I want green grass. not dead grass...

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mopardude318

mopardude318

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What do yall do to get that really green healthy lookin grass?

I had it one time but i let my backyard go to hell, it grew about 3 feet high, then i mowed it, now its dead. I'm watering it alot, i put scott's fertilizer on it last week, watered it good. i also cut the grass on high setting of my lawn mower. i also sprinkled potting soil all over it and watered it in...dont know why...maybe itll help. lol. today i mowed it again and am watering the heck out of it....i need it green and soft by the 11th of august...having my baby's 1 year old party....how am i doing?? any tips?

couple months ago:
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Today i mowed it again and watered it. its about 11am and 75 degrees.. should i not water in the day time?? i always run the sprinklers at night mostly for 10 minutes now. i put em on in the morning too..

it sure hurts when ya walk on it barefoot!!! this stuff is stiff.

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i used this

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Hey James get some Scotts weed and feed it should have grass seed in it too. Scotts also has a fast growing grass feed too.
 
Take the bag of the mover. the clippings are good for the soil. Just dont let the lawn get so high again.
 
Ironite the chit out of it!! Spread it heavy and often. Its not going to make it healthy but it will make it green. The only way to make it healthy is time and fertilizer consistently. It may take 2 to 3 seasons to turn it around.
 
Green spray paint.........or astro turff...never have to cut it again either
 
AdamR said:
Take the bag of the mover. the clippings are good for the soil. Just dont let the lawn get so high again.
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okay. i will start doing that. Ill spread the cut grass all over.

78kitcar said:
Ironite the chit out of it!! Spread it heavy and often. Its not going to make it healthy but it will make it green. The only way to make it healthy is time and fertilizer consistently. It may take 2 to 3 seasons to turn it around.
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so...ironite....is that in the fertilizer? or do i pick up a bag of....ACME Ironite?...LOL
 
75* and you're wearing a hoodie while mowing the grass.....

What kind of grass do you have?

Couple of rules for cutting grass.

1) Cut it frequent and use sharp blades.

2) Never cut more than 1/3 of the grass height...i.e. 6" - cut 2"

3) Never mow a wet lawn....the lawn can't breath

4) Leave the clippings or even use a mulching blade

5) Water deeply and only when needed (when the soil is dry...resists a screwdriver being pushed in). Put an empty tuna can down where your sprinkler is and move the sprinker when the can is full so that you don't overwater.

6) Do not water at night...grass should be dry before the overnight dew sets in.

7) Do not overfertilize and don't mix fertilizers...it's bad for the soil composition and can burn the grass.

8) Change mowing patterns. Down and back, side to side, diagonally another...you get the idea.


Follow my advice and you'll have a great lawn, but I'm gonna warn you that it can be a lot of work and is not an overnight solution. It's gonna take at least a month to see some of the better results. Cheers.
 
I have also used Ironite to get a lawn back and green. Works pretty fast just don't over do it. As stated don't let it get so tall and water early AM. I wouldn't put any more fertilizer on it, looked pretty full and green before you cut it.
 
Being that I live in SoCal where our water has to be piped in by the aqueduct system, brown patches are quite common and turn green with regular watering in the early morning. Letting the grass grow tall was a mistake that I have made in the past. It took time to get the grass to adjust back to being mowed regularly. Be patient.
 
Watering for 10 min?

That's like a baptism. Not enough. Your lawn has been shocked by the short cut after being long. It need LOTS of water and some fertilizer. Go by what the fertilizer bag recommends. Too much and you'll burn it. The soil you put down has some already. Use light applications weekly for the first month or so and cut back if you see any sign of burning (yellowing).

Initially you can't overwater. SOAK it so the soil is saturated for a few days, then see what it needs to stay moist. Usually a good soak every few days is enough. This depends on a lot of things like your soil, how compacted it is, and how much direct sun its getting. If your soil is hard, aerate it. It helps to dig down in a couple spots to see how far down your soil is moist.

Day or night isn't that important but you lose less water to evaporation by watering in the early am. Late evening watering may predispose to moss and mold growth due to it staying wet overnight.

Use some weed killer for lawns to reduce competition. I like the type that sprays using a garden hose - easy. The seeding idea will help too.

It will take a month or two to recover.
 
mopardude318 said:
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I about had a panic attack seeing this thread! lol

You just got to stay on mowing it. The lawn is usually the last thing on a car guy's mind. It took a while to get in the groove with 1.5 acres of grass; there are better uses of time, but the yard's my baby now.
 
I started with Kentucky 31 fescue. Didn't keep it mowed/maintained. It got too tall. Once mowed it was like walking on clumps of broken pencils.
Today mine is zoysia. Nothing one can do for it other than spread fowl manure ( chicken chit ). That aint happening here. Those with money put it down in sod form. Those who have more time than money put in plugs and wait.
Only place where it grows tall enough to mow is above the septic drain field. Bogs down a 14 horse Snapper too.
On the down side, It turns to any tiny yellow hay in winter than gets tracked indoors.
I would have to sow winter rye over it every fall to prevent that.
Bottom line, You just cant have a lush beautiful lawn this August. Sorry
I wouldn't invest a dime in any grass before early October.
 
mopardude318 said:
What do yall do to get that really green healthy lookin grass?

