Has anyone used or heard of Wilflower Farm's Eco-Lawn? http://www.eartheasy.com. The pitch sounds good, but due to my lack of experience I can't tell if it's a gimmick or what the downsides may be. I have a KBG sod lawn in northern Virginia that was installed by the builder in late May. I was considering overseeding with the Eco-Lawn this fall. Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

It says it's a fescue blend. Unless you're looking to add fescue to your KBG lawn, I wouldn't use it.

Welcome aboard, by the way.

Well, that was easy enough. I guess I could have read that for myself. Thank You!

Do you happen to know where your builder got the sod? Most places around here are sodded w/ blue/rye/fescue mixes. Any idea what cultivars of KBG are in there?

All I know is that for some reason they shipped the sod from Ohio. They are still building in the neighborhood so I guess next time I see the sod guys I will have to ask them exactly what I have.

Your sod has been down only 2 months. Why would you be thinking of over seeding already?

Is there a problem?

It's very thin in spots and there are gaps between the some of the pieces of sod that needs to be filled. Needless to say the crabgrass is taking full advantage of the gaps. I was just thinking that an overseeing would make my lawn fill out more. Am I thinking about this wrong? Should I give the sod more of a chance to establish itself?

Gary brings up a good point. If you've got 100% KBG, it should fill in pretty well, once this heat breaks and you feed it.

Speaking of the heat, how is that new sod holding up in this weather?

It was starting to turn somewhat yellow until we got all of this rain recently. Also, as I mentioned before for some reason certain pieces of the sod seem very thin and have now been grown over with crabgrass. I have now also learned that I was watering improperly (since it was turning yellow I was watering almost every day). Now that I have come to this forum I have learned the proper way to water and have come to realize that perhaps the fact that it was turining yellow could have been a result of me not feeding it properly. As I have said in another post I am planning on starting an organic program and with the forecasted 100 degree heat in the coming days I am crossing my fingers that it will continue to hold up.

Don't worry about the crab grass for now. It is very easily killed later when the temperatures lower around Labor Day. For now, worry about the sod.



Yes. By nature, KBG spread and fills in any voids, creating a tightly knit turf when actively growing - read spring and fall's cooler temperatures. For this spreading to occur the KBG needs just a few things. Moisture, nutrients and cooler soil temps.



Absolutely yes.

It is too hot now to have high expectations for your sod. Genetically it just can't do much during summer. Summer is the maintenance period. You maintain its health by keeping it alive with moisture only - no synthetic fertilizers.

For newly laid sod ....
You want to keep the sod moist, not wet.

Week 1-2: 1/4" of water 2-3 times a day should do the trick.
Week 3: 1/4" of water 1-2 times a day.
Week 4: 1/2" of water 1x per day
Week 5 and ongoing: Water deeply and infrequent with 3/4-1" of water, or whenever 30-50% of the turf shows signs of wilt.

If your sod has rooted, meaning when you grab a handful of leafs you can not lift any sod up like a wig or toupee, then water deeply (all at once) and infrequently, averaging 1" of water per week. This is only a guideline. During high heat like we are experiencing now your lawn may need 1.5" of water each week. You might even nee to apply .75" every 4 or 5 days. Let the grass tell you how much and when.

You mention organics. During summer go ahead and drop these gentle fertilizers. Drop Milorganite, soy bean meal, alfalfa meal etc. Drop as often as your pocket allows. With organics, you are feeding the SOIL. With synthetics you are feeding the GRASS. During high heat organics will never burn the grass.

Once Labor Day and the cooler temps come, (I suppose. Don't know where you live) you can begin feeding the lawn to promote growth, spreading and filling in.

There's an old trick you can do which I'll suggest you try. Since killing weeds is easy when they are actively growing ... and since crab grass likes nitrogen also ....

1st week of Sept. - Apply fertilizer. Except apply at only half the normal rate for now.
2nd week of Sept. - Use Weed B Gone w/Crab Grass Killer or the Spectricide equivalent with a Ortho Dial A Sprayer and apply a blanket spray now that the weeds are actively growing form the fertilizer.
3rd week of Sept. - Apply fertilizer at half normal rate again. Weeds are dying, grass is fed and filling in the voids.
4th week of Sept - Now spot spray any new emerged or remaining weeds

During Sept. maintain irrigation, deep and infrequent. Take natural rain fall into account.

Mid October, things will be looking good. Grass is growing, weeds are dying.
Mid October, apply nigh nitrogen fertilizer (first number on the bag label) at full rate.
Spot spray any weeds. Fall is the best time to kill weeds. Some/most are called winter annuals. Prevent them before winter equals little to none the next spring.
Maintain irrigation during October. Take natural rain fall into account.

Mid November/Thanksgiving (again, don't know where you live) when all the leafs are down, when the grass stops growing, when you do that last cut of the year .... drop that high nitrogen fertilizer again, at full normal high rate.
The grass will not use the nitrogen in the fall because it is now too cool for any new shoot growth, but all that nitrogen will be stored in the crowns and root structure until the following spring. Once the soil temperatures are right, in the spring all that nitrogen that was stored as carbohydrates will be used and you will be the first one in the neighborhood with green grass in spring.

For now ... you just need patience.

OK, my bad. Now I see northern Virgina.
Boatboy can adjust the suggested times like Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

-

PS - forget about this Wildflower Farm's Eco-Lawn. Play the cards you have in your hand.

Thank you for the replies. Gary, that reply was very helpful thank you for taking the time to lay that all out.

Your welcomed - no problem.

If you'd like to take another step up to the dark side of lawn geektom, there are a couple other steps you can do with pre emergents, both in the spring for crab grass and in the fall for unwanted grassy weeds. Also seeing that you are newbie, grub prevention can be considered, since grubs will love your lush, green lawn and not the neighbors dried up hay field.

I'll defer to your neighbors Boatboy and GWG for the VA. timing of those steps.

Follow the advice and together we'll have a lawn that will make you proud.

Gary's dates are pretty close, but he's from the cold tundra of Chicago. I'm finding those fall dates to be delayed about a week or so. Generally, my "winterizer" goes down around Thanksgiving, with the latest in recent years going down the 2nd weekend in December.

As mentioned, for now, keep that new sod sufficiently watered (not soaked). Normally, you'd want to deliver 1-1.5 inches of water per week in one or two waterings. But, with new sod, and this insane heat, lighter doses more frequently are likely in order.