how to take care of yard

[zixxer]

when i was a kid i, like most of us, had to mow my parents (grandmother actually..) yard. I didn't know anything about weeds or whatever.

Now that I have my first house, the front yard isn't too bad (some weeds here and there.. not a ton though..) but my backyard is really bad with weeds and a different type of grass. The front is bermuda (I think? very dense and short) and the back has splotches of bermuda, but is mainly some other kind of grass.. 'normal' grass I guess... and TONS of weeds...



WTF do you do? Just pull up the weeds? there's 100's of them! I see these companies that spray stuff on yards and it's supposed to make them look good... can I do that stuff myself?

 

[BigJ]

Go to Home Depot and ask someone in Gardening for some advice if you want the easiest solution.

 

[zixxer]

the guy at home depot was a moron and of no help.... bleh

 

[notfred]

Be like my dad. Get a pocket knife, wander around the yard for hours at a time, and whenever you see a weed, cut it off at the root. Then complain about how much work you have to do and how you don't have enough time to do it.

 

[K1052]

Use gasoline to get rid of the weeds.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Get a roto-tiller, rip up the whole yard, and re-sod it with new grass. Fresh start!

 

[MX2]

You can buy spray bottle applications that are safe for the grass, but kill the weeds. After that, I would go ahead with aerating the lawn and throwing down new grass seed and some fresh fertilizer. Remember to water daily for about two weeks thereafter.

Here is a link to help with your other questions.

http://www.yardcare.com/

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
Get a roto-tiller, rip up the whole yard, and re-sod it with new grass. Fresh start!

Yes this is the best thing to do.

But first attempt to dig up all the weeds, root and all. If you leave too much root or just roto-rill the things they will come back.

 

[Ornery]

What do your neighbor's lawns look like? No sense putting any more effort into it than they do. It's about $5-$10 for 5,000sf coverage of chemicals (twice that with weed killer), applied at least 3 times per year, and more if the grass never goes dormant.

 

[boomerang]

I have a company come out and put on weed killer and fertilizer and all that.

It is less expensive for them to do it than for me to buy the materials. But, I do have a large yard. Well over an acre of just lawn. I would think the numbers may not work out favorably with a small yard.

They would be happy to come out and give you advice and a quote. TruGreen ChemLawn are nationwide I believe. I have a smaller local company do mine. But their prices are very close to one another.

 

[Baked]

Quick dry concrete.

 

[middlehead]

Originally posted by: Baked
Quick dry concrete.

You forgot the green paint

 

[Feldenak]

Bah...if the yard is green then it's fine.

 

[mb]

Poop on it. Back and forth.

 

[dullard]

#1 rule: All of what you do in the yard is pointless if you don't water properly.

You could weed perfectly, fertilize perfectly, seed perfectly, mow perfectly, do everything perfectly and it will all go to waste if the lawn dries out.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: zixxer
the guy at home depot was a moron and of no help.... bleh

wadda ya want for twelve bucks an hour?

 

[aircooled]

grab a bag of Weed and Feed.

 

[spidey07]

If it is truly nothing but weeds it may be best to just rip it out and put in a new one. Otherwise it could take years to really get it healthy.

Otherwise - read, read, read and then read some more. Follow the directions/advice on fertilizing, watering and mowing.

You better get cracking - your spring fertilizer/weed control and pre-emergent probably need to be put down immediately (if it's not already too late)

And make sure you water it and water it deep. Like 1.5 hours or so. Best to water very deeply twice a week than multiple shallow waterings.

If you do decide to rip it out it might be best to wait until fall.

Scotts is high quality stuff and they have excellent documentation. If you really want a nice lawn you have to do it yourself.

 

[LostWanderer]

I'm with ya... Moved in 2 years ago (this will be my 3rd summer) and have been trying to figure it out ever since. Did the self application stuff, finally switched to ChemLawn people last year. Feels like I'm getting taken, but it I'll say this much, it is getting green. My problem is rogue weeds and grasses I don't want and a few bare spots. Keep hearing differing opinions of how to fix those. Any advice?

BTW - I already put 10lbs of seed on my yard (like 3000 sq-ft) with a spreader and only part (like 30%) of it came up.

 

[spidey07]

The bare spots are probably grubs.

grubs = bad

As far as fixing the weeds - if your yard is healthy enough the grass will keep them out. I don't trust somebody else to do it as I've always had better results doing it myself.

Your problem could be watering as well. Weeds just love dry soil and grass doesn't.