Brendan Sullivan

Hi - I've been grass-cycling and leaf cycling in my yard for 10 years.  All clippings and leaves ground up and left to nourish the soil.

I'm wondering if all the grass clippings and ground up leaves would ever add up to a measurable amount of topsoil.  

It's amazing how all the clippings disappear so quickly.

These are the types of things that keep me up at night lol.

Cheers.

most residents in my town use a "Scotts" program or hire a company to fertilize lawn (e.g. tru-green).

Town only accepts grass clipping from residents (not commercial lawn care guys).

Compost is made up of grass clippings, leaves (amazing how many people collect leaves and drive to recycle center), ground up brush, etc.

Thanks for your ideas / thoughts!

Key is to create an environment for grass to thrive.  Suggest getting your soil tested to learn PH levels, etc.  In my state (MA) our state school (UMass) offers soil tests for $15.  With a large yard, I'd probably test 2-4 areas, focusing on trouble areas.

UMass will test the soil and recommend how to amend the soil to create optimal environment for grass - typically an 18-24 month plan.

Once your soil is favorable for grass to grow, and assuming you have top soil, grass will outpace most all weeds.

I have an acre of grass in MA (near Foxboro) and have not used any weed products in the 8 years I have lived in the home - lawn is virtually free of weeds except for clover mixed in and the rogue dandelion.

Also, set mower high (I cut 3 1/2") to promote healthy grass and shade out weeds.

A year ago, I a small area was having issues with crab grass - had the soil tested, learn my PH was way low.  A year later, PH is back up and grass has outpaced the crabgrass.

Cheers,

Brendan

I'd like to use the free compost from my town recycling center.

The compost is made from yard debris left by residents.

Should I be concerned about residual lawn chemicals from yard debris brought in by residents who are not organic?

I'll be using it to top dress my lawn.

Thoughts on using free town compost?  My town has mountains of it.  

Thanks!

Couple negatives on crabgrass from my point of view...

Kids like the feel of fescue on their bare feet over crabgrass.

In new England, crab grass dies in winter. In spring, during little league and soccer seasons, this area has large dirt spots which are not conducive nor inviting to spring time sports in the yard.

Big fan of clover, not so much for crab grass.

I'll start hand weeding and then in fall airate / seed / fertalize

Any tricks to posting pictures? I having trouble getting the pics to show.

The soil appears to be rich (results say differently). The soil test from 18 months back indicated only the need for Ph remediation.

I did have lush grass until 2 years ago when we had a giant water slide in that area for a weekend (b-day party) and the whole area became a mud pit. Deep mud too! Kids loved it. That was end of July in MA, and crabgrass took hold.

Typical program: leave mower clippings behind (mulching mower), leaf-cycle in the fall, organic fert in spring / fall, mow at 3.5", water infrequently. I have approx. 1 acre of grass, all doing well except this patch post mud-pit.

I'll start to hand weed and see if I can get after the crabgrass that way.

I've been following the cheap and lazy program for six+ year - great success is most of yard, one area, the crabgrass has proven hard to get rid of.

Had Ph tested 18 months ago and it was low and have been hitting the lawn with lime fall / spring to remediate low Ph.

Here's a couple photos.

Thoughts on next steps?

I was thinking to aerate this fall.

Should I start to hand weed?


Thanks for any / all suggestions.

Cheers

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Cheers,

Hi, I'm torn on what height is best for my situation.

I live in New England and most of my grass is fescue.

On another site, I read ideal height to cut fescue is 3" to promote rigorous growth and spreading.

I typically cut it at 3.5" or 4".

What would do you cut your grass at?

Thanks!!!

Interesting idea with chickens. Will the chick eat the grass too?

If I pull the larger mats of chickweed, can my grass out-pace the chickweed and eventually smother it?

I mow high (3.5") and water infrequently (like never).