Chemical Warfare Pt.3: Weed Patch 1

Well it's done. Today I sprayed the weed patch with broadleaf herbicide. The patch wound up being bigger than I thought (nearly half the size of my garden!). However it went very quickly. I used a mixer-sprayer to spread the herbicide, and in all honesty I think it took longer to clean the sprayer than it did to spray the weeds!
I should be able to overseed the area in about a month. I will be applying grub-killer at about the same time. I'll post again after the herbicide has had it's effect, and show the weedy patch (sans weeds, of course...)
It may sound wierd, but I love the smell of 2,4-D in the morning. To me it smells like... Victory... (just kidding, actually the smell reminds me of the now gone Sand Ridge nursery. Actually the Weed-B-Gon concentrate does not contain 2,4-D but the premix that I used on my thistles does, and it smells JUST like the greenhouse.)

Chemical Warfare Pt.2

Finally, after two weeks, the results of my burn-down are visable for all to see. I already have my seeds spread, watered-in and (in the case of the second burn-down area) mulched. Here are the results:
Burn-Down area 1:











Burn-Down area 2:

Both patches have been planted with Pennington Kentucky Bluegrass blend (like all grass seed it is mechanically mixed seed, however all of the seed in this perticular blend is varieties of Kentucky Bluegrass). The second area I mulched with partially rotted grass clippings, with less than ideal results. I decided to leave the first area unmulched for now, and hope it works out...






Next problem: Weedy patch 1
This is one of the weediest areas of my entire lawn, and not all of it fits in the picture! Mixed broadleafs dominate this area; and there is virtually no grass here. Between this and the massive mole activity (you can see at least two of the mole-tunnels I water-drilled), as well as the two that I actually saw, I think this area is infested with grubs.
The plan is to spray this entire area with a broadleaf herbicide, overseed with Kentucky Bluegrass, and in the mid-to-late summer treat the area with grubkiller... If I have to mow it anyways I may as well mow GRASS! Not weeds!

More soon, hopefully after my seeds sprout...

Burn-Down: Week 1

As you can see the burn-down is not going quite as well as can be expected... Personally I blame incomplete mixing of the herbicide and poor spraying technique. I believe I have resolved both by the simple addition of red food coloring to the mix. By mixing just enough red color into the Round-Up to make it look like cherry Kool-Aid both the spray itself and the coated plants are far more visable, and by coloring the herbicide it's easier to judge weather it's properly mixed or not. I re-sprayed the remaining green patch earlier today, and will likely seed this area sometime this week...

BTW the burn-down in the other previously pictured area is also going about this badly; I decided not to waste Google's web space by posting a picture of it. I'll post once the results are more dramatic.

Lawn Renovation: BURN IT DOWN!!!

Okay. I hate my lawn. It's official.
Aside from the fact that I have to mow it, it's patchy, weedy, and overall inconsistant. I have "jungle" areas that grow at rediculous rates, near-dead areas that have only a few grass plants, and areas that are practically solid weeds...

This means WAR!

When faced with a problem lawn like this, I feel that I am left with only one option: BURN IT DOWN!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! MWA HA HA HA!!!

Er... Sorry about that...

Lawn Renovation part 1: The Burn-Down
In agriculture a burn-down doesn't involve literally igniting anything, rather the use of a broad spectrum non-persistant herbacide, such as Round-Up, to kill all existing plants in preperation for planting. This prevents weeds and non-desirable grasses from outcompeting the desired plants.
All Round-Up that is not absorbed by plants rapidly breaks down into harmless materials, allowing the "burnt" area to be reseeded in as few as three days. Since the existing plants are dead they don't compete for sun and soil nutrients, allowing the new planting to thrive.
I am currently burning down two areas of my lawn, which are pictured below. Next weekend I plan on replanting them...



Part 2: Soil enrichment
I have a strong suspicion that my soil has inconsistant nutrient levels. This is solved by applying fertilizer. Using a handheld broadcast spreader I generously applied triple-12 fertilizer to both of the burn-down areas, and hopefully with the rain predicted over the next few days it'll be thuroughly absorbed into the soil by the time I have seed ready.
Normally fertilizers like this can "burn" plants, due to their high nitrogen content, but considering that I'd already applied Round-Up to the grass I doubt if this is a serious concern...



Part 3: Re-Plant
This will be covered in the next post...




Replanting Area 1: The "pool"
The previous owner of the property had a swimming pool on this portion of my lawn. The grass is very spotty, and my attempted re-planting last year failed miserably. I have higher hopes this year...







Replanting Area 2: The Back Yard
This is one of the poorest areas on my lawn. And yes, it's worse than it appears in this picture. Weeds dominate this patch, and the grasses are scraggly and short. The short part doesn't bother me, but the weeds do...

These are only the first two portions of my lawn that I plan on replacing. Eventually I'd like all of my lawn that I don't plan on putting into production (gardening and home-farming) to be Kentucky Bluegrass, but I plan on doing this peace-meal. These two plots are the experiment, and more likely than not all I'll actually replant this year. I may change my mind, but I have other projects that to me take precedence...

That's all for now. More will be posted over the next week.