Fall fertilization #2

I put down some more fertilizer on the front lawn on Tuesday. It has not yet been watered in. I realized that I was watering some parts of the lawn way too much by watering 5 minutes 3 times a day (I have read that over-watering can actually be more damaging to a lawn than not watering!); one area was getting soft and muddy. So I've been cutting back quite a bit, especially now that the weather has been cooler. I put down about 5 lbs of Scott's (32-0-4), which comes out to 1 lb/1000 sq. ft.

Because I always forget how to calculate how much to apply, here's the formula I used:

x = r / (n / 100) * s / 1000
(or, simplified: x = r / n * s / 10)

Where:

• x = the amount of fertilizer to apply (in pounds); this is what the formula is calculating
• r = the desired Nitrogen fertilization rate (in lbs / 1000 sq. ft.)
• n = the portion of Nitrogen in the fertilizer (the first number in the sequence found on the bag, e.g. "32-0-4")
• s = the size of the lawn being fertilized (in sq. ft.)

So, for this application:

r = 1

n = 32

s = 1600

Enter those values in the formula:

x = 1 / 32 * 1600 / 10

x = 5 lbs.

And presto, it yields the number of pounds to apply. Now all you need is a scale.

(Note that this is for granular fertilizer. You can also use this calculator, and there are probably others out there as well).

(Another side-note for myself: when putting down this amount of fertilizer, even at the lowest rate on the spreader, I'm only able to make one pass over the lawn, so it has to be done carefully in order to be dispensed evenly)

I'm attempting to follow the advice given in the Purdue Turfgrass Science publication "Fertilizing Established Lawns (AY-22-W)" (download) this year, which says this (among lots of other great information about fertilizing):

When Should You Fertilize?

The cool-season grasses (such as bluegrasses, fescues, and ryegrasses) will benefit most when you apply the majority of N fertilizer from late summer through autumn (Figure 4). This promotes summer recovery, enhances shoot density, maximizes green color, and prepares the turf for winter, all without a growth surge.

Apply less N during the spring growth flush, and then apply little to none during summer except where you frequently water and/or regularly remove clippings during mowing.

When you apply N fertilizer during the spring, use slow-release fertilizers to minimize excess growth. To promote maximum density during late summer and early fall (late August through early November), you should apply up to 1 pound of N per 1,000 square feet each month. From early October until early December, apply primarily water-soluble N fertilizers at slightly lower rates (such as 0.5 to 0.75 pound per 1,000 square feet) about every three weeks.

So my next fertilization will be sometime around mid-October.

What's up, Supina?

Ok, so I've been focused on the front lawn and haven't said much about the backyard in some time. That's because I don't have a clue what's going on back there, but it sure doesn't look good and it seems to only be getting worse. The following photos show the progression.

Here are some shots from 7/26:

A closer shot of a patch that appears to be dying

And some from 9/1:

It's not a pretty sight. I just wish I knew what was wrong.

This is what I do "know":

1. It doesn't appear to be a fertilization issue. Not long after the first set of shots from July I gave some fertilizer to two small areas of the lawn and it didn't seem to make any difference.
2. I've also been keeping it well irrigated, watering roughly every other day or so. That said, we haven't had much rain since late June.
3. The summer hasn't been particularly hot (unlike last summer). There was a hot stretch in mid-July (7/14 - 7/19) with highs in the low 90s, and also the end of August (8/19 - 8/31).
4. There are some areas that seem to be fairing better than others - why?
5. From what I can tell (which is next to nothing), it doesn't appear to be a disease.

My best theory at this point is that it's simply the heat since supina bluegrass doesn't like it hot. This theory will soon be tested as fall arrives, at which point I'm very much hoping it will spring back to life. At this point since I don't have a clue what to do about it, I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens.

I think it goes without saying that my "experiment" idea is off for this year, which is just as well since I'd barely have the time for such a project.

Front yard fertilization

I put down 6.8 lbs of Espoma Organic Lawn Food on the front lawn on Sunday, which equates to about .75 lbs/1000 sq. ft. N. I intended to do this quite a while ago because we had gotten a lot of rain earlier in the summer, but all things gardening have taken a back seat these days; I do what I can. Lately it has been quite dry, so I've been irrigating a bit.

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.

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)

Fertilization

I put down some fertilizer on Sunday. I ended up putting roughly 6lbs of Endure Premium Lawn Food Plus (same as I've used before) on the whole lawn, but with less on the areas where I planted seed. On those areas I put roughly 2 lbs or so of Scott's Starter Fertilizer which I had lying around from previous trials. I watered it all in this morning with a bit of irrigation. I'll be irrigating as much as I need to to keep the soil moist. So far no signs germination!

So, this is what happened earlier this year in the backyard (I believe it was around late June)... As I mentioned I successfully fertilized the backyard back in early May. Despite the fact that we had not had much rain, I had been irrigating 2-3 times a week. I noticed the grass starting to get more yellow again and die off a bit like before, so I thought "hey, maybe it just needs some more fertilization, after all it's been growing pretty vigorously" (however, notably there wasn't that ring of happy grass near the dog's "area"), so I put down some fertilizer. I don't recall how much (probably .75lbs/1000 sq. ft.), but it was some of this stuff:

Espoma Organic Lawn Food

18-8-6 (11% slow release N)

Soon after the lawn began dying off even more, and I was kicking myself. Then, to make matters worse, a few weeks later came the watering ban.

By the end of the summer, the whole backyard was completely brown. I wish I had taken some photos, but you can see the damage after in my previous post.

Needless to say I won't be putting any fertilizer down in the backyard this fall :)