2018 Lawn and Landscape Thread

[cactusflinthead 27598]

On 8/1/2021 at 11:02 AM, El Diablo said:

New place also has this smoker in the backyard. Iron insides are shot/rusted to nothing, much of the mortar would need to be replaced if anyone wanted to use it for its designed purpose and since I have no need to have the ability to smoke 60+ lbs of meat  I'm thinking of just making it into a feature of some sort. Not sure just what though. It sits under a mature pecan tree and only gets direct light for maybe 2 hours a day. Like you see here in the morning and then again on the opposite side late in the day. And that's here during the height of the summer. One of the ideas I'm mulling over is making a giant planter of some sort out of it. Maybe take the cap off the chimney and grow an ivy there and let it spill down the smoker. Or use the large flat surface of the firebox to hold a bird bath bowl. Not interested in going to the expense of doing any wiring or plumbing for a running water feature. I don't know and that's why I'm here. Look at this beast and give me some ideas.

I dunno. There are a lot of vines and climbing stuff. Annuals like morning glories and perennials like clematis. I would be leery of super aggressive stuff like trumpet vine, standard honeysuckle, or Carolina jessamine. 

Maybe use it as storage. Put big pots of stuff all over it.

Push it over and haul it off.

 

[BayouBill 835]

So we just bought a house and it's on 2.5 acres...the ol' push mower wont cut it anymore (pun DEFINITELY intended). Need recs on a zero-turn...what ya'll got?

[3adays 454]

What is this and how to I make it stop growing? I’ve been hand pulling it, but I just can’t keep up.

[McFly 606]

Looks like nutsedge. Image had a good nutsedge killer but not sure what type of grass you have. I’ve had some success with roundup in my beds but those fuckers keep coming back. 

[Gourmand 7774]

Yes that is nutsedge. Iirc many say not to pull nutsedge by hand because it can break at the root and that stimulates more growth. That shit is annoying, but it's not uncontrollable. I've had good success with SedgeHammer but it often requires a couple of treatments over the summer.

I usually buy this because it's two packs and it's not expensive.

https://www.domyown.com/sedgehammer-herbicide-p-1348.html

[3adays 454]

Thank you. I’ll order some and give it a shot. 

[Gourmand 7774]

Hey @cactusflinthead you've probably answered this somewhere else in this thread but I'm lazy so I'll just ask it again....what's a good all-purpose post-emergent for bermuda to mix with quinclorac for broader weed control? I've spot treated earlier in the growing season for what I thought was crabgrass (and other weeds) with quinclorac but i have  some variety of weeds coming back, most notably spotted spurge, and I was considering mixing quinclorac with something else at a low rate....is this not recommended? 

[cactusflinthead 27598]

3 hours ago, Gourmand said:

Hey @cactusflinthead you've probably answered this somewhere else in this thread but I'm lazy so I'll just ask it again....what's a good all-purpose post-emergent for bermuda to mix with quinclorac for broader weed control? I've spot treated earlier in the growing season for what I thought was crabgrass (and other weeds) with quinclorac but i have  some variety of weeds coming back, most notably spotted spurge, and I was considering mixing quinclorac with something else at a low rate....is this not recommended? 

3 way stuff with quinclorac is fine. It's about to be time for fall application. 

[Gourmand 7774]

This is some wild shit but my back patio and yard is moving. Out of nowhere these mfers showed up in the grass and on everything and it's pretty damn creepy.

Are these webworms, army worms, or good caterpillars and if they're enemies to my lawn, what is the best way to get rid of them immediately? Looks like they could do some damage quickly....

[MonkeyDoughnut 10229]

On 8/8/2021 at 8:23 AM, 3adays said:

What is this and how to I make it stop growing? I’ve been hand pulling it, but I just can’t keep up.

To add on what others have said about the nutsedge as I've also been dealing with it, mainly in flower bed areas.

I've had good results with the Ortho Max Nutsedge Killer product. Like all of them, they tend to work much more slowly on nutsedge than other weeds so don't expect quick results.  The weed will basically die over weeks time killing the roots and eventually just basically disappearing as it stops growing.  In lawn you just keep mowing and eventually you won't see it. For flower beds you need to wait weeks to month or so from when begins yellowing before pulling to make sure its had time to kill the roots as well.

Key is to get to it sooner than later since it takes a while.  Multiple treatments may be necessary but I've found most will die off with one treatment.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

4 hours ago, Gourmand said:

This is some wild shit but my back patio and yard is moving. Out of nowhere these mfers showed up in the grass and on everything and it's pretty damn creepy.

