Hello,
All of you grow tremendous plants I am sure. Personally, I can grow
crabgrass like nobody else in the neighborhood. Every year is a bountiful
crop. It's a new year in Zone 5: Rhode Island. This year, I am going to
win the battle.
..
I am going to overseed in late April/early May, but would like to kill any
crabgrass before it gets a chance to take hold. What are you all
recommending to put down right now? I think Tupersan is a good product to
use, but curious how the Lawn Rangers are handling their crabgrass
situations.

Thanks for your time.

Personally, I can grow
crabgrass like nobody else in the neighborhood.

After the first time you mow you don't notice as much. Its a sign to your
neighbors that you are not polluting the ground water with toxic chemicals
and that you have a little common sense. See what I mean when I say common
sense - http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/C/index.html

For information on pesticides look he
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/spring.html

What are you all
recommending to put down right now?

Composted leaves as a top dress. First I suggest you learn a little bit
about pesticides.
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/spring.html

- - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- -- -
To winterize or
not to winterize lawn









"Winterize your lawn", the big sign outside the garden store commanded. I've
fed it, watered it, mowed it, raked it and watched a lot of it die away. Now
I'm supposed to winterize it? I hope it's too late. Grass lawns have to be
the stupidest thing we've come up with outside of a thong swimsuits! We
constantly battle dandelions, Queen's lace, thistle, violets, chicory and
clover that thrive naturally, so we can grow grass that must be nursed
through an annual four-step chemical dependency.



Imagine the conversation The Creator might have with St. Francis about this:



"Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on
down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle
and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan.
Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with
abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracted butterflies,
honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors
by now. But all I see are these green rectangles."



" It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites.

They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great extent to kill
them and replace them with grass".



" Grass? But its so boring. Its not colorful. It doesn't attract
butterflies, birds and bees, Only grubs and sod worms. Its' temperamental
with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that green grass
growing there?



" Apparently so, Lord, They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green.
They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poising any other plant that
crops up in the lawn".



" The spring rains and cool weather probably make grass grow really fast.
That must make the Suburbanites happy".



" Not exactly, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes
twice a week".



" They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?"



" Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags."



" They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?"



" No, sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away".



" Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And
when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?"



" Yes, sir."



" These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the
rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot
of work."



" You aren't going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so
fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can
continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it."



" What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer
stroke of genius,

if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty
an d shade in the summer . In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a
natural blanket

to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they
rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of
life."



" You better sit down, Lord. The suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As
soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and have them
hauled away."



" No! What do they do to protect the shrub and the tree roots in the winter
and keep the soil moist and loose?"



" After throwing away your leaves, they go out and buy something they call
mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in the place of leaves."



" and where do they get this mulch?"



" They cut down trees and grind them up."



"Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. Saint Catherine, you're
in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?"



" Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about.



" Never mind I think I just heard the whole story."


--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:12:32 -0400, Jack wrote:
Hello,
All of you grow tremendous plants I am sure. Personally, I can grow
crabgrass like nobody else in the neighborhood. Every year is a bountiful
crop. It's a new year in Zone 5: Rhode Island. This year, I am going to
win the battle.
.
I am going to overseed in late April/early May, but would like to kill any
crabgrass before it gets a chance to take hold. What are you all
recommending to put down right now? I think Tupersan is a good product to
use, but curious how the Lawn Rangers are handling their crabgrass
situations.

Crabgrass is an annual and has probably already germinated. Your best
bet is to mow properly, fertilize properly and overseed in the fall,
not the spring.

See:
http://tinyurl.com/3ba7en
which will lead you to a googlegroups archive of the crabgrass faq I
wrote a number of years ago.

Kay

Kay Lancaster wrote in
:

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:12:32 -0400, Jack wrote:
Hello,
All of you grow tremendous plants I am sure. Personally, I can grow
crabgrass like nobody else in the neighborhood. Every year is a
bountiful crop. It's a new year in Zone 5: Rhode Island. This year,
I am going to win the battle.
.
I am going to overseed in late April/early May, but would like to
kill any crabgrass before it gets a chance to take hold. What are
you all recommending to put down right now? I think Tupersan is a
good product to use, but curious how the Lawn Rangers are handling
their crabgrass situations.

Crabgrass is an annual and has probably already germinated. Your best
bet is to mow properly, fertilize properly and overseed in the fall,
not the spring.

See:
http://tinyurl.com/3ba7en
which will lead you to a googlegroups archive of the crabgrass faq I
wrote a number of years ago.

Kay



Put your weed killer on in the fall, too, when the plants are sucking
nutrients up for their winter nap. Actually, the best time to fix/plant
a lawn in around Labor Day (or early fall) so you could probably take a
reprieve for a few months. It's sort of a losing battle right now.