Southern clay soil. ugh.

[MyGrassHasCrabs]

Bert, There you go with everything in Aussie land is out to kill you comments...Gee how have you survived this long Bert?

But seriously everyone does need to careful (using common sense) about things. Of course you just don't go out and eat the wild mushrooms. Even experts screw up and get the wrong ones at times. And you got respect things like snakes until you know they are harmless which here luckily is most of them. But play it safe until you know better.

There was a time in my ignorant youth that I thought all snakes were undesirable. Fortunately, I learned better over the years. Now we have a half-dozen black rat snakes wandering the yard at any given time in the spring, some of them > 6' (not an exaggeration). Still kind of "shocks" me briefly when I get surprised by one, but now they're almost domesticated and pay me no mind...kind of like my wife come to think of it, but that's for another thread .

Anyway, 'bout time to lay down some fertilizer & pre-emergent around here (NC). For palaver's sake, does anyone have any input on whether one is better than another and/or which is the best for the money?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Bert, There you go with everything in Aussie land is out to kill you comments...Gee how have you survived this long Bert?

But seriously everyone does need to careful (using common sense) about things. Of course you just don't go out and eat the wild mushrooms. Even experts screw up and get the wrong ones at times. And you got respect things like snakes until you know they are harmless which here luckily is most of them. But play it safe until you know better.

Well I got to do some thing to stop all you darn Yanks from coming down here to live.
Picked up a new customer this week from New Hampshire .
They are having troubles coming to grips with the situation that parts do not turn up over night, if not sooner .
Yet another American not happy about gun violence and of course scared to death about all the things that are going to kill their children down here.
So we had a walk around her yard & I managed to show her a Goanna, about 4' long which had apparently been feasting on the contents of their rubbish bin.
Found around 30 green tree frogs , she thought that was great ( yes you can eat them ) plus a coupe of bonk frogs that had been frightening the kids overnight , she was amazed that a frog the size of a thumbnail could make so much noise & we popped one in the bath to show the kids when they got home .
With all of the frogs there were a couple of black snakes so showed her how to open gates & doors to avoid them . Caught a couple of blue tongues , she thought they were very dangerous but was delighted to find they are quite passive and would take sausage mince out of her hand , seems they had been sneaking in a pinching the kittens food overnight . Showed her a couple of red back spiders and the sorts of places where they hang out, a white tail spider & where they hang out , got her to move the shoe rack inside and put a spider trap under it as we do have funnel webs in this area . She did not know that cats will eat spiders ( don't you have that song about eating a fly in the states ?) so she agreed to keep the kitten in the laundry overnight & feed it in the morning . Found a whole stack of huntsmen & wolf spiders , orb spider, giant orb spiders, golden orb spiders , St Andrews cross spider & some black house spiders .
So not much work done, but it was raining lightly and she did sling me big tip plus a cup of tea ( yea an American drinking tea ) with a chocolate brownie , thus not a totally wasted afternoon .

As for mushrooms, the deadly night cap looks identical to a common mushroom in S E Asia so a lot of SE Asians get poisoned by them

 

[StarTech]

Bert, I would come down there myself if knew I could make it. Sounds like you have a lot open space which I love to have around me. Just not a city dweller type person. This is why I got 6 acres here just to keep the neighbors pushed back. Basically I am loner and not a crowd type person. Anyway I have learned my area and it would be hard for this 65 yr old to change now.

And yes learning your environment is very important. Just got to be on your toes about what is around you. We do have own dangerous animals just not as many as you do.

And we here looking to go nearly nuts this Summer as we got a two Cicadas swarms emerging and mating in force. Little red eyed buggers but noisy as heck and it is all day and night. Thanks for having ear plugs...Without them you could not hear yourself think.

 

[7394]

And we here looking to go nearly nuts this Summer as we got a two Cicadas swarms emerging and mating in force. Little red eyed buggers but noisy as heck and it is all day and night. Thanks for having ear plugs...Without them you could not hear yourself think.

