I am slowly expanding my natural areas with native plants and flowers. This spring I put in a bunch of phlox from Frank’s Perennials in Winston, those guys really know their stuff. Also added some native blueberry bushes. Slowly replacing the rest of the lawn with clover.
General Lawn thread
- Thread starter gtyellowjacket
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Sounds good! Don’t assume that because it grew from seed that it is native.
Developers LOVE the invasive Bradford pear tree because it’s hard to kill and it blooms. It’s an Asian plant. It doesn’t belong here. Wherever you see a bunch of trees blooming white in the “early” Spring, it’s likely a Bradford. Kill it.
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I do agree with your point about the lawns. I was looking for this thread to post pictures of my trees. But, the HOAs in Ga love Bermuda, which cost a small fortune to grow.
I believe that Ga banned the Bradford pear, or at least discouraged planting them, with the kudzu (They did ban planting Kudzu, it's a real problem). Builders used to love the Pear trees, you don't see any builders planting them now.
Yes, they are everywhere because they grow so easy, they are weak trees and split with a good wind and their flowers stink.
I checked and the Tulip Poplar is native to Georgia. I guess I should have said that it just started growing in the yard and wasn't a purchased tree.
T
Easy to walk around and pull the 6-18-24 month-old new “trees” out of the ground.
They grow straight up.
Tulip Poplar is an AWESOME tree. Fast-growing. Sends down a tap-root……which means it is hard to blow over. Produces a shitload of leaves and flower/seed litter. Point being it quickly adds biodegradable stuff to your land. Trees can live a LONG TIME.
Easy to walk around and pull the 6-18-24 month-old new “trees” out of the ground.
They grow straight up.
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I really wanted to leave it in my yard, but I read about the size and it was too close to the house. It's in a great spot now. The leaves are starting to come out.
There are several at GIBBS garden, they are beautiful tall trees.
aGDevil2k
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The spine seeds they do make me loate them. But I have maybe 100 on my property so I tell those ladies they can stay
Ok back outside to move 20 more wheelbarrow loads of chippings that got delivered.
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I'm going to have to take a long weekend to spread mulch. I just put 30 cubic feet in the front bed and primed the sprinklers.
A couple years ago I ordered 20 cubic yards of mulch, and it barely covered my beds. But it was back breaking work spreading it, so this year I'm going to order 10, install that and wait a month and order more.
Also just made a nice path around one of my trees with pavers. Been a busy day in the yard.
This week I'll probably go over and mow my daughter's yard.
aGDevil2k
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I hear ya on the mulch.
We moved maybe 30% of the first pile over the last 2 days. A total of about 45 wheelbarrow loads. Second pile of chips was dropped off by the guys cleaning power line easements. First pile was 6 feet tall at the top point.
Mulch is my life
Carolina Fever
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My lawn sucks. I need a pro to work on it but don't want to spend the money. I took my mower in to get serviced today. They said it would be two weeks for them to get it done.
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Wow. Wow. Wow.
I hope you didn't leave the mower with them. Do it yourself, shouldn't take an hour.
You either pay the man, or you pay for the chemicals and do it yourself. You have to spend money, unless your HOA is ok with dirt.
Spend the money, don't be a cheap ass.
I've been on quite the lawn journey the past 12 months. This past spring I put down a pre-emergent/fertilizer combo. I'm not sure what happened but I legit nuked my entire lawn. I live in a neighborhood in which that is not ok, I also have a wife that was not ok with that. The issue was the pre-emergent essentially prevented any fix and the oversaturation of potasium and phosphorous made the lawn unsuitable for plant life.
I put down sod in the areas you could view from the front which actually did pretty well until an ill timed June beach vacation on a week that pushed 100 degrees every day. I came back to sections of burnt to a crisp sod and a backyard of dirt and sparse weeds.
This past fall I had 10 cubic yards of top soil dumped and spread it all over the yard, only to have a band from Helene come in and wash a good amount of it out in 15 minutes of the hardest rain I've ever seen. Another two days of hauling top soil through a muddy yard and I was done, put some seeds down and watered like crazy for the next month.
I think my soil composition is still off but I did manage to grow "a lawn", although it's still not full in some spots. I put hay down while seeding and have now spent the last week pulling weeds (I'm kicking myself for that one).
Trials and tribulations, lots of learning the hard way for me. I've always had nice lawns and have never had issues. Comical string of missteps, almost on the other side of it.
Mulch next week, not looking forward to it.
I put down sod in the areas you could view from the front which actually did pretty well until an ill timed June beach vacation on a week that pushed 100 degrees every day. I came back to sections of burnt to a crisp sod and a backyard of dirt and sparse weeds.
This past fall I had 10 cubic yards of top soil dumped and spread it all over the yard, only to have a band from Helene come in and wash a good amount of it out in 15 minutes of the hardest rain I've ever seen. Another two days of hauling top soil through a muddy yard and I was done, put some seeds down and watered like crazy for the next month.
I think my soil composition is still off but I did manage to grow "a lawn", although it's still not full in some spots. I put hay down while seeding and have now spent the last week pulling weeds (I'm kicking myself for that one).
Trials and tribulations, lots of learning the hard way for me. I've always had nice lawns and have never had issues. Comical string of missteps, almost on the other side of it.
Mulch next week, not looking forward to it.
Carolina Fever
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Sounds like it would have been easier and cheaper to hire a pro.
I've maintained lawns for the past 20 years so over the long term no, but last year a definite yes. I spent maybe 2k between putting the sod down and getting the soil delivered. My labor though, that was a ton of work.
What kind of grass do you have? Whatever you have…and I know this goes against everything you stand for…search for the NC State ‘type of grass here’ calendar. If that hurts too much, Clemson also has them…and so does UGA…all free online. I use the Clemson one for my Bermuda and it has not failed me. I also send in soil samples for testing every spring. Tells you how much of everything to apply and when to apply it. Guides tell you how much to water, how high to mow…the whole nine yards. Has worked like a charm for me. Good luck!!
The seed I put down this past fall was from Super Sod, I had gotten to know the guys there pretty well through the sodding process and thought I'd buy a better fescue than I had typically gotten from your big box store. They say it's tailored for NC and it does seem to be doing well.
I think it will be a very long time before I put a weed killer or other chemical on my lawn though, I have PTSD from that whole experience.
I think it will be a very long time before I put a weed killer or other chemical on my lawn though, I have PTSD from that whole experience.
Carolina Fever
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I wish I could just get some artificial grass.