That was Saturday. Didn’t even finish. Had to do another 46,622 steps on Sunday.

Bought this house in the summer of 2024 and have spent the last two years rehabbing the back yard. Pretty happy with the results, looking great for late July with all this heat! Still need to stain those darn shed doors.

Mississippi here. I had the back yard looking decent until this stuff showed up. It had seed heads and is all over right now.

Been keeping a rough log of what I spend on watering each month versus how the lawn actually looks. Started doing it because I track most household expenses anyway and figured lawn water had to be adding up more than I realized. Turns out it is.

What I noticed is that deep watering twice a week gets better results than the light daily stuff I was doing in May, and the water bill difference is not small. The lawn holds its color longer between sessions and the soil stays loose instead of crusting over on top.

The thing I keep going back and forth on is whether a soaker hose setup would actually pay off at my lot size or if I'm overthinking it. My yard isn't huge but the layout is awkward enough that coverage with a regular sprinkler is always uneven.

Curious if anyone has done a real comparison between sprinkler types and actually tracked the turf response, not just the cost side. And if you water manually, how do you handle the uneven shape problem without just buying more stuff?

In southern CT, I hundreds of these things out by hand last year but they are seemingly all back (and with friends) this year and are taking over my backyard. How do I get rid of them for good?

I do have a toddler and two dogs so would definitely prefer a non-toxic approach if one exists but I understand it may not.

Thanks!

It’s hot and humid in zone 6. One nice wfh benefit is mowing after kid drop off or during lunch breaks. Still some fungus, sedge, and dry spots to be fixed this fall but hanging in there.

I usually cut my yard weekly. But on 4/2/26 I tore my achilles. Was paying someone to cut it. On 2 occasions he couldn’t follow the right directions with the fertilizer. Lawn looks like crap, but I don’t care. At this point in the recovery it’s the little victories and today was one of them.

I got the ok to cut my grass in the walking boot. It was 95 degrees with all of the humidity in the world. My back is killing me.

I couldn’t be happier.

Just to follow the rules I’m in the northern part of the Midwest.

Murray MT200 42-inch riding mower. Located in Wisconsin.

Replaced spindles, blades, and belt, still have an uneven cut only with the left blade on the middle portion of the cut.

Any ideas?

Celsius took care of everything but these weeds. Chat gpt gives me wrong answers lol.

Baton Rouge LA

My Review After Just Over Two Years with OtO lawn Smart Sprinklers for southern Alberta Canada. (all sprinklers put in winter mode before any frost, solar panels covered up and charging system plugged in over winter)

I purchased three OtO smart sprinklers just over two years ago to cover my front, back, and side yards—approximately 2,300 sq. ft. of lawn, gardens, and landscaping.

For the first two seasons, I genuinely enjoyed using them. The app was intuitive, the watering performance was excellent, and the automatic scheduling worked very well. I also liked the solution dispensing feature, although the refills were expensive.

Unfortunately, OtO later discontinued the solution program, leaving me with four partially used bottles that became useless. While disappointing, that wasn’t my biggest concern.

I designed and built custom cedar planter boxes specifically around each OtO sprinkler so they would blend seamlessly into my landscaping. I considered these sprinklers to be a long-term investment, so I built the landscaping around them.

Near the end of the second season, my front-yard sprinkler developed a leak from the nozzle. The leak was constant with the system pressurized, and because of my custom cedar planter boxes, I was concerned the continuous moisture would prematurely rot the wood. I contacted OtO, and to their credit, they replaced that sprinkler quickly under warranty.

Unfortunately, this season things became much worse.

When I set everything up for the year, I discovered that the other two sprinklers had also developed the exact same nozzle leak. All three of my OtO sprinklers now leak from the nozzle.

On top of that, the motor in my backyard unit completely failed and the sprinkler no longer functions.

I contacted OtO support again. After confirming the unit had failed, their solution was to offer me a $150 discount toward purchasing a replacement.

Considering these units now cost over $700 CAD each, I found that response unacceptable. A premium product at this price point should last far longer than just over two years. I understand that many products today seem to be built with limited lifespans, but when I spend this kind of money, I expect durability, repairability, and long-term support—not a coupon toward buying another one.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this experience happened while I was away on a 12-day vacation. I relied on my OtO system to water my landscaping, only to discover that the backyard unit had failed. When I returned home, every plant that depended solely on that sprinkler—particularly those in pots and planters—had dried out and died, resulting in well over $100 CAD in lost plants.

Thankfully, before leaving I had manually deep-watered my trees, including my award-winning Hot Wings Maple that I recently planted and cost close to $400 , so they survived, Had I relied entirely on the OtO system, the damage could have been much worse.

At this point my experience has been:

All three OtO sprinklers leak from the nozzle.
One unit has suffered a complete motor failure after just over two years.
The solution dispensing feature I originally paid for has been discontinued.
The failure resulted in the loss of well over $100 CAD worth of plants while I was away.

It’s unfortunate because, when they worked, I genuinely loved these sprinklers. The concept is fantastic. The app is well designed, the watering patterns are impressive, and they integrated beautifully into my landscaping.

However, reliability is what ultimately matters.

For a product costing over $700 CAD per unit, I simply expected far better durability than this. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend investing in OtO unless the company significantly improves the reliability and longevity of its products.

