|
| We just finished raking the lawn and preparing for the upcoming summer in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. My goal this summer is to have a lawn that Augusta National Golf Club would envy.
Could someone assist with lawn program that would achieve such results? Fertilizing schedule with correct mixture, aeration, etc... Everything that would need to be done with the right timing. Zone: 5A My lawn mixture: Midnight Kentucky Blue Grass 60%
Thank you!
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| If that's the case, you might want to to call Augusta National as they are gonna be the only ones to tell you all that info! |
|
- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Sat, Apr 7, 12 at 0:16
| Are you sure? Be careful what you wish for. Search the Internet for morpheuspa. He posts here sometimes but is a very active moderator on another forum. He has a lawn like you are wishing for. Before you get started with a soil test, there are a few prerequisites you must get under control. Those are watering, mowing, and fertilizing. If you don't follow the following basics, you'll never get there. 1. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means about an inch all at one time. Infrequently means monthly this time of year and moving toward weekly for the heat of summer. But always apply an inch, unless Mother Nature helps. 2. Mulch mow at 3.5 inches high every week. This height favors the KBG slightly but will look great. 3. Fertilize with organic fertilizer every month. You could try fertilizing with chemicals every month but the grass would be dead by July. Organics will give you a jump start. Read the Organic Lawn Care FAQ on the GardenWeb Organic Gardening forum. That will give you an orientation to the modern way of organic gardening. Things have changed in the last 10 years. Morph will ask you to have your soil tested at Logan Labs in Ohio. There is no other lab in the country that he recommends so use that one. Send him your results and he and another moderator will tell you what to do to tune up the micronutrients in the soil. Do what they say and keep pounding the organic fertilizer on it and you should have a great looking lawn from now on. The KBG will be your work horse. If you overseed in the fall, you might get a couple other varieties of KBG and start replacing the fescue as it thins out. The cost of doing what you want will really only be the cost of the monthly app of organic fertilizer. That cost will be under $5 per 1,000 square feet for each app. Otherwise, watering and mowing are the same. The soil test is $20. The micro nutrients they recommend will be relatively inexpensive for someone with your ambition. If you wanted to go with the Elite seed, then the cost goes up considerably. But using what you have now, this project should not be all that hard. Here is a picture of Morph's lawn and another one of his mother's lawn. Morph's is a blend of three Elite KBGs. Midnight is an elite variety. His mother's lawn is contractor choice tri-blend of KBG varieties. Both are excellent looking lawns.
|
|
| By Summer, eh? Good luck... Let's see - with basically a crazy large budget and a full-time crew, it took the USGA five years to get Bethpage Black to good enough to host the US Open. 1.3 million square ft of sod. 20,000 lbs of grass seed a year to keep it up to snuff in "maintenance mode". If you're serious about a great lawn, it's a thing that takes several years. |
|
| Thank you for the great information! And if I ever get 1/4 of the quality of Augusta or Bethpage I would be happy. |
|
- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Sat, Apr 7, 12 at 18:52
| That was Andy Buzzkill reporting in. He happens to be a genius when it comes to soil micro nutrients. He also happens to be extremely practical. But still. If this was a renovation then I'd be a little less optimistic. If this lawn has been established and is in its 3rd year or more, then you have a shot at a huge improvement by following the 1-2-3 and overdosing on organic ferts. No golf course will ever envy a homeowner lawn. Their requirements are much more strict than any homeowner could stand. Morph's lawn is wonderful to look at but it is not a sports lawn. It is a looking lawn. I have not addressed weeds, insects, or disease at all. Hopefully those will not be issues once you are doing the 1-2-3 and dosing it hard. |
|
| Our lawn is in it's 5th year so it's time to make it something worth looking at. |
|
| In '03 I moved to NE Ohio (grew up in MI). KBG is great to work with. When we left in '05 the grass looked like what Dave posted, so it can be done. Dave's advice is spot on wrt watering and mowing. I fertilzed every 45 days with alfalfa pellets and used CGM to control rust and othe funguses. I also had it aerated and over seeded every Sept. Some days I long for the absence of Brmuda and life with KBG. Oh well, play the hand we're dealt. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Lawn Care Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.