Front lawn fertilization

I put down some fertilizer this week. We've had a bunch of rain this spring (15" since April 1) and it's about time to put down the second half of the crabgrass preventer (~60 days ago, April 15). I put down the rest of the bag of Endure Crabgrass Preventer Plus I had, which came out to be about 3.8 lbs. Since we've had so much rain, I added an additional 1.2 lbs of Scotts 32-0-4 (5.7% slow release N). In some places the lawn wasn't looking as green, and there are some greener spots where I presume dogs had peed (this has worked before!). In hindsight, the 7.8  lbs total of crabgrass preventer was quite a bit more than I had put down in the past: 3.5 lbs for the entire application - whoops! I guess my own blog has failed me. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be a problem. So far I've not seen any crabgrass. Total nitrogen comes out to about 0.7 lbs/1000 sq ft. So far it hasn't rained enough to water it in, but we're forecast to get some this weekend.

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.

Second crabgrass preventer application

I put down the second application of the crabgrass preventer on May 12th hoping for some rain that night to work it in. That didn't happen and it wasn't until yesterday that we got some rain and only .10" at that, but I irrigated today so that should do the trick. It also give the grass some more fertilizer which is good. I want it to outgrow the diseases. So far no signs of any crabgrass, so the half application seemed to do the trick.

Off to an early start

Prompted by a recent post Get your motor running: Crabgrass control adjustment on the Purdue Turf Tips blog, I put down some preemergent crabgrass herbicide this week on the 13th. The author of the article suggested shifting the management schedule up 7-10 days before normal. They also suggested a way to extend the effect of the herbicide by applying two applications 60 days apart at half the rate of a single application, which they say Purdue research has shown be 20% more effective. They also linked to an interesting site called the GDD Tracker that I don't understand in the slightest, but apparently has various models that predict the optimum timing for various applications, including preemergent crabgrass. It provides a nice map with color coding depicting the various stages. Currently, central Indiana (and most of Indiana now) is in the optimum period for applying the herbicide. So, I did. I applied 2.8lbs of the same Endure Crabgrass Preventer Plus that I used last year.

Side note: OH, I think I forgot to mention that I am now the proud owner of a scale! In case I didn't, well, I did and it's super helpful for measuring the proper amounts of stuff. I actually bought it last year and have used it several times already. Here's a picture:

My new scale

I'll plan on making the second application in 60 days, which will be mid-May.

Crabgrass at bay

It appears that the crabgrass preventer that I applied earlier this year has done it's job well! I have not found any crabgrass anywhere in the lawn, except for along the very edge along the road and in a few places along the sidewalk.

Young crabgrass (the light green in the middle) growing on the
 edge of the sidewalk.

Crabgrass along the road in my neighbors yard (not ours). The seeds
had better stay over there!

I'm very pleased as I was expecting that my tearing up the lawn last year likely spread a lot of crabgrass seeds around. If it continues that none grows in the middle of lawn, I'll be extremely happy. Our lawn is small enough that I can hand pick any that pops up as long as it's not in huge numbers.

Crabgrass preventer application

I went to multiple stores trying to find a good preemergent crabgrass herbicide that didn't have quick release Nitrogen in it, but I couldn't find one. Ultimately, I ended up purchasing a bag of Endure Crabgrass Preventer Plus:

Endure Crabgrass Preventer Plus

The active ingredient is dithiophyr. It claims to be "extended release fertilizer", but when looking at the Fertilizer Analysis on the back, it listed 19% Urea Nitrogen, only 5.7% of that slow release.

19% Urea Nitrogen (5.7% stabilized/slow release)
3% Potash

It was better than my other options and I needed to apply it as soon as possible, so I went for it.

I only applied it to the front yard since crabgrass hasn't been a problem in the backyard, but also because it would prevent the new grass from germinating along with any crabgrass. The general rule is to never use preemergent herbicides along with seeding. This wasn't a problem for the front yard. I calculated the square footage of the front yard to be roughly 1600 sq ft., and the recommended rate is 3.5lbs/1000 sq ft, so I applied roughly 5lbs of it using a handheld spreader. I'll save the rest for next year, assuming it doesn't expire.