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Summer MDing. Brown Plugs

S

skyblast

New member
So the other day I was detecting a curb strip in the downtown area of where I live just across from a business. A couple guys began to stare at me so I gave them a wave. One older guy approached me and asked how I used that thing and if I ever had any luck with it? I said sure. He then led me over to his house (built in 1905) so that I could try my luck on his curb strip. After about twenty minutes I found a tax token, a couple wheats and a 1956 silver rosie!!

So just before I left he said, "We'll see how those plugs look in a couple of days!!" Right then my stomach sank. I had flashbacks of brown plugs from the summer before at a park I had hunted despite digging deep, perfectly round C plugs. One week later after returning to the same park all I could see in one area was a sea of brown, dry plugs. While hunting the same location in the winter I had NO such problems.

For the last two days now I have been returning to the spot where I recently found the 1956 Rosie to water each plug (two giant jugs of water). I am so glad I did because they were starting to turn brown only a day later!

Again, I dig with a Lesche, 4-6 inch deep C plugs and I use a towel for placing my dirt. When I stand up I step on my plug to make it's well set.

The picture is of the exact plug where I found my Rosie on this guy's strip.

Now I suddenly have this feeling that the Summer might not be such a good time for MDing... well maybe not private property or curb strips.

What do you all think? Have you ever had to head back to a location to check on things...dry plugs?
 
One thing that helps save the grass is to cut a different type of plug .I call it a V plug and is shaped like a V. I cut this type plug quite deep and then only lift it part way up for deep targets and then scoop out more dirt down to target.It has less impact on the grass/sod and if it does brown a little it is not as obvious as a nice round brown spot.
 
Sadly, if conditions are dry then any type of digging will cause color change with the death of the grass

During these times I try to do the least harm and Detect in Parks, Fields and Woods and No Private Property with Manicured Lawns

Someone recently reminded me that the Dirt is not damaged and will recover

I remember a particular area in one of our favorite Parks we hit really hard and it looked awful for weeks
and no one gave us a hard time because we made Friends with the Park Rangers

And we were just there and I looked over the Hard Hit Area and there is No indication that anyone has ever Detected at that location :)
 
Sometimes it's just too dry to hunt a decent yard. It's better to wait for a rain. But that frees up time to research and hunt fields, woods, beaches, volleyball courts, tot lots, etc.... FYI - My sister is one of those people that over fertilizes and has a lush carpet that they have to mow every 2 to 3 days. I flagged every flap and when I was done I watered each plug and all was good.
 
I've seen plenty of sites with dozens or hundreds of 6" diameter dead spots. Looks like crap. But that isn't as bad as some that don't even bother to fill the hole or put the plug in upside down.

I pretty much never cut a plug, I have a periscope probe that allows me to exactly know the location of the target before I dig, and then I use a 10" screwdriver to make a half plug, keeping the other half connected to the turf. If after digging you press down hard and compact the air out the grass will not die.

Unless... It is really dry and the sod fractures when you fold it back. I stop detecting grassy areas when it gets this dry, and concentrate on construction sites.

Chris
 
I cut horseshoe type plugs so the roots stay connected to one side to act as a hinge, and I can still easily pull a deep plug out of the ground this way and flip it to the side. One thing to do is make sure you cut your plugs deeper than the roots (which means say 4 or 5" deep) even on a shallow target, as that keeps you from cutting through roots on shallow stuff and keeps them intact. Another trick I use is to stomp rather hard slamming my foot down on it several times to force any air out of the plug, because roots DO NOT like having air around them and that's what causes the grass to dry out. Sure, by stomping hard on it that's going to compress the grass, but it will spring back up in a day or so.
 
I have pretty good luck doing yards with a deeper cut and a hinge.. The key seems to make the hinge as deep and straight as I can on the six inch reading . I try leave one side of this hinge uncut and fold it over... Sometime I gotta hold the hinge from flopping back , but the end result ussually looks nice. Also I only do yards in the spring and fall when it is wet .. No better way to turn a guy off later than to have a front yard full of big yellow spots... And if it is bone dry soil , I guess I just save the sight for a rainy day..After doing private yards for thirty years , I would rather wait for damp ground , than getting the landowner upset with yellow spots..I do go back and look at sites I was at a few days later , If they start looking dry , I take a little break from detecting yards..
 
We got four inches ofvrain last week.. that has extended my season...but its starting to get dry.. and I live in sand country.. not even a pebble In the ground by me.. so once that sand dries out.. its hard to retrieve deep coins without leaving a sign.. then I get my water detector out..lol
 
Went down to water the plugs for a third time. Yeah they basically looked like hell. I'll bet this guy wants to kick my A. Dang it. At the time I was impressing him with how well I dug my plugs. Now he must feel like I kind of duped him.
 
When I am hunting on grass strips I carry a spray bottle with liquid lawn fertilizer in it. After I retrieve my target , I thouroughly wet the hole and roots then after stomping down the hinged plug I spray the topside really well. The only complaints (or requests I get) are, can you please come back and do the whole yard. No brown plugs here, but a whole yard full of very green plugs:heh:.......NGE
 
I worked at a golf course when I was younger and even with massive amounts of water on the greens the cup plugs would discolor., but brown grass does not mean death just a dormant stage.
 
Hunting in the Fall and Winter when the grass goes dormant is really the best time. Then everything greens up in the Spring.
 
I live near the coast so am lucky to be able to hunt the water and beach in summer and am getting back into the parks now it is cool and damp. Last thing I want to see or be seen doing is causing damage to lawned areas.




HH
 
I cut fairly deep square plugs with a 6" military shovel. There's very few places that you could ever tell that I'd been there, even with grass.
 
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