Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Lawns?

Lets talk about our lawns.

What do you guys do for fertilizer for your lawns?

I am looking to get that nice deep green to our lawn and try to even up the colour. We have some light green then some dark green areas.

What works for you guys?

Cheers Don.

Lawn fertilizer is short acting, and only makes me mow more often. I haven't used any in several years. I prefer mulching the old grass in. I used to use it all the time, but if it didn't rain, then I would have to water. If I didn't water, the lawn would burn. Too much trouble, and too often mowing, so I quit.

Use a high nitrogen lawn fertilizer that is 1/2 fast acting and 1/2 time release.

I like to fertilize every 8 weeks but what we do here may not be appropriate up there.

I've got some shade areas that would be very difficult to grow regular varieties of grass due to shade and also out of range of the sprinkler system.

Has anyone in north Texas type climate every used regular mondo grass in these type areas as a ground cover? I read that regular mondo grass is shade tolerant and somewhat drought tolerant? I realize ground cover can attract snakes, but these are areas less traveled and are just ugly bare erosion type soil.

Any other ideas for this type area?....it's relatively close to the cabin so I prefer to cover this eye-sore with something....it's a bit to large to cover with river-rock.

Zoysia grass is very shade tolerant. Probably not so drought tolerant. We used it when I worked grounds a university. Once established it was great...we used sod. Very thick and very pretty. Since you are putting this in a shady area, you might not have to water quite as much. Might check it out if you are looking for a lawn type grass.

I have Mondo grass around my patio but it is in the sun most of the time.

Thanks Tbar...

I am reading that Mondo Grass does pretty well in shade so I may try some mondo grass.

http://neilsperry.com/2016/10/why-mondograss-is-my-favorite/

Zoysia is a warm season grass, it goes dormant in cool weather. Just like I can't grow Bermuda here - not enough heat for a long enough time to get it established. Even tried the Yukon strain of Bermuda. It grew last year but didn't come back up this year.

Zoysia will grow here, but I don't know how much further North it will grow.

Don, what kind of grass do you have?

Never heard of mondo grass.

Dave, how about monkey grass?

Mark, it does do good in the shade. We have it planted under our crepe myrtles, and once established, it's almost maintenance free. They have dwarf varieties too, but they can get $$$.

Scott...Zoysia is the real deal grass.
I have a small amount of it around the cabin. (see pic)



All the experts I have discussed sod with without a single dissenter say Zoysia is the best turf grass out there.(for north Texas) With that said I guess it's no surprise zoysia comes with a higher price tag. I read this about zoysia: "zoysia is more shade tolerant than bermudagrass, but it needs at least four hours of direct sunshine or eight hours of very bright reflected light". I would think zoysia although drought tolerant needs more water than "monkey grass".

Dave I am sure you've seen lots of Mondo grass as a border plant...some call it "monkey grass"...Liriope is a close relative.



Al...yes for sure leaning that way...mondo/monkey/liriope. I do prefer the dwarf variety, but read they are much slower growers.

Zep, FWIW.......


This is the dwarf variety of Mondo grass between the turf and the concrete.



And this is giant Giant Liriope.

Nice Tbar! Love your stained/stamped concrete too. Is that an agave cactus in the background? I wish I could buy that dwarf size mondo in rolls..love the size of the dwarf for my situation, but mine would not be a border, i read dwarf is a real slow grower...i need a fast spreader....I think the regular size mondo might be the way for me to go....very low maintenance, loves shade, low water needs, fast grower, but might need snake boots if I walk thru it...lol

most people here use 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 fertilizer. the proper thing to do is have your soil tested, but no one including myself will do it. i have centipede grass and i love it.. it like acidic soil which means it doesn't need any liming. it also likes fertilizer but doesn't require it.

Our native grass is rye grass. All of our lawn for around the house and pond is a three rye mix. An early mid and late season rye. There is the odd blue grass and believe it or not some Bermuda grass. Years ago on this farm we imported some bermuda grass to add to our late season hay mix. The crown of the bermuda could not handle out January thaw but some still persists.

