The yard & garden line is OPEN

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by Redlegs23

OK, I need some serious help. I recently bought a house that sits on 2 acres. The problem is that the yard is in pretty bad shape. I have a bad crabgrass problem...really bad. About 1/3 of the yard is crabgrass. Another 1/3 is clover. Yes, I have about 33% of my large yard that is actually real grass. The previous owner always kept it cut very short to mask the problem, but from what I understand this also helps the crabgrass take over.

Sooo, what exactly should I do at this point? Is there an effective post-emergence treatment that I need to be doing this fall? Should I wait until the spring and give it a pre-emergence treatment? Should I not mess with it myself and pay a professional? If so, what are some opinions on Chemlawn? I live a couple hours north of Cincinnati so my options with companies are limited.

One more question, I have a ton of weeding to do. Stupid question here, but should I zap everything with Roundup and then try and pull the weeds after they're dead?

Sorry for the many questions, thanks in advance.

Right now is the time to renovate your lawn. Grass seeds like to germinate at around 80-85 degrees, and then there is a window in the late summer and early fall that favors cool season grasses.

1) Buy a good broadcast fertilizer spreader- not the kind that drops the stuff directly down, but one with a spreading wheel that is turned by walking forward.

2) Buy a crabgrass killer from your local garden store. Apply it asap, then apply it again in a week to spots where the crabgrass has not died.

3) Aerate- you can do this yourself by renting an aerator or hire it out. It's a pretty important step, so don't skip it.

4) Overseed with a mixture of seed that matches your conditions. Tell your garden store what your yard is like (sunny, shady, etc.) and they will help match the seed to the conditions.

5) Water it in and keep watering until the grass looks like it's healthy and established.

6) If you have patches where this is no grass whatsoever, consider renting a slit seeder (below). These babies do a great job.

YouTube - Slit Seeding by Steven.

As for the question about weeds, I only recommend using Roundup when you want to kill everything. If you have patchy weeds throughout the yard, using Roundup on each one will result in a circle of dead plants (both weed and grass) at each spray point. Instead, you can use a broadleaf herbicide (2, 4-D is the most common)
You may find a crabgrass killer that also kills weeds (including the clover). If you don't, then look for something that is both a fertilizer and a broadleaf herbicide. Apply it now, then apply the crabgrass killer.


Do you need a professional service to maintain your lawn? Well, you might want to ask a landscaper to renovate your lawn, but I have never seen a real reason to have someone come out and treat a homeowners lawn unless the homeowner hates the work. It's not hard to fertilize a few times a year. My own opinion about professional services is that they use too much nitrogen and too much herbicide. I prefer to treat for weeds only occasionally and fertilize twice a year to keep lawns healthy, which often keeps weeds from growing (but I also have a higher tolerance for weeds than many homeowners- I just don't like throwing chemicals on the grass my kids play on). The best thing you can do for your lawn, once established is to keep it watered, fertilize and then aerate and top dress in the fall. All these things can be hired out, of course.

[Redlegs23]

Awesome info, thanks!

[Redsfan320]

Who are you exactly, SunDeck? A professional landscaper and gardener?

320

[Hoosier Red]

Don't ask questions of the man behind the curtain!
I think I'm going to rent an aerator next week and do that work myself. Then I can throw some more grass seed down and the lawn will be bright and green next year!

[Roy Tucker]

I'll vouch for aerating/seeding and slit seeding.

In 1988, we had a pretty bad drought/heat wave in the tri-state, i.e. the proverbial 100 year drought. Our township banned outdoor watering. Not limited, but banned as in the county agents and sheriffs drove around and handed out tickets if they caught you watering. Started with a warning and then the $$$ figure escalated PDQ. My wife saved the bathwater she bathed my 6 mos. old son in to water the flowers with.

So by the time the fall, I had about a 2/3 dead lawn. Late fall, I aerated the bejesus out of it and overseeded with my spreader. I also slit-seeded the bigger dead areas. I went in on renting the aerator and seeder with 2-3 other neighbors and that lessened the $$$ imapact. Watered as much as I could (the ban came off in late fall).

By next spring, I had lots of nice fuzzy bright green grass growing. By June, my lawn looked pretty OK. Took a couple years for deep root growth to settle in, but it all worked pretty well.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Roy Tucker

I'll vouch for aerating/seeding and slit seeding.

In 1988, we had a pretty bad drought/heat wave in the tri-state, i.e. the proverbial 100 year drought. Our township banned outdoor watering. Not limited, but banned as in the county agents and sheriffs drove around and handed out tickets if they caught you watering. Started with a warning and then the $$$ figure escalated PDQ. My wife saved the bathwater she bathed my 6 mos. old son in to water the flowers with.

So by the time the fall, I had about a 2/3 dead lawn. Late fall, I aerated the bejesus out of it and overseeded with my spreader. I also slit-seeded the bigger dead areas. I went in on renting the aerator and seeder with 2-3 other neighbors and that lessened the $$$ imapact. Watered as much as I could (the ban came off in late fall).

By next spring, I had lots of nice fuzzy bright green grass growing. By June, my lawn looked pretty OK. Took a couple years for deep root growth to settle in, but it all worked pretty well.

Horrendous summer 88 was, just painful

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by Redsfan320

Who are you exactly, SunDeck? A professional landscaper and gardener?

320

I look a lot like GAC:

[Redsfan320]

I look a lot like GAC:

LOL. But what beest thou occupation?

320

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by Redsfan320

LOL. But what beest thou occupation?

320

Former landscaper, former horticultural research librarian, lifelong blowhard about landscape maintenance.

[Redsfan320]

Former landscaper, former horticultural research librarian, lifelong blowhard about landscape maintenance.

So I see.

320

[klw]

We bought a place last year that has a great old huge apple tree. I am getting a number of drops but other than tasting some of the apples, is there a way to know when to pick them? I am unsure of the variety other than they are a red crisp tart apple.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by klw

We bought a place last year that has a great old huge apple tree. I am getting a number of drops but other than tasting some of the apples, is there a way to know when to pick them? I am unsure of the variety other than they are a red crisp tart apple.

I'm not much of an orchardist, but those sound like your basic McIntosh apples. What a lucky find! My grandfather had a McIntosh tree when I was a kid and he always started picking when they started falling on their own.

Try some extension websites, there is probably a lot of good info out there. Here are a couple:
U of Illinois
Ohio State

[KYRedsFan]

Sundeck, great thread and gonna get to work on my yard's weed problem with the advice you have passed along above. I had a somewhat related question, our home has a patio out back and appears to have some sort of overgrowth on it. It's not moss, but it is green, and has an almost "crunchy" like texture almost like a coating on the patio but to me isn't something that is supposed to be here. When you walk on it, it leaves this green residue all over your shoes that is very fine, almost sand-like. Anyone have any idea what this is? Should I just go with a power washer? Gonna try and post a couple pics. Thanks for everyone on here's advice.

[KYRedsFan]

And. Not sure if it reproduces, but it's a very fine layer and sort of crystalline in its appearance

[SunDeck]

Looks like a kind of Lichen to me. I'd probably power wash it, but don't use the highest setting. Just enough to clean it off. Stone is tough, but not indestructible.

Is that the north side of your house or is it constantly shaded?