# DanNeedsaBetterLawn's Journal (New Haven County, CT)



## DanNeedsaBetterLawn (Nov 30, 2020)

Hi!

New to the forum, figured I need to start one of these journals to start documenting my progress. A little background for you....

*Background*

We moved into this house last October, the inside was completely ripped apart and updated, the outside was alright. It wasn't anything fantastic but it looked like it just needed some work done and we'd be good! I spent this year doing some light (key word) work on trying to make the lawn better or at the very least not a weed bed. I sprayed Ortho Weed-B-Gone twice early in the year (mid march-april) which seemed to kill a bunch of dandelions and other annoying weeds. I dropped milorganite in May, July, Sept., used tenacity to get some hard to kill weeds and that seemed to work well. Watered here and there for the summer. My lawnmower is a Toro 22' Recycler or something like that. It was left by the previous owner who beat the crap out of it real bad. I don't plan keeping it and am in the market for a lawnmower (just one of the many things on the list). But the lawnmower has new gas/oil, sparkplug, blade, and bag.

*What I'd like my yard to be at the end*

A lush green yard that I can walk through barefoot. I don't need it to look like Wrigley's field but I'd at least like a lush green lawn that is level.

*Some Misc. Notes*

- I have no idea what the previous owner did but the dirt isn't really dirt? it is a combination of pebbles, rocks, some dirt and glass? I've probably picked out a red solo cup worth of glass pieces around the yard.

- My Neighbor next to me is a freeloving the earth is green hippie and doesn't do anything with her lawn at all. She barely gets it cut. I'm tempted to just tell her I'll cut it for free this year just so it looks good lol.

- I have several gulls or valleys I'm not sure what to call them but i'd like to get those level with the rest of the lawn.

- As you can tell I have a healthy moss family growing in the front and especially in the back which I plan on attacking next year.

- Last year I had grubs everywhere in the back, I threw down some grubex and that took care of them. I plan on putting it down again next year.

- We had a massive concrete patio put in this year, Looks great but as you can see there is a bit of a drop in some parts that I have to address.

- Up towards the fence there are tree roots galore that I plan on just throwing dirt over.

*Story Time*


This was one of the bigger projects we did this year, We dug out a 7 foot deep 15 foot long trench behind the garage. Due to the hill, the water was coming in the garage and sooner then later would ruin our foundation. My garage isn't on a slab (on the to-do list) so we had to remove all the earth around it. The bigger pavers came from the stone patio we use to have by the sliding door. We removed that and dropped down a massive concrete patio.

The rest of the pics outline the back and front yard in all its glory.


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## DanNeedsaBetterLawn (Nov 30, 2020)

saving for later


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## DanNeedsaBetterLawn (Nov 30, 2020)

and saving this one for later as well


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Welcome to TLF!

It sounds like you have a good start on your journey. Since you have some experience this year with applying fertilizer and herbicides, this winter would be a good time to create a general plan for the season and spend time gaining knowledge using the search engine on TLF and studying the Cool Season Guide, if you haven't already done so. One strong suggestion I have for you is to take a several soil samples in different groupings. After many years of experience, this past spring was the first time I took samples, and I realized that I should have done so a long time ago. I used Waypoint Analytical, which many on TLF use, but there are several options out there (other companies, local cooperative extensions/universities, etc.). I also purchased a soil probe and consider it a worthwhile investment.

Good luck!


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## DanNeedsaBetterLawn (Nov 30, 2020)

hey Chris!

thank for the warm welcome appreciate it.

Yeah my plan for this winter is to get a plan going so this coming spring I can hit the ground running. I'm definitely going to get a soil probe as ironically enough I tested my soil for my garden...but not my lawn? go figure lol.


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