# Introduction



## chefboyardeejay (Apr 16, 2017)

Hello all!
I look forward to reading through the forum and appreciate a lot of good advice in one centralized place. I've been getting used to jumping around and being a little scattered with my research and am still learning a lot and trying to grow a thick green lawn. A little about my lawn:

My wife and I moved into a new build two years ago with the lawn starting as compacted topsoil and sprayed with a hydroseed that I believe was a mix of kentucky bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass. I live in MA - plant hardiness zone 6A. After it was hydroseeded, I just thought it would need to be watered and fertilized once in a while and I would be all set. I knew practically nothing about lawncare. I also thought I would be able to maintain my ~15,000 sq ft lawn with a manual reel mower. On a rather steep hill. That summer saw a lot of crabgrass, which at the time I didn't think was so bad because it made the lawn green and I was pretty ignorant about it all. Since then, I've done this and that, but never really made a set plan and it was pretty half-assed. Let me remind you again, my house is situated at the top of a super steep hill and 75% of the lawn is at an incline. Things I've done haphazardly over the past couple years:

-started with a reel mower>upgraded to a push mower> upgraded to a Honda HRX217 last summer
-started out with the yellow three-prong spike corer to "aerate"> last fall I rented an aerator and plugged my lawn
-last fall I overseeded after aerating with Jonathan Green Black Beauty seed
-last year I fertilized with Scotts 4 step program
-last year I did NOT use a preemergent, I did try to pull up crabgrass weeds and spot treat them with a crabgrass spot spray
-a couple times during the year I "fed" the lawn with an ammonia/beer/dishsoap mixture I ready about in an old book?
-this year after I blew the leaves off, I dethatched a little and combed the matted grass with a metal rake (I also have a dethatching rake that I used last fall, but it would take a few days to get through the whole lawn, and I feel like I'm running out of time to add a preemergent...)

This year for the first time ever, I will apply a preemergent. I know the forsythia are in bloom, so I hope I'm not too late. I'm hoping to apply this tomorrow. I plan on using a pump sprayer with blue mark-it since I know the spray won't exactly be consistent, and I'm hoping to be able to get it as even as possible. I'm using generic prodiamine at a rate of 0.33oz per 1,000 sq ft. so, 5 ounces. I plan on mixing 1oz per 3 gallons of water at a time. Is my math right? Am I correct in assuming the window is still open to apply this preemergent?

The hill. The hill will have to be another thread. Also, shout out to Grass Daddy! Love your videos and they got me to try out this forum. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post, but hopefully I can get some pictures and progress reports for everyone.

Thanks for having me!
-DJ


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

chefboyardeejay said:


> ...This year for the first time ever, I will apply a preemergent. I know the forsythia are in bloom, so I hope I'm not too late. I'm hoping to apply this tomorrow. I plan on using a pump sprayer with blue mark-it since I know the spray won't exactly be consistent, and I'm hoping to be able to get it as even as possible. I'm using generic prodiamine at a rate of 0.33oz per 1,000 sq ft. so, 5 ounces. I plan on mixing 1oz per 3 gallons of water at a time. Is my math right? Am I correct in assuming the window is still open to apply this preemergent?


Welcome to TLF! Glad you're here!

Your math looks right, but just pay attention to the label max annual application rates for your turf species - then work backwards taking into account the number applications you plan to use this year.

Not sure which generic Prodiamine you are using, but if it is Prodiamine 65WDG, here are the max rates by turf species:

​


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

As for Pre Emergents - earlier is better than later but later is better than never.


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

Welcome! I made a calculator to help with the math: http://thelawncareblog.com/prodiamine-wdg-calculator/

I was in the same boat as you a few years ago. Soon enough You'll have neighbors asking you how you did it


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

GrassDaddy said:


> Welcome! I made a calculator to help with the math: http://thelawncareblog.com/prodiamine-wdg-calculator/
> 
> I was in the same boat as you a few years ago. Soon enough You'll have neighbors asking you how you did it


Cool calculator - thanks for sharing!


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## chefboyardeejay (Apr 16, 2017)

Thanks, can I assume that protecting it until the end of August (4 months) that I'll still have success when I overseed in the fall?


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

GrassDaddy said:


> Welcome! I made a calculator to help with the math: http://thelawncareblog.com/prodiamine-wdg-calculator/
> 
> I was in the same boat as you a few years ago. Soon enough You'll have neighbors asking you how you did it


I really like this!!


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

chefboyardeejay said:


> Thanks, can I assume that protecting it until the end of August (4 months) that I'll still have success when I overseed in the fall?


Yeah I did that last year. Thats why I like prodiamine wdg you can control the app for over seeding.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Awesome calculator app!


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

Thanks! I plan on doing more as needed. Tenacity is probably next!


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