Lawn care question

[Mr. Apollo]

After 5 years with a "professional lawn care service" I've had enough. Sure it saves time but my lawn looks looks awful. It's brown and sparse (even though I water it for several hours a week) and full of crab grass and even the odd weed.

I know Scotts has a page to show you when to put down fertalizer but I want to know when to seed and when to put down weed killer and crab grass killer too, when to dethatch, etc.

Is there somewhere where I can just print up a chart that shows me step by step what I have to buy and do to fix my lawn?

I have a mixed grass lawn (blue grass, rye, and fecscue) and live in Toronto.

[Neal]

With this summers drought most lawns have suffered. I am not one for watering, preferring the lawns natural tendency to go dormant then produce seed once rejuvenated by rain. Lawn care is like making wine with Italians IMO. Last year I was fortunate enough to throw in with an Italian buddy when we went to buy our grapes. The place was full of Italians all with tons of experience. The one common thing was that each guy made the best wine in in the world yet each method was slightly different. Same thing with lawns. Everybody is going to find what is best for them and their soil, light and climate conditions. I have been know to use Scott's in the spring. However because I have dogs I have tried to use a more holistic approach and used some of Jerry Baker's (America's foremost garden expert) methods which include, among other things, spraying with a combination of(home made) beer for the yeast to eat or transform thatch, liquid ammonia (pre-digested nitrogen), some type of liquid sugar (a sugar 'not' diet pop or molasses) to help feed micro organisms and a pure soap (liquid IE, Irory or baby shampoo) to break surface tension and let the lawn absorb more water.
When I use fertilizer now I opt for the corn meal fertilizer (vet recommended) which is great and won't foul the water in a rain run off situation like chemical fertilizers. The dogs can, and do, eat the stuff and it is harmless. It isn't possible to burn the lawn with it.
For grubs there are at least two kinds of beneficial nematodes that you can spray with which also won't harm pets or people or birds. If done right it is very effective with no harmful chemicals. People think that they are too expensive but not really in the long run.
I never spray for weeds. Pull them out and keep the lawn in good condition and you will greatly reduce the weed population. Keeping your grass between 2 1/2 and 3 inches is a good height and helps it to survive with the right amount of leaf mass to feed the plant and helps to keep air borne weed seed from getting established.
Cut your lawn late in the day so that the fresh cut grass leaves have time to heal before facing the hot bright sun of the day.
There are tons of things you can do for your lawn. If you have the time you can have the best lawn in town and you'll know exactly what is on it.

Good Luck!

[Bluvertigo]

8 Steps to Lawn Restoration
http://www.yardcare.com/expertadvice/restoration/index.html

[Neal]

Good article Bluevertgo! I disagree with "removing" thatch however. When I was Internet shopping for a lawn mower for my son (one that came with lessons on how to use it) I found a shop in eastern Ontario that went to great lengths to debunk the thatch theory in a way. They had studies that showed not much difference in a lawns life cycle or success when the thatch was removed. Naturally we aren't talking about a lawn smothered in grass clippings. I prefer to leave all clippings on the lawn and create an environment for the thatch to break down and feed. I tried the de-thatching but had a heck of a time trying to get that volume of thatch to break down in the compost. I find it better to leave it and break it down on the lawn. Just add some sugar and it breaks down fast.

[Mr. Apollo]

That's a pretty good article but I was looking for something a little more specific. I went to the Scotts website but they don't have anything comprehensive. Just individual topics on different issues. What I would like is something like that article above but one that also includes all the various products to use and when to apply them.

[Dr.Dan]

The thing is, there's no hard rule for when things are applied... it's all relative to the weather.
Following what you read is about all you can do... apply it as it applies to you. You won't find anything 'more specific'

About the only thing that you can do is apply the crabgrass preventer early in the spring... about the same time as the Forsythia bloom.
But if you use this, you won't be seeding the same year since both are grass seed and crabgrass preventer will stop both from germinating.

Dig out weeds whenever you see them... anytime.

You can always do a better job than "professional lawn care service" because you can do things at the right time... they have lots of customers and can't do them all at the same time

[morkys]

Mulch your grass. Use Compost as fertilizer. Seed you lawn in the spring. Water as little as possible. If you water, your lawn grass does not grow roots, then when its dry, the grass dies before you get a chance to water it. There are loads of other things you can do.