Lawn care guru question

[JonT]

I have my yard treated by Chemlawn every summer - the usual 6 step application they recommend. This year once again my dog crapped in the yard and there are dark green spots all over the yard. Is there anything I can do about this? Chemlawn says they can do nothing to alter the color of the grass. My neighbor says to add a high nitrogen fertilizer (over 30) and the grass will all turn dark green--hiding the spots (he's been doing this for years). Chemlawn says this will damage the grass and make it prone to disease in the high mid-summer temps. Any other suggestions?

[rcecale]

The nitrogen will definitely turn it green. You'll have to water it quite a bit for it to be really effective, but it does work wonders.

If you're worried about disease, I would recommend spraying your lawn first with Spectracide Immunox. After spraying, wait until the lawn dries completely and then spread the nitrogen. After the nitrogen, give it a good watering so it gets down into the soil.

the Immunox just needs to dry on the lawn. Once dried, it won't wash off with the watering. If you catch it early in the day, you can probably have it all done in a single day.

I'm far from being any kind of expert, but this has worked for me in the past.

Randy

[928ram]

Seems like letting the dog crap some more will eventually fill it in to all dark green, plus it gives the dog something to do.

[gaijindabe]

You ever wonder what happened to the fireflies, robins and butterflies of your youth? When was the last time a dandelion hurt anyone?

Those green deserts are a witches brew of herbacides, pestacides and chemicals - I hope you dont let any kids play out there...

[Drago]

Quit feeding the dog.

[84CAB]

Apply iron. Sold at Home Depot and such as Ironite. Dark green lawn but won't burn it.

[Jims5543]

Scoop the poop every day, thats the way I stopped the green spots. On the weekend if I see her poop I get out the cooper and get it off the lawn.

My dad has trained every one of his dogs to poop in one spot of the yard, usually out of the way. Every dog has kept to a 10'x10' spot in an oscure corner of the yard. I wish Icould teach my lab to do that.

[JonT]

I will start scooping the spots and begin training to poo in a certain area. In the meantime, will apply the nitrogen or iron--have not decided yet.

[M.D. Holloway]

green spray paint....shoot the dog

[MotoSook]

LOL...thanks for the laughs guys...

When we had dogs, we had a run..they popped there...

But for green lawn, I spent about $90 for a couple bags of Scott grass feed stuff...my lawn was pretty sad, with dead patches from grubbs (or rather the animals that dug up the grubbs). I spent hours pulling all the weed and then put the stuff on, followed by a good watering. Now my grass is heathier than ever, and I ha've the only truely green yard on the block. I also spread some grubb kill stuff too. Believe me I needed it. My front yard looked like a tee box after a company outing...

OK..I don't live near a farm and the run off will leach into the soil before it ever hits a body of water...and I only did the front...let the backyard fry man!

[M.D. Holloway]

Souk, my ol man had a theory that if you cut the lawn short enough, it would burn the grass and stunt the growth. Of course his theory was way off - he spent almost every weekend cutting the grass till I was old enough to cut it (12 yr old) . When he did it, it looked like cropped, dried hay.

I told him that if you just let it grow to the optimim height (3.75 to 4 inches for broad leaf fescue) it would actually only need to be cut every third week and look really lush becuase it would have grown to it's maturation height and even require less water.

He thought I was getting out of work but he let me "try my experiement". The lawn looked great in less then a month and a half. He asked me how I knew that, "tell you the truth Dad, I was really BS'n you - the worse that would happen is that it didn't work but at least I got out of mowing for three weeks!"

I remember him laughing and told me that some day I would have a great future in marketing. Only recently did I really know what he meant...

[MotoSook]

Maybe my old man is on to something too...his grass is taller than mine, and he's never had to use anything But I swear my lawn needed something...it was terrible. I tried to wait for it to grow longer and fill the bad spots...but only the weeds wanted to grow there...now the weeds and the clovers are gone and it's almost all grass...yet, I do cut my grass pretty short

Funny you bring up market...

A few weeks ago, Heather wanted me to go grass shopping with her. No way...I was busy growing engines But ishe was bugging, so I told her to just go..take the kids an go. Spend as much as you want (she's more cautious with money than I am). Then I side, "only in America do you go buy grass!" Grass to grow amongst other grass in the yard! (She wanted ornamental grass). So I then told her to buy the primo stuff...now of that rag weed that won't make me feel good...the on high grass... we had a good laugh about it for a couple of days...

..ornamental grass...talk about marketing! I told her I'd just drive to the forest and dig up some grass! Of course then she'll want ornamental rocks to surround the grass

And I'll never make it in marketing or sales...not that marketing is a bad thing, but when the sales guys come into the office...I can't sit still when I sense BS...most know how I am now, and it's actually made my job easier...they cut to the facts when I call.

[campbellcj]

Reminds me of a Soundgarden lyric --

"The grass is always greener, where the dogs are *****t!ing..."

On a more serious note, my lawn is plagued by rabbits, severe variations in sun/shade temps, PLUS a dog and a 3-yrd-old boy.

[Don Ro]

Originally posted by 84CAB
Apply iron. Sold at Home Depot and such as Ironite. Dark green lawn but won't burn it.

The advantage of using Ironite over nitrogen is much less growth push (basically nil) = less mowings.
Not many basic nitrogen-based fertilizers have an iron component. Most commercial blends do (4% - 6%).
Iron gives the grass plant that dark green, almost blue, hue.
Wash it off the concrete areas immediately after application, however, to avoid staining. FWIW.

[KFC911]

Originally posted by Jims5543
.My dad has trained every one of his dogs to poop in one spot of the yard, usually out of the way. Every dog has kept to a 10'x10' spot in an oscure corner of the yard. I wish Icould teach my lab to do that.

I've taught my lab to do that (but I don't 'scoop da poop', as her urine seems to be just as effective in fertilizing too). My problem is that "that" area seems to grow at 2-3 times the rate of the rest of the yard...it's a green jungle

[teenerted1]

go to petsmart or your local petstore and pick up some LAWN SAVER, or similar product. it changes the Ph of the dogs poop and pee. may take a few weeks. but does the job

i have a bigger problem with my dog peeing by the front walk. and is worse in the winter here when the grass is dormant.

poop ins't a big problem, he is pretty good at hitting the weeds for some reason. and a brown weed is a dead weed.

[KFC911]

Originally posted by teenerted1
...go to petsmart or your local petstore and pick up some LAWN SAVER, or similar product....

So, is that a diet supplement, or something you put on the lawn?If it's the latter, I might check it out (although I've been putting up with it for over 11 yrs, so I'm used to it now. ) My lab (given the option), will generally head for the woods/weeds instead of the lawn, so that helps too.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by teenerted1
go to petsmart or your local petstore and pick up some LAWN SAVER, or similar product. it changes the Ph of the dogs poop and pee. may take a few weeks. but does the job

I had a neighbor a few years ago who swore by adding a little bit of vinegar to his dog's water. Claimed it lowered the ph of it's urine and didn't damage his lawn so much.

Personally, I felt sorry for the dog who had to drink pickled water.

Randy

[teenerted1]

lawnsavers are a supliment for your dog. liver flavored, my pooch loves them thinks they are another treat.

[RickM]

I built a pen for Miles. Best dog maintenance project I've ever done.