r/lawncare 9d ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) OSU Turf Team Times is now out - season starts / winter recap

7 Upvotes

Its back!! Dr's Gardner, Carr, Wu, Nangle join Todd Hicks and Pamela Sherratt to discuss the start of the season and take a quick look at how turf is looking coming out of winter https://youtu.be/LdcihDt5aDs


r/lawncare Mar 04 '25

Guide Basic Cool Season Lawn Starter Guide

317 Upvotes

Firstly, I am continuing to work on a full guide for cool season lawns... Which is taking much longer than I expected because the scope keeps ballooning and I keep having to start over to bring the scope back under control... And then I occasionally lose motivation because it's so much work to do for free lol.

So, in the mean time, here's a basic meat-and-potatoes guide that will help any lawn care novice get started.

Note: I do recommend starting on this path in nearly all situations before considering a full renovation ("nuke"). If you have grass, it's worth preserving. 1 in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

Also, important to note that all mentions of soil temps below refer to 5 day average of soil temps in the top 4 inches of soil. this tool is handy for ESTIMATING soil temps.

Last thing before I get started: if this is all overwhelming to you, don't be afraid to contact a local lawn care company to handle the fertilizing and weed control. Local, not a national chain. If you shop around you can likely find a company that will do a great job for about the same price as it would cost to DIY. That's what I do professionally, and no offense, but I do it better and cheaper than a homeowner could. Look for local companies with good reviews on Google.

  • Fertilize it every 6-8 weeks while it's actively growing (soil temps over 45F) Use a fertilizer that's roughly 5:0:1 (so, 25-0-5 for example, doesn't need to be exact). In the fall, unless you know your soil isn't deficient in potassium, use a fertilizer with a higher amount of potassium. Like 4:0:1, or as high as 3:0:1. Potassium deficiency is common in most areas. NOTE: go lighter with fertilizer in the summer, between 1/2 and 2/3 of the label rate. If you don't water in the summer, don't fertilize in the summer.
  • Aim for 1-4 lbs of nitrogen per 1,000 sqft per year, and about 1/5 as much potassium. For fine fescues, aim for about 2 lbs of nitrogen per 1,000 sqft.** Link to a fine fescue guide at the bottom of this post for more info.
  • Spray the weeds. Backpack or hand pump sprayer with a flat tip nozzle. You can spot spray UP TO every 2-3 weeks, or blanket spray the whole lawn UP TO every 4 weeks if needed. When your soil temps are above 60F, you can use any selective broadleaf weed killer (3 of the following active ingredients: 2,4-d, dicamba, mcpa, mcpp (mecoprop), triclopyr, quinclorac), for example Ortho Weed b gon. When your soil temps are between 40F and 60F, use those same active ingredients, but use esters... Herbicides can be salts or esters, the active ingredient names will say one or the other. Crossbow is an example that has esters (only 2 active ingredients, which is fine).
  • ALWAYS READ THE LABELS IN THEIR ENTIRETY.
  • get the mow height up. 3 inches minimum, 3.5-4 ideally. Actually measure it, don't trust numbers on the mower.
  • as long as the grass is actively growing, mow every 5-7 days. Mulch clippings (side discharge or mulch attachment). Don't mow wet grass.
  • when soil temps start trending upward in the spring, and hit 50F, apply crabgrass preventer of some sort asap. There's tons of options, but active ingredient prodiamine would be the best. (If you live in the Great lakes region, use this tool to time pre emergent applications)
  • when soil temps hit 60F, water once a week. Water to the point that the soil becomes NEARLY fully saturated.
  • when soil temps hit 70F, water twice a week. Same saturation thing.
  • when they hit 80F, you might have to go up to 3 or even 4 days a week, but fight as long as you can.
  • don't water shady areas as often as sunny areas. Its important to let the surface of the soil dry out before you water again.
  • Water in the absence of rain... If it rains hard, skip a watering day... There's something about rain (ozone/oxygen maybe?) that makes it more impactful than irrigation anyways.
  • WHEN crabgrass shows up in June. Spray that with something that contains quinclorac (weed b gon with crabgrass killer for example). Sedgehammer if nutsedge shows up.
  • Keep constantly fighting weeds through the summer. The sooner you spray a weed, the less of a problem it (and its potential offspring) will be in the future. If a weed doesn't die within 2 weeks of spraying, hit it again.
  • Towards the end of summer, evaluate if you think the lawn needs any seeding... I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. either way, here's my seeding guide
  • if you DON'T overseed in the fall, mulch leaves into the lawn. You can mulch a crazy amount of leaves. Just get them into tiny pieces... Often takes more than one pass. Mulched leaves are phenomenal for grass.

