Trees And Other Things

I do but I don't think they would walk all the way over to your house. My brother, who lives in NH, told me of a guy who started 'Rent-a-sheep" He would bring over how ever many was needed and stake them so they would clean up a circle of ground, come periodically during the day and re-stake them...
my sheep would only eat the good stuff so maybe would not work. But new rye grass would be yummy.
In Vermont they were putting out goats who would eat the poison ivy along river banks frequented by tourists. Ecologically friendly.

 

Do you have a picture of them (your sheep) that you could post? Or did I miss it?

 

With my set up, I have no clue how.
My friend gave them to me because they were bottle babies and she could not bring herself to sell them to strangers. She has a huge flock and I only need a couple or more to keep my small pasture mowed. It has sink holes so mowing it can be dangerous.

 

(3/25/24) Monday

I think I spoke too soon. I believe these two new bluebirds have adopted the birdhouse after all.

Male hanging around birdhouse in the morning. Carried something inside once (food?). No sign of the female since March 7th. It's possible that she built a nest without me noticing. May have to learn what is normal bluebird behavior all over again from this pair.

Also a chickadee hanging on the opening of the other birdhouse. They take as long as 2 weeks to build a nest. It is elaborate.

 

Time to get serious about permanent grass in the back yard. The area is 5000 sq feet. All planting should be finished before July. Preferably earlier (like May).

The problem is, my head says "Centipede", but my heart says "St. Augustine."

Unfortunately, nobody carries St. Augustine anymore, so I lost interest in the project. Pooh!

Sunday I stumbled on a website on Facebook for one place only 12 miles away that claims to offer pallets of St. Augustine. ..Started planning everything, in detail, with 3-dimensional flowcharts (J/K). The main question was... Can I do this by myself? The answer was Yes.

stock photo


Called Monday morning and they haven't returned the call. They are not open again until Thursday. I will call again today and tell them I'm coming out Thursday because they won't return my call. That'll show 'em!!!

Another roller coaster ride.

 

Question (anyone?)

Below are 3 pieces of information that pertain to how much can be hauled in this Ranger. Suppose a pallet of grass weighs 2400 lbs. Does anything override the top sticker?

Would it be too risky to drive just 12 miles one time?



I looked at truck forums but they speak to each other in coded language and are afraid to tweak rules.
..
.

 

I wouldn't take that chance.

 

I remembered a friend who had a little Toyota pickup back in the 1980s. He carried a pallet of bricks on it, that was way over max payload. He inflated the tires a little. The bricks bent the metal floor on the bed of his truck down, so it sagged in the middle from then on, but didn't hurt anything else.

 

Thanks @Von Jones and @John Brunner. I won't try it. Btw, I would never be able to back a trailer in my driveway.

I'm sure they would load a half pallet 2 times (4 times for 2 pallets), because they even sell individual pieces. They will deliver only if you order a minimum of 3 pallets (for an extra $280).

The only thing limiting the number of pallets to less than 3 was that the sod shouldn't sit in a pile for more than a week, or it might get ruined. I'd be lucky to plant 2 in a week. But I found out today it will last longer if you just spread the pieces out somewhere so they can breathe.

So I have a new plan now (long story). I will order 3 pallets delivered, maybe 4.

Now to see if they will even get the St. Augustine. They are still in business. They just updated their hours for Easter.

 

Two times I thought about sodding. Once when I wanted to rebuild a swale, the dirt I put down kept washing away which is why I wanted it and then I fi

Butting in here. A renter had a load of fill delivered here from a house construction north of here, just dumped north of my driveway. His plan was to push it up on an area of exposed concrete rubble next to my barnhouse. It had been built up and covered with dirt to make a driveway to the second story of the barn, long ago. But the dirt had settled down into the open spaces. Anyway in shoving the dirt (red clay actually) up onto the concrete, he made a huge clay mess on the lawn. I just got a goodly quantity of grass seed and sprinkled it all over, by hand, and kept it damp for a couple of weeks. I was told that I could not grow grass on the clay, so of course that is what I did. What the nay sayers didn't know was that I had done the same thing at a prior homestead after replacing a septic drain field. It is kind of like you did with your ryegrass but there are better grass seed mixes.
Just a thought.

 

There are naysayers here about St. Augustine. They say this is too far north to plant it, it won't grow well in red clay, and it is too disease/insect prone. But I've had it for 40 years at this house and it was only a problem 2 times.

One winter it rained so much a big puddle formed on the lawn. The puddle froze overnight and killed the grass in that spot. Then the chinch bug attack recently. But it grows so fast, it seemed to come back even stronger in one season. And I didn't even try to treat the chinch bugs. I will know better next time.

It makes a beautiful lawn, doesn't need fertilizer (in spite of what they say), and it chokes out weeds.

Most of the Southern lawn grass isn't planted with seeds, or the seeds are so tiny you can't get an even spread. You put down plugs or sprigs instead and it spreads. It turns brown in winter. I'd never seen anything like that in Ohio.

Fescue does well here in the winter, but can't stand the summer heat. It clumps.

 

We have always had St.Augustine lawns and they can be a PITA, but a beautiful lawn. Nancy, we have used the "plugging" method for planting instead of laying sod. Take a piece of sod and chop into about 8 pieces, then plant the individual "plugs" a few inches apart. The runners form pretty fast to cover the area.

When we built this house we had the front yard sodded but the back was bare dirt that we did ourselves, so we "plugged" the yard which saved a bit of money. Besides saving a little money plugging seems to give a better result than laying sod... which requires a good base prep and lots of watering.

Once you get the sod home, be sure to keep it moist. I'd only pick up what I could install in one or two days, then go back and get fresh sod for the next area. Good luck with the project.

 

I requested 3 pallets of sod to be delivered, all at the same time. So far they haven't responded (phone, text, or email).

I'd have to make 6 trips to haul it myself. Besides, I'd bet they get their sod in truckloads from the place that grows it. Loads wouldn't come every day. The 3 pallets would likely arrive in the same truckload, and just sit at their facility until I picked them up. I can take better care of it than they would.

"The best thing you can do to extend your sod’s life before installing it is to unload it off the pallets. The sod pieces should not be stacked together but spread in the shade. Once there, water them gently without soaking them."

The plan is to fill one bare spot, where the ryegrass didn't come up, with sod pieces joined, like you did on your front lawn. One pallet covers only 400 sq ft (20'x20'). I can do that in one day.

Then lay the square pieces from the other 2 pallets out in the shade and keep them watered. I can do that the same day, or the next, depending on what time of day it is delivered. It should be OK that way. Then start plugging and sprigging from those laid out.

 

Sounds like a plan. We live about 10 miles from a turf farm that sells St.Augustine and other types of lawn grass directly to the public. We can buy a few pieces of sod or several pallets, and it's always "fresh cut" without a middleman. We need to do some patching in our front lawn but I want to plant a new tree and establish a brick border around it first.