1. EZ Lawn
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3. Obviously I have a thing for a grassy lawn. Soem people dont and enjoy walking on weeds and having ants move in closer to the home and thats cool too.
4. I figured I would put together a little thing on what we do to keep it lush and what we have learned about grass shit going from a 100% weeded dirtyard to a somewhat decent lawn.
5. The guide is aimed at those who have a lawn but want to thicken it up with a little money/work as possible a I am lazy AF.
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7. Why have a good lawn:
8. More grass = less soil water loss and better water retention, more grass less watering. Having bare spots allows grubs and weeds in and moisture out.
9. Grass uses less water than weeds. Again leading to more watering needed when the weeds drink up all the moisture during the hot weeks of the summer.
10. More gass = less weeding, less weeding = less work.
11. It looks good and feels nice to the feet.
12. Ontario has strict rules on pestecide use, so if weeds do invate your in for a uphill fight.
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14. I broke it into two parts:
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16. What is a smart buy and what to consider.
17. -Grass seed is sold in two types: Perennial and Annual
18.         Perennial grows a little slower but will come back every year.
19.         Annual is a fats grower but will die in the winter and not return next year.
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21. If you dont want to be spreading grass seed every year then you need to buy Perennial.
22. You can check and see what % of seed is by reading the label. Here is what I like to buy thats 50|50 KBG and PRG.
23. https://www.tscstores.com/GRASS-SEED-TSC-QUICKSUN-10KG-P40236.aspx
24. Keep in mind coated seed increases the non-seed weight and only allows it to be spotted by birds easier as its blue.
25. PRG is a smaller seed than KBG so even though the bag is 50|50 I will eventually end up with more PRG in each bag.
26. PRG goes to seed in the spring as do most cool season Perennial grasses so it may look like a weed in the spring, thats fine let it do it its thing come mid april it will be normal again.
27. PRG going to seed http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hG4eH7XEAqo/Ubi6cZs04xI/AAAAAAAACw0/hAP7kyLwjpo/s1600/Slide1.JPG
28. PRG needs 45 days of uncut growth to have mature seeds, so if you wait long enough you are free-seeding your lawn but your grass will be long and gross, it will also lay down on other gasses smothering it I dont reccomend it at all.
29. PRG seedheads have long thick stocks. This will look jagged when cut if your lawnmower blade is dull. But this is only early in the spring when they go to seed.
30. PRG will also stop crabgrass (called winter rye in the US) source: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-winter-rye-choke-out-weeds-51164.html
31. So... that being said there is NO reason not have PRG in the lawn as is a natural way to keep out weeds and comes back every year.
32. So why is it that Scotts Turf Builder Relaxed seed only contains 5% PRG? Becuase they want to you keep buying seed year after year, this in my mind is more work than just doing some research and getting good seed. Source of 5% https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/scotts-turf-builder-relaxed-custom-grass-seed-1-4-kg-1590207p.html
33. Fall is the best time to apply seed. In Ontario you want the days no higher than 22 and nights no lower than 8.
34. You can do it in the spring and I tend to do touch ups then but I overseed (blanket zones) with seed in the fall.
35. The goal here is to get PRG/KBG all over slowly year after year so you never have to re-seed zones/bad spots just touch up.
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38. Buy fertilizer, buy it on sale, and buy it in bulk. You need two kinds.
39. General use fertilizer and fall fertilizer.
40. Why: You apply twice per year just after the summer hits with a general use fertilizer to repair any damage from the heat of the summer. Then again in the fall/prewinter to put the lawn to sleep.
41. This allows you to have a green lawn all spring and not require the 4 treatments they reccomend. Remember they want you to buy more ferts, you dont need more.
42. I use any old fertilizer for just after the summer treatment, whatever is on sale, dnt buy liquid buy slow release pellets.