I had it one time but i let my backyard go to hell, it grew about 3 feet high, then i mowed it, now its dead. I'm watering it alot, i put scott's fertilizer on it last week, watered it good. i also cut the grass on high setting of my lawn mower. i also sprinkled potting soil all over it and watered it in...dont know why...maybe itll help. lol. today i mowed it again and am watering the heck out of it....i need it green and soft by the 11th of august...having my baby's 1 year old party....how am i doing?? any tips?

couple months ago:

the first thing you need to know is you didn't KILL IT you just kind of hurt it but you also picked a bad time of the year to do it heat isn't helping you grow new grass over seefing might help but this time of year you won't get a get % of the greass to grow if you want to try something get a mix package of seed something with rye gress blue grass and fescue grass why i say that is rye grass will be up in about 7 to 10 days the other 2 will take about 14 to 21 day to start to show if you don't want to seed you yard try putting down something with a high nitrogen content well help it green up faster and water it in the early morning if you can water it between 4 am and 6 am not in the heat of the day and for now keep it cut as high as the mower will cut once it starts to green you can start to lower the cut a little at at time every 3 cut (and i don't mean cut it every day once a week to start) NO DON'T THROW THE CUT GRASS BACK ON THE LAWN THAT WILL ONLY WORK IF THE CLIPPING ARE CUT VERY VERY VERY SMALL NOT WITH GRASS THAT CUT THAT LONG IT WILL ONLY MAT IT DOWN AND GET MOLD GROWNING UNDER IT but then again do what you feel you need to do i just take care of a 144ac of grass every day yes i keep the grass green and growing in a golfcourse

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Today i mowed it again and watered it. its about 11am and 75 degrees.. should i not water in the day time?? i always run the sprinklers at night mostly for 10 minutes now. i put em on in the morning too..

it sure hurts when ya walk on it barefoot!!! this stuff is stiff.

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IMG_3423.jpg


IMG_3422.jpg


i used this

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I took tips from the grounds caretaker for space center houston. He told me to use a mulching blade when i mow. Only water in early morning and do not over water. The grass will become dependent on constant heavy watering and wont fare well when you dont. Also watering at night will increase the chance of mold and brown spot as the excess water doesnt evaporate off fast enough.Dont use bag weed and feed. This stuff builds up in the soil and hurts your trees roots if applied annually.Instead use a liquid like you attach to your hose and water by the directions. I had a really crappy yard when I bought my house but with his advice it has turned around. If you follow this advice be prepared to mow every week.This is an old pic. It looks even better now.
 

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I made the mistake of raking all the grass clippings up for the last 2 years. By late summer last year my yard had a ton of brown spots and bare spots. I was told no leave the clippings on the ground. I started last fall by mulching the laves in to the ground. As of right now most of my yard has grown back.
 
Set your mower up to mulch the grass. You will be happy you did.
Cuts the clippings up real fine and puts them back on the grass.
 
I'd say if the grass died because you let the ground dry out, it's gonna be a long road back, time-wise. I agree with the Ironite advice, it gets it dark green, doesn't burn it and doesn't make it grow 2 feet per week. Gotta be super careful of those crystal nitrogen fertilizers, especially in summer.....they'll burn up a lawn instantly. I would keep an eye on the lawn and make sure it doesn't dry out during the day. I live in the desert and maintain a lawn, so I know what you're up against!

You could also mix up some liquid Miracle Gro and spray it around with a tank sprayer.....that would probably give it a kick in the pants too.
 
AdamR said:
Take the bag of the mover. the clippings are good for the soil. Just dont let the lawn get so high again.
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Last time I had grass this is how I mowed it. Also used to not rake the the seeds pods, acorns leaves etc. Just used to run them over with the mower and leave it. Used to water early in the morning. Just long enough to moisten the ground, not to create puddles. When I watered at night lawn dried out and kind of looks like my yard does now. And now I have no grass to speak of now, just a field type of grass.
 
If you follow the advice I listed above, your lawn will look like mine (see pics below). I don't water or fertilize due to the size of the my yard, but I try to follow those cutting tips.
 

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By letting it get so tall it also got course, once cut you were walking on very thiick blades of grass.

It is better to cut mwith mower up high and more often. Once a week is not how it should be cut, ONCE it gets 1 or 2 inches above mowed level, if you need to do it every 3 or 4 days do it.

But afraid it is too late this year.

Need to do some work this fall to loosen the soil, remove some of the thick grass blades, fertilize & reseed

The guys are right about watering, DON'T DO IT AT NIGHT

If y,ou need it soft for bday party, get some AstroTurf for an area for the children to play on
 
I got St Augustine grass plugs from my uncles yard about 5 yrs ago. This grass "runs" and will overtake any of the vertical growing type grass. My lawn looked like yours before the St Augustine took over. Now I have a yard that is fully covered, green, and it feels like you're walking on carpet. My neighbors like it so much they have gotten some plugs out of my yard when I built my shop. It's now in their yards taking over. Bermuda runs as well but I like the St Augustine better.
 
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