Gave in and hired a service

[MustISO]

Our lawn was primarily weeds and non-native grasses and looked awful. I tried to do stuff to fix it but I'm just not good with outdoor maintenance. Interviewed two companies and selected one based on recommendations from a lot of their customers.

They do 6 treatments which is fertilization, soil remediation, weed control, grub control, aerating and seeding. I'm giving them two growing seasons to see how it comes out and if it's not a lot better I'll move on to another service.

Prior to the service I had someone come out and cut the lawn really short and take away all the trimmings.

The lawn service came out yesterday and took soil samples to customize the fertilizer based on the results. Aerated and used a machine to insert the seed into the soil. Today was the first day of watering. Really hoping for rain over the next week or two.

 

[turtile]

Cutting the lawn too short will destroy lawns that need to be mowed higher like tall fescue.

What is 'soil remediation'? And do you have a grub problem?

A soil test for lawns is only used for pH (lime requirement). Nitrogen can't be tested so the same amount is placed down regardless.

 

[Zivic]

lawns are easy. honestly, you could follow scotts numbered ferts and make sure you don't cut too short and your lawn will be decent. if it is more weeds than grass give it an overseed and water and you will be set.

in my area, the biggest mistake is people cutting too short.

 

[MustISO]

The lawn was cut short as there was very little establish "good" grass. The idea is that we are basically trying to establish a new lawn without going with sod (which I considered).

Once it's establish it will be cut high like it should be.

We do have grubs. Dug a few spots and found them in each spot.

Yes, the Scott's programs are easy to follow once you have an established lawn which we don't. I've tried over-seeding myself but it never took or the roots never went deep enough.

 

[Zivic]

The lawn was cut short as there was very little establish "good" grass. The idea is that we are basically trying to establish a new lawn without going with sod (which I considered).

Once it's establish it will be cut high like it should be.

We do have grubs. Dug a few spots and found them in each spot.

Yes, the Scott's programs are easy to follow once you have an established lawn which we don't. I've tried over-seeding myself but it never took or the roots never went deep enough.

in my experience grubs are only a problem as they attract moles.

edit:

pic of my lawn. ... it's mostly in the cut:

 

[edro]

in my experience grubs are only a problem as they attract moles.
edit:
pic of my lawn. ... it's mostly in the cut:

Wow! Do you get plenty of rain? I assume you don't water a lawn that large.
Do you fert or weed treat?

 

[Zivic]

Wow! Do you get plenty of rain? I assume you don't water a lawn that large.
Do you fert or weed treat?

I have about 2/3 acre of grass. I have an irrigation system for it. I am a farmer and run all the heads at once off my diesel driven irrigation well. it's kind of impressive when compared to a traditional residential setup. it has something like 24 heads.

for the most part I just use scotts. hit it 4 times a year. I've tried the cheaper brands (like menards brand), but don't feel they work as well. they quick release and you need to fert more often

cutting is the biggest thing. I have a nice mower and as long as it's green, the mower will make it look nice. I have an area that is all weeds just west of my yard that I mow. My mower stripes it out nice

my biggest issue now is with moles. they are tearing up the back yard. I got 4 of the buggers last year, but haven't been 'hunting' them this year

once you get the yard established it isn't much work at all. just make sure you don't stress it in the heat for too long without water. if you do, it will thin out and weeds will come in.

 

[edro]

In my experience, the biggest key to success is water.

 

[Zivic]

In my experience, the biggest key to success is water.

definitely. that's a given. if you want a healthy lawn you need to irrigate it.

 

[Aikouka]

I wonder if that's what's screwed up about my lawn. From what friends have told me, I have Bermudagrass, but I've also got quite a bit of Crabgrass. I've wondered a few times if I'm either cutting the lawn too short or just not giving it enough water as I'll get splotches of brownish grass.

I also have an area where there's a lot of shade and no grass. That kind of bugs me as I'd like to have a proper lawn in the right areas. I've also been fighting to keep the grass away from the cement area surrounding my pool. I usually just edge it, but that only keeps it away for a week or two.

 

[lupi]

I probably have voles rather than moles, but have had to put down a good amount of grub killer last three years to keep them away. Went without doing so for about 6 months once and noticed the tunnels starting to creep back into my yard again.

 

[LegendKiller]

I probably have voles rather than moles, but have had to put down a good amount of grub killer last three years to keep them away. Went without doing so for about 6 months once and noticed the tunnels starting to creep back into my yard again.

If they aren't tunneling underground and just run tracks on the top, eating the grass, they are voles. I have voles and I hate them. Every spring I have a bunch of spaghetti noodles in my grass.

I am asking my service to put some castor oil based repellant down this year.

 

[postmortemIA]

In my experience, the biggest key to success is water.

in mine, cutting tall, never short. Dealing with weeds as soon as they show up.

 

[MongGrel]

I like no lawn myself.

 

[LegendKiller]

in mine, cutting tall, never short. Dealing with weeds as soon as they show up.

This. I keep mine at 4" water once a week deeply, if that, and never have a problem.

 

[MustISO]

It's been about 12 days since the first treatment/seeding/aeration. I've been watering on non-rain days but we got a ton of rain for about 5 days in a row so the ground has stayed moist.

Checked on it today and I have new growth that's about 2" tall. It's thin blades at this point but I imagine that will get thicker as it grows.

 

[MustISO]

Been almost a month now. Bought a new blade for the lawn mower since the old one hadn't been sharpened or replaced in years. New blade is very smooth and cuts great. Lawn is looking fantastic. I'm hoping it stays like this throughout the year.

 

[Greenman]

I like no lawn myself.

That's what I did. Tilled the lawn under (actually backhoe'd it under) planted a bunch of plants, tossed in some big rocks, put down commercial weed guard, drip irrigation, and black mulch. No more edging, mowing, watering, fertilizing, and generally wasting my life on a patch of grass that I never much liked anyway.
I've also had several neighbors stop by to comment on how great it looks. Guess my wife knows how to design landscaping.