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Lawn Care Tips (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter andy_b
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ragincajun
Footballguy
We have have had a good amount of rain this past week so hopefully the ground is saturated enough to pull them up by hand.Mohawk said:
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
I had a spot under some tress that I tried for years to get some grass to grow. It would take at first then by the end of the season it was dirst again. I bought some edge rock and built a shade garden with plants that thrive in the shade. Been 5 years and it looks great.DA RAIDERS said:
The Commish
Footballguy
Where are you guys located? Wondering if it gets too cool in the fall/winter for the grasses to survive
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
I'm in Southern California.The Commish said:Where are you guys located? Wondering if it gets too cool in the fall/winter for the grasses to surviveDa Guru said:
The Commish
Footballguy
Have you tried a "hardy" fescue? Seems like Cali has issues...found this link...maybe it will help?I'm in Southern California.The Commish said:Where are you guys located? Wondering if it gets too cool in the fall/winter for the grasses to surviveDa Guru said:
shake zula
Footballguy
My wife and I bought our first house last month. The yard is beautiful but we have some issues with weeds and large bare spots. I would say that 75% of the yard although green is weeds rather than grass. I want to eliminate the weeds but have no idea where to start and don't want to hire a company. This is our first experience with a yard we own so I would like a permanent solution even if it takes time. Also we have a dog so I don't want to go nuclear on it.
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
Thx. I'll check it outHave you tried a "hardy" fescue? Seems like Cali has issues...found this link...maybe it will help?I'm in Southern California.The Commish said:Where are you guys located? Wondering if it gets too cool in the fall/winter for the grasses to surviveDa Guru said:
The Commish
Footballguy
You either dig them up or spray them dead. Then, in the fall, aerate and throw down some seed. Doing this for 2 - 3 years will probably have you where you want to be.
NutterButter
Footballguy
75% is a lot of weeds. Probably best to just wait until the fall, rototiller the whole yard and reseed or sod if you can afford it from scratch.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
shake zula
Footballguy
I don't really know the difference. If I rototullier do I just reseed immediately thereafter or do I reseed in the spring of the next year?
I considered resodding but is like a 10k party. I would prefer to go a less expensive direction.Rototieller is less true?
NutterButter
Footballguy
Reseed right afterwards. How must square footage we talking about? You can get some really nice prices if you go directly to a sod farm. Rototiller is just more effective if you're essentially doing the whole yard over. You'll get a lot better soil/seed contact than just going with the aerating route.
The Commish
Footballguy
I'd do it this fall....tear it all up, remove the weeds, then throw seed down. You can either rake it in or top it with peat moss....something to keep the birds from eating the seeds.
shake zula
Footballguy
I appreciate the advice. I think this is the direction I'm going to go. It's a smallish front yard 20x20 a decent size back yard 40x40. I want to do it right so that I only need to do it once.
NutterButter
Footballguy
I need to check with a work colleague who recently bought a bunch of sod from a sod farm in terms on what he paid. I think it was something like $.30 per square foot so you'd be looking at around 700 bucks for the sod. Not sure about delivery cost. He picked his up right from the farm.
The Commish
Footballguy
fasteddie_21
2006 NM Poker Champ
Not sure where you're at, but Xeriscape is great, long-term. But some serious $$$ upfront, I hear.
Short Corner
Footballguy
Short Corner
Footballguy
What is the consensus on over seeding?
Gonna give it a go in the fall. Will a dethatcher loosen up the soil enough to do the job?
Gonna give it a go in the fall. Will a dethatcher loosen up the soil enough to do the job?
NutterButter
Footballguy
What kind of dethatcher you talking about? I have a pull behind like this one. I throw some cinder blocks on it and wait until a day after some rain and it tears the hell out of the ground. Looks like an absolute mess. I then go over with the mower to suck up all the thatch. Throw some seed down. I'd go over it again with the dethatcher or you can just rake if you have a smaller yard in order to get those seeds into the soil. Getting good soil/seed contact is important. I also have a lawn roller but you'll be ok without one. The real key is water. You have to keep those seeds wet for like 2 weeks straight. The nice thing about having a lawn tractor is just hooking up the various attachments without having to do any real work.
Ned
Footballguy
If you think tilling the yard will kill the weeds, think again. They'll just come right back and probably beat out most of the grass seed. I agree with sodding it if you want instant success.
Short Corner
Footballguy
avoiding injuries
Footballguy
Hmmm... Nearly 4 weeks out and I'm now at starting to see some activity of new grass.NewlyRetired said:
NutterButter
Footballguy
I've never seen that mentioned either, but its either that or rake and just driving the lawn tractor around with the dethacter hooked up is just so much easier.
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shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
I've done it a few time following aerating, but I'm pretty skeptical about it doing anything.
regularguy
Footballguy
Having 3k sf of Zenith Zoysia sod installed later this week. I can't wait to finally see it in place.
The Commish
Footballguy
It's not necessary on a well developed lawn. Always aerate though. In my last house, it was brand new, thus no grass. It took three years of a 50 lbs bag of seed over about .25 acres before the lawn was nice and lush. Battling weeds was the biggest struggle, but got easier each year.
