Gardening Gifts FAQ:
I am a completely clueless woman when it comes to gardening, but my yard is looking a mess please help me, is there something i can buy to beauty it up? And if so any recommendations
I am a completely clueless woman when it comes to gardening, but my yard is looking a mess please help me, is there something i can buy to beauty it up? And if so any recommendations
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
You need to consult with someone in your region, lawn and garden center etc.
I live in NW illinois. I do three feedings of my yard.
Spring fertilizer with crab grass killer. I believe this has some faster release nitrogen to give the grass a boost at greening up.
Mid season a slow release pellet type of fertilizer.
Fall, a slow release fall feeding fertilizer.
To control broadleaf weeds, dandelions and the like, the best way is to spray them with a product like weed b gone, which is the chemical 2-4-D
I do not water my yard as it is one acre.
Another option, look around your area, find a neighbor that has a beautiful yard and go talk to them. If their yard looks great, it’s probably because they enjoy it and it is their hobby of sorts. They will love to talk about it.
Lawn services are expensive. I do my acre yard for about 150 per year, thats about one eighth of what a lawn service charges.
Mowing is important, after all, it’s the thing you do most to your yard. Leave your grass at least three inches long, mow frequently enough that you never remove more than a inch. With a mulching blade and frequent mowing, you shouldnt have to pick up your grass, saving you labor and your yard will love you for it.
I dont pick up leaves either, just mulch them in. I dont really need to spray much for weeds, but what I do, I do in the fall. Come spring, my yard has zero weeds, my neighbors are out there spraying their dandelion fields.
My yard looks better than ever, and I spend less time and effort on it than I ever did.
A thick lawn will help discourage weeds, thats where the fertilizer, not scalping your yard when mowing comes in. Minimal spraying of a 2-4-D for weeds and you really wont have to do much into the future.
Other things that help, aerating your yard with a plug cutting aerator. If you have heavy clay type soil, this helps to loosen the soil.
By mulching everything back into your yard with those frequent mowings, you will be creating your own top soil as the years go by.
You can buy a inexpensive broadcast spreader and do your own thing. For a normal yard, a two gallon pump type sprayer for your weeds.
You can use the dry “weed and feed” type of products. I just find them to be more expensive than what I am doing and the dry weed killer is usually not too effective due to weather when applied etc.
You can hire someone to aerate your lawn. Then, fertilize it with lawn starter, Spread seeds and cover it with peet moss. If you’re in the U.S. Spring would be the best time to grow grass. Good luck! Happy Holidays!
Hi there,
A good watering schedule is a must. Water on the same day each week, and more often if you live in a dry area. Each section needs from 30 minutes to one hour of water if you are not getting rain. If you are too busy to stay on top of watering each week, have an automatic watering system put in.
We use Scott’s fertilizer in the spring. Read the package to see how to apply it. You will need a spreader. Water in well after you apply it.
In the fall, we apply Scott’s fall/winter fertilizer. Water in well.
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I don’t know what all exactly you are wanting to do, but I can try to give you a few pointers. I am a Live Nursery Specialist for a Lowe’s store in WV. I have been in the garden center for over 6 years and have learned alot and I help customers make decisions a lot too.
For your lawn, a few things that you might want to consider are:
Reseeding your lawn. If you have bare spots or if your grass just look like it is thinned out some, this could help you out with that. The best time to do this is actually in the fall, but it can also be done in early spring. Since you are wanting to help your lawn start looking better, I would probably wait til’ next fall to do this. Fertilizing for now might actually help enough that you don’t need to do this.
Scott’s makes some great lawn fertilizers they are called turf builer and there is actually a schedule on them telling you when to use them. The store that you can purchase these product probably have close to the same thing in more of there brand that is almost as good. Just compare the ingredients in them if you wish to save a little bit of money. Lowe’s has a Sta-Green brand that I have heard many customers say works just as good.
The first one that you will want to use is call turf builder for crabgrass. It has a chemical in it called haltz that helps to prevent crabgrass. This one is usually applied in February I believe. Just make sure that if you use it, you do it early before the crabgrass starts to grow, because it is a preventer, not a killer.
