Why I HATE Granular Fertilizer + Test Plot Update

[@JEK]

Ryan Knorr and Connor Ward got some competition with this new kid on the block. Love the channel been watching you a couple weeks now. Good luck with your continued success I think it will blow up this summer.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Holy crap man that is some high praise. Thank you John! I'm going to do some cool stuff this summer hopefully. I have a bunch of ideas already. Thanks for watching man!

[@tonygill3344]

Hey man Conor Ward over RK btw! 😝

[@JEK]

@@LAWNLIFE Seriously, great channel. Always get a kick out of your intro too with the dog trailing you 🐾

[@LAWNLIFE]

@@JEK haha he likes yard work more than me sometimes. Do you do construction for a living in LA or just follow the projects?

[@newtonbrook]

When you cut your lawn so short you create the conditions for creeping bent.

[@michaelurig3887]

They do make a greens grade fertilizer that is a small prill

[@LAWNLIFE]

Any cost effective options out there?

[@cardplayer85]

​@@LAWNLIFE Depending on your lawn size Lebanon turf makes some stuff that's what I consider reasonable per app for homogenous prill greens grade fert. You need an accurate calibrated spreader to through it out though as most residential models will through close to 1lb of N on the lowest setting. I know people are going to crap on it but some of the Scotts stuff is homogenous and a small SGN. If you are going foliar I don't think you can beat urea for cost per app.

[@LAWNLIFE]

@@cardplayer85 thanks for the info. I'm going to look into those options. I actually do spoon feeding foliar applications of urea. My max rate is 0.23 lbs per k though because of the chance of burn. Sometimes it's nice to put down 0.75 lbs at a time though.

[@wayneessar7489]

Sustane has a greens grade.

[@thomashanan1996]

Hello... I need some help identifying a weed and what works on it... Any chance you could help me out?

[@LAWNLIFE]

Send me an email at [e-mail] and a picture of it.

[@jnycards5478]

Looking good! It's always nice to see a MN getting results. My lawn suffered this year and I gotta adjust my plan.

[@drfe21]

Renovation would look good! Can’t wait to see!

[@SONICBOOM98]

Love the look of the Everest. Geez that stuff is expensive.

[@LAWNLIFE]

It is expensive, but if you're going to have the grass for the next 20 to 30 years, it's so worth it. One time fee. Haha

[@SONICBOOM98]

@@LAWNLIFE Very, very true👍. So I know that a full renovation would be the best, but what's your thoughts on adding a better grade of bluegrass when over seeding every yr to improve your bluegrass?. I swear I heard that on another channel that it can help improve your lawn thru the yrs. Any truth to that?

[@jeremykrentz9634]

MILTICKET the major downside to that is the color inconsistencies. If you add in an elite bluegrass to an existing lawn, you get dark splotches from the darker cultivars. I played around with a sample size bluegrass blend from super seed store this fall. Thankfully I just overseeded my boulevard. I love the look and feel of the new grass, but the existing grass looks bright in comparison.

[@SONICBOOM98]

@@jeremykrentz9634 Gotcha, that makes sense. I appreciate the input. I don't want to do a full lawn renovation, but I didn't want to just throw my money away either on better seed. Maybe I'll just do a test in the backyard & see how that goes.

[@milenstoimenov9532]

You only need 2lbs per 1000sqf for a bare soil... 9-10lbs of ryegrass.

[@tigas7476]

Great job man! Also from MN here and new subscriber.

[@nathangartner4822]

I went Mazama on my reno and it looks so good!

[@LAWNLIFE]

Did you go monostand? I'm jealous. Not gonna lie. Ha.

[@nathangartner4822]

@@LAWNLIFE I did go Mono at first then I found some other grasses were coming in so it looked a little funny. So to combat that I over seeded with United Seeds Sure Shot KBG Blend. I think it is Everest, blueberry, blue note, and arrowhead. Now everything is a nice uniform dark color I also mow with a reel mower at 5/8 with a JD 180b. I would say 75% of my front lawn is Mazama the rest is the Sure Shot.

[@SONICBOOM98]

Wife: Grass looks great! Me: I wanna burn it & start over

[@LAWNLIFE]

Dude. No joke. This is the exact conversation we had last week. It did not go well 😂

[@SONICBOOM98]

@@LAWNLIFE lol, yeah it usually doesn't.

[@JEK]

Will be horrible to watch LL nuke it but I'm sure it will look even better when he has a better cultivar dialed in.

[@madilee2437]

LOL

[@dfin9246]

I put Granular down with my drop spreader. Takes longer but coverage is even. I use my broadcast spreader for Carbon ProG or soil enhancement because those compact in the bottom of the drop spreader and will not fall out. That Everest looks the best.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Never tried that before but it seems to make sense. May have to dabble with this. The Everest and Mazama are neck and neck in person. I love them both. Thanks for watching man!

