2018 Lawn and Landscape Thread

[dieucla98 2942]

Any interest in DIY? If you can rent a trench digger, it's really pretty easy just time consuming. Parts are really cheap.

For reference, we paid ~$1500 for two zones and the parts required probably totaled less than $100. I had to get it done in a weekend because it was holding up a backyard remodel (and I didn't want to hear my wife bitch) otherwise I would have DIY.

[TexasEd 8077]

Yeah, I want to do it but my shoulders are screwed up and can't do the trenches.  I need to sub that out.

[cactusflinthead 27605]

On 4/17/2018 at 9:28 PM, Chilly Water said:

Has anyone ever dealt with a Dallisgrass invasion? It’s all over my side yard. Will Celsius work on it? I’m hoping to avoid Roundup as it seems like I would probably do a lot of damage to the St. Aug growing in.

The best option at this point is either dig it up or spray with a low rate of round up. .5% solution works. Yes, it will knock back the St. A. It is going to take several whacks to get rid of it regardless of the method. 

[SquishMitten 10442]

I need help with my sprinklers
I have 2 zones that will not pop up properly. The other 4 work fine. It worked last summer, but now the heads don't pop up worth a shit.
Is there a way to trouble shoot this with out having to dig up my whole front yard?

I would start with the absolute easiest test. Take off the directional valve on the sprinkler head. Should just be one tiny screw, then there might be another piece inside to unscrew/remove. That’ll turn it into an open pipe. Turn on the zone and see if you get a strong jet of water. If it’s not shooting up several feet, you’ve got problems farther up the line.

[swraith 347]

Running soaker hoses on my my pecan and peach trees today. No rain this weekend and no rain in the forecast.

[TexasEd 8077]

Saw this little guy when picking up leaves.  He's perched on my curly leaved yucca.

My Clematis has 4 blooms on it now.

Edited April 23, 2018 by TexasEd

[fattyflattie 4638]

On 4/21/2018 at 9:57 AM, cactusflinthead said:

The best option at this point is either dig it up or spray with a low rate of round up. .5% solution works. Yes, it will knock back the St. A. It is going to take several whacks to get rid of it regardless of the method. 

I've been fighting this for 2 years now. Time to just roundup it. Ugh. 

[TexasEd 8077]

20 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

I've been fighting this for 2 years now. Time to just roundup it. Ugh. 

I had a bad case at my last house and I was at it for 4 years before I got it all but did that through pre-emergent and pulling.  I started on the upslope and worked my way down to account for any seeds that might have made it past the pre-emergent.

[GottaB 595]

Crap. It’s not 2,4 d. It’s atrazine.

Follow up:
I Never got around to charcoal after this mistake. Lawn survived.

[Horn of Gabriel 1803]

Can anyone help ID this tree in my backyard?

[TexasEd 8077]

I can see the buds but not the leaves.  Can you post better pictures of the leaves?

[workswithseed 2115]

Redbud?

[Horn of Gabriel 1803]

15 hours ago, TexasEd said:

I can see the buds but not the leaves.  Can you post better pictures of the leaves?

[workswithseed 2115]

Well my assessment was wrong

[cactusflinthead 27605]

It's in the bean family. Goldenball leadtree maybe. Flowers will be the best indicator.

 

edit: nope not leadtree. Leaves are not right. These are too narrow to be a leadtree. 

Edited April 28, 2018 by cactusflinthead

[Horn of Gabriel 1803]

Huh, never thought I'd stump the surl   I'll need to break off a branch of leaves and take them into the nursery/arborist to satisfy my curiosity.

[Horn of Gabriel 1803]

The closest I can find in the aggy database is Honey Mesquite, the leaves look almost identical, and this tree does drop bean pods later in the year.  But the trunk structure is wrong, aggy shows Mesquite as more of a central trunk, this is more split at the bottom almost like Crepe Myrtle.  Maybe it's a different Mesquite version, there are lots.

[chikin23 384]

Trying to follow a schedule that was posted on the old site:

Put Texas Turf 15-5-10 down today. The next step is some type of weed killer. Is Bayer 3 in 1 Weed and Feed (35-0-3) a good product to use?   If so, how long do I need to wait before applying?

[cactusflinthead 27605]

Use one that is just a weed preventer/pre-emergent. Doubling the fertilizer is not a good idea 

[TexasEd 8077]

On 4/27/2018 at 7:10 PM, cactusflinthead said:

It's in the bean family. Goldenball leadtree maybe. Flowers will be the best indicator.

 

edit: nope not leadtree. Leaves are not right. These are too narrow to be a leadtree. 

Yeah, I'm going to wait for the flowers.  Thing is people import trees and that can add a lot of variety.

[cactusflinthead 27605]

36 minutes ago, TexasEd said:

Yeah, I'm going to wait for the flowers.  Thing is people import trees and that can add a lot of variety.

