tackle that in Spring.

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At this point, I would agree and say scrap the grass idea for that area. Rock gardens, perennials beds, conifers etc. It does look like a pretty big area, so probably a big project.

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1 hour ago, Lava Rock said:

Well I'd say last year's hydroseeding was nearly a complete failure. Seems we're right back to where we started, less money. I've sent some soils samples out for testing including other areas of the property which also didn't grow well. I think the rock garden idea suggested for this pic is probably the best option and we'll tackle that in Spring.

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Yeah I’d just let the dogs crap all over the area and just not pick it up and starting growing vegetables in it.

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2 minutes ago, dryslot said:

I hope today's frost killed mine like Johns, I'm done with mowing.

Well, I recall a post or two today about a never ending death ridge...keep those blades sharp:)

Seriously though, if your lawn has more crabgrass than actual grass, then this frost will certainly help with no mowing, frost kills all crabgrass.  If your yard is mostly grass, and not weeds, you will be still be mowing.

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8 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Well, I recall a post or two today about a never ending death ridge...keep those blades sharp:)

Seriously though, if your lawn has more crabgrass than actual grass, then this frost will certainly help with no mowing, frost kills all crabgrass.  If your yard is mostly grass, and not weeds, you will be still be mowing.

Former, Buh bye.

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Had a landscaper come by last night to discuss options (more cha-ching) for the lawn. She proposed removing the dirt/lawn in front of the oak and exposing the granite below, then creating small islands of mulched bed areas with various shrubs (creeping juniper) and some perennials. She advised next Spring, we rototill the rest of the lawn nearest the driveway and reseed. The oak tree is really the culprit in a lot of this as it just sucks all avail moisture from the grass. We thought of cutting it down a couple years ago, but opted not to. 

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You could mulch widely and deeply around the oak and landscape it like you did the other tree in the background. Deep wood chips or mulch will conserve moisture within the crown perimeter of the tree. Maybe that'll keep the tree a little happier with fewer roots seeking out moisture. Southern exposed slopes are tough. Your pic looks like it's very sandy in spots...not exactly the look of very organic material.

What if you planted some smaller trees around the edge of your driveway/lawn? Something like a few thornless sunburst honeylocusts that will give some shade to that area to conserve surface moisture.

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3 hours ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

I couldn’t find the time nor the weather to aerate and seed. Is it too late to do it in Oct?

it's a bit on the late side, but you will be fine. you may not see immediate results this year so late in the season, but it will help in the spring for sure.

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Couple weekends ago I burned 75% of front yard down to dirt with a weed wacker, blew it all out, threw down 2 yards of loam, aerated it all, a bag of Scotts Sun and Shade, rolled it, straw on top, and have been watering non-stop. Really impressed what has popped up in two weeks. Looking forward to Wed-Fri rain since I'm getting sick of watering it 2-3x a day. 

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So we got our soil test results back from our awesome back yard. Results look good to me. Plenty of organic matter which makes sense since last Fall's total rework included loam/compost then hydroseed. Yet, after all that and good soil results, it still looks like shit. The rest of the lawn areas tested (not pictured) were decent, but lower in some nutrients. I'm attributing the dead grass in those areas to chinchbug and/or grub damage.

 

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soil.jpg

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6 hours ago, Lava Rock said:

So we got our soil test results back from our awesome back yard. Results look good to me. Plenty of organic matter which makes sense since last Fall's total rework included loam/compost then hydroseed. Yet, after all that and good soil results, it still looks like shit. The rest of the lawn areas tested (not pictured) were decent, but lower in some nutrients. I'm attributing the dead grass in those areas to chinchbug and/or grub damage.

 

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soil.jpg

Every pic of that area always looks bone dry. Does it bake in the sun all day? Is it compacted in or loose?

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