Michigan

[chicken grandma]

Thank you John - I'm trying to water a bit but I have never had such dry crunch grass....

 

[RaZ]

Do lawns survive being burned to a crisp or do we have to reseed? sigh

Thank you John - I'm trying to water a bit but I have never had such dry crunch grass....

Your lawn is doing what it is supposed to, going dormant. It will recover when we get adequate rain and temperatures drop some.

Watering a crispy lawn now will do more harm than good. Save the water for more important things.

 

[keyt1969]

Do lawns survive being burned to a crisp or do we have to reseed? sigh

Years ago I had my own landscaping business. We dealt with periods of drought then too and one thing I could never get anyone to realize that even if your grass is brown, it's not dead. Grass goes into a dormant stage and stays that way until nature takes charge of the watering again. Those that water their lawns then suddenly stop when the weather is cooler will strangely enough end up with burnt lawns or at least one that will require more work! It's better to maintain your lawn before the hottest times of the year with a few simple steps:

*water often, but only early in the morning or late at night..especially around places that draw in heat like houses, garages, etc.
*ONLY use fertilizer with potassium NOT nitrogen
*Have as little traffic on the areas that mean most to you like in the front of your home
*Leave clippings on the lawn
*DO NOT mow using the lowest settings on your mower. Also be sure to sharpen your mower blade more than once a year!
*Despite what it may say on the bottle, most weed killers will kill your grass if used on the whole lawn. You can apply it to individual weeds only when the grass is healthy.

Even if you haven't cared for your lawn properly before a drought, if you leave it alone until the weather improves you are in much better standing than those who are over-doing themselves trying to water and make it green now. In the Spring I will often leave the sprinklers on all night, let it grow til it looks like we live in a jungle then cut it.

So, just consider your lawn as sleeping. If you start trying to do something with it now it'll be an angry lawn if you stop! lol

 

[chicken grandma]

Randy and Keyt,
Thank you for your insight.

I had the sprinkers set for 3 times a week for about 10 minutes while I travelled. When I got home - dormant grass. Should I leave the sprinklers set as they are?

 

[RaZ]

I had the sprinkers set for 3 times a week for about 10 minutes while I travelled. When I got home - dormant grass. Should I leave the sprinklers set as they are?

Lawns need an inch of water per week. A deep soaking is far better than a few minutes a day. If you ARE going to water, do it once per week (twice is OK). Set out tuna cans to measure how much water actually reaches the surface. If your lawn is brown right now, don't do anything but wait.

Do not fertilize at all. Wait until fall. But in the mean time, get a soil test kit from your local extension office. The sample will be analyzed by MSU and you will get a report of what nutrients you need for the crop you want to grow. Don't guess, soil test!

Nitrogen and potassium are good macro-nutrients. Phosphorus is rarely needed as it occurs naturally and abundantly in Michigan soil. Look at the N-P-K numbers on the bag. The middle number should be zero (0). The nitrogen (N) should be the water insoluble (WIN) type. Look for WIN on the bag. Nutrients are cycled through the soil and watershed, so you should know what you are putting in the ground.

Ask me how I can cut your lawn fertilizer bill by 75% to 100%.

 

[NovaAman]

I hate show offs. I hate people who act like they are more than what they are just because they want people to think more of them than what they are, when in reality they are just hopped up jerks who want people to think they are something to be impressed by, and are so worried that someone may think bad of them that they are willing to squash their childs individuality because it may reflect badly on their parenting. Did I just say something pretty simple in to many words? More than likely. In simple terms, my kids dad is a con artist, a big BS machine and I am so angry that he made my poor baby nearly cry because HE didn't like the way my son put his hair, and wouldn't let him give a present he picked out for his little friend because it was opened. It was a movie, and Jace tore up the plastic cover trying to get the price tag off, so I had to put it in a different case so it would be intact. Jace wrapped it in comic pages. THAT was NOT how you do presents. You do not wrap things in comic pages, and you do not give something that looks used. It is an effen gift from a 6 year old child to a 4 year old child who thinks my son is the king! HE WOULDN'T HAVE CARED! But it would reflect badly on that dumb effen jerk. I swear to God, one of these days I am going to get a steal toed boot and shove it so far down his effen throat they'll pull it out of his effen backside hole! And people wonder why I don't marry the effer. Cuz I'd kill him and feed him to the pigs.

 

[NovaAman]

Well, not really the last sentence... but I might knock him out and throw his rear in with the pigs, and if he didn't wake up in time, not my fault.

 

[Totalcolour]

. . .And people wonder why I don't marry the effer. Cuz I'd kill him and feed him to the pigs.

Are you sure you don't like this man? I mean, REALLY sure? Do you need some time to think about it maybe? Perhaps you really like him but are afraid to show it? Perhaps if you weren't so shy and could get the words out it would be much better. Hmm. . .

 

[NovaAman]

TC... I enjoy the occassional whazooee massage. He is normally a good dad, but when he pulls this crap with his kids about how they make him look bad, well its all about him and it ticks me off to high heaven, because it isn't about him. He wants a present that makes HIM look good and not what Jace picked out because it was something Jace enjoys (trucks, busses, trains) and he wanted to share with his friend. BUT that isn't good enough. Its to trashy. We can't do trashy with homemade wrapping paper.

And yes, I am SOOO in love with him and I just can't handle it so I have to be a mean snarky (B)witch. Yup. LOL.

 

[NovaAman]

Maybe I will surprise him with one of my freshly processed chickens, all cooked up with all the trimmings for him when he gets home so he'll know how much I really care, cuz I am too shy to tell him... Shyness in that regard is not my problem. Keeping my mouth closed and not choking on the bloody tongue is.