Are these webworms, army worms, or good caterpillars and if they're enemies to my lawn, what is the best way to get rid of them immediately? Looks like they could do some damage quickly....

No pic. Caterpillar? Probably armyworms. Get on it. Variety of things available. Bidenthrin, sevin, Bt/dipel/thuricide

[cactusflinthead 27598]

4 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Like all of them, they tend to work much more slowly on nutsedge than other weeds so don't expect quick results.

This. Be patient @3adays

[Gourmand 7774]

14 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

No pic. Caterpillar? Probably armyworms. Get on it. Variety of things available. Bidenthrin, sevin, Bt/dipel/thuricide

Pic didn't come through? I'll try again...

 

 

[Gourmand 7774]

That one is an adult big one, most of the others in the grass and landscape beds are green and range in size from a half-inch to tiny little wiggly fuckers deep in the grass. Btw my neighbor has a big webworm/bagworm(?) nest in one of his trees. I grabbed a bag of Hi Yield Turf Ranger Insecticide granules to put down tonight along with some caterpillar killer with BT spray for the foliage in our flower beds. Should that take care of the problem?

[cactusflinthead 27598]

6 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Pic didn't come through? I'll try again...

 

 

Yep armyworm.

https://aggieturf.tamu.edu/turfgrass-insects/armyworm/

Liquid spray on the turf too. 

[Gourmand 7774]

Thanks for the link cactus! Some of those pics gave me those A HA moments because I realize that there were some of these larvae around our property that I noticed previously but didn't think much of. 

 

Are those larvae sacs not related to the big web in my neighbors tree that look like this?

 

[cactusflinthead 27598]

13 hours ago, Gourmand said:

Thanks for the link cactus! Some of those pics gave me those A HA moments because I realize that there were some of these larvae around our property that I noticed previously but didn't think much of. 

 

Are those larvae sacs not related to the big web in my neighbors tree that look like this?

 

They usually lay eggs in the tree. Too far to crawl from an outbuilding.

https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/eastern-tent-caterpillar/

[Gourmand 7774]

Do you have a recommendation for a readily available spray treatment that will kill these bastards? They are everywhere this morning and my wife is freaking out. The BT spray i used last night didn't seem to have much effect at all. 

[Gourmand 7774]

Found out via facebook neighborhood group that army worms are everywhere in our neighborhood and apparently they are a big problem across Texas this year. Y'all keep an eye out for your lawns and landscape for these little bastards.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/07/23/extremely-destructive-armyworm-caterpillars-have-declared-war-on-texas/

[3adays 454]

Yep, those army worms are something fierce. About a month ago, I thought I’d knocked them out with Sevin, but they came back over the weekend with vengeance. I hit them with some BT yesterday so we will see how that works. A couple of my neighbors have all but lost their yards to them. 

[Gourmand 7774]

5 hours ago, 3adays said:

Yep, those army worms are something fierce. About a month ago, I thought I’d knocked them out with Sevin, but they came back over the weekend with vengeance. I hit them with some BT yesterday so we will see how that works. A couple of my neighbors have all but lost their yards to them. 

I'm afraid I'm about to watch my front lawn go brown in a couple of days. The back already looks like minor drought stress and it happened fairly quickly. Those motherfuckers are everywhere, I've treated with granules, sprayed with a caterpillar killer with BT, and finally broke out the Talstar P in my garage that I use for mosquito control. Active ingredient is bifenthrin so it should kill them, but I've had to spray each morning around 10:30-11:30 when they are active and come up to the surface to eat. It's crazy to see how quickly they can wage war on a lawn. 

[Anastasis 23463]

We had the armyworms all over our neighborhood.

This is what they used to knock them out.

Bifenthrin(insects)
EPA# 432-1416

Edited August 16, 2021 by Anastasis

[3adays 454]

1 hour ago, Gourmand said:

I'm afraid I'm about to watch my front lawn go brown in a couple of days. The back already looks like minor drought stress and it happened fairly quickly. Those motherfuckers are everywhere, I've treated with granules, sprayed with a caterpillar killer with BT, and finally broke out the Talstar P in my garage that I use for mosquito control. Active ingredient is bifenthrin so it should kill them, but I've had to spray each morning around 10:30-11:30 when they are active and come up to the surface to eat. It's crazy to see how quickly they can wage war on a lawn. 

It really is crazy how fast those fuckers can destroy a lawn. Just last week my wife was bragging on how good I had the back yard looking! It’s like they fucking heard her and decided to ruin my hard work!. 

[Gourmand 7774]

38 minutes ago, 3adays said:

It really is crazy how fast those fuckers can destroy a lawn. Just last week my wife was bragging on how good I had the back yard looking! It’s like they fucking heard her and decided to ruin my hard work!. 

