# Covid-19 prep



## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Many tell me my lawn should be the least of my concerns right now but it's one of a few activities I can imagine keeping me sane this summer.

With non-essential businesses closing imminently in my area (Toronto/Ontario) what last minute shopping should I do?

I have all my weed control products stocked.

I have plenty of FS and AS, and humic.

I can get fungicides from seedworld.

I have enough for probably 2lbs/K of N (urea). Should probably pick up a bit more in case stuff's still closed when I fall blitz.

I don't have any P or K, micros, or things to correct pH. I think this is the main thing I'm missing that might (?) be hard to get as things close down. I was hoping to wait until my first soil test results came back to tailor my purchases, but out of time now. Is there anything generic I should consider as a stopgap?


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## Drewmey (Oct 3, 2018)

If you feel like it might be impossible to get things later, lime is a fairly cheap investment for a 5kSf lawn. That said, it's money down the toilet if your treat comes back with a high pH. Personally, I'd wait it out. See what the test says before spending money unnecessarily. Unless the store has a good return policy. The way the market/economy is...people are going to be wanting your business in this tough time. I'm guessing you'll find someone who can supply you certain products like that. Farming would likely be considered essential. So I have to wonder if farm/ag stores won't be open and carrying these sorts of things.


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## Kallgren (Nov 10, 2018)

So I can only comment for my local area, I live in New Hampshire, but work in Massachusetts. The governor of MA announced shutdown starting tomorrow, surprisingly it seems hardware stores such as Lowe's or Home Despot will be allowed to stay open as a critical service. I had to read through about eight pages of clarification to find that.

Food production and industry related to production or distribution would not be affected, but I can't comment on your specific products and where you may procure them. Again, specific to MA so may not apply to your province or products.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Kallgren said:


> So I can only comment for my local area, I live in New Hampshire, but work in Massachusetts. The governor of MA announced shutdown starting tomorrow, surprisingly it seems hardware stores such as Lowe's or Home Despot will be allowed to stay open as a critical service. I had to read through about eight pages of clarification to find that.
> 
> Food production and industry related to production or distribution would not be affected, but I can't comment on your specific products and where you may procure them. Again, specific to MA so may not apply to your province or products.


Same here. Sounds like you guys followed our lead with respect to what stays open. Landscaping and pest control services and suppliers are considered essential services. Same with car part stores and repair garages. Hardware stores supply so much of these things and other essential items that they were one of the first stores that was determined would stay open. Likewise, garden centers can remain open. Pro landscape suppliers also. But for all of these, it's best to try to purchase online and pick up in store (or ideally outside the store). Many are willing to accommodate this if you ask. And at least one pro landscape supplier I talked to was enacting a policy of one customer inside at a time.

At first I was surprised these were considered essential. But now after thinking about it, it makes sense. You don't want people getting tick bites, wading through tall grass, and other hazards.

Some owners of independent Ace Hardware stores are posting notices on the Ace site about their stores remaining open and what they will do to help the community. You can see the statements after picking a local store on the site. Other businesses are doing the same in some cases.


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## troksd (Jul 27, 2018)

While I don't anticipate losing my job I am cutting back on my lawn spending. I do have a nice reserve of herbicide (2 years worth), Fungicide (6 preventative apps of Azoxy / Prop), and a ton of bio-stimulant. I am lacking in high N fertilizers. I dont plan on buying any more N (I have about 1.5 gallons of Gordon's 20-0-0 left).

I plan to increase the amount of vegetables we grow. We currently grow 2 - 3 7 gallon containers of potatoes, 2 cherry tomato plants, 1 roman tomato, 6 -8 pepper plants and a ton of herbs and leafy vegetable. I'll convert a 24 sq ft portion of the back lawn to a garden. Goal is to double vegetable output.


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## Jay20nj (Jul 25, 2018)

I stocked up on everything needed for my lawn (and liquor store) for the next 2 months. Gotta have the essentials on hand. Food is in good supply. But definitely have some fert (urea) on hand. Couple bags of milo. Some weed killer. Also got some talstar p for when the bugs come since i plan to spend most weekends on my deck in quarentine. Plenty of gas. I think im good to go. We should all have great lawns considering we will be mowing much more frequently.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

The co-op where I get my fertilizer says they will remain open because they are deemed agricultural. Total nonessential lockdown in Michigan starting at 12:01 tonight.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

To the OP, grass season is likely still 4 weeks away for us. Hopefully we will have a clear picture then what the future holds. If we are still in lockdown then, I am afraid lawn supplies will be the least of our concerns...


