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mariannepilolli

My lawn is broken.

MariannePilolli
9 years ago

I am renting a house with a terrible lawn, and I've decided I want to try to bring it back to life. I live in Texas, my house faces South and there is some shade. The lawn is mostly crabgrass and dirt. I was told I need to rake up the crabgrass and aerate, then seed and water like crazy. A few questions:
Do I need to test the pH?
Do I need to fertilize?
Do I need to put something down to kill weeds?
What kind of grass seed should I use?
I'm willing to spend lots of time and energy and a little bit of money on this. I'd like to learn as much as I can for when I buy a house, and to have something beautiful that I can be proud of. I am an absolute beginner, and I would appreciate some expert advice!

Comments (4)

  • newowner21
    9 years ago

    I just did this at my home in nj. I'm a beginner too but I did a lot of research. This is what I did. Test soil. I sent mine to my state's cooperative extension. I think every state has one. Kill everything with roundup concentrate quick pro available at a landscape wholesaler like john deere landscape. Wait a week or so. Kill anything green again. Mow and bag on lowest setting. Rake. Find a place that sells quality seed and buy a mix of top rated warm season grasses that scored high on the NTEP turf trials. Put down any amendments the soil test suggests like lime or whatever. Seed. I used a slit seeder like everyone suggested and it sucked real bad. I'd think twice about renting one unless you can find a self propelled one. I think the back of a rake would be fine. Walk around to help seed soil contact. Put down starter fertilizer. Keep moist until established. Mine is sprouting up everywhere after a week.
    Keep in mind things might be slightly different in your state. Wherever you find that top seed, those guys should steer you in the right direction.

  • BoatDrinksq5
    9 years ago

    +1 on soil test.

    It helps to water and fertilize lightly a couple weeks before doing round up to get things really growing - then spray round up. Then continue to water occasionally for another week or two ('fallowing') to get some of the weeds to popup - spray round up on anything green. Mow super short with bag on mower.

    Seed, top dress with a dusting of peat moss, and roll in seed. Water many times a day for a couple weeks. (short periods, 5-8 times)

  • dchall_san_antonio
    9 years ago

    Before you spend money on a soil test (you have calcium soil with a pH of 8), please answer a few questions.

    Where do you live? Looks like Hill Country soil and greenery.
    Is your soil rocky with pebbles and/or gravel?
    Are there any watering restrictions?
    Are you watering now? I suspect not, but that would be pretty sad if I made the wrong assumption.
    What are those trees? This is more important than you might think. Are they cypress or juniper (cedar)?

    There are two grasses you can grow successfully. One is bermuda and the other is St Augustine. If you want it to look really nice, bermuda will cost you more than St Aug. Depending on where you live, there might be some other grasses that will work, but those cover 99% of Texas lawns. I tend to go with the grasses that work.

    I have a new (old) house in Bandera, TX. My lawn is not as bad as yours...Since it rained an inch a week ago, I actually have green stuff in mine. Before that it was very brown. What I have growing is not lawn grass but it's green. We can water on Tuesday for a total of about 6 hours, but we can use a soaker hose every day for a total of about 6 hours, so I'm going to soak my way to success. There is just enough St Aug still alive that I can nurse it along. I'll be mowing weeds as needed until the St Aug comes in to wipe them all out. That's the plan anyway.

    So answer the questions, please, and we can get you going. Oh, and please comment on how soon you want the yard to become a lawn. You could do what I'm doing for the starting cost of a few dollars, or you could order sod and have an instant lawn. My approach will likely take at least a year to have full coverage.

  • MariannePilolli
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the advice!!! I've been busy trimming and raking just to clean up, and it already looks so much better.

    To answer your questions:
    I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
    Not rocky but sandy in some places.
    No restrictions, and I'm not watering yet.
    Not sure about the trees, but one is pine.
    I don't really care how long it takes.