Same, it's demoralizing right now to see the fruits of my hard work disappearing before my eyes in the span of two or three days. When I look closely at the grass in the sun I can see those fuckers on the ends of the green blades and from a distance they resemble seed heads in bermuda. My treatment regimen has seemed to have no effect yet. 

UGH.

[Knoxtnhorn 5971]

Do I want Morning Glory vines climbing up the brick wall of the front of my house?  It kind of looks cool right now, but something tells me this is a no-go. 

[ZanTheFan 49]

Is this shit not going to solve my army worm problem??

[Gourmand 7774]

Is this shit not going to solve my army worm problem??

It should work against them from what I've read. I think the worm activity has slowed substantially in my lawn after torching it with Talstar bifenthrin.

[Gourmand 7774]

These guys doing their thing on my neighbor's lawn and he had no clue.

[Stinkpalm 687]

Those bastards finally showed up in my yard today… or at least that’s when I noticed them and the damage they’ve already done. Luckily they hadn’t spread out too far just yet. Another day or two and they might’ve taken my whole lawn, bc they are thick. Spread out granules this evening and hitting them with the spray in the morning. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 8/17/2021 at 8:01 AM, Knoxtnhorn said:

Do I want Morning Glory vines climbing up the brick wall of the front of my house?  It kind of looks cool right now, but something tells me this is a no-go. 

IMO, it depends. Pluses and minuses to Morning Glories from my own experience:

Positive:

Very pretty flowers in a variety of colors. I have them in the front and back gardens. Grandpa Ott's is a purple variety, but I also have some that are hot pink, white, the traditional blue (I think it's called Heavenly Blue but I'm going off of memory for all of these), as well as a cypress vine called Cardinal Climber with red tubular flowers the hummingbirds love--Cardinal Climber often gets lumped in with MG varieties because it is also an annual as is the white Moonflower.

Fairly easy to care for, and after a period of green vining growth, the reward is the blanket of flowers and lots of pollinators. Since I grow some vegetables, I like having the bumblebees buzzing around and getting things taken care of.

Negatives:

Since they are an annual, they have a life cycle, and when they reach the end of that, you've got some mess to clean up. For me, that means removing the vines. I suppose I could leave them there, but it creates a lot of garden mess dangling around in view. They also reseed like crazy, at least mine do, and that can be a plus or a minus depending. I don't mind going along and yanking them out when they grow in unwanted places, but they are busy growing while you are sleeping and can get out of hand. I also grow a lot of zinnias, etc for butterflies and have to keep them from using the zinnias as a growing stake and knocking them over or smothering them.

I've never had any grow up our brick house w/o the aid of a trellis; are yours growing on a separate wall or the side of your house? If they are growing up the house, then removal at the end of summer would perhaps not be too bad. With my trellised vines, I have to disentangle them from the trellis which is time consuming. I like to put on a Saturday football game on my headphones and listen and clip dead vines on a sunny fall day while my husband yells at the same game on television inside. It's probably why we've been married for so long. As a side note, did  you know that the seeds apparently have hallucinogenic properties? I don't roll that way, but when trying to locate a specific color variety, discovered that some people use them as a psychodelic (sp).

Best wishes whatever you decide.

[Knoxtnhorn 5971]

@Mrs Whiggins

They growing through the faux blinds of one of our first floor windows.  

Thanks for all the info.  I'll leave them be for now.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

Getting fucking tired of goddamn caterpillars eating up turf.

 

[Gourmand 7774]

hey @Mrs Whiggins do you have any idea what is ailing the purple moonflower (datura) I planted? This has been happening for awhile but it was still spitting out blooms, now the blooms seemed to have stopped and some lower leaves are yellowing. I did spray with caterpillar bt spray recently and also treated my lawn with some post-emergent quinclorac so there's a possibility of some accidental overspray but I was very careful. 

 

[Gourmand 7774]

6 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Getting fucking tired of goddamn caterpillars eating up turf.

 

Yep, my back lawn was almost Austin FC green a week ago. Those creepy fucking caterpillars....

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

46 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

hey @Mrs Whiggins do you have any idea what is ailing the purple moonflower (datura) I planted? This has been happening for awhile but it was still spitting out blooms, now the blooms seemed to have stopped and some lower leaves are yellowing. I did spray with caterpillar bt spray recently and also treated my lawn with some post-emergent quinclorac so there's a possibility of some accidental overspray but I was very careful. 

 

Something has definitely been munching on it. @cactusflinthead would be my goto for identifying chemical damage, that's not something I'm good at, other than accidentally killing some of our St. Augustine lawn a few years back with some wonderful "loopy" evidence of my malfeasance with the sprayer.