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Stuofsci02 said:


> To the OP, grass season is likely still 4 weeks away for us. Hopefully we will have a clear picture then what the future holds. If we are still in lockdown then, I am afraid lawn supplies will be the least of our concerns...


Who knows. The whole "curve flattening" thing, if it works, is supposedly going to spread this out over many months. They say it could be a very long lockdown, possibly December or beyond.

Good points above though about agriculture being essential so this stuff's not likely to become too hard to get.


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## cfinden (Aug 7, 2018)

@Stuofsci02 the lockdown seems to be only getting more "strict" here, I imagine it's going to last longer than 4 weeks unfortunately. What is your worry if it lasts a long time?


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## Kallgren (Nov 10, 2018)

In my humble opinion, grasses have been around about 50M years. While you may or may not have access to all the product or resources you have in the past, lawns will perceiver.


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Good cultural practices.....


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kallgren said:


> In my humble opinion, grasses have been around about 50M years. While you may or may not have access to all the product or resources you have in the past, lawns will perceiver.


You are correct of course. Though I'm less concerned about my grass going extinct and more concerned about having to re-rescue it from the state it was in two falls ago. That was back breaking work 😛


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

My local garden center where I get fertilizer is closed.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

davegravy said:


> Stuofsci02 said:
> 
> 
> > To the OP, grass season is likely still 4 weeks away for us. Hopefully we will have a clear picture then what the future holds. If we are still in lockdown then, I am afraid lawn supplies will be the least of our concerns...
> ...


Yes the flattening the curve and best social practices will go on for a while. If, however, we are still in a lock down situation in a month (where you could not buy these items) the economy is going to be so far in the tank, and people will be in such dire situations that its not going to be pretty......


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

cfinden said:


> @Stuofsci02 the lockdown seems to be only getting more "strict" here, I imagine it's going to last longer than 4 weeks unfortunately. What is your worry if it lasts a long time?


The economic consequences will be massive... What I mean by lockdown, is not schools closed, it businesses closed (people trying to work from home)... The private sector is the engine of the economy and without it watch how fast things get ugly...


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## Bug pumper (Jul 2, 2018)

I was going to start my own thread, but seeing as my question is directly related to the border being closed... 
Has anyone had much luck with home made surfactants like dish soap?

After being spoiled by border hopping to keep pricing at what the US population pays, I'm not prepared to pay the outrageous prices from Seed world to ship to the west coast.

@davegravy Sorry to hijack, just didn't want to clog the forum up with Covid-19 related threads. The garden centres here in BC have remained open, although it's all online orders with car service, Hopefully your test comes back soon.


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## cfinden (Aug 7, 2018)

Stuofsci02 said:


> cfinden said:
> 
> 
> > @Stuofsci02 the lockdown seems to be only getting more "strict" here, I imagine it's going to last longer than 4 weeks unfortunately. What is your worry if it lasts a long time?
> ...


Yep that's what I'm worried about too. I think most logical people feel the same, how long will business put up with a lockdown I wonder.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

@davegravy I believe I have everything I need for the season. If for whatever reason I don't, and I can't get access to products, I'll just cut back or worst case, go without. I can still mow and irrigate as often as I need to. If the lawn doesn't get as much macros or micros as it needs, this will be the least of my worries.

The grass will survive, even if that means a little more work next season.

Like a lot of other members on this forum, I run a small business. I will be laying off my staff today and open on an as-needed basis - there are many grey areas on the "essential businesses" list that was released this morning by our Provincial Government. Bottom line is, depending on how long the economic slow down lasts, I may not have an income to even worry about re-stocking on fert and other products.

