Gardening/Maintenance Thread

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:05 pm

Shut up, NTPwaffle.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:19 pm

Thanks to the feet of rain we got this week my grass was a foot tall...went out to cut got the zero turn stuck.

Yeehaw

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:37 pm

Absolutely not. I love my Honda.

Apparently not. Keep feeding that o-zone killer 10% ethanol and see if it reciprocates your love

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:43 pm

Absolutely not. I love my Honda.

Apparently not. Keep feeding that o-zone killer 10% ethanol and see if it reciprocates your love

To be clear, my issue is with the fuel stabilizer, not the mower.

I may just switch to pure fuel in a can like I already do with my snowblower and generator. I don’t care how much it costs.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:45 pm

My 'fuel stabilizer' was remembering to unplug the battery from the charger in November.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:54 pm

Postby **dodint** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 4:14 pm

My assumption is that you used too much of the stabilizer for the size of the tank. But I only use it in cars and bikes so I couldn't give you a practical recommendation for what amount should be used in a mower. Better luck next year. Given a straight choice I'd take a ICE mower over an electric, but the overhead of the ICE is just too much of a hassle in the long run.

Postby **Willie Kool** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:00 pm

I don't bother with fuel stabilizer. I've never had a problem, even after leaving half a tank sit for 6+ months.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:00 pm

The stabilizer is added to my fuel canister, and the dosage was exact; I never add it directly to my mower. I did some Googling and found others who experienced the same issue, which is a new one for me. I’m positive that the shop will have to soak it in their sonic machine, because even after I took apart the carb and cleaned everything, fuel still wasn’t making its way through.

Ah well, you live and you learn.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:02 pm

Wait. You put bad gas from the can into the mower?

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:06 pm

No, this was from last fall. It was probably one month old gas when it went into the mower, where stabilizer was added to the can. The common theory that I found is that the crystallized gunk is actually the dye used in the stabilizer. If that’s true, it pisses me off even more, because who gives a **** what color it is?

Postby **dodint** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 5:19 pm

Ah, okay.

That's has to be a branding decision, it's sold in translucent bottles. Bummer.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 4:18 pm

Planning to seed my new lawn tomorrow. Have a preseeder/rake rented for the duration of the day. I hve 100# of Scott's Contractors Mix seed, and starter fertilizer. Question: Should I put the seed and fertilizer down at the same time? Or wait a few weeks then fertilize? My plan at the moment is to get soil ready, spread fertilizer, rake it in, then seed.

Postby **Morkle** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 4:24 pm

I've always aerated(sp) the soil, planted the seed - then put fertilizer/hay down on top of it. Then had a sprinkler running twice a day at 6:30 AM and 6:30 PM.

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 6:48 pm

So after buying my house a year and a half ago and taking care of most of my interior projects, landscaping is now next up. Question for you green thumbs, is there a better way of doing this than what I am planning?

Once upon a time there appeared to have been landscaping here. There are remnants of mulch, and a couple shrubs. Under the mulch is the tarp/screen sheet or whatever you call it. But it's mostly just grass and weeds. It would take weeks to pull everything by hand. Last weekend I sprayed it all to (hopefully) death, and this week/weekend I plan on just ripping it all up with a metal rake. Then I'd put a new sheet down and mulch over that. Yeah? No? Really first time delving into this so not sure if there's a better way to get it to be presentable or not. Debated getting a tiller instead of raking it all out

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue May 01, 2018 8:46 am

So after buying my house a year and a half ago and taking care of most of my interior projects, landscaping is now next up. Question for you green thumbs, is there a better way of doing this than what I am planning?

Once upon a time there appeared to have been landscaping here. There are remnants of mulch, and a couple shrubs. Under the mulch is the tarp/screen sheet or whatever you call it. But it's mostly just grass and weeds. It would take weeks to pull everything by hand. Last weekend I sprayed it all to (hopefully) death, and this week/weekend I plan on just ripping it all up with a metal rake. Then I'd put a new sheet down and mulch over that. Yeah? No? Really first time delving into this so not sure if there's a better way to get it to be presentable or not. Debated getting a tiller instead of raking it all out

Landscaping fabric + mulch is belt and suspenders, but go for it if you really want to get rid of all the weeds. 3" of mulch by itself should do the trick. You may have to pull a weed here or there. I've also done newspaper + mulch since newspaper is biodegradable.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Tue May 01, 2018 8:54 am

Yeah, that fabric can be a pain to remove if you want to redo beds or add shrubs/plants later on. Get your mulch on.

Does anyone else use pine straw for ground cover? We have a lot of it in the area, and it's a lot cheaper than bags of mulch.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue May 01, 2018 8:59 am

interesting i've always assumed the fabric always goes under mulch. good to know

Postby **NTP66** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:01 am

Source of the post Yeah, that fabric can be a pain to remove if you want to redo beds or add shrubs/plants later on.

This, and it doesn't always do a great job of preventing weeds. I'd just go with mulch, personally.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:24 am

would ya'll do anything to the soil underneath before mulching?

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:26 am

Nope, leave the soil alone if you don't plan to plant anything there

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:31 am

much appreciated. i think step 1 is just mulch and make it look presentable and next year figure out flowers/shrubs

Postby **NTP66** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:32 am

You can still plant spring bulbs right now, and then plant your fall bulbs later this year.

Postby **dodint** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:42 am

Last weekend we got the 20 bags of top soil and 8 bags of cow manure compost we need to get the raised beds refreshed for planting this year. We didn't get in the house early enough last year to use them. When I was in WI I built us a raised bed that was about 10x4ft and we got a nice yield, but we overplanted trying to see what would grow. The new house has a retaining wall with the beds built into that, so it runs the full length of the yard, 50ftx3ft partitioned into 8 individual boxes. Really excited to get it up and running.

Biggest concern is that, because it's built into wall, there is inherently no sun at all on one side of the box. And since it's in the back yard the house blocks a good bit of sun as well. Then the overhead canopy is substantial. Some boxes get better light than others so I guess I'll have to prioritize the arrangement by sunlight requirements. Maybe I'll get the list and post to here to see if you guys can...shed some light on it.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Tue May 01, 2018 9:55 am

What is the benefit of raised garden beds? Easier on the back? Better root structure?