Gardening

Tred_sl said:

Does lawn care count as gardening? We bought this place a couple years ago and the previous owners were an elderly couple. The yard hadn't been raked in years, forget any real care, from what I've been told by neighbors. When I raked up all the leaves after we moved in some of the grass was in such bad shape it was like a bad toupee. Pulled up giant clumps of grass and now there are massive bald spots all over the place. The "grass" that is still there is all ratty and nasty/weedy looking. Is there a relatively cheap way to help rejuvenate our lawn or do I need to scorched earth it and start from scratch?

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Seed the whole thing, and water the dickens out of it. It will fill in.

Tred_sl said:

Does lawn care count as gardening? We bought this place a couple years ago and the previous owners were an elderly couple. The yard hadn't been raked in years, forget any real care, from what I've been told by neighbors. When I raked up all the leaves after we moved in some of the grass was in such bad shape it was like a bad toupee. Pulled up giant clumps of grass and now there are massive bald spots all over the place. The "grass" that is still there is all ratty and nasty/weedy looking. Is there a relatively cheap way to help rejuvenate our lawn or do I need to scorched earth it and start from scratch?

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I've got a similar situation. Older folks let everything go. I haven't de-thatched the worst parts yet, but overall it looks pretty bad. Some of the ugly is because we just came out of winter.

I mowed it yesterday. Today I'm going to apply some sort of weed n' feed and absolutely follow the directions on the package. It's been almost 15 years since I had a lawn so I need to read up about watering. Some of the bald spots may need reseeding.

I figure I'll give it a year and see what it looks like at the end of fall before I call in an airstrike. I think it'll mostly come back but I'll follow this thread for "expert advice."

Thank you guys. Honestly I've never done anything to a lawn besides mow it so this is entirely new territory for me.

Pave the whole area and paint it green? (I wish I could get away with that)

I would give it a good raking over, wait till it rains and go over the area with a hole poker barrel drum thingy. (Technical term) Then seed and feed the hell out of it and water. Wait a few months and redo next year on problem spots. I am also a person who hates mowing the grass. Stupid annoying perfect lawn having Jones next door.

Tred_sl said:

Thank you guys. Honestly I've never done anything to a lawn besides mow it so this is entirely new territory for me.

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Wait til fall to seed though.

I've got all the leaves from fall to still rake up and I don't think I'll be getting to that any time soon. I'm in no rush to address the issue. I just needed to be pointed in the right direction for when I do get to it.

Tred_sl said:

I've got all the leaves from fall to still rake up and I don't think I'll be getting to that any time soon. I'm in no rush to address the issue. I just needed to be pointed in the right direction for when I do get to it.

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Haven't read the past few pages so someone may have already mentioned this but don't rake the leaves just set your lawnmower to mulch and shred them into the tiniest bits possible with several passes. Much better for the lawn as it returns nutrients to the soil.

Depending on the grass you can place runners you cut from the rest of the yard and keep them watered about right now and it will help.

lurker_sl said:

I mowed it yesterday. Today I'm going to apply some sort of weed n' feed and absolutely follow the directions on the package.

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Please, please, please for the sake of our honey bees and water systems do not use weed and feed. Strengthen your soil and grass so it can out-compete the weeds. Get your lawn dethatched and aerated, broadcast seed, and spread a 1/2 inch of compost over it. Get a soil test and adjust the ph if necessary (google it). The crap from lawn products makes its way into our water systems and ruins them. Dandelions and clover are great for honey bees, learn to appreciate them. The desire for pure green lawns is harming our ecosystem.

What about recommendations for getting rid of moss? That shit has always been around my yard but this year it has taken over...

My cherry tree going ham. With the messed up weather it bloomed about 3 weeks early, I used a charcoal BBQ under it on the nights the over night temperature dropped below freezing.
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Previously.

Harvesting soon.

Straight bank, cherries are so friggin' expensive.

We're getting cherries, too! More than last year. And believe it or not, we already starting to get some cherry tomatoes. We're eating lettuce already, and our herbs have really established themselves and taken off. Shit's going well this year!

That's the 4th year of that specific cherry, this is its first big year it had a lot of body to make buds. We harvested ~ 50 pounds of cherries from that one tree this year. Nature is really rad if you just step back and think that 100% of our existence is so dependent on the plant kingdom to do some sick energy conversion. Raspberry hedge started turning red yesterday, so they will get picked soon too.

What kind of cherry tree do you have lurking? - ours is a Rainer.

Two smallish trees - Montmorence (typical Michigan tart cherries) and Bing for sweet. I can't get the Rainer thing established here. Tried both of the last two years and the winters have killed them off.

I have a giant what I believe is a Rainier cherry tree in my backyard. It always produces a lot of fruit but I've never bothered to try and harvest any before. I think this year I'm going to make the effort to try and pick some as it is going absolutely bonkers and I might actually be able to beat the birds to the fruit. I'm also going to try to capture and cultivate some wild yeast from the tree for making lambic-style brews, and if it makes something tasty I'll use the yeast and the cherries to brew my own Kriek beer.

I also have a smaller cherry tree that I always thought was just for looks, but this year is the first year (in 5 years) it is producing berries. They look like miniature Rainier cherries. I took one of the leaves off of it and compared it to my giant tree and they look very similar. Maybe I'll post some pictures later, but anyone have any ideas, is it normal for a cherry tree like that to go years w/o producing any fruit? And is it typical for the berries to be smaller if the tree is smaller/younger?

If you want to increase the yield in your cherry tree you have to prune that shit for a couple of years. Seriously, get the sucker branches all off, reshape it for maximum sunlight, profit.

lurkingdirk_sl said:

If you want to increase the yield in your cherry tree you have to prune that shit for a couple of years. Seriously, get the sucker branches all off, reshape it for maximum sunlight, profit.

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The problem with the giant Rainier tree I have is that I'm not 100% sure it is actually on my property. Also I'm not sure how to go about pruning the whole tree as the sucker is 30-40ft tall at least. But the thing is out-of-control unruly right now with giant branches hanging over my fence into my backyard so SOMETHING is going to have to be done about it. Tons of cherries fall to the ground in my backyard and my dog won't ever come inside now cause she's out there chowing down on cherries, which I'm sure aren't good for her but hasn't killed her yet.

opiate82_sl said:

The problem with the giant Rainier tree I have is that I'm not 100% sure it is actually on my property. Also I'm not sure how to go about pruning the whole tree as the sucker is 30-40ft tall at least. But the thing is out-of-control unruly right now with giant branches hanging over my fence into my backyard so SOMETHING is going to have to be done about it. Tons of cherries fall to the ground in my backyard and my dog won't ever come inside now cause she's out there chowing down on cherries, which I'm sure aren't good for her but hasn't killed her yet.

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Talk to the person next door and tell them you're willing to do the work, make it a good, healthy tree that provides delicious fruit, and offer to let them pick half. If they aren't interested, they'll more than likely tell you to go ahead and deal with it and take the fruit. Win!