There are too many questions to narrow it down. There is no mention of thorns or cat-claw spurs. No leftover beans or other seeds. The bark looks smooth and the leaves don't have the glossy finish that I can see from here. 

The bipinnate leaves make a legume family a safe bet, but there are so many. By lack of thorns we can eliminate a lot of them. The bark texture would remove some more.

OP,  I'd do like you said and take a small branch to a nursery. 

Eve's Necklace. No. Leaves are wrong. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by cactusflinthead

[cactusflinthead 27605]

5 hours ago, chikin23 said:

Trying to follow a schedule that was posted on the old site:

Put Texas Turf 15-5-10 down today. The next step is some type of weed killer. Is Bayer 3 in 1 Weed and Feed (35-0-3) a good product to use?   If so, how long do I need to wait before applying?

You could just spray what pops instead and wait until football season. If you aren't seeing a bunch of stuff popping it's cool to wait.

Do a soil test. It's worth every penny you send to aggy to find out exactly what it needs.

[workswithseed 2115]

Aggy do good work on ag. Just wished that they weren't such trash during football. 

[TXs 226]

What are people's opinion on Texas sage? Looking for some shrub hedges.

[workswithseed 2115]

17 minutes ago, TXs said:

What are people's opinion on Texas sage? Looking for some shrub hedges.

I like it myself, just make sure there roots aren't in standing water too long. 

[cactusflinthead 27605]

Rosemary is even tougher than Tx Sage when it comes to drought hardiness and tolerance of shitty soil. Fewer flowers, but it's a solid hedge and is easily trimmed into whatever shape you might want. 

[cactusflinthead 27605]

they take a few years to really get going, but clematis is a good. Props

[workswithseed 2115]

4 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Rosemary is even tougher than Tx Sage when it comes to drought hardiness and tolerance of shitty soil. Fewer flowers, but it's a solid hedge and is easily trimmed into whatever shape you might want. 

I always hated mowing next to them because they were so pungent, but that's me.

Edited April 29, 2018 by workswithseed
Where were

[cactusflinthead 27605]

Some don't. I love it. And juniper/cedar/cypress. Some decidedly do not. The wife put some cuttings of rosemary around the house the last time I chopped on it. 

it was...fragrant. 

[kmac30 416]

I have guys coming in a couple days to put in mulch.  I’ve always done this in the pst but i don't have time or the effortthis year.  Guy told me weeds wouldn’t be a problem this year with the thick mulch.  Ive always had problems with weeds in flower beds so this year i was in the process of putting down fabric.  Should i say fuck it and stop or should i finish it iut because they’ll come through the mulch?

[cactusflinthead 27605]

It depends on what kind of weeds you are fighting. If it is bermudagrass or another perennial type plant then it is going to punch through most things. A good thick layer of mulch helps a lot to cut down on the seeds germinating. If you want to put a pre-emergent like Preen or Halts in there before the mulch, that would be even better. 

There are options for grassy weeds in ornamental beds. Looking at johnsongrass, bermudagrass, et al. Those are not going to be eradicated by ground cloth, plastic, newspaper. rocks or mulch. Spraying bermuda is the only way to get rid of it completely. Even digging it out will generally leave enough to regrow in the long term. If you can convince your yard guy to get some stuff called Fusilade  or if you can find some stuff called Ornamec or Fertilome used to market it as Over-the-Top, it is all the same stuff. Stupid sounding name of fluazifop is the active ingredient. 

edit: I still would dig out the bermuda if it is not too embedded in other plants. Dig, not weed-eat. All that does is hammer it down to the rhizomes and make them a harder target. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by cactusflinthead
Mo stuff

[TXs 226]

Is this crab grass? It's taking over a corner of the yard. Pain in the ass to pull up, with a long root.

https://s14.postimg.cc/sceg0xvoh/20180429_143804.jpg

[kmac30 416]

It’s clover and some stuff that rides across the top that spreads like crazy and comes up easily (but you don’t get the roots).  Small teardrop shaped leaf that alternates.  Maybe this pic will share.. https://krismcdonald.smugmug.com/Other/95-Horatio/i-bJsFbDM/A

Edited April 29, 2018 by kmac30

[TXs 226]

8 minutes ago, kmac30 said:

It’s clover and some stuff that rides across the top that spreads like crazy and comes up easily (but you don’t get the roots).  Small teardrop shaped leaf that alternates.  Maybe this pic will share.. https://krismcdonald.smugmug.com/Other/95-Horatio/i-bJsFbDM/A

Mine doesn't have those leaves when it grows out so not sure if clover.It grows out to long flat blades. 

[cactusflinthead 27605]

5 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Rosemary is even tougher than Tx Sage when it comes to drought hardiness and tolerance of shitty soil. Fewer flowers, but it's a solid hedge and is easily trimmed into whatever shape you might want. 

