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mbertani_gw

Plan of attack?

mbertani
11 years ago

Hey guys,

Bought a new house this year and the yard is in pretty poor shape. We tried to seed in the late spring, which actually helped get a little bit of fescue growing in parts of the yard, but a lot of it is still bare or overrun with crabgrass/other weeds/moss.

I'm in Northern Virginia, it's still pretty warm here but I expect temps will go down to the high 70s/80s soon.

What should be the plan of attack for me to:

a) Get rid of the existing crabgrass/weeds?

b) Get the yard ready for seeding?

c) When is the best time to seed?

Based on my research here's what I am thinking:

1) Apply weed-b-gone or some other herbicide (recommendations?) ASAP. I figure maybe it will help to kill off some of the weeds that are already alive and kicking all over the place?

2) Fertilize with a weed + feed mix (i.e. pre-emergent) to prevent new weeds from growing.

3) Seriously aerate, since the soil is very compacted right now, and seed in early/mid october.

Does this sound like a good plan? Any adjustments you would recommend to minimize weeds and get the new seed to produce a nice thick lawn?

Thanks!

MB

Comment (1)

  • dchall_san_antonio
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would not aerate. Technically your soil is not compacted; it is hard. There is a structural and biological difference. I aerated for the last time about 10 years ago. Since then I have used various other methods to soften my soil. The one that works the best/fastest/longest is to spray with any clear shampoo. Spray at a rate of at least 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Follow that with a full inch of irrigation or rain. Then repeat in 2 weeks. That should fix you up for a year or so. You can test how deep your soil is soft by stabbing a screw driver into it. If you want to soften it deeper, repeat or use more soap. Don't use dish soap or hand soap. Stick with shampoo. The others have additives that you don't want in the soil.

    Don't ever use weed n feed of any kind for any reason. It will not do what you expect. Instead use a fertilizer to fertilize and a herbicide for weeds. Weeds happen to die best/fastest when they are healthy, so fertilize first and let the weeds have a shot at the fertilizer.

    If you have very little grass, you may as well nuke the entire yard and start over. Otherwise you find yourself trying to save part and work on part. As I used to say when I was a mechanic, don't try to save the gaskets when you're overhauling the entire motor.

    Start watering daily as if you were starting new seed right now.

    Spray with Roundup to kill everything.

    Keep watering and watch for new weeds.

    After the yard looks dead except for the few new sprouts, spray the Roundup again to get everything. Wait another week for everything to die.

    Rent a slit seeder or vertical rake. Adjust it to just barely touch the soil. Run it over the entire yard to chew up all the vegetation. Rake or blow all that into your compost pile.

    Sow the seed and run the vertical rake or slit seeder over it one more time. This time you are mingling the seed with the very surface of the soil.

    Roll the seed down with a water fillable roller. If you leave out any steps, do not leave out this one. This ensures you have good seed to soil contact.

    Water 3x per day just enough to moisten the seed - you are NOT drenching the soil. Sometimes this takes 5 minutes and sometimes it takes 20. Watch yours carefully. Time how long it takes to just wet the surface. Continue on this plan for rye (1 week and then back off on frequency), fescue (2 weeks and then back off), or Kentucky bluegrass (3 weeks and then back off). If you choose a blend of grasses, water for the longest period for the seed you choose.

    You should not get an abundance of weeds like you got in the spring. Get started now with the softening and Roundup so you can be ready when the temps break. You want to have a long time in the fall to grow the grass.

    I'm not big on starter fertilizer mostly because I like organics. If you want to use a starter, put it down with the seed. If you want to use something like alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) or other organic, put it down a week or so before the seed.

    Mow when the grass is up around 4-5 inches high.

    Continue to water less frequently until you are applying 1 inch of water, all at one time, about once per month. Continue with that all winter unless Mother Nature helps out. Continue with that through the spring until the temps warm up and the grass/soil dries out faster. Then inch your way up toward watering no more than once per week.

    You can fertilize with chemicals at Thanksgiving and again on Memorial Day. Otherwise you can fertilize with organics any time you want to. Generally people try to not fertilize before or during the spring flush of fast grass growth. Who wants to be mowing every day? The app rate for all organic fertilizers is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Once you've done that several times, you can experiment with using more or more frequently. There seems to be no limit as to how much organic fert you can use. I would strongly recommend using at least one app of organics during the year. I believe many of the lawn collapse issues we see could be avoided by interrupting the prolonged application of chemical fertilizers with the occasional organic app. The microbes in the soil need food and the organic fert provides that.

    You can use a preemergent weed killer in the spring if you are afraid you have bare spots that have not filled in. Otherwise, the watering and mowing schedule really (REALLY) discourages new weeds from sprouting. If you use a preem, try to put it down when the forsythia buds come out. Waiting until the forsythia blooms might be a little too late. That time is after the soil hits 50 degrees and right after you get a heavy spring rain. Both of those events have to happen for forsythia to bloom. I saw something recently about waiting until the forsythia blooms wilt. That is waaaay too late. You might be ready for a second app of preem by that time.