[@hongsitu3429]

What cultivars do you have now?

[@LAWNLIFE]

I'm pretty sure it is construction sod from when the house was built and slowly the KBG completely took over. I can't find many other types of grass in the lawn. Not sure of the cultivars though.

[@hongsitu3429]

@@LAWNLIFE that bewitched looks really light compared to the others. I would blend all the others while leaving out the bewitched.

[@LAWNLIFE]

@@hongsitu3429 you're right it does. It's even brighter in person. I've heard it takes 3 years or so for Bewitched to actually darken up. Which is something I would not be patient enough for. The Bluebank, Mazama, and Everest would mix very well I think.

[@hongsitu3429]

@@LAWNLIFE i have some 1yr old bewitched and the lighter color is causing blotchiness and driving me insane. Fall reno is planned.

[@LAWNLIFE]

@@hongsitu3429 what else do you have mixed in it? If you don't mind renos, go for it. But if you're on the fence I would hold off for another year or two. It supposedly darkens up significantly as it matures

[@briarklehr1971]

Lucky for you it’s going to rain here in Minnesota for the next week.

[@LAWNLIFE]

I'm hoping that the forecast is right. We need it!

[@SONICBOOM98]

It's been raining here in Wisconsin, so maybe its on its way up.

[@ericgustafson6310]

Thanks for showing us the struggles of lawn care. I’ve been feeling pretty frustrated lately too.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Definitely has it's ups and downs. Weather has been all over the place this year. Try to control what you can and stick to the fundamentals and everything will work out. If not, burn it to the ground and start over like I'm thinking 😂

[@processingbenefitsbt6306]

Very good content you will get more views

[@andrewszabo1552]

A landscape island will fit perfectly over that bent grass. I get the light green patches after a growth flush. Often it's blended in with dark KBG. I chalk it up to new rhizome shoots - because a week later they'll mostly match the rest of the turf. Then again, I'm nursing KBG that was seeded when Reagan was president.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Hahaha. Yeah, I'll have to make a decision this fall. There are some many patches of different cultivars in my existing grass that it drives me nuts!

[@UrbanDadLife2024]

I'm using up a bag of carbon X i had left over from a project lawn last year, but I'm an all liquid guy normally, for the same reasons as you....another good video bud

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks bro. I appreciate the consistent support. Means a lot! I'm done with carbon x. Lol

[@keithp115]

You have a new subscriber! Looking for a knowledgable lawn guy, down to earth, who also has a cool season lawn. Greetings from Southeast Michigan!

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks for the sub man! I appreciate the compliments. Hopefully I can give you some useful content this year!

[@Striperman]

Love your intro. One of the best of the community . We are almost in the same situation. I have 100% KBG lawn that is 13 years old. I laid the sod myself in 08. The original sod was 5 cultivars from the farm that supplied the sod at the New Yankee Stadium in 09. It held up well when I had it at 3.5 inches all these years and then I decided to reel cut. Last year was the first full season and it looked great until the record heat of late July and August took its toll. Fungus issues and busy schedule and it turned to crap. Did a reno in September with 3 new cultivars added to the present lawn and it looked great right through the Winter. Slow start this Spring with lack of sun and little rain. Had the same issue with spotted lawn but I am too old for another ripout and resod and the overseeding in Fall is most likely the answer. My neighbor has creeping bentgrass and it is invading my lawn. I know its not Poa Annua and I thought maybe Poa Triv at first but no seed head so thinking its the Bentgrass becaue I know Triv does form seedhead .

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks for the compliment on the intro! I think I need to start changing up the clips because it may be too long for some people. That's quite the journey you've had with your turf. What cultivars did you go with? Bentgrass lays on top of the soil and you can rip it up like a piece of carpet. It seems like it barely has any roots. It's a weird grass. But yeah that crap will take over your lawn if you let it. I was hoping that ripping out the big sections would weaken it a bit, but that doesn't look like it's the case... I need to make a decision to kill the bentgrass or the whole thing soon. Haha

[@Striperman]

@@LAWNLIFE Original sod had the following cultivars Ridgeline, Appalachian, Blueberry, Oasis, Mercury, and over seeding had Waterworks, Blueberry and Bewitched

[@balooo2863]

Your lawn looks fantastic! Every lawn has its warts, we see videos of folks hawking lawn care products and rest assured they have problem areas in their lawns too but not showing them in the video. Those of us that take pride in our property and effort get a little nutty and our perfectionism comes out. As stated below I go outside and only see the imperfections in my lawn my wife gives me "the look" when I rattle off everything that is not 100%. I understand wanting to improve but take look at lawns across the street and next door.... you are killing it dude!!!!

