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| I've been reading the forum for several months and decided to jump into the madness/pleasure. I live in northern westchester county NY and have about an acre out back that has become more crab grass and weed, than grass, after a couple of tough summers. Want to do things right, which probably means killing it all, re-seeding and starting again. I know I likely missed the fall season to start this, but looking for advice from the pro's on this forum like Morpheus, Tiempo, and others. Soil test being sent to Logan in the next days or so. What is a sensible approach to doing this (I'm embarassed to admit I'll probably use local guys to lay down chemicals and for a bit of the work since yard is so large, more honest to say I want to oversee the process right).
Is there a sensible plan that starts out in the early spring? Guy I was talking to suggested cutting low, spraying and roto-tilling now, but from all I've read, that seems like a recipe to start with a ton of new weed seeds germinating in the Spring. Any way to kill both existing weeds and their seeds in Spring and then grass re-seed with any likelihood of a successful result? Additional info, no sprinkler system, ground slopes moderate to minor, and was thinking of planting a mix of KBG and TTF, no specific cultivars in mind (open to suggestions as to both mix and seed source). Yard is almost entirely in full sun and would be best to require minimal watering after initial establishment of lawn(given no sprinkler system and recent periods of dry summer patches the past few years). Know I've asked a lot, and probably omitted more necessary info than I am aware of. Whatever you can offer to help would be much appreciated. Consider this an opportunity to help the agriculturally challenged. Thanks. |
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| One acre is a lot of area, and without sprinklers, it's going to be hard to get a nice lawn relying on mother nature. It would be a good idea to break it up into smaller, more manageable areas that you can do correctly instead of one large half-a@#ed effort. You can also break it up into nice lawn near the house, and acceptable lawn areas further away, but that's up to you. Good to see you have your soil tests sent, because as soon as those come back you can start by amending your soil this fall, and next spring-summer. Don't be embarrassed by having someone apply things to your yard, but make sure they apply what you want, when you want. Don't rely on their schedules and products. An acre is pretty sizable, so this isn't going to be cheap. If you need lime, you are looking at 460 lbs. per application (calcitic). For synthetic fertilizer applications, you will need around 175-200 lbs per application. It all adds up, so again breaking it up to high input really nice areas, and low imput acceptible areas will help keep costs lower. For now I would focus on keeping it cut around 3 inches, and consider using a preemergent this spring to get rid of the weeds that will germinate next year. This is a marathon, not a sprint. |
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| When is the last time Morpheus posted? |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Thu, Oct 11, 12 at 23:24
| It's been since early last summer for Morph. Never rototill in preparation for a lawn. Whatever issue you thought that might fix can be addressed better in other ways. If you are going to seed in the spring, you might try tricking the weeds. You can water daily as if you had seeded. At the end of 2-3 weeks, spray with Roundup to kill the plants that sprouted. Continue watering and spray again in a week. Then go in with your new seed. |
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