I'll add one more for those in the far south and other semi-tropical and tropical climates. Bougainvillea. It's highway median tough. it's thorny as hell so bear that in mind, but in the RGV and other mostly frost free areas it's another blooming hedge builder, horse high and pig tight. 

[cactusflinthead 27605]

25 minutes ago, TXs said:

Mine doesn't have those leaves when it grows out so not sure if clover.It grows out to long flat blades. 

Looks like johnsongrass to me. 

http://turfid.ncsu.edu/csPagedPdField.aspx?PlantID=SORHA

Edited April 29, 2018 by cactusflinthead

[kmac30 416]

23 minutes ago, TXs said:

Mine doesn't have those leaves when it grows out so not sure if clover.It grows out to long flat blades. 

It’s clover and that stuff.  So should I put the fabric down or just go mulch? I don’t have much left to do (that I would be doing).  I just really don’t want to.  But if it will make a difference I will do it.

[TXs 226]

5 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Looks like johnsongrass to me. 

http://turfid.ncsu.edu/csPagedPdField.aspx?PlantID=SORHA

Thanks! That's exactly what the root looks like. Pia to pull.

[cactusflinthead 27605]

If it's just some patches of stuff, pull it up . If it is thick and full like the pasture it would be best to spray it first and then cut it down and then cover  up the dirt with mulch. There are levels to this stuff. Just covering up a bunch of crap that is six inches tall is going to slow it down some, but it will come on back eventually. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by cactusflinthead

[cactusflinthead 27605]

2 minutes ago, TXs said:

Thanks! That's exactly what the root looks like. Pia to pull.

It's either a low rate (.5%) of round-up targeted on it or Celsius imo.  A piece as big as your little finger is good enough to start a whole new plant. 

[cactusflinthead 27605]

As an aside johnosongrass is an introduced plant. When exactly is another question. 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4041684.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

 

[kmac30 416]

The pic I posted grows on the ground like that (the pic).  Not tall.  I guess I’ll clean it up and cover it up.  

[Red Sundance 6]

On 4/26/2018 at 1:39 AM, Horn of Gabriel said:

Can anyone help ID this tree in my backyard?

 

On 4/27/2018 at 1:18 PM, Horn of Gabriel said:

Could this be a type of bottle brush?  Second pic looks just like mine before it blooms.  It is no where near that size but there are a lot of varieties out there. 

[TexasEd 8077]

On 4/28/2018 at 11:14 PM, TXs said:

What are people's opinion on Texas sage? Looking for some shrub hedges.

I love Texas sage.  Give it full sun and good drainage.  Even the compact variety will get over 6 feet tall if you don't aggressively prune it.  I love the explosions of bell  shaped lavender flowers when you get a rain storm.

 

No offense to cactus, but I've had Texas sage and lavender at different times and I prefer the Texas sage.  Make sure it has room to grow though.  If limited space/height use lavender.

[TexasEd 8077]

On 4/29/2018 at 3:27 PM, cactusflinthead said:

If it's just some patches of stuff, pull it up . If it is thick and full like the pasture it would be best to spray it first and then cut it down and then cover  up the dirt with mulch. There are levels to this stuff. Just covering up a bunch of crap that is six inches tall is going to slow it down some, but it will come on back eventually. 

This.

If small patches shovel or uproot it with a pitchfork and pull out all the roots.  Any root segment left behind will sprout more but in small doses pulling is best.  When you have too much you have to spray and will get collateral damage.

[TexasEd 8077]

Found this guy mowing the grass and finally finished painting my shed.

Now I need to remodel the inside and build a short ramp.  I also have a large Troy-bilt tiller in there I think I am going to sell soon.

[cactusflinthead 27605]

1 hour ago, TexasEd said:

I love Texas sage.  Give it full sun and good drainage.  Even the compact variety will get over 6 feet tall if you don't aggressively prune it.  I love the explosions of bell  shaped lavender flowers when you get a rain storm.

 

No offense to cactus, but I've had Texas sage and lavender at different times and I prefer the Texas sage.  Make sure it has room to grow though.  If limited space/height use lavender.

I have yet to grow lavender successfully at the house. It invariably goes though an extended period of rain early after planting and rots. I've planted it elsewhere in full sun and it has done well. I like it, but it has been a mixed bag. 

[TXs 226]

What is surly's opinions on your favorite (non-oak) shade tree? I'm looking to put one in later this year.

I was thinking either an Cedar Elm or Ash (maybe Chinese pistache). I've always liked the ash but I know others think it's a trash tree. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by TXs

[cactusflinthead 27605]

Bigtooth Maple

Caddo Maple

Bald Cypress

Ginkgo

and if there is enough room for one a Pecan

[cactusflinthead 27605]

Dawn Redwood is kinda cool too. It looks a lot like a bald cypress. Another of those living fossils