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks man! I appreciate the kind words and you're totally right. All I see is imperfections and everyone else comments on how it looks like a golf course. I'll be happy one day...maybe..lol. The wife comment hits home. I totally understand what you're going through. Haha. I appreciate you taking the time to watch!

[@ivgondef4408]

I used the best fertilizer spreader that money can buy and used some granular fertilizer, My lawn ended up looking like a 2 tone green zebra.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Smaller prill size is the ticket if you want to stick with granular, I guess. I'm sticking to liquids from here on it.

[@waymor2460]

If you’re obsessive/compulsive nothing will ever live up to your expectations and you’ll constantly want to burn it down and start over again whether it’s about your lawn or house or car or your body or partner or cooking or a hundred other things in your life. Imperfections are ok, they’re normal, it’s what makes us human. You have an amazing lawn but you want to do a complete renovation because of one or two imperfections. Don’t, spend that time with family and friends.

[@LAWNLIFE]

This is great advice, which I probably could've used that day. Thank you for bringing me down to reality. I think a renovation is inevitable at some point, but you're right. It's never going to be perfect and I need to accept that. Thanks Wayne.

[@phil656]

I like PGF Complete granular. Super fine and mild enough for multiple apps.

[@luckypete33]

I feel the pain....when you spend so much time and effort you want everything perfect. But I just say....it's only grass and way better than my neighbors.

[@LAWNLIFE]

We just got blasted with some rain and everything looks 10x better. Gotta stop sweating the small stuff. But you're right, it's just grass and it's always going to be a roller coaster ride.

[@Zinedane56]

Which part of Minnesota are you from mate?

[@LAWNLIFE]

Northern Suburbs

[@-What-are-your-thoughts]

Give PGR a go, I also have leopard lawn this spring.

[@LAWNLIFE]

I put my first app down a couple weeks ago. Go leopards! Ha.

[@IrvingMagik]

I found that the spotting from granular, can be reduced or even eliminated with a deep watering after spreading it... I run mine a full circle and then some when I our down CarbonX... but I’m almost out of mine 🥲

[@LAWNLIFE]

Interesting. I water in every granular application I apply. I have a bag and a half left of carbon x. Come take it from me. I'm done with it. Lol.

[@IrvingMagik]

@@LAWNLIFE shoot... if you were anywhere near Phoenix AZ I’d drive right over and buy it from you.

[@tomlancaster1182]

@Lawnlife, I’m also in Minnesota and use a Greensmaster. Where do you get yours sharpened?

[@LAWNLIFE]

Email me. [e-mail]

[@deant5006]

Welp, a renovation would certainly give you a lot of good new content!

[@LAWNLIFE]

You're definitely not wrong. Haha

[@JasonSeiberlich]

What's that absolute unit of an animal's name?

[@LAWNLIFE]

This is by far my favorite comment of the night 😂😂 his name is Emmitt. And he's a tank, but a softy. Haha

[@JasonSeiberlich]

@@LAWNLIFE lol happy to entertain. He's adorable. Staffordshire?

[@LAWNLIFE]

@@JasonSeiberlich we adopted him from the shelter when he was a puppy. They said he was a pit but the older he got the more he looked like American Bulldog. We're still not sure. Best dog I've ever had by far though.

[@bryanfelver6125]

Are you planning on going with one calitur ???

[@LAWNLIFE]

Not sure yet. I love the look of the monostand but a little skiddish because of fungus and disease. I may go with 2 or 3 cultivars instead. Haven't decided yet.

[@Legendary_UA]

There's a downspout heading right into that test plot so that isn't hurting that area either.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Yeah, when it's raining it does hurt. But we were in a drought when I filmed this and the grass was still thriving.

[@milenstoimenov9532]

Awesome! Everest all the way! lol. Carbon X has NO slow release component (AS mostly). There is no such a thing as slow release AS. In case of any controlled released (UMAXX) of slow release (SC, PC, SPC) Urea, you won't have 'spotting'. Also SGN plays a role. Anything above 145 is only good for Joe's average lawn. Keep growing this channel man.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Not gonna lie, I thought of you right away when that Everest started coming in dark. I read a whole thread on TLF about how Carbon X was 60% slow release. I'll have to send you a link. Any affordable low SGN that you know of? Thanks for tuning into every video Milen!

[@milenstoimenov9532]

@@LAWNLIFE Mazama is the hyped up one. Not saying is not living up to the expectations, simply the price... You will be surprised, but even Scott's have most of their fert at low SGN. The only other way to go around a weekly spraying is soluble UMAXX (100% UMAXX 46-0-0). Not cheap, but if you want to pass on spreading, this may be the solution. There are many alternatives with 1:1 N:K as well if you need the extra K. I only experienced the effect I see on your video with spreading pure Urea. And no, I can't pass on, on a video you do. You grow fast!