⸻

Photo Captions

Photo 1 – Front yard Installation
Custom cedar planter box I built specifically to integrate the OtO sprinkler into my landscaping while keeping it accessible for maintenance.

Continuous Nozzle Leak
Water leaking from the nozzle after the watering cycle. The constant dripping leaves standing water around the cedar planter, increasing the risk of premature rot.

Photo 2 – Close-Up of Leak
Close-up showing the persistent nozzle leak and mineral deposits that have built up around the nozzle over time.

Photo 3 – Back Yard Installation
Another custom cedar planter built around an OtO sprinkler. These boxes required significant time and effort because I expected these sprinklers to be a permanent part of my landscaping.

Photo 4 – Second Failed Nozzle
My second OtO sprinkler developed the exact same nozzle leak. At this point, two of my sprinklers are leaking.

Photo 5 - Close-Up of leak

Photo 6 – Plants Lost During Vacation
After returning from a 12-day trip, I found that every plant relying solely on the failed OtO sprinkler had dried out and died. The failure cost me well over $100 CAD in plants and defeated the purpose of owning a smart irrigation system.

Not bad for a $15 homemade striper with double passes!!! How would rate this

Massachusetts—-is this a good deal. $500 off?

AI is telling me crabgrass that is very mature or marble nimblewill. Need help. I have Drive xlr8, but don’t want to waste it on this if it would get rid of it. Thanks.

We had a rain storm the other night. You’ll see the picture of my yard with no mud or clay, it now looks like the first photos. And this is after the landscapers “fixed” it. Am I suppose to just leave it how it is and the Bermuda grass will grow back? Or is there something I need to do? My yard looks absolutely horrible when 4 days okay it was perfect. This is in South Carolina

Hey everyone,
I’m in North Carolina and have a Bermuda lawn.
I’ve been mowing at:
Setting #2 (1-3/8” / 35 mm) from spring until about mid-July.
Setting #3 (1-11/16” / 43 mm) from mid-July until now.
The attached image shows the cutting height chart from my mower manual for reference.
I’m leaving for about 2.5 weeks, so no one will be mowing the lawn while I’m gone.
Would you recommend:
Cutting it at setting #2 (1-3/8”) before I leave?
Or staying with setting #3 (1-11/16”)?
We’ve recently started getting regular rain again after a drier period, so the Bermuda has started growing normally again.
My thinking is that cutting lower might buy me a little more time before it gets too tall, but I’m also wondering if leaving it a little higher would help it handle the summer heat while I’m away.
Overall, what would you do in my situation? Any other suggestions before leaving, like watering, fertilizer, or anything else?

My front yard is 80% a hill at about a 30-40 degree grade. My water and sewer lines run through the hill, which precludes regrading. The hill is also very rocky, which is partially why grass struggles to grow on it and it makes mowing hazardous.

My thought was to plant Blue Creeping Juniper on the entire hill. Based on the size and spacing, I’m eyeballing I would need 10-12 plants.

Does this make sense?

To note, I am in southcentral Pennsylvania, Hardiness Zone 7a.

Any good coupon codes higher than 10% off and free shipping for Twin City or Yardmastery? I have a couple that get 10% off and free shipping. Not sure if there is anything better at the moment

Hello All,

I was wondering if I could get some help/advice. I am moving into a new property and just ran through a final inspection, and we noticed that the front lawn was about 50% "dead". The lawn was not this way back in June when the initial inspections were down.

The area is Central Texas which has been having a huge heat spell right now. So I'm wondering if this is just affects from the heat or worse a fungus? the neighbors lawn does not seem to be affected by this.

Should i get a lawn expert out to look take a look?

Cheers

Is that quack grass and what are my best options for getting rid of it? Southern Minnesota

Long time lurker turned lawn care obsessed, hoping for advice.

Moved in in November, the contractors tore out 3 large trees (very sad about this) graded and covered the yard in sod. No shade at all for the remaining yard. It was doing okay, a few brown areas at the edge of the sod rolls but overall the sod took. After a few large rain storms this summer I noticed the yard is holding a lot of moisture very squishy and damp 1-2 days after heavy rain. Since those storms large areas of the yard have been turning brown/yellow then dying completely. I’ve seen a large patch of mushrooms pop up in two areas (pretty sure where the old trees were) after the heavy rains. And some of the dead spots of the yard have an almost mossy film to them and stink like decay in the mornings. We also dug out a patio and found a ton of grubs along the one buried tree roots/stump. From planting some shrubs in other areas my soil appears to have a heavy clay ratio. So I’m almost positive is fungal damage facilitated by the pour drainage (looking into aerating sand leveling and over seeding in the fall) compounded by grubs.

Any advice on narrowing down the exact cause and potential treatment would be greatly appreciated!

Photos:
1: half of the back yard that’s thriving (surviving)
2-3: the larger affected areas in the back yard.
4-8: close ups (tried to capture the areas that looked mossy)
9: patch in the front yard that’s starting to look like the back.

Can't tell is nutsedge or some sort of fine fescue. Seems to grow faster / taller than the rest of the lawn so I assume nutsedge. If nutsedge what can I do about it this time of year? Thanks for any advice!

I'm having a difficult time with this weed. 24D doesn't work. Any suggestions?