Shopping recommendations:

Fertilizer:
- The only 2 I'll mention by name, because they're so widely available is Scott's, sta-green, and Andersons. Great quality and nutrient balances, moderate to poor value.
- Don't buy weed and feed products if you can avoid it... They're expensive and don't control weeds nearly as well liquid weed killers. Granular pre-emergents are okay though. - Don't waste money on fancy fertilizer... Granular Iron and other micronutrients do little or nothing for grass. (Liquid chelated iron can help achieve a darker green color, but it is temporary)
- liquid fertilizer is significantly more expensive than granular, regardless of brand. Liquid fertilizer also requires far more frequent applications to satisfy the nutrient demands of grass. All told, I don't recommend liquid fertilizer.
- The best value of fertilizer will come from local mom and pop suppliers. Search "agricultural co-op", "grain elevator", "milling company", and "fertilizer and seed" on Google maps. Even if they only sell 48-0-0 and 0-0-60 (or something like that), just ask chatGPT to do the math on how to mix it yourself to make the ratios mentioned above... chatGPT is good at math... Its not good for much else in lawncare.

Weed control:
- really the only brand I DON'T recommend is Spectracide. I recommend avoiding all Spectracide products.
- you'll get more bang for your buck if you buy liquid concentrates on domyown.com or Amazon than if you buy from big box stores. Domyown.com also has plenty of decent guides for fighting specific weeds.
- tenacity/torocity + surfactant is a decent post emergent weed killer for cool season lawns. It targets nearly every weed you are likely to get... Its just not very strong, it requires repeat applications after 2-3 weeks to kill most weeds. Tenacity can be further enhanced by tank mixing with triclopyr or triclopyr ester, at the full rates for both. It will make it a much more potent weed killer AND it actually reduces the whitening effect of the tenacity on weeds and desirable grass. (I use tenacity + triclopyr + surfactant almost exclusively on my own lawn)

Miscellaneous:
- gypsum doesn't "break up" clay. Gypsum can help flush out sodium in soils with a lot of sodium... Besides add calcium and sulfate to soil, thats all it does... High sodium can cause issues for clay soil, but you should confirm that with a soil test before trying gypsum.
- avoid MySoil and Yard Mastery for soil tests. Use your state extension service or the labs they recommend.
- avoid anything from Simple Lawn Solutions. Many of their products are outright fraudulent.
- Johnathan Green is low quality and dirty seed. Twin City seed, stover, and heritage PPG are great places to buy actually good quality seed from.
- as an extension of the point about Simple Lawn Solutions, liquid soil looseners are a scam. At best, they're surfactants/wetting agents... Which can have legitimate uses in lawns, but "soil looseners" use wetting agents that may cause more harm to the soil than good... And at the very least, they're a very poor value for a wetting agent.
- as an extension to the last few points... Avoid YouTube for lawn care info. Popular YouTubers shill misinformation and peddle the products mentioned above. - I recommend avoiding fungicides entirely. Fungicides cause significant harm to beneficial soil microbes. Most disease issues can be resolved with good management practices, such as those in this guide.
- humic acid, fulvic acid, and seaweed/kelp extract do infact do great things for lawns... Just don't pay too much for them, because they're not magic. Bioag Ful-humix is great value product for humic/fulvic. Powergrown.com also has great prices for seaweed extract and humic.
- 99.99% of the time, dethatching causes more harm than good.

Beyond that, see my other guides below and the comment sections of this post. Also, its always a good idea to check your state extension service website. They don't always have the most up-to-date information, but they're atleast infinitely better than YouTube.

Cool season Fall seeding guide

Guide to interpreting and acting on soil test results.

