F'ing Tractor Supply's Weed & Feed!!!

[Melensdad]

I grow little yellow flowers in my lawn in the summer time

One of my neighbors is very anal about his lawn, so every-other-year I will buy a handful of bags of WEED & FEED and spread it out on the front and side lawn area to try to minimize the infestion of dandelions. This was my year. I had 2 bags left over from last time, filled the hopper of my old HERD spreader and went about the spreading. Got a couple runs around but it was nothing close to enough.

SO THIS IS WHERE THINGS TURN UGLY....

Hop in the car for a trip to TRACTOR SUPPLY, figure I'll pick up 5 or 6 more bags. They have a couple layers on a pallet I grab one, it feels good to go. Grab another, it is torn, taped, marked $2-off, toss it in the cart. Go for another bag and it is a solid mass. And another, it too a solid mass. And another and another. So out of the stuff they had, only 2 bags are not a solid mass. Fine, I take those 2.

Get home and lift a bag up to the spreader, slit it open, and it comes out mostly in nice grains, but with several large 'chunks' so I reach in and break up every chunk I can find. Lift bag #2 up and slit it open, it comes out in a soggy wet mass of loose grains. TERRIFIC, I know that won't feed.

But its in there so I hop on the seat and start spreading. Go about 100' in a straight line and the spreader stops spreading. I'm guessing that one or 2 large chunks are preventing the flow. Hop down, start messing about, get it flowing again, get maybe 50' and it stops again. Finally get through the dry stuff and the wet stuff gets down to the bottom and NOTHING. Knew that.

So I drive 50' forward, stop, start reaching in and throwing it with my hands. Move 50' forward, stop, . . . .

Now my arthritis is kicking in, shoulders, arms, wrists . . . can I send TSC a bill for my pain pills

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

Spray a lawn ?

 

[EastTexFrank]

You have my sympathy.

I don't particularly like Weed & Feed. I spray my yard. So far this year I have sprayed pre-emergent once and lawn weed killer 3 times and every time it has been washed away by the rain.

We've had so much rain this year but I usually watch the weather forecasts. I usually wait for at least a 3-day window without rain. I give it one day to dry out, I spray on the second and let it be absorbed on the third and then it can rain whenever it wants after that. So far Channel 7 weather has got it wrong every frikkin' time. I'm thinking of sending them a bill for 600 gallons of herbicide.

Sorry Bob for ranting on your thread but this is really pissing me off.

 

[Melensdad]

Spray a lawn ?

I'd need a working sprayer for the tractor. That is problem #1.

Can't do the "hose end sprayer" route because I doubt I own enough hose to reach all around the front yard. And I have a lot of hose. And it would take a very long time.

Granular goes down fast, its easy. The problem was that TSC must have stored their stuff outside and the bags got wet, most turned into a solid mass and hardened. 1 was good. The other was wet, but had not hardened. Didn't realize it until it dumped into the spreader because I rested the bag on the edge of the spreader and slit the side open with a knife, dumping the whole bag at once into the spreader's hopper. My hopper holds 175# of granular fertilizer.

. . . So far Channel 7 weather has got it wrong every frikkin' time. . .

I'm hoping the weather forecast here is correct

I'm in a short window between rains. Supposed to rain again on Tuesday.

 

[waybomb]

This is one reason I live in a condo.

Always wanted land. Had land. Took care of the land. Mowed, mulched, cut, fed, watered, blah blah blah. In the 4 years I owned my acreage, I probably spent 800 hours of doing the yard work.

Today, the place looks just like it was when I first bought it.

What a useless endeavor.

Now "Aldo" does the landscaping and True Green makes it green, and Stan's sprinkler keeps it wet as needed. Costs me maybe 200 bucks a year. Total.

And I enjoy Lagavulin 16 and some Cohibas these days thinking about those days.

 

[EastTexFrank]

This is one reason I live in a condo.

Always wanted land. Had land. Took care of the land. Mowed, mulched, cut, fed, watered, blah blah blah. In the 4 years I owned my acreage, I probably spent 800 hours of doing the yard work.

Today, the place looks just like it was when I first bought it.

What a useless endeavor.

Now "Aldo" does the landscaping and True Green makes it green, and Stan's sprinkler keeps it wet as needed. Costs me maybe 200 bucks a year. Total.

And I enjoy Lagavulin 16 and some Cohibas these days thinking about those days.

I can't fault your decision although personally, I still enjoy the work ... up to a point. When we came here almost 20-years ago I decided to turn the fenced in 4-acres around the house in to a "lawn". After about 8-years of work, work and more work I decided that it wasn't going to happen so I would settle for a "yard". The amount of work is the same but your expectations are lower. I even got it through the drought of 5-years ago in good shape. It was green and healthy when everything around it was brown, dried up and dead. As I got older, it's to the point now where I'm willing to settle and be happy as long as it is green and the obvious weeds are kept under control.

By the way, I'm sipping Dalwhinnie 15-year old at the moment but I gave up the cigars last November. Darn, I miss those things.

 

[Melensdad]

Lawn vs Yard. Yup, I agree.

I have a yard, not a lawn. I'm good with that.

Some days I really enjoy the 'work' outside, other days not so much. Usually that depends upon if my wife is directing the activities or if I am working at my own pace, doing as I please to get the tasks done.

 

[MrLiberty]

I like the little yellow flowers, think of it as God's handiwork.

Oh, and I hear it makes some good wine too.

 

[deand1]

My yard. Very little maintenance. I allow nature to do the work.

 

[EastTexFrank]

I like the little yellow flowers, think of it as God's handiwork.

Oh, and I hear it makes some good wine too.

Dandelions don't stand a chance in my yard. What over run my yard this spring are little yellow flowers with tiny heart shaped leaves. I think that it is called yellow wood sorrel.

 

[Melensdad]

My yard. Very little maintenance. I allow nature to do the work.

Nice view.

Dandelions don't stand a chance in my yard. What over run my yard this spring are little yellow flowers with tiny heart shaped leaves. I think that it is called yellow wood sorrel.

I figure if its growing in my heavy clay it is probably OK for my lawn.

But I do try, only for my neighbors sake, to keep some limit to the dandelions.

 

[Leni]

My 'lawn' is mostly weeds of one kind or another. The last couple of years violets have sprung up. So I have these large leaves and tiny violet flowers all over.

 

[squerly]

My yard. Very little maintenance. I allow nature to do the work.

Nice!