Dying plugs

[chevyman75]

Does anyone else have the grass on top of plug die off and leave brown patches throughout yards? My plugs are 3" or less usually if I'm off I'll dig to the side a bit under the grass as to not make a mess.. just curious on if I was the only one. I carry an old bandana to put dirt on and yada yada to keep it clean. When I put plugs back it looks fine but after a few days it starts to turn brown [emoji15]

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[Liu21]

you gotta cut your plugs wider, try it keep the diameter 6 inches and 5 inches deep.

 

[wingmaster]

When it's real dry and or hot out I look for wooded area's to detect, and yep if you make them a little bigger they seem to do better about not dying. HH

 

[chevyman75]

you gotta cut your plugs wider, try it keep the diameter 6 inches and 5 inches deep.

Really so my plugs are to small? So 6 across or six as in outside diameter . Just trying to get this right and Ya my shovel blade is 2.5 wide and 6 long only go that deep normally

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[chevyman75]

When it's real dry and or hot out I look for wooded area's to detect, and yep if you make them a little bigger they seem to do better about not dying. HH

Ok thanks I did not know that. I always tried to keep them small for less visual of disturbance.. and Ya me to but most of mine are people yards so I try to keep it as clean as possible as to not give us all a bad name and my permissions like it

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[Liu21]

Really so my plugs are to small? So 6 across or six as in outside diameter . Just trying to get this right and Ya my shovel blade is 2.5 wide and 6 long only go that deep normally

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yep. sometimes a bigger plug is better to manage and cleaner when placed back in the hole... The most that will happen is you will see the grass around where you made the cut turn yellow, making a ring....

 

[chevyman75]

yep. sometimes a bigger plug is better to manage and cleaner when placed back in the hole... The most that will happen is you will see the grass around where you made the cut turn yellow, making a ring....

Thank you for reply I will be trying this! I just can't handle driving past a yard I dug and it's polka dotted lol

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[kcm]

Some folks also carry water with them for keeping the plug moist. Pour a little water in the hole just before inserting plug. The plug will prevent the sun/wind from evaporating the water too quickly. Also, keep the plug shaded while out of the ground - cover with a cloth or _____?

 

[SD51]

The other problem with a smaller plug is animals (raccoons) will remove it to get at grubs and then we will get blamed for leaving holes.

 

[Jason in Enid]

First, the grass isn't dead. It's gone dormant because of shock it received. The major cause is damage to the roots. Keep your plugs as thick as possible, and yes a wider plug is often better than a smaller one.

- don't dig when the ground is dry
- dont dig when the weather is extremely hot and dry
- cover the plug while you are retrieving the target to prevent it from starting to dry out.
- the worst thing you can do is to cut a shallow plug, leave it laying dirt up in the sun to bake the roots.

The browned grass will come back, but how fast depends on conditions. If it gets rain shortly after it will come back quickly. If not, it may take a week or 2. It's no different than when you see new sod laid. It may go down green, then brown, then come back green after the roots had time to recover.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Id targets are withing 2 inches or less I cut a slit and pull them out. I dig plugs for deeper targets and they are between 6" & 8", depending on which tool I am digging with. I do not hunt private permissions when the soil is too dry since they will turn brown.

 

[digger27]

As mentiond dig flaps, not plugs, pizza or horseshoe shapes but leave some of the roots connected.
I also found that after digging and then replacing these most stomp the ground and that compresses the soil so water does not seem to penetrate back down to the roots so well.
I dug a bunch of small holes in a public park and was concerned when I came back a few days later there were brown spots all over even though we did have a bit of rain between those visits.
I took my digger and stabbed each one a few times in the middle section and and made a few slits around the perimeter which I hoped would let the rainwater travel down deeper better.
It did the trick.
I came back a few days later and every one was healed completely.
Now I stab the top of the soil on most every hole and never had that problem again.

 

[Goldfleks]

https://youtu.be/YzEZNWMXKDE

Try this instead of plugs.

Gets less attention from park visitors as well since you're not carrying a shovel to the site. Shovels = Holes in peoples mind.

 

[smokeythecat]

I don't do "plugs". I do about a 6" wide dig, and keep 1 side as a hinge and never completely cut out the grass. When it's hot, I water it afterwards.