Fine Fescue guide

Poa Trivialis CONTROL guide (and poa annua and poa supina)

Poa trivialis and poa supina CARE guide

Pre-soak/Pre-germinate seed guide using giberellic acid

Common Lawn Myths

grubs

P.s. I now have a link to my BuyMeACoffee page on my reddit profile if you wish to donate.


r/lawncare 5h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) My lawn looked like fluffy cake after mowing today

Post image
93 Upvotes

r/lawncare 4h ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) Out with the Scotts, in with the Echo

Post image
22 Upvotes

Thank you guys for the recommendation. It's much taller which is great for me at 6'3" so I'm not so hunched over. The quality is superior to the Scotts Elite I just returned. Love it already


r/lawncare 23h ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) To whoever taught my toddler that blowing on dandelions was fun… have the day you deserve 😀

Post image
501 Upvotes

Just pulled 45lbs (yes I weighed it) of weeds from ONE side of my yard. It’s obviously not my toddlers fault. My next door neighbor continuously lets weeds get out of control and go to seed. And now they’re my problem too.


r/lawncare 4h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) Thanks r/lawncare!

15 Upvotes

I bought my house 3 years ago, and the front lawn was looking worse each year. I grew up in a much different climate, and as a kid all I knew was that I had to mow sometimes, and we had to stay off the grass til the granules were watered in. Thanks to many hours spent browsing the sub I was able to get a plan together and started last fall by raking up some dead grass, aerating, and overseeding. I put down preemergent about a month ago and finally got enough time between rains for the first mow. I'll still be fighting weeds for another few growing seasons and the hell strip needs more help, but it's much nicer to look at now. FWIW the section by the trash bin was mostly crabgrass and other weeds, and I almost thought seeding last fall would be a waste of seed and water...it was definitely not!


r/lawncare 9h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) What would you call these weird patches, seem to be spreading from neighbor’s lawn. Thank You! I’d like to see if there’s anything I can do

Thumbnail
gallery
33 Upvotes

r/lawncare 2h ago

Australia Is this a lawn grub?

Post image
10 Upvotes

I’m new to the game, found this guy when digging up the ground beside the lawn to create an edge. The grass seems fine. Do I need to do anything?


r/lawncare 2h ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) Herbicide/Fertilizer/Lawn care AMA

7 Upvotes

I'm a licensed applicator who sprays and fertilizes and sometimes mows and grows bermuda, zoysia and fescue.

Ask me anything, especially pertaining to chems and fert.


r/lawncare 2h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) Full reno last fall - now enjoying the results.

Post image
7 Upvotes

r/lawncare 19m ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) New Homeowner with Bermuda Sod

Post image
Upvotes

Fiancé and I just moved into a new build with Bermuda sod and the crab grass popped up like crazy the past couple weeks. Never taken care of Bermuda before since I’m from Michigan originally. Before take the mower to it, is there any basic suggestions to keep it under control? Appreciate it in advance


r/lawncare 1h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) What’s the cause

Post image
Upvotes

Obviously tough to tell from a photo, but this section of the lawn has the appearance of being trampled. We’ve had lots of rain, and none of us have been walking on that area any more than any other. Wondering what the cause of something like this might be? Central Illinois


r/lawncare 7m ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) KBG in NJ

Post image
Upvotes

Spring season has been weird….cold, hot, wet, etc. no consistency. Layed fert and pre emergent. No seed. Plan to level and scarify in the fall. Using Jonathan Green. Thoughts?


r/lawncare 3h ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) Grass seed for shade zone 8b Texas

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

Hi what grass seed is best for mostly shade. We are in zone 8b Granbury Texas. Just installed a sprinkler and have several acres to seed!


r/lawncare 2h ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) Suggestions for Weed eradication?

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

My wife and I bought our first house last year in central North Carolina and the yard was in rough shape. I took my first stab at reviving the yard this year. I mowed low a few weeks ago, aerated, fertilized, overseeded, and have been watering a few times a day. Some of the seed has popped, but so have all these weeds with the warmer weather.

Aside from pulling these as they grow, is anything I can do or apply now to kill these off, but not the growing grass? Is it too late, and do I need to wait until fall? Thanks!


r/lawncare 1d ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) How can I clean this up?

Thumbnail
gallery
172 Upvotes

What's the easiest way to clean up these magnolia petals? And should I? Increased difficulty because they're also wet from a recent rain. I love this tree but dang I hate this mess. Any suggestions welcome!


r/lawncare 5h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) My lawn has a pimple and a dead spot over the well line

Thumbnail
gallery
4 Upvotes

I had a rubber mulch pad around my well and the ground was noticeably soft. I took it off and dug to find whatever this is. Any idea what I’m dealing with here?

