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.

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.

They look like paintbrushes

Here are some macro shots that I took yesterday of some new leaves growing on some small trees in our backyard. The first three are all of the same thing. For scale, it's about the size of my index finger. I thought they looked like paintbrushes :)

Looking down at one.

It's amazing to see!

The plants are starting to come up

I took a look around the garden beds and I noticed that many other plants are starting to grow in addition to the daffodils. Here are a few photos:

Phlox

Astilbe (I think)

The 'Montgomery' Astilbe

Rose bush buds

I believe this is a Crocus (right) next to a tulip (left).

I'm excited!