Plus, I don't see Home Depot and Lowes shutting down. If the Beer Store and LCBO (Ontario members will know what this is) are considered "essential" then I would think home improvement stores would continue to fall under that category too.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Harts said:


> @davegravy I believe I have everything I need for the season. If for whatever reason I don't, and I can't get access to products, I'll just cut back or worst case, go without. I can still mow and irrigate as often as I need to. If the lawn doesn't get as much macros or micros as it needs, this will be the least of my worries.
> 
> The grass will survive, even if that means a little more work next season.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear this Harts, I hope for you and your employees sake this is short lived. I was pretty surprised how extensive the exceptions list was. Depending on what your business is it may be possible to justify operating in some reduced capacity, but I'm sure you've considered this.

I'm no economist but it seems the economic impact will be far less than I was imagining, but it could still be very significant. I'm lucky to be able to work remotely and to have clients that mostly can work remotely.


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## dsc123 (Mar 22, 2020)

Here in Maryland, non-essential businesses were ordered closed last night. I thought about making a supply run but landscaping stores and big box building supply/hardware stores are deemed "essential." Liquor stores, too.


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

I have enough stock to last years lol. The only thing I needed was some lime, but I picked up enough to do 2 apps this year. Also, picked up a $3.50 40 lb bag of lime so I can lift weights lol. Left it in the bag and put it in a lowes bucket - Instant 40 lb db. I'll add some more household items to the bucket to build up the weight.


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## Drewmey (Oct 3, 2018)

dsc123 said:


> Here in Maryland, non-essential businesses were ordered closed last night. I thought about making a supply run but landscaping stores and big box building supply/hardware stores are deemed "essential." Liquor stores, too.


What I am curious about is if this lasts a month or two, what will be supply chain problems if any.

Is the shipping company that supplies the fertilizer to Lowes essential? Is the fertilizer company that makes the fert essential? Is the material supplier to the fertilizer company essential? Etc.

If the supply chain breaks down, how long will it take Lowes to run out?


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Harts said:


> @davegravy I believe I have everything I need for the season. If for whatever reason I don't, and I can't get access to products, I'll just cut back or worst case, go without. I can still mow and irrigate as often as I need to. If the lawn doesn't get as much macros or micros as it needs, this will be the least of my worries.
> 
> The grass will survive, even if that means a little more work next season.
> 
> ...


Harts,

I'm very sorry to hear this. If you don't mind me asking, what industry are you in? I definitely feel for the small business owner and employees of those businesses in these times.....

Stu


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## Kallgren (Nov 10, 2018)

There is a book at our local library, I have to guess at the title, Jerry Baker's Lawn Book I think, which has a lot of information on home brewed solutions to lawn care.

Some examples that come to mind include:
Dish soap to improve hydrophobic soil condition
Spraying beer to improve composting of thatch layer
Using chewing tobacco to control grubs

Reading that book and David Mellor's Grass Bible (also at our library), got me kicked started in my interest in grass care.

Just suggesting alternates if you have trouble with your supplies.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Drewmey said:


> dsc123 said:
> 
> 
> > Here in Maryland, non-essential businesses were ordered closed last night. I thought about making a supply run but landscaping stores and big box building supply/hardware stores are deemed "essential." Liquor stores, too.
> ...


Yes, they are essential. They are all on the list in my state. Our state government did a great job thinking things through. But, we're at the whim of the drivers. If they get sick, the shippers have to reassign people to different routes and make do with less drivers, causing delays.

My buddy is a critical link in the distribution chain for gasoline in my state. And he's one of the few people who know how to do his job. It takes months to train someone properly. They just lost a worker, and are looking for a replacement to train. He said "I don't know what would happen if I got sick." I said, "Dont get sick!"


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Kallgren said:


> Spraying beer to improve composting of thatch layer


Only gonna happen if the beer store stays open and well stocked lol. Otherwise it goes only in me.

But thanks those books sound like some good resources.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

@Stuofsci02 I own a printing business. Had to layoff my graphic designer yesterday and probably going to lay myself off in a few weeks when this new aid package kicks in. I can whether this storm for a few months, but anything longer and I'll probably have to shut down.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Harts said:


> @Stuofsci02 I own a printing business. Had to layoff my graphic designer yesterday and probably going to lay myself off in a few weeks when this new aid package kicks in. I can whether this storm for a few months, but anything longer and I'll probably have to shut down.


That sucks. If there is anything I can do let me know. Hopefully this ends as quickly as it came...


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

I called my local Ace Hardware and asked about a slit seeder rental, and they said they weren't ready yet, and didn't know if they were ever going to be


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