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theweedsatemybaby

Lawn overwhelmed

TheWeedsAteMyBaby
10 years ago

Hello,
We are new home owners, and have definitely biten off more than we can chew when it comes to our lawn and garden.

Based on the information we've received from a lawn service company and found on the internet we have quack grass, crab grass, clovers and some other unknown substances growing. My husband has spent countless hours out there trying to pull out the weeds and topsoiling and seeding, but it doesn't seem to be working.

We have a corner lot and live across the street from a weed infested soccer field. We have grass in our large backyard, decent sized front yard, as well as the areas between the sidewalk and street, about 4000 sq ft worth of grass. We have thought about resodding it all, priced it out and we just can't afford it.. Plus I'm afraid the weeds from the park across the street will take it over anyway. So as such we're hoping there is a way to salvage the grass and revitalize it without having to resod. Oh! and we are close to the water so our soil is naturally quite sandy.

As i said, we are new home owners and very new to this, and we definitely don't have green thumbs! We've tried to look up solutions and speak with experts, but we are getting confused and overwhelmed.

Here is the method we were planning on using. Are we on the right track??? lol

1) Spraying the lawn with weed be gone and leaving it for a day.
2) Mowing the lawn and leaving the clippings on it so as to retain the weed be gone on the lawn.
3) Renting a tiller and going over the entire lawn. Use a lawn roller to compact the soil. Wait several days.
4) Renting an aerator and use on entire lawn.
5) Renting an overseeder. Fill with seed, fertilizer and top soil and get the seed right into the soil.
6) Water every morning.

Any advice would be extremely appreciated!

Comments (9)

  • tiemco
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Whoa, slow down, and step away from the Home Depot rental center. Your plan has many mistakes. Let's start off with a few questions. Where do you live (town and state)? What kind of grass do you have now?

  • TheWeedsAteMyBaby
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    lol...

    we live in toronto ontario canada.

    And our grass is really the only kind that grows out here not really sure what it is... but in some areas there is more weeds than grass....

    Please help!!!!!

  • dchall_san_antonio
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LOL, agreed!! Need to know where you are and grass type.

    The good news is you can forget about all the weeding for this season and simply accept what you have. To try and plant new seed now will further frustrate you. Killing off what you have now will leave bare spots for new weeds to come in. Just take the next few months to practice caring for the the lawn. Pretend it is the Lawn of the Month and you'll be surprised what happens.

    Lawn care is not rocket science. There are really only three elements to it. Proper watering (depth and frequency), proper mowing (height and frequency), and proper fertilizing (quantity and timing). Once you get these working for you, your weed pressure will dramatically drop. I don't live across the street from weeds. My lot is surrounded by weeds - chiefly King Ranch bluestem. I inherited a St Augustine lawn that is/was being encroached by it. This stuff grows everywhere in Texas...except the middle of my lawn. Proper care is the key. Here is a summary of the elements of basic lawn care.
    Basics of Lawn Care

    After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct.

    Watering
    Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.

    You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week.

    Mowing
    Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush.

    Fertilizing
    Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. Too much is better than too little*.

    At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.

    * This used to read, "Too little is better than too much." Recent test results show that you cannot get too much organic fertilizer unless you bury the grass in it.

    At this point I would like to add a few other comments. First is about organic fertilizer. Many noobs have been told all their life about which chemical fertilizer to use. Nobody goes around telling you to use organic fertilizers. Here is a demonstration photo submitted here to GardenWeb in 2010. The guy had fertilized with alfalfa pellets in mid May. The photo was taken in mid June.

    {{gwi:79339}}

    As you can see the alfalfa resulted in improved density, color, and growth.

    Secondly, if you need/want to kill weeds, then use a herbicide, preferably a spray type so you can spot spray the weeds. If you want to fertilize, use a fertilizer. Do not get mixed up with weed n feed products. Some people can make them work, but we see a lot of people saying that they don't weed or feed the way they hoped. Keep it simple.

    Third. NEVER ROTOTILL in preparation for grass. That process is the fast track to a bumpy lawn. If you want a more level lawn than you have now, we can deal with that later.

    Fourth. As much as possible, unless you are seeding bermuda grass, do your seeding in the fall. That gives the new grass all winter to develop sturdy roots which can withstand the summer heat. It also avoids the summer weeds which germinate in the spring if you were to try and start grass seed. Now is the absolute worst time of year (except maybe June) for seeding.

    Fifth. Measure the output of your sprinkler(s) with cat food or tuna cans. Time how long it takes to fill the cans. This can range from a low of 20 minutes to a high of 8 hours, so you have to find that number for your sprinklers.

    Sixth. If you want a good soil test, forget about your county extension service or local university. The best soil test lab in the country is Logan Labs in Ohio. Why? because for $20 they will give you the same test that the university labs have to charge over $100 for.