I use a little Sevin dust from time to time but other than that I've never treated my moonflower bushes--they're so prolific, that I can transplant one from another spot pretty fast. I would maybe trim off your seed pods to promote blooms, and maybe give it a little Miracle Grow if you haven't done that lately? It doesn't look over or underwatered, so the stress from the caterpillar/insect damage and maybe some chems--although your vinca looks fine there. Sorry I'm not much help with that one. You can trim them back and they'll grow back sometimes w/o difficulty.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

@Gourmand it looks like caterpillar damage on the datura, possibly grasshoppers. I'd give it some fert and maybe a spray. Sometimes stuff will cycle between vegetative growth and flowering. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Gourmand 7774]

6 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

maybe give it a little Miracle Grow if you haven't done that lately?

thanks! coincidentally I just hit our landscape beds with Miracle Gro a few days ago and also sprayed some Fertilome chelated iron around as well. 

[Gourmand 7774]

1 minute ago, cactusflinthead said:

@Gourmand it looks like caterpillar damage on the datura, possibly grasshoppers. I'd give it some fert and maybe a spray. Sometimes stuff will cycle between vegetative growth and flowering. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

thanks sir. appreciate your input in this thread.

btw I really love this plant, it grew like crazy after I planted it and its blooms are magical. It must be planted in a good spot because it certainly didn't stop growing. Is this something I need to stake to give it some support? It seems like it has a lot of weight to it, can that cause plant stress?

[baboso 6054]

I have been using fish emulsion (mix with water, apply every two weeks) this year for the first time ever.  It has my veggies and flowers producing like crazy.  Good stuff, IMO.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

42 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

thanks sir. appreciate your input in this thread.

btw I really love this plant, it grew like crazy after I planted it and its blooms are magical. It must be planted in a good spot because it certainly didn't stop growing. Is this something I need to stake to give it some support? It seems like it has a lot of weight to it, can that cause plant stress?

It kinda sprawls. A really big one can be 6ft. That one is Datura metel. I would save some of the seeds in case it freezes out. It's not dependable through a regular zone 7 winter. 8-10 it's solid. But, I don't know if it made it through snowmaggeddon even in our warmer zones. Maybe? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_metel

And here's the erowid on the genus and kin.

http://erowid.org/plants/datura/datura.shtml

Fair warning. This one can be dangerous if you fuck around. 

[cactusflinthead 27598]

32 minutes ago, baboso said:

I have been using fish emulsion (mix with water, apply every two weeks) this year for the first time ever.  It has my veggies and flowers producing like crazy.  Good stuff, IMO.

Guhgreed. If you can tolerate the smell it's great.

[El Tri 412]

@cactusflinthead i have a bunch of those caterpillars. so far they're not attacking my lawn, but what do i need to spray/lay down to kill them?

[Gourmand 7774]

[mention=541]cactusflinthead[/mention] i have a bunch of those caterpillars. so far they're not attacking my lawn, but what do i need to spray/lay down to kill them?

If you have them they are attacking your lawn. Put 3 tbsp dish soap in about a gallon of water and pour it in three foot area of you grass and wait a couple of minutes to see if any come crawling up.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

9 minutes ago, El Tri said:

@cactusflinthead i have a bunch of those caterpillars. so far they're not attacking my lawn, but what do i need to spray/lay down to kill them?

 

On 8/16/2021 at 12:01 PM, Anastasis said:

We had the armyworms all over our neighborhood.

This is what they used to knock them out.

Bifenthrin(insects)
EPA# 432-1416

This is my go to. 

On 8/17/2021 at 9:45 PM, ZanTheFan said:

Is this shit not going to solve my army worm problem??

But, I will chuck whatever bullets I can get in a pinch.

[Gourmand 7774]

25 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

It's not dependable through a regular zone 7 winter. 8-10 it's solid. But, I don't know if it made it through snowmaggeddon even in our warmer zones. Maybe? 

Planted after snovid. But it was a small plant and it's probably tripled in size. 

 

26 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Fair warning. This one can be dangerous if you fuck around. 

Funny that you mention it because about a half hour ago I was handling some of the ripened seed pods to see what it looked like inside, then I looked up information on propagating the plant from seed and learned that it has toxic characteristics. Am i gonna die now or was your Gritty warning about ingesting the seed for recreational purposes?