I also wonder if it’s connected to the fact my lawn hates growing over my well line. Seeds don’t take and it stays bare. Could they have backfilled with the spoil from the well dig and that’s having an effect?

Any guidance helps.


r/lawncare 9h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) SE Michigan, Hold off on Scott’s Halts?

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

I have some free time today where I could get out and apply or if not I will be busy until next weekend.

Only prob is while GDD is saying I’m well into where I should apply, greencast 5 day avg is only 45.2° and I have many cold nights in the near forecast. What are your thoughts and why would the GDD say diff info than greencast and my personal temp probe? I measured 45° most of my lawn with a few spots at 50° a few days ago.


r/lawncare 4h ago

Identification Is this POA Trivialis? Any treatment suggestions from the braintrust here? (ID help please)

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

Hi - I’m in NJ and have noticed these brighter spots the past couple of years since I’ve owned this property. I thought they were just some different types of grass that the former owner may have seeded thoughtlessly. However, as I’ve started to devote more time to this lawn and researched here, I’m thinking I may have a bigger problem on my hands. Is this POA Trivialis? I know it’s also possible I may have a few different things going on here.

Will I have to nuke all of these spots? That would be a disaster for me before the summer, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. I appreciate any and all advice!


r/lawncare 52m ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) Just bought a house and new to lawn care. What to do about all this clover?

Post image
Upvotes

My wife and I just purchased a house a few months ago and we finally moved in this past week. While doing work around the house I’ve noticed all of these bare patches of dirt and a TON of clover. I know some people like having clover but this is too much for me personally.

I know next to nothing about lawn care. I just bought a mower but haven’t used it yet. Some people suggested calling somebody for an estimate but I’d rather figure it out and do it myself. Would anyone have any recommendations on what I should purchase to take care of this?


r/lawncare 5h ago

Equipment Broke my shovel. User error or bad luck?

Thumbnail
gallery
6 Upvotes

Trying to dig some Bermuda out of my garden bed and transplant into red clay. Everything is full of rocks. When I was trying to get down, my shovel cracked. Any advice to have my shovel last longer? NE Georgia if that matters.


r/lawncare 1h ago

Equipment Getting started

Post image
Upvotes

It’s not that good but it’s not that bad either am I good with just a mower trimmer and edge shears for the bush or would I also just need to pick up some chemicals I’m on a budget any help is appreciate in Southern California


r/lawncare 1h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) How far should I plant a tree from a sprinkler line?

Post image
Upvotes

Recently invested in a lawn sprinkler system so I can be part of the cool kids club on this sub.

My wife just informed me she wants a magnolia tree in the middle of the lawn.

What’s our next move? Just plant and all will be well? When the tree roots grow will it impact the sprinkler line? The line pretty much intersects in the middle of the lawn.


r/lawncare 10h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) Will the seed die in cold?

Post image
10 Upvotes

I live in Northern Virginia…Last week I put some seed down for my lawn… not knowing that some days in this week will be cold. Attached pic is how the weather looks. Will the seed die? Please let me know your thoughts


r/lawncare 7h ago

Southern US & Central America (or warm season) Advice for noob

Post image
5 Upvotes

Located in VA. Looking for some guidance on some straightforward steps on how to repair my lawn. It seems like it gets worse every year and the deterioration was really expedited by a utility company digging up some pipes. I’m not looking for perfection but just some tips on how to easily kill the weeds and fill in these patches. Thanks!!


r/lawncare 2h ago

Identification Best treatment after aerating / overseeding & fixing bright green spots from dog pee

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

What’s the best way to get rid of these bright green spots, many of which are from dog urine?

Aerated for the first time in 10 years and then overseeded with PNW seed.

Planning on waiting another 4-6 weeks to fertilize but what kind do folks recommend?

Thanks from Seattle, WA!


r/lawncare 8h ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) Are these boxwood goners?

Thumbnail
gallery
6 Upvotes

Howdy all. I know this isn't technically a lawn question, but I posted on the landscaping sub reddit and no one responded, so I thought I'd try my luck here.

We're guessing disease is causing this damage to these boxwood bushes. Do you think they'll recover once I treat them with Eagle, or am I better off ripping them out?