[@LAWNLIFE]

@@milenstoimenov9532 Yeah the Mazama looks incredibly good right now. The Everest has looked sick all year and now it finally woke up and looks very close to Mazama, except it grows in denser and doesn't seem to grow as vertical as fast. Probably because it is a dwarf type. I'll be spraying foliar Urea the rest of the year. I pick up a new 10 gallon, 3 nozzle push spreader next week so it should make my apps way easier.

[@Muji-Exempt]

Where do you buy your elite cultivars from? Any recommendations?

[@LAWNLIFE]

Seed superstore. So overpriced but they have the biggest selection of elite cultivars that I've found. You may be able to hunt down a specific cultivar for a little cheaper from somewhere else if you know exactly what you want.

[@-What-are-your-thoughts]

Ryan Knorr came out with a great seed line.

[@cmezera]

I also had a polka dotted yard this spring trying to burn up the rest of my carbon-x, it looked bad. I feel you on the renovation, I debate the same thing with my yard. But with 2 young kids that use our yard nearly everyday I can't kill it off and tell them they cannot use the yard. I will have to wait until they are older, maybe I will have more free time myself then as well for a renovation.

[@LAWNLIFE]

I still have another full bag that I might try to give away. I also have two young kids (3 and 1) and that's my wife's biggest argument. I would only do sections at a time to avoid that though. But I definitely feel you. Extra time and kids do not go together at all.

[@marcusj97]

Not sure how big your lawn is bro, but I got a speadermate for my lesco spreader. Look it up. Makes my life a whole lot easier spray liquids.

[@LAWNLIFE]

So I actually am meeting a guy next week that's selling me something very similar. It's a homemade, three boom nozzle, 10 gallon tank. It looks very close to the same thing. I'm getting it for $300 which is a crazy good price. I have 10k sq ft and I'm sick of filling my backpack sprayer 3 times. Thanks for letting me know about this. Might look into it if what I'm buying doesn't work out.

[@marcusj97]

@@LAWNLIFE Good deal man that will work just as good. If it doesn't get the spreadermate. A backpack will wear you out...it did me for sure. It'll make you wanna give up on having a nice lawn..lol

[@travisbrooks9660]

Lawn looks good though. Here in FL, haven't had significant rain in a few weeks and have got a week of high 90s with limited rain chances coming next week. Lawns are about to roast! Always a battle.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks man! It's always a roller coaster ride. Right when you think you have things dialed in, the Lawn God's give you a right hook and laugh in your face. We always bounce back though!

[@Andrea.Baccega]

Greetings from Italy. Watched a lot of your videos cause youtube knew i had a shitty lawn :) I've sandy terrain as you have (you said it in another video but watched so many i don't know where :)) I usually water twice a day for a very short period of time (5-10minutes) once after sunset and once just before sunrise. I suspect this is not ideal so considering that once dry the ground is basically sand.... Should i try to switch to just once a-day (prob the one in the morning)? Cheers!

[@LAWNLIFE]

Hey Andrea, sorry for the delay in responding. I'm catching up on a bunch of comments. But you are 100% correct, you should probably only water once every 2 days in the morning. Put an empty tuna can in your lawn and water it until it reaches 8mm. It may take a lot longer than you're used to but it will save you water in the long run since you won't be watering everyday anymore. Try that out first and adjust the volume of how much water you're giving it based on how it's reacting. I would not water every day, even with very sandy soil.

[@markjohnson4374]

What liquid fertilizer do you use

[@LAWNLIFE]

I use granular urea and dissolve it into a liquid. Very cheap and lasts forever. Here is a video I created on how I do it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGSklaqQgMp3bsk

[@Brettsgrasscapades]

Careful doing a Reno with kbg don't want to end up like Connor with lots of bare spots.

[@LAWNLIFE]

If I do I'll probably do a little more than Connor to fix the problem. He doesn't care anymore lol.

[@trevormuggeridge4560]

First Aussie 😁. Only leopard spotted lawn in the street, unique. 😎👍👍

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks for making me feel special! Lol.

[@bryanfelver6125]

Get what your saying about glandular but you need to use fertilizer that are smaller prel size and you wont have that issue. Carbon x great fertilizer but way to big for short turf. X green is great for short turf.

[@LAWNLIFE]

Thanks man. Good to know about x green. Didn't realize it was small prill. Haven't ran across anything small prill that was cost effective

[@nickgibb4687]

rip that shit out nows the best time. use only valued cultivar as you said.

[@michaellewis6569]

What's the day job?

[@LAWNLIFE]

Video Producer. That's why I decided to dabble in KZbin 🙃