The yard & garden line is OPEN

[klw]

We got another 7 to 8 inches of snow today and we have 21 inches of snow on top of the area of the yard where I have my vegetable garden. I guess it is about time to get my seeds started inside.

[GAC]

What can I buy (TRC, Lowes, etc) as a pretreatment against dandelions? They were terrible last year.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by GAC

What can I buy (TRC, Lowes, etc) as a pretreatment against dandelions? They were terrible last year.

There are a host of "weed and feed" products that work on dandelions. They have a combination of herbicides in them, most notably 2-4-D. Try to use it sparingly; if your neighbors don't have dandelions then you probably won't have to use it every year. If they do, you may have to re apply each spring and maybe even again in the season. What I do not recommend is to apply without first checking to see if it's needed. This is a gripe I have against a lot of turf care companies- they have an indiscriminate schedule of herbicide application, whether it's needed or not.

Stepping off the green soapbox now...

[RBA]

Originally Posted by gonelong

The grass will grow up right through the weave of the burlap, so enough light gets through.

I suspect it works for 2 reasons ...
1. it keeps the grass from baking in the sun, yet it keeps it warm
2. that patch of dirt won't dry out nearly as easily.

GL

We had to use the burlap to keep the birds from feasting on the seeds.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

if your neighbors don't have dandelions then you probably won't have to use it every year. If they do, you may have to re apply each spring and maybe even again in the season.

The neighbors didn't seem to get them as bad as I did last year. It was terrible. So should I look specifically for a weed-n-feed with 2-4-D? I was always told - don't know if it's true or not - that once they start to appear, you need to spray before they turn to spore or else it's pretty useless.

[Roy Tucker]

The lawn cutting season begins.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by GAC

The neighbors didn't seem to get them as bad as I did last year. It was terrible. So should I look specifically for a weed-n-feed with 2-4-D? I was always told - don't know if it's true or not - that once they start to appear, you need to spray before they turn to spore or else it's pretty useless.

2-4-D doesn't know the difference between a flowering dandelion and an immature one, but the younger the plant the easier it is to kill it. So, if you're seeing them popping up all over (and they should be now if you have them), it's best to get them while they are still tender. And if I'm spreading something to kill weeds in the Spring, I want to fertilize first. Just make sure you know the dandelions are present because those products must contact the weeds to kill them.

[RiverRat13]

Any suggestions for mushrooms in my yard? The biggest problem is one big patch where it appears that a tree was removed a few years ago.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by RiverRat13

Any suggestions for mushrooms in my yard? The biggest problem is one big patch where it appears that a tree was removed a few years ago.

The mushrooms are living off the decaying roots. You could dig the roots up to solve the problem. They are not going to harm anything; you can slow them down by picking as soon as you see them, which limits their ability to cast spores and spread. Some places recommend using a high nitrogen fertilizer to speed up the decomposition of the roots in the soil, but I don't like that idea because nitrogen is extremely mobile and it washes into the watershed and produces all sorts of downstream problems in lakes and streams. That's why I prefer either letting them be or pulling out their food source.

[RiverRat13]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

The mushrooms are living off the decaying roots. You could dig the roots up to solve the problem. They are not going to harm anything; you can slow them down by picking as soon as you see them, which limits their ability to cast spores and spread. Some places recommend using a high nitrogen fertilizer to speed up the decomposition of the roots in the soil, but I don't like that idea because nitrogen is extremely mobile and it washes into the watershed and produces all sorts of downstream problems in lakes and streams. That's why I prefer either letting them be or pulling out their food source.

Thanks!

[klw]

It looks like my lawn mower (10 yr old Craftsman) is on its last legs. It is getting very difficult to start. 7 or 8 pulls in which the first three or four are very difficult to get the string going. The last two times I got it to start it stopped after about 2 minutes. The first time this happened i got it going after about 5 minutes. The last time it did not restart and has not since. I put in a new sparkplug and air filter but no change.

If I get a new one I am most likely looking at Craftsman or Troy Bilt push mowers. I have about half an acre of land which is probably about half lawn. The way it is set up even if I had a rider I would still need a push for some areas and I would rather have a walk behind. Any body have any brand suggestions, etc?

[gonelong]

Originally Posted by klw

It looks like my lawn mower (10 yr old Craftsman) is on its last legs. It is getting very difficult to start. 7 or 8 pulls in which the first three or four are very difficult to get the string going. The last two times I got it to start it stopped after about 2 minutes. The first time this happened i got it going after about 5 minutes. The last time it did not restart and has not since. I put in a new sparkplug and air filter but no change.

If I get a new one I am most likely looking at Craftsman or Troy Bilt push mowers. I have about half an acre of land which is probably about half lawn. The way it is set up even if I had a rider I would still need a push for some areas and I would rather have a walk behind. Any body have any brand suggestions, etc?

My advice for any two-stroke is:
1. Open up the carb and spray extremely liberal amounts of this into it and let it set for 30 minutes.
2. Put a bit of this in your gas tank occasionally.

When I heard people talk about these products I thought they were crazy. That is until I needed somthing to resurrect an old 2-stroke boat motor. I am a firm believer in this stuff. I use them on any 2-stroke engine I have. (Boat, mower, weed-whacker, etc.)

GL

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by gonelong

My advice for any two-stroke is:
1. Open up the carb and spray extremely liberal amounts of this into it and let it set for 30 minutes.
2. Put a bit of this in your gas tank occasionally.

When I heard people talk about these products I thought they were crazy. That is until I needed somthing to resurrect an old 2-stroke boat motor. I am a firm believer in this stuff. I use them on any 2-stroke engine I have. (Boat, mower, weed-whacker, etc.)

GL

His motor is probably a four stroke, but this advice should still work. A lot of times, those motors are suffering from a gunked up carb or from dirty air problems. I just use carb cleaner and compressed air to clean carbs.

I use Seafoam as a fuel additive for my 4hp/4Stroke sailboat kicker and it helps a lot, and I also use ethanol free gas, which is probably the most important thing for a small motor with tiny carb jets. And keep the tank full.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by klw

If I get a new one I am most likely looking at Craftsman or Troy Bilt push mowers. I have about half an acre of land which is probably about half lawn. The way it is set up even if I had a rider I would still need a push for some areas and I would rather have a walk behind. Any body have any brand suggestions, etc?

I have a Craftsman 6.5hp, rear wheel drive (which I recommend over front wheel drive). Motor is Briggs and Stratton, bomb proof, reliable.
Not happy with the drive, though. Clutches keep getting fouled up and I have to take the wheels off and clean them out.

[foxfire123]

Whatduya know about tomatoes Sundeck? Last year the few we got cracked and split. I thought my watering once a day was too much at one time, so I've been watering lightly twice a day this year, but now my bottom leaves are dying... We container garden. I've got Big Boys, Mr Stripeys and Cherry tomatoes in 5 gallon containers with an all purpose potting soil, and fertilize every 10 day or so with a liquid (Miracle Grow) vegetable fertilizer

I swear I have a black thumb....