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

18 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

It kinda sprawls. A really big one can be 6ft. That one is Datura metel. I would save some of the seeds in case it freezes out. It's not dependable through a regular zone 7 winter. 8-10 it's solid. But, I don't know if it made it through snowmaggeddon even in our warmer zones. Maybe? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_metel

And here's the erowid on the genus and kin.

http://erowid.org/plants/datura/datura.shtml

Fair warning. This one can be dangerous if you fuck around. 

We have one that is around 5 or 6 feet, but they are a little fragile when they get large in that I can brush by with the hose wand and break off a branch. But it always grows back. I grew parsley under it because it shaded it enough to protect the parsley from the hot sun and thus the swallowtail caterpillars. We're 7b (I think) but even with frequent clipping of the seed pods, those little things hide under the large leaves and I had probably thirty volunteers after The Big Freeze. Threw most of them out, potted up a dozen then gave half away to friends. The seed pods are heavy, and a little ouchy, too, but when there are a dozen blooms, it is quite magical. We are fond of our children so we didn't grow the plants when the children were younger. We also don't have any pets due to an allergic family member, so we don't have to worry about animal toxicity. I only grow them in the fenced backyard, just to be safe. I'd like to grow an angel trumpet with the yellow dangling flowers but I'll have to wrangle a spot for it in the back and I'm running out of space. We have a traditional tidy front yard with pretty pretty grass so the neighbors don't call us "that" family on the block, but the private backyard is much more flowery and garden centered; hummingbird feeders, trellises, almond verbena bushes--things to attract the little creatures and feed them.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

3 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Planted after snovid. But it was a small plant and it's probably tripled in size. 

 

Funny that you mention it because about a half hour ago I was handling some of the ripened seed pods to see what it looked like inside, then I looked up information on propagating the plant from seed and learned that it has toxic characteristics. Am i gonna die now or was your Gritty warning about ingesting the seed for recreational purposes?

Handling them is not a problem. Smoking the seeds, making a Carlos Casteñeda root smear, or making a big ole mess of greens out of the leaves?

Not recommended.

A Pernicious Weed.
[From the Same, Book II.]

  THE James Town Weed (which resembles the thorny apple of Peru, and I take to be the plant so called) is supposed to be one of the greatest coolers in the world. This being an early plant, was gathered very young for a boiled salad, by some of the soldiers sent thither to quell the Rebellion of Bacon; and some of them eat plentifully of it, and the effect of which was a very pleasant comedy; for they turned natural fools upon it for several days. One would blow up a feather in the air; another would dart straws at it with much fury; and another, stark naked, was sitting up in a corner, like a monkey, grinning and making mows at them; a fourth would fondly kiss and paw his companions and sneer in their faces with a countenance more antic than any in a Dutch droll. In this frantic condition they were confined lest they should in their folly destroy themselves; though it was observed that all their actions were full of innocence and good nature…. A thousand such simple tricks they played and after eleven days, returned to themselves again, not remembering anything that had passed.  12

  Perhaps this was the same herb that Mark Antony’s army met with in his retreat from the Parthian war and the Siege of Phraata, when such as had eaten thereof employed themselves with much earnestness and industry in grubbing up stones and removing them from one place to another, as if it had been a business of the greatest consequence. Wine, as the story says, was found a sovereign remedy for it; which is likely enough, the malignity of this herb being cold.

-Robert Beverly, Jr.

https://www.bartleby.com/163/220.html

 

[NoName 16351]

1 hour ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

This is my go to. 

 

But, I will chuck whatever bullets I can get in a pinch.

assuming i have the time, is there any reason not to proactively spray this over the weekend?

[cactusflinthead 27598]

4 minutes ago, NoName said:

assuming i have the time, is there any reason not to proactively spray this over the weekend?

Killing off non-target species. If you have bees working flowers eg.

It's probably just fine.

[Gourmand 7774]

Not sure if this goes in the gardening thread or not but I'll just ask it here....

Do y'all compost? I have one tumbler bin going along with two big storage bins that I fill on a regular basis from our food waste and whatnot in the kitchen. It's really amazing to see how much "garbage" is actually compostable foods and paper stuff at home. The difficulty I have is that I can't seem to keep my browns up to the same pace as the greens and for a long time I was just turning a big wet pile of mess that constantly created flies everywhere and were a huge nuisance on our back porch. Since then I realized that I needed to overdo it with the browns-- any dry dead leaves and sticks I now collect around the yard and I try to keep a pile of grass clippings off to the side to dry up and deaden to add to the compost. The biggest difference-maker lately was getting a 50 lb bag of sawdust pellets from Tractor Supply used for horse bedding and constantly adding it to my compost whenever it's too wet and nasty. I still see some of those soldier fly larvae but it's not as bad as before. Maybe start throwing some water-based anchovies in there as well?