Colorado Landscape Question (Colorado Springs, Craig: rent, house, buy)

[soontob]

Help!! My yard has died. The previous owner of my house did soemthing horribly bad to the yard when they had it. Now the grass won't grow, it just dies.
Can somebody tell me the best time of year to till the yard, fertalize and seed? I miss my green grass
Thanks so much...

[ryanek9freak]

umm, you do realize it's winter right? i don't think anybody's grass is alive right now. You should just do what everyone else does, and just put gravel in your yard.

[Shuffler]

not the time of year to worry about it...it's dormant from ~Nov-April.

think about reducing the 'footprint' of the yard and xeriscape the perimeter with drought-tolerant plantings, and install a sprinkler system if you don't have one.

power rake in april or may, then aerate, then fertilize...it'll come back. Just remember that grass is a complete waste of resources around here when you think about the water, fertilizer (derived from oil), and mowing (uses oil & gas, causes pollution) and the millions of people with yards and the thousands of office parks....what a waste. Stepping off the soap box now...

I am in the process of tearing out the grass in my small back yard and going with planter boxes, flagstone, rock, etc. It's a step in the right direction.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by soontob

I miss my green grass

TurfDirect Inc, - Colorado Springs, CO - 719-591-2200/888-591-TURF

[ryanek9freak]

You could go Brady Bunch, and put Astro Turf in your yard!

[soontob]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

umm, you do realize it's winter right? i don't think anybody's grass is alive right now. You should just do what everyone else does, and just put gravel in your yard.

Ryan, ha ha, you are so funny.
yes everyone's grass is dead, but mine has completely disappeared, you can't even tell there was grass there. This is the second year that it's done it. I thought I could get some advice on how to fix that so I'm not doing it every year.
Plus, it's kind of hard when you live here to not know that it's winter...very silly

[soontob]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

You could go Brady Bunch, and put Astro Turf in your yard!

Again, funny guy, Ryan.
I want grass, not rocks, astro turf, etc. I have kids that like to play in it, not to mention I like to lay out on the grass.

[soontob]

Originally Posted by Shuffler

not the time of year to worry about it...it's dormant from ~Nov-April.

think about reducing the 'footprint' of the yard and xeriscape the perimeter with drought-tolerant plantings, and install a sprinkler system if you don't have one.

power rake in april or may, then aerate, then fertilize...it'll come back. Just remember that grass is a complete waste of resources around here when you think about the water, fertilizer (derived from oil), and mowing (uses oil & gas, causes pollution) and the millions of people with yards and the thousands of office parks....what a waste. Stepping off the soap box now...

I am in the process of tearing out the grass in my small back yard and going with planter boxes, flagstone, rock, etc. It's a step in the right direction.

Thank you for your advice.

[soontob]

Originally Posted by Charles

TurfDirect Inc, - Colorado Springs, CO - 719-591-2200/888-591-TURF

Charles, thanks. I just can't afford to pay anyone to do it right now. I'd have to do it myself. But thank you.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by soontob

Charles, thanks. I just can't afford to pay anyone to do it right now. I'd have to do it myself. But thank you.

OK, here's what you do. When the ground thaws, like in April or May, go get a bunch of soil amendment and spread it all over the dirt. Not sure if you should use manure but you can get manure for free on Craigslist. I think manure is too harsh. In California I'd go to a landscape place and get a pickup truck load of amendment for like $20 or $30 I forgot, maybe a little more. Rent a rototiller and rototill the ground until is it is like powered dirt. At some point you should verify the performance of your irrigation system. Try to do that before you have do dig anything up. Just think about it and plan accordingly. Rent a roller and pack it down. Buy some sod and lay it down. It is easy and kind of a fun thing to do on a nice spring day. There are starter fertilizers like Scotts that you could put down too. Keep it damp for two weeks. You can also use seed instead of sod but sod is much easier, instantly satisfyng, and not really that expensive. I have done both (but in California). If your lawn gets a little yellow even with enough water it means it is hungry. GIve it fertilizer. Scotts and Miracle Grow are really good. After a few months fertilize with Scotts weed n feed. At the end of summer you can fertile with Winterizer by Scotts (I think). This may not be perfect but it's worked for me. I designed and installed my own irrigation system, rented ditch diggers, layed the proper schedule PVC, calculated the head pressures for the supply psi, designed the proper number of water circuits, etc.

My lawn here in Colorado actually stayed sort of green through the winter. Why? I dumped a bunch of nitrogen based fertilizer (I think it was Winterizer) with a Scotts drop spreader in September (I think) but not too much to burn.

Call your friends to help you and have a couple of cases of beer handy.

Take before and after photos, especially if you use sod.

Check what I wrote against DIY internet web pages. I may have missed something.

Do it Yourself Laying Sod

How to Lay Sod for a New Lawn - Associated Content


Here's how I layed out my sprinklers (this is in Thousand Oaks, CA). I planted those trees too, on the west side of the house to keep the sun off all those windows in summer.



I was busy making hot dogs so I had my wife dig the ditches.



I was too tired from watching the Lakers so my wife had to lay the sod.




Not bad for an amateur. (The backyard was seed.)