Lawn Care 2012

[zamler]

Air raiding your lawn will leave it looking like a war zone, but it will get rid of the mushrooms.

[Hockey]

Originally Posted by zamler

Air raiding your lawn will leave it looking like a war zone, but it will get rid of the mushrooms.

any other suggestions?

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Hockey

any other suggestions?

prehaps try aerating and don't water at night.

[V]

I had some mushrooms at one point last year myself. Is that the issue? Watering at night?

I ended up picking them out by hand, but I'd rather avoid it altogether if I can.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Personally, I love the look of a nicely maintained, lush green lawn. It seems most people prefer it, as well.

If by most you mean about the 1 in 5 that actually maintain their lawns then i would agree ith you. I would say most people find the lawn a chore and do the bare minimum so it looks not to bad. People in this thread are the exception in that they working for a nice lawn compared to the dandilion infested yards that are the norm

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by Hockey

We have lots of mushrooms growing on my lawn. Ive heard the best way to get rid of them is to air raid the lawn and fill the holes with sand. Is that true or is there any other way to get rid of them?

Also whats the best way to get all your grass green. I have lots of dead brown grass too.

Mushrooms can result from either over watering your grass or too much organics in it.

With regards to watering, the best time to water is in the early morning before as the sun is coming up. Plant functions shut down mid-day so that they neither absorb nor release vital water. If you water at night it leaves more time for the water to sit on the plant, grass, etc and promotes an environment for molds and bacteria.

With early morning watering you get the best of both worlds
1) any excess water not absorbed into the soil and remaining on the surface will dry off with the sun

2) plant functions will be at their highest allowing for the best "use" of the water.

In terms of the amount of time (length) that you should water, it depends on many factors, soil, plant type, climate, exposure, and if you want to get really technical, root zone depth, etc.

[Boblobla]

Bumping this thread looking for recommendations for a lawncare company. I need someone to help me nurse my lawn back to health.

Green Drop? Weedman? Dr. Green? Anyone have any good recommendations?

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Bumping this thread looking for recommendations for a lawncare company. I need someone to help me nurse my lawn back to health.

Green Drop? Weedman? Dr. Green? Anyone have any good recommendations?

I used Green Drop several years ago after moving into a new house where the lawn was a mess. They did a good job, but even though I explicitly asked for only 1 year of treatment they came back the next year (without me asking) and sent me an invoice. I told them again that I didn't want any more of their treatment, but the following year they came back yet again. In the end I didn't have to pay for their extra treatments, but it was a nuisance having to continually call them up for 2 years (and usually get bounced around between different people each time I called) to get that resolved.

[Komskies]

Haha you don't "air raid" your lawn. You aerate it.

[SilverGS]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Bumping this thread looking for recommendations for a lawncare company. I need someone to help me nurse my lawn back to health.

Green Drop? Weedman? Dr. Green? Anyone have any good recommendations?

I had a terrible experience with Dr. Green. Their treatment didn't seem to do anything and they also came back the next year and invoiced me even after I cancelled.

They keep calling to get me back and tell me what a deal they are offering when it is more expensive then the first time I did it with them.

Huge Thumbs down for Dr Green. A friend has used Green drop in the past and said he was very happy with them.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Bumping this thread looking for recommendations for a lawncare company. I need someone to help me nurse my lawn back to health.

Green Drop? Weedman? Dr. Green? Anyone have any good recommendations?

I've used Weedman for the past 2 years and I'm happy with the results and service I get from them.

[Regulator75]

Does salting the earth kill all plant life in the surrounding area?

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Does salting the earth kill all plant life in the surrounding area?

Depends what's growing there and how much salt you use - some plants can tolerate pretty high levels. But that would also be a violation of the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Does salting the earth kill all plant life in the surrounding area?

Not sure about salting but Casoron pretty much makes the area applied to uninhabitable for any plants and prevents new weeds from starting. Expensive but works great and you MUST BE VERY CAREFUL applying it because you have to water it in and any areas that it leaches into will be killed.

Probably need an applicators licence to purchase or apply

http://www.chemturaagrosolutions.com...extfmt=default

[Icon]

Anyone had any success with dog rocks (or any other product)? The girl at the pet store sold me on them saying they worked for her... but not sure if that's just typical sales tactics or some truth to it. Doesn't seem to be working so far (there's new dead grass spots) but it's only been a month.

Lawn looks a lovely green other than all the patches

[oilyfan]

This is from the Dog Rocks website:

"THE BASIC PRINCIPAL IS THE ROCK BEING PARAMAGNETIC CHANGES THE ION EXCHANGE IN THE WATER. THIS RESULTS IN THE NITRATE LEVEL IN THE WATER DROPPING AND NOT BEING INGESTED BY THE DOG. LOWER NITRATES WILL CAUSE THE URINE TO STOP BURNING THE GRASS."

Rock being paramagnetic changes the ion exchange?

I think you got scammed.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Icon

Anyone had any success with dog rocks (or any other product)? The girl at the pet store sold me on them saying they worked for her... but not sure if that's just typical sales tactics or some truth to it. Doesn't seem to be working so far (there's new dead grass spots) but it's only been a month.

Lawn looks a lovely green other than all the patches

My neighbour gave me a pack of these two weeks ago.

It's still a little early to tell, but there are no new yellow spots on my lawn, so it appears to be working.

[sclitheroe]

You'd seriously alter your dogs natural biological processes to preserve the lawn? That's messed up. Who knows what effect its having on the liver or kidneys of the dog.

[Icon]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

You'd seriously alter your dogs natural biological processes to preserve the lawn? That's messed up. Who knows what effect its having on the liver or kidneys of the dog.

Do you know that many water filters (Brita, in your fridge, etc) also work to remove such water components? Hell many of them use minerals made up of what's in these dog rocks... Do you know how much miscellaneous gubbins is in tap water, either naturally or from processes the city does to it before it gets to your house? You're altering your dog's "natural biological process" just by giving it to them in the first place... same with the type of food you decide to buy... etc etc. Give me a break.


Further rant avoided..

From what I've read about pet-related lawn spots, basically the amount/intensity of how their urine kills your lawn is dependant on what they eat/drink. Since we feed our dog food with less "filler" (better for him), it actually makes it worse for our lawn, since all that filler is replaced by more proteins & nutrients (and therefore nitrates), which are what leads to killing the lawn. The dog rocks are essentially supposed to drop that nitrate intake from the water, so he's still going to get more from the food than buying crappier food with more filler. This is why I was wondering if anyone else had any experience with using them. (If they worked all the time, or just some of the time) Obviously another option is to change his food, but he seems happy with it and healthy, so if it just means each spring i need to do some lawn care, so be it, but figured I'd give it a shot & was just curious if anyone had any experience with it or anything else they've done.

[Icon]

Originally Posted by oilyfan

Rock being paramagnetic changes the ion exchange?

I think you got scammed.

They use lava rock / pumice stone for nitrate filtering in many large aquariums around the world.

The principle's sound... just not sure on the actual effect putting 3 of these rocks in the dog's water dish has. (the scientist side of me wonders on the time factor for the rocks to actually work)