    Seventh.
    Don't do anything to your lawn until you ask here first.
    Don't apply lime unless your good soil test tells you that you need it.
    Don't aerate unless you...well, I can't think of a good reason to aerate.
    Don't apply compost unless you have poisoned your soil with fungicide or gasoline. If you do apply compost, use no more than 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet.
    Don't buy seed until you ask here first.
    Don't add topsoil unless you need to change your drainage. Why? Because topsoil always changes your drainage.

    If you get frustrated with any aspect of the simple water, mow, fertilize regimen, take a deep breath and write in here.

  • grass1950
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Toronto.
    You are going to want to plant KBG. Tiemco, can help you pick a blend--he's very knowledgeable. You are going to want to get a soil test (loganlabs.com) so you can make sure the soil is prepped to give your seed the best chance to thrive. Late July you will want to start using RU to kill everything. One week after app, you want to scalp and bag. then water daily for a week and a week later RU everything that is green. Repeat. Late August/1st of Sept., get a verticutter, 25# of KBG (tiemco), 6-8 bags (3-4 cu ft per bag) of peat moss and a starter fertilizer. Run the verticutter over the yard and rake up the trash. Spread the seed at 6+ pounds per thousand sq feet. Run the the verticutter over the yard in two directions at 45 degree angles to one another. Spread the starter fertilizer at a rate of 1# of P per thousand sq ft. Spread the peat moss with a dust pan over the seed so it is no thicker than 1/4" Water lightly until the peat moss is a dark brown but no puddles. May have to water more than once. Water lightly three times a day until seed germinates and sprouts. After the third mowing, follow dchall's advice on maintaining a lwan.

  • TheWeedsAteMyBaby
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the help everyone. I just really would like to start the process of getting it looking better sooner rather than later. We are a corner lot and we are the first house you see when you enter the neighborhood. Just frustrated I guess. Do I really have no options for the now?

  • tiemco
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It all depends on how much existing grass you have right now. If you have a good amount of grass but lots of weeds mixed in, then you can use Weed B Gone Max and a hose end sprayer to kill a good percentage of the broadleaf weeds. If you go this route, then don't mow the next day. The herbicide needs to be absorbed by the weeds over a span of a few days. Also I would bag mow your lawn to limit any weed seeds. Mow at the appropriate height for your grass, and mow often. If you go too long between mowings your grass can get stemmy, and it allows weeds to grow. Being in Toronto you can probably get away with going a bit shorter than someone in say New Jersey.

    If you have very little grass, and mostly weeds, then you can either mow the weeds as grass and wait to renovate in late summer or you can kill everything and seed a temporary lawn with one of the quicker growing and establishing cool season turfgrasses. This will serve you until late summer when you will renovate again with Kentucky bluegrass. KBG is probably the best choice since you are in Canada, but Toronto's climate seems to be a bit milder than most of the country, so you might be able to get away with tall fescue of perennial rye but I would worry about snow mold and cold kill.

  • kevingalaxy
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    ill give you a simple guide that worked for me. I have weed free dark thick grass now.

    .1. in spring kill the weeds. weed b gon. use it every two weeks, it will kill from the root. Also get a weed hound, use that to take out the danelions. Weed b gone max will be your best bet judging by how many u have.

    .2. keep on top of those weeds don't plant anything til fall Or late summer. I'm guessing your summer heat will just kill.anything that grows in spring.

    .3. in fall rake everything, add some good soil and rake in some bluegrass. water for three weeks. (should come up by week three)

    4. apply milorganite every month or so. Especially important in fall.

    5. Next spring attack the weeds again with weed b gon max and the weed hound.

    6. in fall overseed and patch any patches.

    7.,aerate as well.

    8. detatch in spring. if needed.

    I did that and transformed my lawn in two-three yrs. good luck.

  • hillseeker
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm from Alberta. 10 years ago I invested in shipping Eco Lawn grass seed from Wildflower Farms in Ontario here. Our back lawn we killed the grass, brought in black dirt and reseeded as we had bad dew worms. We then started over-seeding our front lawn with EcoLawn 4 years ago. I have to say that Eco-Lawn grows everywhere (roots go about 2 feet deep) and barely needs any water or mowing. It's super soft and lush. You might want to check it out and just overseed with it. They say in 5 years you will have a lush lawn that will resist drought, pests, and weeds. I also only mow every 2-3 weeks as it grows so slow. Check it out, it grows in some of the hardest spots we tried for years and I recommend it to everyone.

  • andy10917
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ummmm - did anyone notice when they read the OP's original post that they are from Ontario, Canada? You know, that place that has some of the strictest herbicide laws that exist on the planet. Most of the weed control recommendations that are in this thread won't work for the OP...