Thread: Lawncare Advice

I guess I've always been lucky and never had this problem, but this year my lawn has been taken over by weeds and crabgrass. I'm not much of a green thumb, so what can I do in the fall and winter to kill off this crap and get the good stuff to take back over? Or can I even get rid of it. My neighbor said I'll have to till and sod to get rid of it, but I find that hard to believe. I appreciate any input from those better at lawncare than I apparently am.

I had that same problem in the beginning of the summer. I went to Lowe's and bought some concentrated Spectracide with one of those jug/pump things. I sprayed the Spectracide and after 2-3 weeks my weeds and crab grass were gone. Once that happened I put down some Scott's Weed and Feed. My grass ended up looking pretty good.

If you want to till it you can. But you won't have to lay sod. You can seed it. Rye grass grows really well in that area in the winter time, so you could always seed it for rye. It's easy to till if you rent a good motorized one. After that, seed it and lay down fertilizer with some Scott's and you'd be pretty well set I'd imagine.

I can share with you what I did last fall and what I am now doing, but I'm not going to candycoat it, it's gonna take some dedication and work if you want results.

Ortho has several products selective for weeds while leaving what you do have intact. go to a nursery, or even a home depot and get input from a salesperson you feel confident with. tell them your situation, they'll know and direct you toward the chemical. if ortho, but a diluter, attach it to your hose and spray onto the amount of lawn directed on the spray. I would recommend applying this at least a day after a mow, and following rain. If no rain, water your "lawn" before application. the additional moisture is paramount to delivery. give it some time, maybe a day or two, and start dethatching. this is what separates the men from the boys. commit to raking vigourously for 20-30 mins a day over the next couple of weeks. I've noticed that the effect of the weed killer (in my situation) last for a few weeks. no need to wait for visual dieback, root systems of weeds seem to be weakened enough after a few days. but to not burn yourself out and to do a good job of dethatching, I recommend a little at a time over a couple of weeks. dethatching and deweeding not only removes the problem, but also prepares the ground to receive seed. more seed sees the dirt, if you will.

aerate- I use the spiked shoes, but there is also a tool you step on and punches holes in your soil. again, ask for direction at a home depot or nursery.

when you've got to the point of a dethatched and almost weedless lawn, there should be some bare spots. if the ground is compact, put a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of topsoil down. spread your seed. water. keep them moist. I try to water twice a day, again, some discipline and vigilance, but I find this part rather peaceful and include it in my morning meditation. add fertilizer, starter fertilizer shortly after the seed. do not be discouraged if you dont' see sprouts even after a weeks. keep the ground moist. when you do see sprouts, keep at your watering schedule and continue to your first frost. the roots of the tender sprouts will be storing up sugars for the long winter, to become a mature sprout full of promise and hope in the new spring.


Good Luck and God Bless

AGap

Originally Posted by SeeingRed

I had that same problem in the beginning of the summer. I went to Lowe's and bought some concentrated Spectracide with one of those jug/pump things. I sprayed the Spectracide and after 2-3 weeks my weeds and crab grass were gone. Once that happened I put down some Scott's Weed and Feed. My grass ended up looking pretty good.

If you want to till it you can. But you won't have to lay sod. You can seed it. Rye grass grows really well in that area in the winter time, so you could always seed it for rye. It's easy to till if you rent a good motorized one. After that, seed it and lay down fertilizer with some Scott's and you'd be pretty well set I'd imagine.

Awesome. I'll try the Spectracide first and see how it goes. If that doesnt work, I'll try the till and fertilizer. I see the latter as the eventual solution considering how rabid this crap has taken over. My entire front yard and a huge chunk of the back

Who the **** is AGap?

Originally Posted by CoachChaz

Awesome. I'll try the Spectracide first and see how it goes. If that doesnt work, I'll try the till and fertilizer. I see the latter as the eventual solution considering how rabid this crap has taken over. My entire front yard and a huge chunk of the back

You'll be amazed how quickly grass fills in where the weeds are once the weeds are gone and no longer robbing the grass of it's water. I have a big pine tree in my front yard and in front of it between it and the sidewalk there was a giant patch of weeds, probably 5' x 12'. I used that Spectracide and two weeks later the weeds were brown and there was green grass starting to sprout up. I watered the bageezus out of it and now it's just grass.

Originally Posted by SeeingRed

Who the **** is AGap?

No one you need to be concerned with

SR's advice is very sound. I followed a similar program a couple years ago and I have minimal problems w/ weeds and crab grass.

I use Ortho Weed B Gone over Spectricide which is probably very similar but I've had great success w/ ortho.

I also use a sprayer that I attach to my garden hose similar to the one below, although the one I have is better quality. I recommend finding a sprayer that allows you to regulate teaspoons & tablespoons of chemical per gallon of water.

I pour the Ortho into the container and will usually use 4 tablespoons of chemical per gallon of water and spray it on weeds like you are watering them. They should start to die in a couple days. If a few hearty crabgrass plants remain after a couple weeks then douse them again.

I use my sprayer for a ton of stuff around my yard. I add plant food when I feed flowers, trees and bushes and fungicide when i spray my apple trees. It's awesome.

Attachment 3501

My biggest obstacles are expansive clay soil and Texas heat. I water the shit out of my yard and still get cracks in the summer time.

Originally Posted by CoachChaz

Awesome. I'll try the Spectracide first and see how it goes. If that doesnt work, I'll try the till and fertilizer. I see the latter as the eventual solution considering how rabid this crap has taken over. My entire front yard and a huge chunk of the back

I haven't read all the responses, Coach, so I don't know if you are getting any good advice, but let me tell what I've learned this summer because I had the very same problem.

First of all, to be effective, crab grass has to be killed in the Spring BEFORE it emerges. The good news tho if you've been overrun with it, is that it dies in the Fall without any help from you. So option one is forget about it until next spring. The crucial part is make sure you have your lawn treated with the recommended weed killer EARLY enough that it doesn't get a foothold.

Supper just arrived, so I'll expound a bit more later, and tell you how I learned about this...

Your buddy, Bo

contact your local garden center-- they'll probably have a less chemical, more effective version of the products being recommended. . .

Around here, we can bring soil samples and weed samples to the county extension office. They will analyse the soil and recommend fertilizer and something if you need to raise or lower the ph. They will also help you with the type of weed killer, based on your weeds.

Originally Posted by dogfish

contact your local garden center-- they'll probably have a less chemical, more effective version of the products being recommended. . .

Bad advice. Organic doesn't do crap to control weeds.

Stick w/ the high test.

Originally Posted by WTE

Bad advice. Organic doesn't do crap to control weeds.

Stick w/ the high test.

where in my post does it say organic, doofus?

a local center may well have something specifically formulated for their LOCAL climate. . . the place i go to has a lawn fertilizer made for colorado, and people i know who have used it say it kicks the snot out of scots products. . .

Highly Recommended. I got it from Home Depot. I am happy with it.