, OK I got the yard looking the best it has for the end of a season in years. other than the quackgrass and crabgrass/watergrass that took over and invaded my yard about mid summer. I want that stuff GONE! I want my yard to look like turfgrass for the entire season not just the 1st 1/2....
I mowed for the last time over the weekend, mowed short like I used to years ago, had been mowing higher thru the season and for the last couple of years.... got the leaf harvest DONE (ooh I hate harvesting leaves) used a (push) mulching mower that I was given for over the winter season to "get running before spring" for a guy, ( gotta test it out right?) for the final mow, chopped up everything that was left, the best I could, then I took the freebie curbside found lawn sweeper that I picked up over the summer, over and over and over my yard until it would not pick up any more crap from within the grass (got a lot more up than I thought I would just by doing that)
previously throughout this year's leaf harvest, I mowed 2x with another curbside find that I got to run, a MTD LT with a "mulch plug"
plan is to spread lime, this will be my 1st 'dog-less" winter since I can remember, so I want to correct the damage done by them over the years (my son finally bought a house and got out of his apartment where he wasn't allowed to bring his dog, though I will be looking for another come spring) have had 2 dogs for many years before my son's dog arrived.... I last put lime down this time of year 2 years ago. (that was the only other time my yard got Lime'd in 19 years of me living here)
next plan of attack is a question mark...I have a power rake that i'd like to run across the yard, I think it might be set a little low as is, sure brings up a lot of dirt in the small test section I did.... better now, before ground freezes? or wait til spring to run power rake? or do it both now and in the spring? It's mine, no worries about paying the rental yard.
I'm also wanting to reseed some areas, one is about 20'X15', where I used to have a trailer and a general junk pile, and a couple areas that are generally "thin"/ especially under this big maple tree in my side yard (and adjacent to the bare spot from the trailer and junk that I finally got rid of) stays at least partly shaded all the time, does get some partial sun late in the afternoon til the sun goes down.
AND I want to apply something to work on the lawn and soak in good thru the winter, (fertilizer/weed and feed)
once the ground freezes, it should stay put where it needs to be to do the most good...
Do I; power rake now, in the Spring or both?
put down the lime and weed/feed then power rake, or the other way around?
location about 1 hour south of Chicago, I know that location does play a part.... I wish we were like parts of Texas so that I could mow all year and not have to worry about snow and ice.
on the side yard where I am looking to overseed/reseed the bare area, I want to put something down that won't burn/kill the new seed that I want to put down.....what's a good product for this purpose?
I have been told that when mowing season is done but before the ground can freeze is best time to reseed/overseed.....is this right or wrong? I have thrown hundreds of pounds of seed at the yard in the spring/summer over the years, with what I would call poor results.
my yard comes up beautiful (except where it is thin) with minimal weeds, til those above mentioned weeds overtake it. IDK how real grass can overtake it and come up nice in the spring but not choke out the crap, all the rest of the season? I want to kill the weeds once and all for good, while they are dormant, without doing a Roundup burndown on the whole yard and starting from scratch, I get so frustrated with it when it turns to crap that I have thought about doing just that many times.
my lot is 95X160 but when you count the space that the house, shed, garage and (2) driveways take up, I have about 60% of that area to treat.
I mowed for the last time over the weekend, mowed short like I used to years ago, had been mowing higher thru the season and for the last couple of years.... got the leaf harvest DONE (ooh I hate harvesting leaves) used a (push) mulching mower that I was given for over the winter season to "get running before spring" for a guy, ( gotta test it out right?) for the final mow, chopped up everything that was left, the best I could, then I took the freebie curbside found lawn sweeper that I picked up over the summer, over and over and over my yard until it would not pick up any more crap from within the grass (got a lot more up than I thought I would just by doing that)
previously throughout this year's leaf harvest, I mowed 2x with another curbside find that I got to run, a MTD LT with a "mulch plug"
plan is to spread lime, this will be my 1st 'dog-less" winter since I can remember, so I want to correct the damage done by them over the years (my son finally bought a house and got out of his apartment where he wasn't allowed to bring his dog, though I will be looking for another come spring) have had 2 dogs for many years before my son's dog arrived.... I last put lime down this time of year 2 years ago. (that was the only other time my yard got Lime'd in 19 years of me living here)
next plan of attack is a question mark...I have a power rake that i'd like to run across the yard, I think it might be set a little low as is, sure brings up a lot of dirt in the small test section I did.... better now, before ground freezes? or wait til spring to run power rake? or do it both now and in the spring? It's mine, no worries about paying the rental yard.
I'm also wanting to reseed some areas, one is about 20'X15', where I used to have a trailer and a general junk pile, and a couple areas that are generally "thin"/ especially under this big maple tree in my side yard (and adjacent to the bare spot from the trailer and junk that I finally got rid of) stays at least partly shaded all the time, does get some partial sun late in the afternoon til the sun goes down.
AND I want to apply something to work on the lawn and soak in good thru the winter, (fertilizer/weed and feed)
once the ground freezes, it should stay put where it needs to be to do the most good...
Do I; power rake now, in the Spring or both?
put down the lime and weed/feed then power rake, or the other way around?
location about 1 hour south of Chicago, I know that location does play a part.... I wish we were like parts of Texas so that I could mow all year and not have to worry about snow and ice.
on the side yard where I am looking to overseed/reseed the bare area, I want to put something down that won't burn/kill the new seed that I want to put down.....what's a good product for this purpose?
I have been told that when mowing season is done but before the ground can freeze is best time to reseed/overseed.....is this right or wrong? I have thrown hundreds of pounds of seed at the yard in the spring/summer over the years, with what I would call poor results.
my yard comes up beautiful (except where it is thin) with minimal weeds, til those above mentioned weeds overtake it. IDK how real grass can overtake it and come up nice in the spring but not choke out the crap, all the rest of the season? I want to kill the weeds once and all for good, while they are dormant, without doing a Roundup burndown on the whole yard and starting from scratch, I get so frustrated with it when it turns to crap that I have thought about doing just that many times.
my lot is 95X160 but when you count the space that the house, shed, garage and (2) driveways take up, I have about 60% of that area to treat.