Garden

Reply to: You do not need to rake it in. I use a leaf rake to evenly spread it around after seading and put a thin layer of manure over it. You do not need to use the manure, if you don't want to. I use it to get nutrients into the soil to further break up the clay. The ants are not a problem as they just take the seed down to their holes. It will still sprout. If its in area that gets water. If its not in an area that gets water it will not sprout.

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Reply to: I seeded a few areas in early Spring (Southern Minnesota) and got poor results. I recently (08/01/2016) did another few areas with much better success. I used Scott's Landscaper Seed and Greenview Accelerator. The biggest difference was applying the accelerator (not used the first time) and using a garden shovel to break the dirt up to a depth of about 3 inches. If the ground is too hard you need to go deeper than a 1/2 inch to establish a decent root. Planted on a Monday afternoon and I could see tiny sprouts surfacing on Thursday morning. I would rent a tiller if doing a large area.

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Reply to: I have great success growing grass from seed, using this method: I til the soil down an inch. I add about 1/2 inch new topsoil on top of that, then I spread seed using a broadcast spreader as recommended on the bag. Rake in lightly. Next, I add a ton more seed using my hands! I mean a ton more! Rake in lightly. Next, toss a very fine layer of peat moss over the area to hide seed from birds, but not to completely cover it. Less than 1/2 of peat moss. Now, water it three times a day for less than 10 minutes. Just get the ground moist. You don't want puddles on your seed. After the majority has sprouted, then you water deeply every other day, either early morning or late evening. I prefer evening. If you are experiencing a heat wave, you would need to look at the grass and see, if it needs more water. Best time to do this is by me is April and very early May. Also, in the Fall. But my favorite time is to winter sow in Jan and February though. Then, you just toss the seed down onto the exposed ground (if you have no snow cover currently), just before a snowstorm The snow covers it and nature does all work for you. The year I did it, I didn't water once and had beautiful new grass in April already. The snow and spring showers took care of all the watering!

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Reply to: You can't allow grass seed to get dry. It's right on the surface, so it dries out fast. You also can not water enough to float the seed up off the surface of the ground. So, a deep watering to get the soil wet down below the surface. Then you seed. Next you cover the seed with a little layer of something to protect it. I use oat straw. You can use screened compost or even dirt, as long as the layer covering the seeds is thin. Then you water for 5-10 minutes at least twice a day, and more often if the weather is hot and dry. How long depends upon how much water your sprinkler puts out. You can not have any standing water, even for a second, or it floats the seed up off the surface. Also, you want to use a sprinkler that puts out a fine spray, not a stream heavy enough to move the seed. Many lawn seeds germinate when the nights are cool. But maybe you got a warmer weather variety since it was sold in your area.

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Reply to: I use this one because it allows me to search by zip code. Lookup your first and last freeze/frost dates by zip code - Lookup your first and last freeze/frost dates by zip code

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Reply to: The EC-1800 work great for removing Thompson's water seal. How ever the name of the product is different. I spoke with this great lady on the phone and the new name is ESHC- Hydrocarbon Cleaner by a company called Earth Smart Solutions. They used to be EcoChem but bought out the company when the old owners retired. But I must say that this is a great product i even had some product left over and tried it around my house for cleaning! Here is a link that might be useful: ESHC- Hydrocarbon Cleaner

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Reply to: I would love to use the EcoChem EC-1800 to remove Thompson's Water Seal from my deck but called the company and learned 2 things - first they seem to have discontinued that product and replaced it with #127 citrus degreaser and second, they sell in 6 gallon minimum quantities which is more than I need. I asked if they could refer me to a firm in my area that sources their products for industrial cleaning applications but they could not. Does anyone have a source for smaller quantities of this product? Does anyone have experience using the replacement citrus cleaner for Thompson's? Thanks!

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Reply to: retepnworb & josegraterol, I had success getting the product from the new company Earth Smart Solutions. Apparently they merged companies 2.5 years ago and the ESHC is still the same product and ingredients. It is available in 2 Liter and 20 Liter sizes. http://www.earth-smart-solutions.com/collections/oil-hydrocarbon-solutions/products/hydrocarbon-cleaner-degreaser?variant=967674497

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