We are looking for more of an even dark green colour of the grass. We cut at 3.75" so not to damage the root mass too much.

I have used some Ammonia Sulfate this year mostly to cut down on the rust blight late in the season. Seems to be working but we have had some good rain as of late too. We applied 5# per 1000 square feet.

The ammonia really dose a great job giving that nice dark colour but is so hard to apply with out burning with a liquid form. Ammonia nitrate is impossible to get our hands on in Canada.

I was thinking of trying to add 28% liquid ammonia but not sure how to go about that with out frying the whole lawn. Maybe drizzle nozzles in the rain or something, I don't really know.

Cheers Don.

Silly question... but is your lawn getting enough water?

Yes it is getting enough water. We live in an area where once a week we get about 1/2". August is our dry month and we may not see rain for two or three weeks but we will get a heavy morning dew.

We do have to cut the grass once a week and in the spring and fall twice a week.

We have gator blades on all our mowers and I would never have a lawn mower with out them. The mulch up the clippings so well with very little power.

It seems that over time the older grass looses its dark green. I would like to even up the colour then maintain with Ammonia Sulfate.

Looking for maybe a way to apply 28% even cover with out burning the crap out of it. Liquid would be better than broadcasting dry and hoping the sun or run off wont take it away.

Cheers Don.

Common Bermudagrass is the dominant lawn grass here, but it is also a noxious weed, creeping into gardens, flower beds, and expansion joints in sidewalks. Be glad you don't have to deal with it.

My golf clubs hate to deal with it when we head south to golf.

I have it figured out and really completely by mistake. I still had 60# of ammonia nitrate on hand. Thought I would spread it out before a rain.

I didn't realize the gate on the spreader was wide open when I started. Spread 60# in 300 feet. Thought the lawn was patchy before now its stripey too. Long story long just need to put more than just 5# per 1000 square feet. We need at least 20# per 1000.

Cheers Don.

Fertilize your lawn?? Sheesh, I mow mine at 2" hoping it will get scorched and die back. It never does.

Someone who would fertilize their lawn would probably fertilize their pond also...wait, what??

Sprkplug, living large in the land of rainfall and high nutrient loads.

Wasn't it a few short years ago you were lamenting the lack of rainfall and the lawns that wouldn't grow?

Yep, back when my livelihood depended on green grass. One dry summer, or as I like to refer to it as, a taste of Texas. And still the grass grew lush again after that first, welcome rain. Crazy stuff.

Mowing the grass ? I like that natural look as long as the chiggers, red bugs don't move in and set up home. My wife looks at it totally different from me though. So I let her handle it. It's best that way

My personal take is pretty simple. If I can tell there's a breeze blowing from observing my grass, it needs cut. Lawn grass shouldn't move in a breeze.

If I need to fertilize an area, I use non-burning garden fertilizer, while is a mix of Milorganite and chemical. The Miloganite acts as a slow release that the plants can uptake, and the chemical give it a kick so that the grass will grow quickly and convert everything to biomass.

Ideally I prefer things like chicken meal and other mulching type fertilizers (pure milorganite), but notice no real effect since they are so slow-acting. The garden fertilizer is a balance of both, and seems to have a lasting impact when mulching the clippings back in.

My biggest gripe with chemical fertilizers (oil-derived) is only a small portion is usually taken up by the plants, the rest is washed away or percolates down into the water table. This all runs off into creeks and rivers. Up here in the Great Lakes, this causes huge BG algae blooms and other toxic algae that kill migrating birds that happen to eat the fish in it. Last year hundreds (thousands) of loons where killed, one of my favorite birds, on Lake Ontario for what? A green lawn? The shame.

I have no problem using fertilizers conservatively on crops, it is necessary, but lawns give me a heartache for the harm they do. We mash up all of the critters with mower blades and chemical the ecosystem to do as the Romans do.

IMHO be conservative, don't expect a green carpet, enjoy the diversity of the plants that grow in it if they are not poisonous. We still pick native strawberries out of our lawn in early June, and they are fantastic!

