Actually I'm not so sure

That should be the new title of this blog.

I went out to take a closer look at the weed that has infested our lawn and I'm not so sure that it is prostrate knotweed. The flowering in particular seems different. Here are some photos:

Mystery weed - chickweed?

In any case I sprayed it with Ortho Weed B Gon Max (I bought it in concentrate because it was on sale).

I'll have to see if I can figure out what it really is. In the mean time I'll see if the weed killer can do the job.

Prostrate knotweed?

I haven't actually gone out to take a closer look to confirm, but it's very possible that the weed that has infested the front lawn this year and last is prostrate knotweed. Purdue Turf Tips had a post about the weed last month and it looks and sounds like what I see in our lawn:

Prostrate knotweed in grass?

I'm trying to figure out what to do about it (assuming this is what it is). The blog post suggests some chemical treatments:

2,4-D by itself will provide only fair control of prostrate knotweed, but when combined with triclopyr (Turflon Ester Ultra or Triclopyr 4) or dicamba (Banvel, Vanquish), it should provide excellent control in cool-season turf. There are many combination products that contain 2,4-D and dicamba, including Trimec 992 and SpeedZone. Combination products that contain 2,4-D and triclopyr include 4-Speed XT, Chaser, Chaser 2 Amine, Momentum FX2, Turflon II amine, and TZONE.

Most of these are professional products that aren't typically sold in stores and are often sold in bulk.

The Ortho Weed B Gon Max label lists the weed and (I think) shows 2,4-D and dicamba as active ingredients, so I may give this a try since it should be easier to get a hold of and not in mass quantity. It appears that Bayer Advanced All-In-One Lawn Weed & Crabgrass Killer and Spectracide Weed Stop for Lawns plus Crabgrass Killer also have similar labels.

Last year I sprayed it with Ortho Weed B Gon and they eventually yellowed (making them stand out even more) and died off. It took some time, though.

First step will be to confirm that this is in fact the weed in our lawn. Will report back.

First Mowing

Lawns have greened up quickly in the last week or so with the warmer weather. So I got out and mowed for the first time of the season yesterday. Although most of the lawn didn't need it yet, I mowed the front lawn anyway to mulch up some leaves from the oak that fall and gather on the lawn during the winter.

Here are some photos of the front yard (after mowing):

Most of this grass didn't need mowing

Lots of weeds

Note the patch of the dubbed "new invader" on the left (patch of lighter colored grass).

Not much growth here

Overall, not looking too great. Lots of weeds again due to thinned turf. And it seems like the new grass planted in the fall of 2011 is again being slow to green up. This lead to the fungus problems last year. I'm not about to let that happen again, so I decided to be more proactive this year and applied a generous portion of fertilizer along with a pre-emergent crabgrass application (which also contains fertilizer). I ended up putting down about 4 lbs of Endure Crabgrass Preventer Plus and about 6 lbs of Espoma Organic Lawn Food which in total comes to roughly 1.15 lbs N/1000 sq. ft. (0.475 from the Endure and 0.675 from the Espoma). I applied more liberally to the younger grass. In addition the Espoma also contains some Phosphate and Potash (8% and 6% respectively). Lots of rain is in the forecast, so we shall see how this turns out.

On to the backyard:

Still a sad sight in the backyard considering how nice it was last spring and early summer, but I have hope that I can get it back, even if I have to plant more seed this fall. It's knowing when to fertilize that's the tricky part.

In other news...

The phlox is sprouting:

I trimmed back the hydrangea tree again:

The hybrid tea rose bush is growing:

The hydrangea bushes are growing:

The Sedums are sprouting:

And it appears that the Boxwoods are doing just fine after last years drought as I see new growth on most of them (and flowering on some):

The second from the right is the most iffy.

I guess I haven't mentioned this before, but I lost one Holly bush due to the drought last summer (despite watering them). It's visible in the last two photos above (the middle Holly in the upper right of both photos). I'll have to replace it this year. I don't think I lost anything else due to the drought, thankfully.

That's all for now.

Spring on my mind

Whoops! It's been a while. I got a little lazy toward the end of last year - actually more like busy. I don't quite have the time that I used to, but I'll try to make time this year.

I was going to title this post "Spring is in the air", but that'd just be a flat out lie because it's not. It is, however, just around the corner and I know it'll be here before I know it. I'm excited! All recharged from the always much needed winter season break.

Things I'm looking forward to this year:

1. Seeing how the Kentucky bluegrass that I planted last fall does this spring
2. Seeing how vigorously the Supina bluegrass grows in the backyard. Will it recover from the near devastation last year or will I need to replant this fall?
3. Seeing if some weeds in the front lawn that I sprayed way late in the season last year (unblogged until now) will die despite not having much time for the herbicide to set in before the colder weather set in, or will I need to respray them?
4. Seeing if the lawn will remain tall fescue and orchardgrass-free (I'm hopeful which is why it's in this list and not the list below)
5. Perhaps finally finishing the landscaping project

What I'm not looking forward to:

1. Replanting a blue holly bush that died during the drought last year (oops, the other two next to it survived just fine, however).
2. Fighting the moles. They invaded the front lawn toward the end of last year (also unblogged). They frustrate me so much.
3. Fighting bristly rose slugs and black spot disease (inevitably)
4. Figuring out how to fight the new turf invader that seems to be happily spreading.

Poor confused plants

We had a bout of warm weather in January that to my surprise resulted in the daffodils beginning to sprout. What surprised me is that such a relatively short period of warmth was enough to confuse the plants. The period started around the 8th and only lasted about 5 days with highs >40F including a 3-day stretch of highs in the 50s & 60s peaking at 64F on the 12th; most nights were also fairly warm with temps above freezing.

Daffodils sprouting in mid-January

This is definitely the earliest I've ever seen this occur and easily bests last year's February 4th "record". They have even grown more since then, so we'll see how they do this spring.

(Note: this was posted on 3/3/2013)

Aeration and possible fertilization

I got an offer to have my lawn aerated from what looked like a teenager-father's summer job/business or something. They were aerating my neighbor's lawn who had recently done some overseeding. I was out doing some work at the time and they came over and offered to aerate our lawn. They offered to do the front yard for $25, which was too good of a deal to pass up so I didn't pass it up. Although it's a bit late in the season for aeration (should be done with grass is growing vigorously), I thought the lawn still had enough growing left to do. The boy did a good job.

My memory is fuzzy, but I might have also fertilized again at this time. I can't remember for sure. Wish I had kept track better (what this blog is for) - oh well, life happens.

(Note: this is a back post, posted on 3/3/2012, date of event guesstimated)

Germination!

I looked today and sure enough I saw many young little grasslings sprouting in most of the areas that I put down seed. Sorry, no photos (not much to see anyway unless you're really close)! So that means it took about 1 week since I planted - not bad!