43. Just before winter apply a fertilizer low in N (N-P-K) (32 or lower, higher in K) this will help the lawn lush the in the spring with guess what. Zero effort it just happens and you dont need to even worry about ferts till the fall again, thats right its basically once per year. Any more applications will just make the lawn greener and not really do much for root density.
44. Thats fine if you like a greener lawn but all your doing is asking for more time with you lawnmower, this is supposed to be low effort.
45. Buying ferts is mostly easy. You can buy fancy Scotts bags or unmarked bags they both have to adhere to the N-P-K regulcations and be within 1/100th of a variance in what they list.
46. So that being said 32-0-10 Scotts has the exact same checmical makeup as the offbrand 32-0-10 but its half the price. The diffrence is that the non-scotts does not have filler, this means you will burn your lawn IF you apply more than the reccomended ammount.
47. My solution is to buy the non-filler one and apply it at 75% of the reccomended strength. The off brand says to apply it at spreader setting 5 I set it to 3.5 , less is more. Or you can buy the on brand and then apply it but remember its full of filler to keep idiots from burning their lawn.
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49. Dealing with issues:
50. Brown round patches in spring: Generally snow mold / the grass may have been left to long in the fall and become flat preventing water from getting to the root zone.
51. Brown random zones in late spring: Grubs possibly pull up the grass see grubs go get nematodes right away and apply when the soil temperature is above 10c before a light rainfall. They need to be applied early am or at night.
52. Bare spots no grass: Buy topsoil (dont spend a lot) in bags. Rake the ground to score the earth, apply seed, apply dirt, apply more seed, rake it all in. Water it often once per day is enough only in the AM/PM.
53. "That PRG you reccomended makes my lawn look like hay when I cut it" its temporary the grass is going to seed in the spring, sharpen your lawnmower blade.
54. I have a whole section of weeds what do I do. This one is tricky, depends on the size. If its large you may just want to lay a tarp/carboard ontop and kill it all off then rake and reseed. If its a small section Wilson WeedOut is the best Ontario product you are legally allowed to apply. It contains rust (really) and needs to be reapplied every 3 days. This will kill the weeds slowly and you wont even need to pull them up but is better for smaller weeds.
55. My dog pees and ruins the grass over the winter. If your dog pees in the same spot all winter long that grass will be pressed down. A lot of people confuse dog pee for ruining grass and while it can its more the fact they are walking on snow pushing down grass that was left too long to grow all winter compacting the blades into the earth.
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57. What we do to keep things green here (THE GUIDE):
58. We will start in the Fall as its kinds of coming up and thats when the most effort is required.
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60. Mid August - Early September:
61. -Apply a general use fertilzier the day before a light rain to the entire lawn.
62. -Find zones that need to be raked / reseeded and apply seed, dirt, seed, and rake it all in. Water that zone daily if possible unless it rains. Do not cut that zone for 2+weeks
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64. Mid September - Late October:
65. -If you have grass seed left overseed areas that have grass that you want to bulk up. Cut the grass before a little lower so you can wait the 2 weeks. A light raking might be helpful, I dont even water.
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67. October - November:
68. -Start cutting lower, long grass covered in snow = problems in the spring, dont go wild but bring it a little lower than you would mid summer.
69. -When the ground is getting consistant frost and freezing wait until you see snow in the forecast and the day of or before apply your fall fertilizer.
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71. Winter:
72. Do nothing
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74. Mid April:
75. -Rake any spots where the grass was pressed down and did not natrurally spring up if any (walkways, dog run areas, vehicle marks, etc)
76. -Apply grass seed if you feel you need to, I dont even water I let the rain do it. Fall is a better time to do seed.
77. -Get your Wilson WeedOut ready apply only on sunny warm days mid day when the leaves are dry.
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79. Early June:
80. -Start increasing the height on the mower slightly so the grass  is a little longer, this will help with bare spots when the heat comes in.
81. -Water if needed only at night when there is no rain.
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83. Thats it.