Same said to be gonna happen here.. Arrgh.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Bert, I would come down there myself if knew I could make it. Sounds like you have a lot open space which I love to have around me. Just not a city dweller type person. This is why I got 6 acres here just to keep the neighbors pushed back. Basically I am loner and not a crowd type person. Anyway I have learned my area and it would be hard for this 65 yr old to change now.

And yes learning your environment is very important. Just got to be on your toes about what is around you. We do have own dangerous animals just not as many as you do.

And we here looking to go nearly nuts this Summer as we got a two Cicadas swarms emerging and mating in force. Little red eyed buggers but noisy as heck and it is all day and night. Thanks for having ear plugs...Without them you could not hear yourself think.

Apart from brown snakes, tiger snakes & crocodiles, there is very little that will actually attack a person unless you do some thing stupid like cornering it .
The joke about snakes goes like this
If a woman finds a snake, se gets $ 50 out of her purse & asks hubby to go down the pub & get a slab of beer, because by the time he gets back the snake will be gone .
The most common place for a snake bite is a male right forearm to shoulder and this is because when he tryed to spear it with the shovel the snake was quicker , ran up the shovel handle, gave him a nip and shot off .
It can take some snakes several days to make enough venom to paralyse its victim and unless it is dead or paralysed then the snake can not swallow it .
Dingoes around tourist parks , are bit like your brown bears in tourist parks, they have lost their fear of humans , but they are not domesticated so people try to get selfies of them being fed with the expected result . occasionally they will attack a person and we are dong a lot of research into it .
Apparently quite a lot of tanning oils attract dingoes because they smell like a sick animal .
As for cicadas there was a local band that had a hit with a record "the Cicadas that ate Five Dock "

 

[StarTech]

That is one way to get all you right handed people. I am in minority being left handed but according to the doctors I am in my right mind. Mean comment isn't it. But it does kinda aggravate me that a lot times items are for right handed only making nearly to find something that works.

Got admit some the perfumes out really stinks too. I was in a hotel several years ago and some woman was using something that stunk up the whole complex.

 

[coffeesnob]

my Problem here in Virginia is sandy, grey colored loamy soil. its horrible and the moles and vol tunnels make it look awful. I actually look forward to crab grass season cause in most places that is the only grass that will grow. Well.. except for the chickweed

 

[dhildebrand]

GCI Grass Seed

The foundation you lay down means a lot. A wise man once built his house on a rock. When the rains and wind came his home stood firm while another man that built his house on sand which fell. The moral of this story is to use a high quality product when building a foundation...in this case use a...

gciturfacademy.com

I live in southeast Ohio, and boy do we have clay. Even heard of Roseville Pottery, Hull Pottery, McCoy pottery, the list goes on. That’s the county I live in.
Check you the products from here. I have used their seed the last few years after fighting the lawn. I use the turf type fescue. My lawn after 4 years is the best I have ever had! All the other posts here are giving you some great advice. I will add that fall is the absolute best time to plant grass seed. With your clay ground, I would water it for a couple weeks if necessary before you plant, use a slit seeded to get the top on the soil slightly open (1/4 inch),

 

[Striderashka]

I live in the SE Charlotte NC area. Red clay. I learned long ago on my 25 acres, that throwing money at making the perfect lawn was a fool's errand. Instead, I had the soil tested an many areas and learned what would grow in those areas. Most of the soil is acid, so I planted many acid loving bushes such as blueberries, butterfly bushes, azalea, and so on. Rewarded with lots of butterflies, fruit, birds and wildlife. The lawn is native weeds and grass - it actually is more hardy and native to the area. Planted lots perennial wildflowers and rewarded with ever-changing wildflowers from spring to fall. Planted lots of fruit and nut trees which provide the same and there is enough for us as well as the wildlife. All is good and peaceful and it is so good just sitting around on the porch and deck loving it all. Also, by the way, I have saved lots of money not worrying about the perfect lawn!

 

[dhildebrand]

(Sorry hit wrong button)
Then water it in for several weeks. Of course all of this is after you get the soil tests, and add all the things it tells you to do. Good luck!!