Ned
Footballguy
shake zula
Footballguy
I could pick it up. The front yard is in great shape so really I just need to hammer out the yard. I may hire two ppl to do the grass shaving.
Quez
Footballguy
I mulched the bahaia the past year and I think it caused a crabgrass problem. I am currently in the process of ridding my yard of this stuff, and have one side completely finished. I just put down some top soil and spread a bunch of seeds around in the places I tore out. Do I need to fertilize?
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
McGarnicle
Footballguy
Bought a goat. #### you, lawn-mowing! 
Short Corner
Footballguy
Quez
Footballguy
There is this +/- 10ac lot near my office office that they were using goats to clear out. I recently saw a sign that said "$1000 Reward for information leading to return of goats or arrest of thieves".Bought a goat. #### you, lawn-mowing!
McGarnicle
Footballguy
Really? Huh. How about that.There is this +/- 10ac lot near my office office that they were using goats to clear out. I recently saw a sign that said "$1000 Reward for information leading to return of goats or arrest of thieves".Bought a goat. #### you, lawn-mowing!
Do you guys think Peyton will be the top fantasy QB again this year?
Black Box
Footballguy
McGarnicle
Footballguy
I've watched the videos on YouTube. My spray tank of Roundup is about 5 times faster than the torch. If you have a big property and need to kill weeds every couple of weeks, the torch is going to be really time consuming. For sidewalk cracks or between pavers, use the Roundup with extended control in the grey bottle.
Fat Nick
Footballguy
Not to discount what anybody here says as they're all good tips, but if you have a small yard, and have grass, but a lot of weeds, consider calling a lawn-care professional to see how much their fertilization/weed control plans will cost you. They DO work. Re-sodding will help with the weeds you have now, but you'll inevitably get more if your lawn isn't healthy, and you'll be watering that sod for a while.
My wife and I moved into our house going on 4 summers ago. The previous owners mowed their grass WAY too short. The short grass let weeds thrive. Carpet grass, dandelion, crab grass, plantain, you name it, I had it. Our property is 2.4 acres. ALL yard, no woods, so factor in the house and driveway, and we had a solid 2 acres to care for. First year, I sprayed by hand and hardly made a dent. Second year, I started buying bagged Scotts and applying myself. After some cost-benefit analysis, I realized that I could basically have it done by Scott's for the same cost. So, last year, I had 5 treatments done by Scott's. The grass thrived. The weeds died out. Almost all of them. It was amazing. 10x better results than my DIY stuff, and roughly the same cost. My 2.4 acres now looks like a giant carpet. The only "negative" I can see is that my grass is SO thick and grows SO fast that I have to cut it 2x/week this time of year. For a small yard, it shouldn't be too expensive. I pay over $1500 a season on mine, but I'm gradually cutting back on the number of treatments trying to find the magic "maintain" number. I cut, edge, and trim my yard myself, so I save on that. Everybody's lawn care budget is different I guess.
My general lawn tips:
-Cut it LONG. I cut 4" in early spring, and go up to about 4.75-5" by this time of year. The length chokes out weeds and makes the grass MUCH more drought resistant. It also actually will start to produce seed if you let it get a little longer, which I'll do every now and then to help it thicken up. A lot cheaper than buying grass seed. It doesn't look bad when it is still cut, but cut long.
-Professional services for fertilization and weed control work. They have access to stuff that you legally can't get. It works.
-If you're going to do one fertilization, do it in the FALL. It lets the grass get an early start in the spring, and beat the weeds in.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
I was going to buy a weed torch. Then I was concerned about the greenhouse effect and putting more carbon into the air. So I hit the lawn with Scotts Weed # feed instead.
Fat Nick
Footballguy
I got one of these at Harbor Freight. Not very efficient for larger areas, but man...fun to use. It takes longer than a few seconds to incinerate a green weed. I use mine on occasion to clean out between my edging. The edging at my house is just random boulders arranged in a border. Looks nice, but the irregular lines make it a pain to mow and trim around. Weeds grow up between the rocks. This thing will take them out and keep them out for a few weeks.Da Guru said:
I like to use it to light up my fire pit. Sure beats newspaper.
McGarnicle
Footballguy
I wonder how the torch would do with more substantial stuff like established privets, vines and crap that keep coming back?
Fat Nick
Footballguy
I think it basically kills whatever is there at the point of incineration...Existing plant, seeds, roots (depending on how long you hold it there...). The issue is that most things that "keep coming back" come back via plants coming from another location, either via new seeds that blow in or via runners from other areas that maybe you didn't burn.
Basically, if you have dirt with no grass, you will have some weeds. I've found no way around this personally. Landscape fabric/newspaper helps, but seeds will get on top of it eventually. Even the little area around my A/C condensers, which is 100% gravel has some weeds. I'm about to re-do my fire pit area, laying down 2 layers of 6 Mil black plastic and covering it with 4" of river gravel. I'm sure after a few years of leaves and such falling on the gravel, there'll be enough substrate for weeds to grow there too.
McGarnicle
Footballguy
Gotcha. For something that was established and keeps sending up new shoots, I probably need to hold it there for 5 minutes just to burn one out. I'll probably rent a tiller.
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