The second treatment is Turf builder plus weed control. I believe this one get applied in April. This helps to control broadleaf weeds such as: clover, chickweed, wild onion, and many others. Once again though, it needs to be applied before the weeds actually start growing to prevent them from doing so.
The next step is a turf builder summer guard. This one is applied I believe in june or july. It helps to control insects in the lawn.
Your next step should be your winterizers. You can chose either the plan winterizer or the winterizer plus weed control. This one usually gets applied in Sept or Oct. I believe. For more info on when to apply these either check out the web site for scott’s, or locate it in one of your lawn and garden shops. There should be a chart on the back of the packages explaining more about them.
Another thing that you might want to consider is making sure you don’t have grubs. Grubs are little insects that live in the soil that can kill your lawn. If you notice brown patches of grass in your lawn, or even a lot of mole holes, this could be a grub problem. Moles eat grubs, so if you have them, that is most likely why. You can take care of the grub with simple products such as grub ex. Grubs ar little white worm looking things. You might consider digging a few small holes near some brown patches of grass to try to see if you have them. If you have moles too, getting rid of the grubs can help with that problem too.
As for flower bed tips, the first thing that you are going to want to do is to pull any and all weeds. The next thing you might want to consider if you don’t already have it is putting down weed block. this is a fabric that helps to prevent weeds from coming up. If you already have existing plant there, just cut holes just large enough to go over your plants. A lot of people chose to use plastic instead of the fabric, but the weeds tend to grow throuh it more. The fabric also benefits by still letting water and moister go through it.
The next thing to think about are the plants you put in there. Using small shrubs and perennials are great because you don’t usually have to replace them. Evergreen shrubs are really good because they stay green year round to help you keep some color in your flowerbeds. A great perennial to use (depending on what zone you are in) are daylilies, they are not hard to take care of, and if you go with what are called stella de’ ora’s they tend to bloom most of the summer. Just remember when selecting plants that you get stuff that either blooms at different times of the summer, or that bloom all summer. If you get all plants that only bloom in the spring, then you won’t have any color the rest of the summer, so that is something to keep in mind. You can find out you zone by researching or line or in books. You can also look at books to get more info on plants to help you choose what best fits into your plans. Make sure to look at light requirements, water usage, how big the plant is going to get and how fast it is going to grow. Until your perennials and shrubs starting getting bigger, annuals are a great way to fill in spaces to add extra color.
Another great thing that you can do is to apply either Preen or another great weed preventer to help maintain control of weeds. Preen is safe for flowerbed plants. Miracle gro also has a weed preventer now.
As far as fertilizing, you first need to decide how often you want to do it. I personally use what is called green light bloom booseter. I believe you mix about a tablespoon per gallon of water. Usually with a water soluble fertilizer you fertilize about every 2wks. You can also use a slow realease fertilizer that usually last for about 2 months, but I think that a water soluble is better because it feeds faster. It all depends on what you prefer. Miracle Gro and Green Light are both good fertilizers. If you are feeding flowers that bloom getting a bloom booster should help too. If you have a big area to do and wish to use a water hose instead of making trips with a watering can, you can purchase feeder that you can put on the end of the hose.
Another thing that you want to probably do is to mulch. Mulch is used to help protect your plants. Usually you want to apply this about 2-3 inches thick.
I know that there are probably things that I have left out, but I hope that the info I have given you will help you out. I’m sorry that this answer is probably a little long, but I wanted to give you as much info as I could think of. For more help, check out websites, books, and contact a lawn and garden store. You may even want to contact a landscaper just for some extra tips.
This is easy. Buy a 40 pound bag of Milorganite brand fertilizer. Add to it 1 pound of sugar, 2 pounds of epsom salt, 4 to 6 ounces of cream of tartar, 2 to 4 pound of bone meal and some form of boron (preferably 40 mule team borax.) Also add in a large box of plain laundry detergent (NO bleach!). The other problem you probably have is cutting the grass too short. Set the cutting height at 2-1/2 inches. Spread all the fertilizer mix over the yard using a drop spreader. (if you don’t own one, you can rent one.)