Yard freaks

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Question for the experts:

My new mower has a steel deck. My last two had plastic. Before I use it, is it safe to spray WD40 on the underside to prevent rust and grass from sticking?

Attachment 2598290

You can, but no telling if it will really do anything. I've seen it actually cause grass and dirt to stick to the deck.

The best things you can do for a mower are this:

1. Scrape off any grass from under the deck before long term storage (like over winter). Tilt the mower carburetor side facing up so oil from the engine won't dump into the carburetor when it is on it's side while you scrape out the grass.

2. Only mow when the grass is dry if you can, this will prevent grass build up under the deck.

3. Keep the oil level full.

4. Run the mower out of gas before long term storage to prevent carburetor issues in spring time from moisture contaminated fuel.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

You can, but no telling if it will really do anything.

Thank you.
PS: My mower is an 80V cordless. See post 1164.

[TXSTYLE]

We've been getting tons of rain and now sunshine with mild Temps. Needless to say, my wide variety of flowers planted weeks ago,have my yard looking like the Botanical Gardens!!!

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

...have my yard looking like the Botanical Gardens!!!

I wish....

Just got done planting seedlings in the front. Hoping these take off honestly.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Thank you.
PS: My mower is an 80V cordless. See post 1164.

Whoops, somehow I missed that. Those are nice mowers!

[lsturbointeg]

picked up 10 LA Dreamin' Hydrangeas from Menards to plant along the door way entrance. had some arborvitaes there but decided to yank them out.






also lawn has been doing great! getting them stripes on point!




in case you were interested here's what i used to make them stripes

[4Hockey4]

Run Non ethanol gas in your engines for much longer use, esp. weed wackers., also quick starts. My WW can sit 6 months, 5 primes and 2 pulls starts right up. I use the pre mix pure from Lowes, think its $5.99 for 40:1 and lasts a season.

Wawa has 89 no ethanol use in mower.

I

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

You can, but no telling if it will really do anything. I've seen it actually cause grass and dirt to stick to the deck.

The best things you can do for a mower are this:

1. Scrape off any grass from under the deck before long term storage (like over winter). Tilt the mower carburetor side facing up so oil from the engine won't dump into the carburetor when it is on it's side while you scrape out the grass.

2. Only mow when the grass is dry if you can, this will prevent grass build up under the deck.

3. Keep the oil level full.

4. Run the mower out of gas before long term storage to prevent carburetor issues in spring time from moisture contaminated fuel.

Use Fluid Film. Works wonders on mowers and things that touch snow.

[TXSTYLE]

This rain has been absolutely amazing for my garden!

[bosstones]

Lawns around me are looking like crap. I actually ran my GreenWorks detacher on half my front yard because it looked like a lot of dead grass matted and choking out new growth. It doesn't work good as a dethatcher but does as a light power rake, which is what I used it for before fertilizing and putting down pre-M.

I have some disease in part of the back. Upper parts of the blades are yellowy/orangy and folding up. I noticed this morning that there are a few small brown circles that popped up in pairs, too.

I keep looking back at a pic of my backyard from this time last year. Damn it looked nice back then.

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Use Fluid Film. Works wonders on mowers and things that touch snow.

Hmm....I actually got a free sample of that when I bought my snow blower last year but I never used it. I need to clean out my mower deck so maybe I'll give this a try.

[jsf721]

Any of you guys running a Rachio 3 sprinkler Controler ? Just installed mine and set up the app. So far so good

We are in for a rainy Memorial Day weekend. First chance to see if weather intelligence work better than my old rain sensor.

[nyalpine90]

how many times a week should lawn get water?
how long should each zone be on for?

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

how many times a week should lawn get water?
how long should each zone be on for?

Really depends on weather and to some degree grass type. It is hot and unseasonably dry here right now so I run each zone twice (24 minutes), 3 days a week right now. During rainy season I am normally 1 day / week just to make sure the pump for the well runs and sprinklers get used. When it is dry but less hot (winter), 1-2 days / week.

General rule is to run as little as possible and let the grass grow deep roots in search of water. Water deeply, less often. But there are times you need to supplement the weather. You can measure what it’s getting or get a smart timer if you want to really stay in top of it.

[nyalpine90]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Really depends on weather and to some degree grass type. It is hot and unseasonably dry here right now so I run each zone twice (24 minutes), 3 days a week right now. During rainy season I am normally 1 day / week just to make sure the pump for the well runs and sprinklers get used. When it is dry but less hot (winter), 1-2 days / week.

General rule is to run as little as possible and let the grass grow deep roots in search of water. Water deeply, less often. But there are times you need to supplement the weather. You can measure what it’s getting or get a smart timer if you want to really stay in top of it.

during process of new top soil i was watering everyday twice a day.
5am and 7pm for 20mins each zone (total of 6 zones) for the month of April.

In June i reduced it to once a day, every day in the morning at 5am.
Landscaper stop by every Wednesday. i notice white mushroom growing this morning. this happen over night.

mushrooms is sign of rich nutrients in soil as well as over watering...

my goal is to have healthy thick green lawn, avoid high water bill and conserve water usage.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

how many times a week should lawn get water?
how long should each zone be on for?

Super subjective.

Which variety?
Size of yard?
Climate?

[nyalpine90]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

Super subjective.

Which variety?
Size of yard?
Climate?

im in NY, right now temps range from 70s up to upper 80s.
no idea size of yard, the house is sitting on .5 acre.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

... no idea size of yard, the house is sitting on .5 acre.

if its all grass, 21,780 sf - House sf

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

im in NY, right now temps range from 70s up to upper 80s.
no idea size of yard, the house is sitting on .5 acre.

Well for my Bermuda, I water 3x/week for @ 20min a Zone using irrigation system.
But I don't have nearly as much grass as you.

[nyalpine90]

Originally Posted by JJ 911SC

if its all grass, 21,780 sf - House sf

2800sf for house.

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

im in NY, right now temps range from 70s up to upper 80s.
no idea size of yard, the house is sitting on .5 acre.

Irrigation company owner here.

Guessing you have a fescue/rye lawn which is most likely where you are. Typically we set all of our clients anywhere from 3 to 4 times a week. Goal is an inch of water per week.

As far as time it really depends on if your system gets true triple, double or single coverage (3 times hitting head to head using 2 zones is triple). Also the type of heads (sprays, rotors or spray rotors) and nozzle sizes. Slope of the lawn, type, soil makeup, turf height, shade etc. There really is no way some one online can tell you unfortunately.

A safe bet is to start at 20mins per zone 3 days a week and go from there, the lawn will tell you what it needs. If you have narrow areas along the sides of your home it will most likely be sprays, start those at 10mins and adjust up or down. Areas in full sun and wide open may need anywhere from 20-45 mins per zone.

If you have fewer than 7 zones set it to start at 3am. Goal is to be done by the time the sun comes up so it can use every bit of water with out losing to evaporation. Anything earlier than midnight and you'll possibly have a disease/fungus outbreak, especially in hot and humid conditions.

Hope that helps.