A landscaper

[Oldguy]

Believe it or not, the technique of

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[kaolinwasher]

Thanks for the info , I see I have been making a mistake adding grass, to the plug or under it , I won't be doing that any more.

 

[marcomo]

Excellent post with a lot of informative information. Thank you for sharing, Dave!

I will take exception to a couple of your points, though.

As far as a flap plug goes, I agree that it's a faster way to replace a hole as you say. But I don't agree that this is the only reason to use this technique. It's not only faster, it is cleaner when you are done since the flap staying in place insures the other sides will fit well.

Personally, my flap plugs are more triangular, kind of v or u shaped. Doing it this way keep a large side of the grass intact. It's only logical that the higher percentage of grass you can keep intact, the better.

My other disagreement would be about replacing plugs by only lightly tapping. While I won't argue that this is better for the grass in terms of not compacting the soil, I think the bigger danger is having a bug-foraging animal or a thunderstorm tearing up that lightly tapped and easily removed plug.

 

[cherringtonsm]

Definitely very informative, thanks for the tips.

 

[auximenes]

Thanks for the tips Oldguy.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Never heard it from a professionals point of view... food for thought for sure.. it seems to me in my fertile part of the country that november is the hardest time of the year to damage grass as it maintains moisture very well at that time of year..just an observation.

 

[GKMan]

Very good post..Thanks for the information, I plan on bringing this up from time to time with any public encounters that require it.

 

[Neil]

Now that's a great post, thanks oldguy

 

[lasercat]

Thanks Oldguy your description of digging a plug is exactly the way I dig my Plugs I can not see my plugs with any dead spots. I do not dig during droughts instead head for the woods or the beach or tot lots. I am a landscaper. this is a great post

 

[Grunter]

Brings up a question? If you flap a plug,cut it out or use a horseshoe flap,which is more likely to be vacuumed up by a lawnmower? It would seem to me like a straight sided plug dug on 4 sides at least the depth of your digger and at least 6" square and replaced properly would be less likely to be pulled up and shreded by a lawnmower. This has always been a concern of mine.

 

[Oldguy]

Bigger plugs weigh more and are less likely to be dislodged by lawn equipment. Even a 4" plug that is 3" or more deep stays in place just fine when gone over by a commercial mower. I use Scag mowers with both stock high lift blades and aftermarket Gator blades, they are not even close to the power needed to dislodge a plug. More of a concern is a high power wheeled leaf blowers. Good plugs will even stand up to those. Remember the plug you cut is no bigger than the hole it came from, so it will re-seat just fine with the light pressure I described, jumping on top of it won't make it tighter, just less likely to grow and easier to dislodge. Cutting plugs in November or December will not harm the grass. The roots continue to grow long after the grass appears dormant on the surface.

 

[Steve O]

Can't get better advice than that, thanks Oldguy. This thread should be posted permanently, at the top.

 

[BensJamming]

Very good info here. Never knew about nitrogen draft, and didnt realize that stomping the plug back in did more harm then good. Thanks for the info and this should be a sticky for plug cutting to have easy reference for noobs and experienced dirtfishers alike.