Do what you want, but please consider the consequences also. There are other things you can do.


I mow this about 3x a year, mostly to knock out the more woody plants in the early summer to give low-crowned plants a leg up. I use a weed-whacker as to not mash up the frogs and insects too much.
https://goo.gl/photos/R5UmeoeAAzj5dkW39
and
https://goo.gl/photos/RmU8aPENvpEno1PK9

Well this?
What it looks like when I am too lazy to mow. Note the diversity:
https://goo.gl/photos/RmU8aPENvpEno1PK9

You can see the transition from slightly fertilized lawn to "field" that is only mowed in the late fall to keep the brush out. That corner is FULL of life, and the deer love to bed in it. Never mind the largely neglected pond garden on the right. However, that cranked out THOUSANDS of cute little tree frogs this year.
https://goo.gl/photos/4obXrVbMwfeNPCTs9

The dandelions, most here fight them tooth and nail. It is pointless and futile. I embrace then, as the deep roots capture fertilizer the grass misses, and I find them pretty in the spring:
https://goo.gl/photos/GPreNtZA24u3ErV48

Lastly is my gripe of people mowing every last corner of a large lot. Let some portion go each year to give wildlife a home! You can rotate the area you let go wild, trace out cool patterns and paths if desired, plant some wildflowers, etc. Trust me, your property experience improves with a little wild added in (if you are not doing that already!)

Well, that is my stance on lawns. I hate their necessity to keep bugs away from the house and have a place to kick balls around with the kid and dog.

We don't fertilize, but have to mow about every 4 to 5 days in the peak of season, especially if it rains a lot.

I don't fertilize either, and like John we need to mow at least once a week when water is plentiful and frequent. I enjoy a lawn that is kept neat, and my philosophy is if I can tell the wind is blowing by looking at my grass, it needs mowed.

But that's my lawn....Lots of area on the outskirts of the lawn proper where we only mow every 3 weeks or so. Still looks pretty good, and frees up a lot of time.

I regularly mow about 1.5 acres total, where the 0.5 comes from small cul-de-sacs and trails. The other acre is around the house, pond, driveway, and my small apple orchard. The other 14.5 acres gets a variety of care to complete neglect. It is my playground to enjoy the changes over time, and watch the wildlife I can produce from my land.

About 1 acre is devoted to the church farm for World Hunger, which the deer I host ate all of the sweet corn, and in no way returned enough fertilizer to make up for it. The potatoes are what produce the best, and the deer don't touch them. The problem is we lost a lot of them this year to drowning. It was so wet in some areas, we lost probably 1/4 of the crop. That is a first.

You better fertilize quarterly and water weekly. You gotta keep those small engine shops in business!!

We have about 3 acres of lawn that the house and pond are in the middle of. I intend on planting more trees to cut down on the lawn.

I just fertilized with 13-13-13 with 300# per acre. We did get a nice shot of rain to wash it in and the grass is starting to even up. The hope is that the lawn will even up over time.

We cut it at about 3.5" and use a lawn stripper that makes it look very nice and tidy.

What I am battling is rust blite. So the nitrogen added in the 13-13-13 was ammonia sulfate. I am looking at using ammonia sulfate in the spring as well then if the Blite shows up again hitting it with liquid sulfur. I hate how the dog comes into the house with orange feed up 6"s from her paws. I hate that the wife needs to wear a mask when cutting the grass with the small mower.

I sure remember how unpleasant those drier seasons were. If it's too dry the grass doesn't grow....if the grass doesn't grow people don't mow....if people don't mow their equipment doesn't break down.....if equipment doesn't break down, small engine techs don't eat! Don't miss that part at all.

sprkplug, you reminded me of what my best friend told me once. He owned the only grocery store in town and I owned the only small engine repair shop in town. He thought we had it figured out. He said people gotta eat and the grass will always grow!! After 35 years of it, we're both out of business!! But... people still gotta eat and the grass still grows!!