Powhatan's 2021 Lawn Journal

[Powhatan]

2020 Journal

2021 Lawn Plan

Objectives: biodiverse, low maintenance, non-irrigated, heat and drought tolerant

Mid/Late Winter:

• Hand-pull weeds.

• Virginia Tech soil sample test.

• Sow shady and deer resistant native plant seed mixes.

• Dormant overseed fescue and shade grass seed - DLF Pickseed coated KY-31, LESCO All Pro Transition Tall Fescue Seed Blend (TTTF), and Scotts coated Dense Shade Mix (TTTF/KBG/CRF).

Spring:

• Lite overseed white & strawberry clover areas if needed.

• Hand-pull or spot spray weeds with Mirimichi Green PRO Weed Control.

• Spray glyphosate on poa trivialis patches as needed, re-seed dead patches.

• Garden Safe organic Neem Oil Extract - spot treat grass fungus & garden pests.

• EcoLogic granular organic Lawn & Yard Insect Killer - house foundation & lawn perimeter treatment.

• Lime - (if soil test recommended) to raise pH.

• LESCO CarbonPro-G soil improver.

• LESCO Acelepryn (chlorantraniliprole) 0-0-7 SOP Insecticide - same active ingredient as Scotts GrubEX.

• Safer Brand Lawn Restore 9-0-2 low nitrogen slow release organic fertilize.

• LESCO 0-0-45 PCSOP - (if soil test recommended) improves overall plant health going into Summer stress.

• Mulch mow grass @ HOC 3.50” (bag mow HOC 3.25" for more airflow if disease present).

Summer:

• Hand-pull or spot spray weeds with Mirimichi Green PRO Weed Control.

• Garden Safe organic Neem Oil Extract - spot treat grass fungus & garden pests.

• EcoLogic granular organic Lawn & Yard Insect Killer - house foundation & lawn perimeter treatment.

• Safer Brand Lawn Restore 9-0-2 low nitrogen slow release organic fertilize.

• Mulch mow grass @ HOC 3.50” (bag mow HOC 3.25" for more airflow if disease present).

Early Fall:

• Hand-pull or spot spray weeds with Mirimichi Green PRO Weed Control.

• Lime - (if soil test recommended) to raise pH.

• LESCO CarbonPro-G soil improver.

• Nutrients Plus Screamin' Green 16-2-3 low nitrogen hybrid fertilize.

• Mulch mow grass & leaves @ HOC 3.50”.

Mid Fall:

• Hand-pull weeds.

• Nutrients Plus Screamin' Green 16-2-3 low nitrogen hybrid fertilize.

• Mulch mow grass & leaves @ HOC 3.50”.

[Powhatan]

Sent soil sample to Va Tech soil testing lab last week, awaiting report. Suspect pH will be low and need adjustment. I'll finalize my SiteOne lawn supplies order for the year once soil report received.

Hand-pulled several weeds in planned native wildflower beds bordering the lawn and fed those pulled weeds to the compost tumbler. Recent rains made soil very soft which allowed weeds to pull up with roots very easily. Soil is dark color with lots of earthworms, don't need to mechanical aerate the lawn. The soil improver amendment products I'm using are making a difference.

[Powhatan]

Felled a dead oak tree. I used a bore cut instead of a back cut cause I wasn't sure how much dead rot was in the tree center. The neighbors will cut up what they want for fire wood.

[Powhatan]

Received Va Tech soil sample report. Need to add some lime, all else looks satisfactory for a sandy loam soil. I can finalize my SiteOne order for the year now.

[Green]

Interesting results. What type of Lime will you use since the Calcium is high and Magnesium sort of high?

[Powhatan]

Interesting results. What type of Lime will you use since the Calcium is high and Magnesium sort of high?

The Calcium and Magnesium are actually coming down from very high (VH) 2019 report to high (H) 2021 report; I didn't put down any lime this past two years. Three to four years ago I probably put down too much dolomitic lime along with fast acting trying to target recommended 100#/M 2017 report.

This time I'll use LimeLight Pro-Cal Enhanced Pelletized Granular Calcitic Lime from SiteOne, $15.00 for a 50 lb bag. The CCE is slightly higher in LimeLight than Pennington Fast Acting Lime. Pennington recommends 12#/M rate for the high 5-6 pH range adjustment. So for LimeLight I'll use 5#/M in the spring and another 5#/M in the fall this year. Hopefully 10#/M will be sufficient for a scientific wild-@ss guess (SWAG).

[Powhatan]

Soil temps mid-40sF this past week. Noticed new clover emergence. Same thing occurred last Jan when soil temps also in the mid-40sF.

[Powhatan]

Split firewood. Received SiteOne yearly lawn supplies. The LESCO All Pro Transition Tall Fescue Blend has 0%/0% weed seed with two of the three cultivars listed in NC's 2020 top performers.

[Powhatan]

Here's nature's event that cues me when to broadcast winter dormant grass overseed - moss reproductive spore stems appear.

Jan 28, 2020 - temps getting warmer, time to broadcast.



Jan 28, 2021 - temps still too cold to broadcast.

[Powhatan]

Soil temp 37F @ 2" depth. Hand-pulled poa trivialis clumps.



Warmer ~50F air temps and rains forecasted within next two weeks; I plan to broadcast fast acting pelletized calcitic lime first, then dormant grass & wildflower seeds soon thereafter. Anticipate beginning emergence by late next month when soil temps warming to mid-50sF.