Alright, we're giving our lawn service the boot, and I'm going to see if I
can make our lawn look as good or better than the lawn service could, at a
much better price of course.

I need advice from all of you lawn-care turf-grass fanatics out there. I
know I'll only do this on an ongoing basis if it doesn't take a lot of time
and isn't a pain in the you-know-what. So all advice on how to do this is
appreciated!!

I'm going to buy a good broadcast spreader to apply fertilizer 4 times this
year to our 1/4 acre Minnesota lawn. I want a broadcast spreader that is
going to be trouble free, easy to push and hopefully provide many, many
years of service. The cheap ones, I've learned, aren't worth buying. I've
been reading up, and it seems like the best ones have pneumatic tires,
stainless steel parts that resist rusting, and upper end gear boxes,
something like this Earthway broadcast spreader:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...e%26n%3D286168 .

Would this be a quality spreader at a decent price, or are there other,
better built or more dependable broadcast spreaders that I should consider
that don't cost a fortune?

Secondly, I need a good weed sprayer that has a high enough capacity that it
doesn't have to be refilled constantly, and I like the idea of the ones that
don't have to be pumped constantly. I couldn't find much info online about
what the best sprayers are, but this one on wheels, with a 4 gallon
capacity, that doesn't need pumping, seems to get good reviews on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...e%26n%3D286168 .

Is this a good sprayer, or is there a better one out there that has high
capacity and doesn't cost a fortune? Are there any commercial sprayers that
would work better? Are backpack sprayers any better?

Also, does anyone know where to get the best prices online, for either a
broadcast spreader or sprayer?

I'm planning to buy my fertilizer, and possibly weed chemicals, from a
farm-supply store, rather than at a normal retail gardening store. By buying
the more generic fertilizer and chemicals, I'm hoping I'll save a lot
compared to the $45 per visit that the lawn care companies charge. Does this
sound like a good battle plan? Anyone else saved a lot of money doing this?

Any advice, suggestions or feedback on my grand plan here would be
appreciated, as would any spreader or sprayer recommendations. Thanks in
advance for your help!!

--
DK

I've done my own lawn of about 12000 sq ft for years and found the
basic Scotts Speedy Green type rotary spreaders that go for about $45
perfectly adequate. Not sure it's worth it to spend more money to do a
1/4 acre. Mine is 10 years old now and still works fine.

For spraying, I use either a 2 gallon tank type that you can fill with
water and pressurize at the same time from a garden hose (also has a
hand pump), or for bigger jobs a backpack sprayer that has a hand pump
on the side and various spray nozzles. Once you have the lawn under
control, and good turf established, all that should be needed is
occasional spot treatment for weed control. I use the small sprayer to
kill weeds in beds too. For the lawn, a 2 gallon tank full of
herbicide is enough for a couple of treatments, lasts maybe 6 weeks.

I fertilize twice. Once with pre-emergent crabgrass control/fertilizer
in Spring, then once in early Sept, again in mid Oct.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've done my own lawn of about 12000 sq ft for years and found the
basic Scotts Speedy Green type rotary spreaders that go for about $45
perfectly adequate. Not sure it's worth it to spend more money to do a
1/4 acre. Mine is 10 years old now and still works fine.

For spraying, I use either a 2 gallon tank type that you can fill with
water and pressurize at the same time from a garden hose (also has a
hand pump), or for bigger jobs a backpack sprayer that has a hand pump
on the side and various spray nozzles. Once you have the lawn under
control, and good turf established, all that should be needed is
occasional spot treatment for weed control. I use the small sprayer to
kill weeds in beds too. For the lawn, a 2 gallon tank full of
herbicide is enough for a couple of treatments, lasts maybe 6 weeks.

I fertilize twice. Once with pre-emergent crabgrass control/fertilizer
in Spring, then once in early Sept, again in mid Oct.

Following on from here DK, if your lawn is in good nick you may not need to
spray it at all, or spray it only occasionally. I have very little broad
leaf or rogue grasses in my lawn and cut out most of what does appear with a
knife. The small amounts of very difficult grasses I get rid of with a small
amount of roundup applied to a leaf using a paint brush. This is a fairly
labour intensive method but saves on buying sprays and pumping toxins into
my soil.

I do not know your gorwing conditions or the type of grass you use. I have a
fairly wet climate, humid summers and foggy winters with some frosts and
grow rye and fescue mixes. I find fertilising once in spring and once in
autumn is perfectly fine. 4 times ayear may be over kill. I use blood and
bone which gives me a good enough result as any synthetic fertiliser and
importantly, for me anyway, encourages the build up of soil humus which in
turn helps stimulate micro organisms, fungi, bacteria, worms etc. They help
to keep your soil in good working order (in fact, they are essential).

rob

It's possible (and more likely than you might imagine) that the growing
conditions on your lawn are more friendly to weeds than grass. This means
that you may end up poisoning your land every year, which is bad because the
chemicals you need to use have not been, and cannot be proven safe.

Have you spoken with your state's cooperative extension about soil tests,
and ways of helping the grass compete with the weeds? And, what are your
expectations? Perfection, like a golf course?

You may be reaching a catch 22 situation here DK. If you spray the lawn for
weeds and other grasses and apply synthetic fertilisers, you risk damaging
the balance of the soil, structure of the soil and all the beneficial
elements that live within it. You need a good healthy soil to grow healthy
lawn. My advice is to encourage the soil to be healthy which should reward
you with good grass. I use sfa herbicides on my lawn in order to ensure I
look after the soil. If that means walking around with a knife crowning
weeds that is something I can do (though you may not want to go to that
affort). After a while you get an eye for anything in the lawn which looks
out of place, even when walking out to the garage or clothes line. Organic
fertilisers like blood and bone are good for the soil and fertilise the
grass. I doubt my approach would be too different with blue grass. I have
not grown it myself but it is fairly widespread here. Another thing, get to
like clover. I used to try and spray it out of the lawn but upon
understanding its useful functions I now let it be. From time to time I do
thin it out in some areas by hand however.

rob

"DK" wrote in message ...
I haven't talked with our extension office, but have checked out their Web
sites and recommendations on fertilizing schedule and all that.

