2025 Lawns & Gardens Thread. Making Lawns Great Again

[tunafish]

Better nuke the yard and woods with Lesco Oak Killer.

[tamarack]

16 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

So if I’m seeing hundreds or more of saplings in the woods , in the leaves… we are in trouble ?

We're already in trouble.     
But not because of a carpet of oak germinants - 99.9% will die due to insufficient sunlight.

[Damage In Tolland]

2 hours ago, tamarack said:

We're already in trouble.     
But not because of a carpet of oak germinants - 99.9% will die due to insufficient sunlight.

Well now that everything is great again..other than Oaks .. there isn’t much trouble anywhere 

[Chrisrotary12]

Just noticed today, that lawns are starting to burn out all around.

[DavisStraight]

1 hour ago, Chrisrotary12 said:

Just noticed today, that lawns are starting to burn out all around.

My lawn that gets the most sun is burned, won't have to cut that area for a while.

[Brewbeer]

found a yellow jacket's nest in the lawn while mowing yesterday 

[dendrite]

19 minutes ago, Brewbeer said:

found a yellow jacket's nest in the lawn while mowing yesterday 

Find it the hard way?

[Damage In Tolland]

43 minutes ago, Brewbeer said:

found a yellow jacket's nest in the lawn while mowing yesterday 

Pour brewed beer in it?

[Brewbeer]

2 hours ago, dendrite said:

Find it the hard way?

yep.  fortunately the buggers didn't get a good grip on the back of my calf before I felt it so the sting was superficial.  will be flagging that hole for later midnight action

[dendrite]

Bad news on the chestnut front. This tree is finally flowering really well, but I looked at the base of the trunk and the blight is starting to strike way down near the ground. I guess I could mud pack it, but that’s not a good sign long term for the genetics with that tree…at least on my property. 

[jbenedet]

Japanese Beetles. Everywhere.  

[Chrisrotary12]

Boy did the grass get crunchy the last 10 days while I was gone. 

[DavisStraight]

I counted 12 dead ash trees in my neighbor's yard, tall trees too. One fell a week ago and missed his house by a few feet, it broke off 10 feet from the bottom. Lots of great firewood though.

[dendrite]

20 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

I counted 12 dead ash trees in my neighbor's yard, tall trees too. One fell a week ago and missed his house by a few feet, it broke off 10 feet from the bottom. Lots of great firewood though.

Any seedlings growing? I have a bunch in the yard growing here.

[DavisStraight]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Any seedlings growing? I have a bunch in the yard growing here.

I didn't notice any. In the woods across the street there many, many more dead ash, lots have fallen too. If I was staying here, I'd grab some for firewood, no need to season. Where I'm going, I'm going pellets this time.

[dryslot]

At least the garden is enjoying the heat.

[Damage In Tolland]

I have never seen so many cukes. I planted 3 plants first week of Mayorch along with 24 various tomato plants, green beans and various peppers. There has to be 50 or more cukes that will need picking in the next week . Banana peppers and cherry tomatoes also gone wild. Lot of blight on all the tomato leaves, so trying to prune those off each day .

[DavisStraight]

14 hours ago, dryslot said:

At least the garden is enjoying the heat.

You're going to have quite the bounty, do you can or pickle?

[dryslot]

On 7/26/2025 at 8:39 AM, DavisStraight said:

You're going to have quite the bounty, do you can or pickle?

Pickle.

[Chrisrotary12]

My grass is so dead. 

[SJonesWX]

on the bright side, my red thread is mostly gone. I think it was a combination of it being super dry, plus the 2 treatments of Disease X that I put down that finally took care of it.

i have irrigation, but the torchy parts of the lawn are getting a little crisp, but overall it is holding on...for now.

[DavisStraight]

4 hours ago, Chrisrotary12 said:

My grass is so dead. 

Its dormant.

[dryslot]

I hope it all burns to a crisp, Less mowing, Plantain was trying to take over in the garden, We took care of that.

[SouthCoastMA]

what lawns without irrigation feel like this week

[Baroclinic Zone]

As a former lawn connoisseur, they are not worth the time, money, and aggravation to maintain. I do not miss those days one bit. Throwing a few thousand a year at something that gives nothing in return is a waste. 

[BrianW]

@dendrite

Just watched this and remember you were growing Chestnuts. Apparently there's 4 trees that seem to be blight resistant so there is hope of bringing them back. 

 

https://www.ctpublic.org/shows/human-footprint/clip/the-ghost-tree-bringing-back-the-american-chestnut-mzwjuw

 

[Chrisrotary12]

On 7/29/2025 at 6:18 PM, Baroclinic Zone said:

As a former lawn connoisseur, they are not worth the time, money, and aggravation to maintain. I do not miss those days one bit. Throwing a few thousand a year at something that gives nothing in return is a waste. 

I put down $250 of seed in spring and simply cut when needed. Haven’t cut in a month. Do I wish it was nicer? Yes. Do I want to invest the time and money? No. 

[dendrite]

I moved a piece of wood near my potted grafted apple and pear trees this evening and found 2 asian jumping worms under it. I'm pretty sure they came over in some Coast of Maine soil. Bummer

 

[dryslot]

Invasive bastards.

[dryslot]

Doing some reading on wintering my citrus trees, A south facing area for sunlight is not an option so it looks like they will have to winter in a grow tent.