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| I am looking to improve my lawn however I am getting ready to sell the home so I am not looking to invest a ton of time or money; I know that is quite counterproductive with a lawn because patience is the most important. However, I do not expect the house to sell in this market for the next year or so� so I have some time.
Currently, I have a lot of clovers and dandelions in the front yard. In the backyard, I have a dog, so I am not really concerned with the yard so much as one area, near the house, there is a ton of shade next to my porch and moss is killing the grass and taking over. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea of what to buy, and what to do AND in which order to do them. If anyone could list out what I need to do first with some timeframes that would be great. Thank you for any suggestions. Also, live in Indiana. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Tue, Mar 20, 12 at 22:22
| Tell us how you have been caring for the lawn and we can help you tune up your general management. You probably don't need to buy anything. How often do you water and for how long? What kind of sprinkler or sprinkler system? Shade is going to be a problem. Are we talking about up close to a building on the north side? Moss is not killing your grass. Likely the shade is killing the grass and the moss is just taking advantage of the bare soil. Start now considering which plants you would like in your new flower bed in that area. Oh, and you will be buying mulch for that, so start pricing that. Plan for at least 2 inches deep for the entire area. In my area we can buy a great cedar mulch (really a juniper) that is a pest plant for ranchers. If you have pest plants in your area like that, see if you can help out your fellow Indianians (surely y'all have a better name) by buying local products. Bark mulch tends to float away in heavy rains. Mulches made by running entire trees through a chipper-shredder does not. |
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- Posted by IndianaLeo none (My Page) on Thu, Mar 22, 12 at 10:54
| Wow, I am really a rookie� I have already learned so much just from the questions you asked. Normally, I do little yard work. I cut the grass once a week; I always bag my cut grass and throw it in the trash. I cut the trash on the middle setting and I then I edge around the driveway and then use a weed trimmer to edge everything and keep it tidy looking. I never water, like ever, and I do not have any type of a sprinkler system and I normally just buy the Scott�s fertilizer with crabgrass controller in it. I have a ton of crabgrass as well. I do not put down anything other than that. I usually just watch for my neighbors and when they start to put something down, I do the same, normally just in the spring and fall. The ton of shade is next to the house, and yes on the Northside of the house. It butts up against the house and my porch and goes out about 2 feet. I was thinking about paving the area to extend my porch, but again, I am not planning on being in the house for more than a year and do not want to invest the money. LOL, yeah Indianians does really work to well. We are called Hoosiers. Don�t ask, it doesn�t make sense. I did mention that I have NO idea what to do when it comes to a �healthy� lawn! I can cut grass with the best of them� but that is about where my knowledge runs out. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Fri, Mar 23, 12 at 1:31
| Grass needs about an inch of water once a week in the summer and once a month the rest of the year. If Mother Nature provides 1/2 inch, you need to provide the other half inch. If you are unwilling to pitch in on that, maybe traditional grass is not the thing for you. There are prairie grasses which look like lawns when seeded heavily and mowed. The seldom need watering even in the desert. If you have crabgrass, then you're getting water somehow. What do you want to do? |
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- Posted by IndianaLeo none (My Page) on Fri, Mar 23, 12 at 8:26
| I would like to stick with the grass I have. I do not mind watering the grass, just break out the hose and sprinkler and let it run, I am guessing for an hour or two?? I just have never watered the grass before because the grass grows so quick I figured if I watered it, it would just grow quicker, I cut the grass normally around once a week when it starts growing. Last night, I went around and pulled half the dandelions in my front yard, (It is raining today and this weekend, so I will finish up when it stops) and I put down grass seed in the bare spots. What else do I need to do? |
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