It's That Time of Year Again - Grass Care

[NRaleigh Mom]

Originally Posted by RedbirdSaint

You want to make sure the turf has started rooting in (pull on it and make sure it's sticking to the ground, this can take a while if sod was laid over unamended, compacted dirt like builders usually do) and the exposed edges between rolls have filled in. Then it's probably safe to go with a low dose of pre-em, like a 1/4 rate of prodiamine. Then follow with a 1/2 or 3/4 rate early September. Some will say no pre-em the first year or at least first growing season, but that's (probably) just CYA. Fair warning, tho.

For putting down a low rate, I don't like the looks of anything on Lowes or HD's website. Lowes has a good prodiamine product, Lesco Stonewall, but the prodiamine concentration is pretty high. Lower concentration lets you put down more product while keeping the lower rate of the active ingredient, much easier to spread.

I'd hit a SiteOne to pick up something like a Lesco Stonewall 0-0-7 0.29%. A 1/4 rate of that would be about 3 lbs of product per 1000 square feet of turf.

Depending on what kind of weed pressure they see during the growing season, some Celsius (broad spectrum post-em) and Certainty (very good post-em on nutsedge) are good, easier on the bermuda and no temperature restrictions than big box options. Would still wait until turf is better established. And need a decent quality tank sprayer for those, and prepare for sticker shock on such little bottles. If that's overkill, stick with the big box products, just accept some occasional yellowing.

After this first year of pampering, it's really up to them on how intense they want to manage the turf. Any of the common big box brands of pre/post-emergent herbicides, seasonal fertilizers, even the weed-and-feed products, are fine for a perfectly ok yard. Lesco, Sta-Green at Lowes, Vigoro at HD, Scotts at both, all perfectly acceptable. If they want a golf course lawn, then there are better options.

Thank you so much!

When I was there recently it didn't look like it had really started to root and the edges definitely haven't filled in at all. To be quite honest, I don't even know if it will root (it looks pretty bad) but I will have her check today.

I get the feeling that a pre emergent will be off the table for her this time around so she will have to just do spot post emergent later on. And you are correct, the Builder really didn't do anything in terms of prep. That's what I told her yesterday when she sent pics of neighbor's yards. When we built we asked our builder to wait on the grass laying so we could put in irrigation and do appropriate prepping prior to it being put down. With this crazy market though, Builders really aren't open to any special requests.

Thanks again for your input! Appreciate it!

[NRaleigh Mom]

Originally Posted by Waterboy526

I have used Turf Wizards for lawn care (not including mowing/trimming) for the last several years and my lawn looks great. Best $400 a year I've spent. I used to try and purchase all the fertilizer/chemicals and do it myself and it never worked out quite right. The two best lawn care companies around here that I've had experience with are Turf Wizards and Eastern Turf Maintenance. They both do an excellent job and their prices are pretty reasonable.

Thank you for your input!

I have a feeling that she will probably go with a service at some point (and it probably makes sense for the chemical applications). When she was building I asked her who was going to do the actual yard work. Her answer was "You Mom"! If she lived really close I would because I love it. I will probably still redo the Builder's landscaping but the maintenance will be on her or a service.