If you have a beautiful lawn...

Please tell me what you're doing. Seriously, step by step, season by season instructions are needed here!

I plant and maintain all our flowers, which look beautiful btw, but my husband is in charge of the lawn. And it's an EMBARRASSMENT! Yes, we're THAT lawn on the block. It's brown in spots, weedy, and just hideous looking. My husband mows it, but that's it! I seriously think my grandfather is up in heaven shaking his finger at me in disappointment.

I'm willing to cut my losses for this year, but I will have a beautiful lawn next summer, so I'm prepared to take over the lawn management.

So, where do I start? Should I be fertilizing in the fall?

Re: If you have a beautiful lawn...

So there are 4 steps in the Scott Fertilizer program and yes, one is for fall.
I believe it goes that you put down:
Step 1 - around Easter time (spring)
Step 2- Memorial Day
Step3- July 4th
Step 4- Labor Day
Give or take of course- and all depending on the weather.

Each step controls something else- like crab grass, summer grubs, the fall one winterizes the lawn. etc

But even with that, it depends on your lawn, and how the season goes.
Some years we get a fungus in the summer which produces brown patches- they have a fungus control made especially for that condition.

But a good start would be to go with the Scott's 4 steps.
And yes, start with the one for fall- the winterization one.

Message edited 8/17/2012 2:27:28 PM.

Re: If you have a beautiful lawn...

Follow the Scott's system. It works great!!

Re: If you have a beautiful lawn...

We did better this year than last year by following the Scott's fertilizer steps (last year we missed one). Our lawn looks better. Plus we watered it more this year than last year.

Re: If you have a beautiful lawn...

We used to have a separate arborist/lawn care place come and do 6 treatments a season. With DH out of work, we decided to do it ourselves. We used the Scotts stuff this year. Our lawn doesn't look pristine, b/c the crabgrass still took over about 1/4 of the front. But it honestly looks decent and neat and no worse than when we were paying for the treatments.

I'm looking into a more organic way to do things next year. We'll overseed in the fall, which will hopefully help in crowding out a lot of the weeds next season. Plus, I've read that corn gluten is a natural pre-emergent crab grass preventer, so I'll try to find that next year.

If you have a beautiful lawn...

We use the Scott's program too. And have IGS which definitely help. What the pp said about fungus, we had that too this year so DH used some other stuff and it eventually went away. As far as dandelions and crab grass goes, as soon as you see some you have to dig that spot out, or it will take over!! You might have a dirt spot in your lawn but its better then the crab grass. DH didn't stay on top of that this year, and its too late now.