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| Hi
I am a new lawn owner/ homeowner and need a lot of help and advice. I am in NJ and total almost an acre. Front lawn looks pretty good, some weeds, but the backyard is a mess! Thanks in advance for any advice and wisdom you share. The backyard has some grassy and some shady areas. There are some trees scattered and some have already been removed. We have lots of trees along tthe back of the property with no grass under at all. The soil is quite hard and there are are some bald spots, some mossy patches where tree cover had been. There is a large grassy area, but lots of lawn weeds. Oh did I mention the poison ivy!! Along the back of the property I have been fighting the massive amounts of poison ivy by yanking, cutting and spraying with ortho and weed b gone. Ortho is much cheaper. It is so bad we have the hairy ropes climbing up some of the trees. We have made some progress tricky bc 3 neighboring yards have it as well.
How do I seed a yard that has full sun in spots, full shade in others?Mossy in others? What should I be putting on the lawn and when? Where do I buy the chemicals? are they carried at HD? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| First, get a soil test ASAP. Logan Labs in Ohio does a comprhensive test for $20. Usually takes less than a week to get the results back and if you post them here there are people like tiemco who can analyze for you. Take samples of the soil in a number of spots from the 4-5" depth level. Logan Labs gives instrucions. You may need more than one test if diferent areas of your lawn are distinctly different in characteristics. Posting some pictures will also help in advising you. Once you have done that, people can advise you on what cultivars you may want to plant and what you need to do in preparation. As far as the poison ivy, dont bother with weedBgone, just use ortho roundup or any other product with the active ingredient (glysophate sp?). |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Wed, Jul 25, 12 at 0:20
| Glyphosate for those who care about spelling. There is a trick you might try with the glyphosate. Put some into a small vase and then stuff a runner of the ivy into it. This works for bind weed and may work for you. The one runner of plant takes the herbicide back to the roots and kills the entire plant. I tried it on one piece of weed in an abandoned garden and it killed the plant in a 30 foot diameter. It took about 3 full weeks before I noticed any difference. Wal-Mart, HD, Lowe's, Ace, Target, Sears, or any other hardware store or nursery will care lawn care supplies. You seed by getting rid of what's there now, seeding, and watering. Next month, after the summer heat breaks, is the time to get serious about it in your area. |
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| Working on the soil test. Will post results when I get them. To get rid of the weeds that are in the lawn now - any suggestions? I don't want to kill the real grass. Also after its dead do I have to pull it out or is killing it enough? Any ideas about preventing the neighbors poison ivy from entering our yard? Its in areas of their yards that they dont do anything with. I am working hard to get rid of my own.... |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Sat, Jul 28, 12 at 22:24
| Broadleaf weeds (like dandelion and clover) can be killed by spot spraying with Weed-B-Gone. Grassy weeds can't usually be killed as easily because grass killer sprays also kill your lawn. Ask you neighbor if you can spray his poison ivy once you figure out something that works. Goats will take care of it for you - they are not allergic to the stuff. Speaking of allergy, not everyone is allergic to it. Do you know if you and your family are? That would be good to know. |
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| My husband is very allergic. He just finished steroids from the last time we tackled the poison ivy. I don't think I am. I have kept the kids away so I don't know about them. There is no chance I am getting a goat. Will the poison ivy spray killers harm the trees? I am Using Ortho Max poison ivy and Brush killer. Active ingredient triclopyr. I was thinking about asking the one neighbor, but worried about if something happens to their trees etc after I spray will they blame me. I think it is growing up the other neighbors chain link fence. They have a lot of grass in the area. Ortho max says it may kill the grass too. I will try to post pictures later of the yard. |
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| My husband is very allergic. He just finished steroids from the last time we tackled the poison ivy. I don't think I am. I have kept the kids away so I don't know about them. There is no chance I am getting a goat. Will the poison ivy spray killers harm the trees? I am Using Ortho Max poison ivy and Brush killer. Active ingredient triclopyr. I was thinking about asking the one neighbor, but worried about if something happens to their trees etc after I spray will they blame me. I think it is growing up the other neighbors chain link fence. They have a lot of grass in the area. Ortho max says it may kill the grass too. I will try to post pictures later of the yard. |
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| I opened this thread because I, too, am looking to start a lawn in NJ. I learned something about killing weeds (we seem to have mostly grassy looking weeds and never really thought of them as different from dandelions so that was helpful). And I am LOL over 'there is no chance I am getting a goat' because my husband would love to have a goat and I am not getting one, either. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Thu, Aug 2, 12 at 20:20
| But tulip6...you have hills and goats love hills! Awww. You need a goat. |
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