I'd say, I have moderate expectations ... doesn't have to be like a golf
course, but I don't want half my lawn to be weeds neither, because they
tend
to take over quickly and fill in more of the lawn. My goal is to improve
the
conditions for the grass to grow, so thicker grass will prevent so many
weeds from popping up.

--
DK

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
It's possible (and more likely than you might imagine) that the growing
conditions on your lawn are more friendly to weeds than grass. This
means
that you may end up poisoning your land every year, which is bad because
the chemicals you need to use have not been, and cannot be proven safe.

Have you spoken with your state's cooperative extension about soil
tests,
and ways of helping the grass compete with the weeds? And, what are your
expectations? Perfection, like a golf course?

Our lawn is mostly bluegrass, I believe, with probably some fescue in the
mix too.

--
DK


"George.com" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've done my own lawn of about 12000 sq ft for years and found the
basic Scotts Speedy Green type rotary spreaders that go for about $45
perfectly adequate. Not sure it's worth it to spend more money to do a
1/4 acre. Mine is 10 years old now and still works fine.

For spraying, I use either a 2 gallon tank type that you can fill with
water and pressurize at the same time from a garden hose (also has a
hand pump), or for bigger jobs a backpack sprayer that has a hand pump
on the side and various spray nozzles. Once you have the lawn under
control, and good turf established, all that should be needed is
occasional spot treatment for weed control. I use the small sprayer to
kill weeds in beds too. For the lawn, a 2 gallon tank full of
herbicide is enough for a couple of treatments, lasts maybe 6 weeks.

I fertilize twice. Once with pre-emergent crabgrass control/fertilizer
in Spring, then once in early Sept, again in mid Oct.

Following on from here DK, if your lawn is in good nick you may not need
to
spray it at all, or spray it only occasionally. I have very little broad
leaf or rogue grasses in my lawn and cut out most of what does appear with
a
knife. The small amounts of very difficult grasses I get rid of with a
small
amount of roundup applied to a leaf using a paint brush. This is a fairly
labour intensive method but saves on buying sprays and pumping toxins into
my soil.

I do not know your gorwing conditions or the type of grass you use. I have
a
fairly wet climate, humid summers and foggy winters with some frosts and
grow rye and fescue mixes. I find fertilising once in spring and once in
autumn is perfectly fine. 4 times ayear may be over kill. I use blood and
bone which gives me a good enough result as any synthetic fertiliser and
importantly, for me anyway, encourages the build up of soil humus which in
turn helps stimulate micro organisms, fungi, bacteria, worms etc. They
help
to keep your soil in good working order (in fact, they are essential).

rob

Thanks for the tip on spreader. It's also good to hear that a 2 gallon
sprayer will last through many weeks w/o needing refilling.

--
DK


wrote in message
ups.com...
I've done my own lawn of about 12000 sq ft for years and found the
basic Scotts Speedy Green type rotary spreaders that go for about $45
perfectly adequate. Not sure it's worth it to spend more money to do a
1/4 acre. Mine is 10 years old now and still works fine.

For spraying, I use either a 2 gallon tank type that you can fill with
water and pressurize at the same time from a garden hose (also has a
hand pump), or for bigger jobs a backpack sprayer that has a hand pump
on the side and various spray nozzles. Once you have the lawn under
control, and good turf established, all that should be needed is
occasional spot treatment for weed control. I use the small sprayer to
kill weeds in beds too. For the lawn, a 2 gallon tank full of
herbicide is enough for a couple of treatments, lasts maybe 6 weeks.

I fertilize twice. Once with pre-emergent crabgrass control/fertilizer
in Spring, then once in early Sept, again in mid Oct.

I haven't talked with our extension office, but have checked out their Web
sites and recommendations on fertilizing schedule and all that.

I'd say, I have moderate expectations ... doesn't have to be like a golf
course, but I don't want half my lawn to be weeds neither, because they tend
to take over quickly and fill in more of the lawn. My goal is to improve the
conditions for the grass to grow, so thicker grass will prevent so many
weeds from popping up.

--
DK

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
It's possible (and more likely than you might imagine) that the growing
conditions on your lawn are more friendly to weeds than grass. This means
that you may end up poisoning your land every year, which is bad because
the chemicals you need to use have not been, and cannot be proven safe.

Have you spoken with your state's cooperative extension about soil tests,
and ways of helping the grass compete with the weeds? And, what are your
expectations? Perfection, like a golf course?

Well, just watch the chemicals, especially if you have kids or pets. As I
said, it is nowhere near as safe as its vendors claim.


"DK" wrote in message ...
I haven't talked with our extension office, but have checked out their Web
sites and recommendations on fertilizing schedule and all that.

I'd say, I have moderate expectations ... doesn't have to be like a golf
course, but I don't want half my lawn to be weeds neither, because they
tend to take over quickly and fill in more of the lawn. My goal is to
improve the conditions for the grass to grow, so thicker grass will
prevent so many weeds from popping up.

--
DK

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
It's possible (and more likely than you might imagine) that the growing
conditions on your lawn are more friendly to weeds than grass. This means
that you may end up poisoning your land every year, which is bad because
the chemicals you need to use have not been, and cannot be proven safe.

Have you spoken with your state's cooperative extension about soil tests,
and ways of helping the grass compete with the weeds? And, what are your
expectations? Perfection, like a golf course?