Return to the Lawn Care Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Problem with lawn
| | |
Posted by
vbartakke Attleboro, MA (
My Page) on
Thu, Aug 23, 12 at 15:01
| In Spring 2012, I was looking to renovate my lawn and was contacting several local landscapers to give me a quote. some of them were able to convince me to kill my existing grass and hydroseed it. I was hesitant at first because I was worried about the crabgrass. But, I caved in and hydroseeded my front yard aproximately 6800 sq. feet. Sure enough, the lawn is now covered with crabgrass. I do not see any grass, it is covered with just crabgrass. Not only did I loose my money in this project as well fertilizers, but now I have to figure what should I do to save my yard. Can anyone please suggest what should be done? Should I overseed? Any help in this matter is great. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| You might want to read the answers to the last three days of threads here. Pay close attention to what dchall and tiemco have to say. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| You just illustrated the problem with landscapers, most of them will take any job regardless of the timing. I understand most of them are in it just for the money, but a competent one would have told you to wait till late summer. Another thing is they could have applied Tupersan to your new lawn to reduce crabgrass pressure. It's all water under the bridge now, so you can only move forward. Crabgrass is a summer annual, it is producing seeds now that will lie in wait for next year to sprout. It dies off in the fall, leaving dead grass and bare patches. Mowing with the bag on will help reduce the number of seeds it puts down, but you will probably still have some next year. If your whole yard is crabgrass, overseeding is somewhat of a fools errand as the CG will grow tall, steal water sun and nutrients, and produce seed while you aren't mowing due to the new grass seed you are trying to grow. Adult crabgrass can be tricky to kill with selective herbicides as well, so killing just the CG probably isn't a great option. I hate to say it, but the best option would be killing everything, and starting fresh. If you do renovate this year, then be sure to apply preemergent herbicides next spring and summer to limit crabgrass, and hand pull or spray young CB seedlings before they get too big. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| Tiemco, I can not express enough thank you to you. But, thank you for your expert opinion. I had limited budget on this project and I am not sure if killing everything and starting fresh would be option. I will try though. Can you take a look at these pictures and let me know what are these? What kind of crabgrass?
Once again, thank you for your response. I am looking forward to hear more about these crabgrass. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| It's hard to tell from your pic. There are two types that common afflict lawns, large or hairy and smooth, and there are plenty of pics on the internet of them both. Determining which one you have isn't that important. It also looks like you might have some nimbleweed in there as well, but again, it's hard to tell from that pic. Tenacity is another herbicide that has shown good results killing mature crabgrass and leaving turfgrass relatively unscathed. Unfortunately once it's dead you are likely to have a lot of bare patches. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| Tiemco, Where can find Tenacity. If it creates bare patches, is it advisable to overseed it with KBG come this fall? |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| VBartakke, do you have any pictures of that grass where it wasn't recently mowed? And could you take a picture of a few of the grass plants (pulled out and on a white background like a paper towel). If there are different grass plants post a picture of any that are a good fraction of the lawn. Do you happen to border a woods? If so, is the stuff like any of the stuff on the woods floor? |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| You thinking Japanese stiltgrass Andy? |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| The picture makes it look like a real possibility, but things are too dense to say Yes or No for sure. Unfortunately, denseness is exactly how stiltgrass behaves. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
Just so we know what the situation is, is this a shady area?
What kind of grass was used in the hydroseed? Even with your current crop of crabgrass, don't fret too much about next season. You should not repeat that. Why? Because you are going to establish a dense turf this season. Then when next season rolls around, the crabgrass will not be getting the daily water it needs to germinate and even if it does get some daily rain, it will not get enough sunlight through the dense turf to take root. You can have a great lawn next year, but it depends on what happens in the next few weeks. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| Hi Folks, Sorry about replying late. Here are some pictures that I could take. Hope this helps. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| I think that's Japanese Stiltgrass. Nasty stuff. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| Hello there, I hyrdoseeded the area with 33%KBG/33%PR/33%tall Fescue. That is what my hydroseeding contractor said. It is not in a shady area, Plenty of sun. Infact we have slope where this grass has grown and if I have to guess, during summer hours, this area gets sun the whole day.
I will do some more reading on japanese siltgrass, but should I be concerned? |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| For the most part, Japanese Stiltgrass doesn't just "happen". That's why I asked in the beginning if you border a woods. It is shade-tolerant, but will march right across a sunny lawn. "Tolerant" doesn't equate to "limited to". |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| Andy, There are trees in the area but my property does not border woods. It is also not in the shade. It gets a lot of sun light. Will this grass die in the fall? If so, how can I regain the lawn back? This is lawn renovation project turn ugly. |
RE: Problem with lawn
| | |
| It will die with the frost, but has already seeded for next year. A good long-lasting pre-emergent in the Spring will help you with the fight, but it will be back - guaranteed. You may want to talk to UMASS Amherst about what is legal and effective in Massachusetts. Expect a prolonged fight even if you're dedicated - two to five years. The AI in Acclaim Extra works, but whether it's legal for you I don't know... |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Lawn Care Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
