Hey Everyone,

I'm new to this forum as I just bought a home last fall. I have a home in Burke and my lawn looks terrible this spring. Grass either isn't growing or weeds have taken over. I tried putting down fertilizer a few weeks ago and it didn't do a single thing. Anybody have any ideas on what to do? Any lawn care gurus on here?

Give it a few hours, Chuckhoffman may write you a nice little guide. Just give him some time to research the issue.

Ask the Re(publican)tards, they know everything

Serious question to OP: are you sure it's actually grass you have in your lawn? Also, is your lawn shaded?

Ask whoever'is in charge of the medians on the Parkway. That shit won't stop growing!

Since you just put down fertilizer wait a a couple months. Take a soil test and send it in to the local muncipality that does that. First couple of weeks of Sept use roundup and kill off every single thing on the 'lawn' Wait till its all brown and dead (about 10 days). Rent a thatcher and remove the dead stuff and scarify the earth. But the best seed you can specifically for shade or sun depending on location. Spread the seed, work it into the soil with a rake, cover with straw purchased from a garden center and treat with fertilizer and lime as indicated in the soil evaluation (if lime is required you should probably start this over the summer as it takes a while to change the pH).

Water every day but not too much for 2-3 weeks. You will have an amazing lawn no weeds

plug aerator, ie Agri-Fab aerator. you will need a riding mower to tow it.

sod

dont bother with sod. if you don't aerate/fertilize/spray toxic death on it, it'll be full of weeds in a year.

let the weeds be weeds. if it's green and you can cut it with a mower, it counts as grass.

get a soil test. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since you just put down fertilizer wait a a couple
> months. Take a soil test and send it in to the
> local muncipality that does that. First couple of
> weeks of Sept use roundup and kill off every
> single thing on the 'lawn' Wait till its all
> brown and dead (about 10 days). Rent a thatcher
> and remove the dead stuff and scarify the earth.
> But the best seed you can specifically for shade
> or sun depending on location. Spread the seed,
> work it into the soil with a rake, cover with
> straw purchased from a garden center and treat
> with fertilizer and lime as indicated in the soil
> evaluation (if lime is required you should
> probably start this over the summer as it takes a
> while to change the pH).
>
> Water every day but not too much for 2-3 weeks.
> You will have an amazing lawn no weeds

* forgot to mention after seeding and raking you need to press the seed into the ground by using a roller...

nWCMY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> get a soil test. Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Since you just put down fertilizer wait a a
> couple
> > months. Take a soil test and send it in to the
> > local muncipality that does that. First couple
> of
> > weeks of Sept use roundup and kill off every
> > single thing on the 'lawn' Wait till its all
> > brown and dead (about 10 days). Rent a
> thatcher
> > and remove the dead stuff and scarify the earth.
>
> > But the best seed you can specifically for
> shade
> > or sun depending on location. Spread the seed,
> > work it into the soil with a rake, cover with
> > straw purchased from a garden center and treat
> > with fertilizer and lime as indicated in the
> soil
> > evaluation (if lime is required you should
> > probably start this over the summer as it takes
> a
> > while to change the pH).
> >
> > Water every day but not too much for 2-3 weeks.
>
> > You will have an amazing lawn no weeds
>
> * forgot to mention after seeding and raking you
> need to press the seed into the ground by using a
> roller...


Suggest also covering it with about 1/4" of topsoil, patted down. I've had better luck with seed when doing that then when not.

Our lawn is gorgeous. We use Lawnmate lawn service. Makes a HUGE difference.

I heard on WTOP that to keep weeds away I think you pour corn gluten on the lawn in the early spring. I think their subject matter expert is Mike Magrath?

Like you I bought a house last year. The lawn looked terrible but I fixed it right up.

Do this in sections, not the entire yard at once unless you have no job and a lot of time to waste.

1. Set mower deck height to lowest setting and SCALP the section you want to fix.

2. RAKE all the thatch, leaves, grass, and garbage out of the area you scalped.

3. Till the soil up with a garden weasel.

4. Use a drop spreader and put down GOOD PREMIUM seed.

6. Use garden weasel to mix and mash the seed into the soil. The seed must be in CONTACT with DIRT to germinate and start growing. Any seed laying on the ground is wasted.

7. Water AT LEAST twice daily. I did watering in the morning before going to work and again when I got home and once more before bed.

8. 10-14 days later you have grass. Don't mow it until it's 5 inches high. Now set mower deck to second highest setting and leave it there. Always mow your grass on a high deck height setting, short settings are hard on the grass once the summer heat and drought arrive.

9. Pretty grass!

The pic shows an area I repaired myself. Before I started there was NO GRASS there because the previous owner parked his trailer over the grass when he moved out. Over several days the summer heat and lack of sun and killed it all.

Your results may vary.

Good luck.
Attachments:

If you don't have a lot of money, I've found that illegal aliens are pretty good at lawn care. Those fellas have a knack for making anything grow. Just go to your nearest uhaul and you ahould find a handful of them.

Normal healthy people water their lawns.


'Bama uses bullsh!t. Like you

That was for 'Eff Ewe' poster

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/bonide-products-60415-60414-crabgrass-preventer-with-fertilizer-24-0-8/254659643.html?listingId=305795416&scid=pla_google_GreatGardenSupply&adid=18172&gclid=CMznh5n5sr4CFatj7AodBVwAkg#

This stuff works great. Probably too late in the season to help you now.
I apply late Feb and again early May.

Hard to recommend a procedure without seeing your lawn. If it's more than 50% weeds, then tear it all up and start over. You can use a detacher/tiller/weedwackerk to do this. If you don't have topsoil, you will need to bring in some - composted soil works best (w/ humus, etc). There is no way to grow a lawn in hard clay soil.

As for seed, there is only one kind you should be using - LESCO premium, sold by Home Depot (for homeowners). You will want a Bluegrass/perennial Ryegrass mix.

NOT FESCUE.
NOT FESCUE.
NOT FESCUE.

Fescue is what everyone sells. It's cheap. It grows fast. And it will last a season. Fescue needs to be continually reseeded or it will eventually disappear. In terms of sod, it is garbage. DO NOT BUY IT.

I had the same issue with my lawn. Does your lawn have a lot of shade? That's what we had to deal with. Just googling I found a couple posts that may help.

County website with basic lawn care tips

Burke Lawn care blog talking about growing grass in shady areas.

There's no overnight answer. A very good and sound program;

- Apply fertilizer in the fall, 2-3 times. Maybe 1x in the spring.
- Apply weed preventer (aka pre emergent) in the fall and springtime, around march. The pre emergent stops weeds from growing.
- Add seed only in later summer, early fall. As in beginning of september. Dropping seed now doesn't give it enough time to take. The heat of the summer is hard on new grass.
- Use organics, including top dressing with compost. Also, Milorganite is an organic fertilizer **with iron in it....which will green up your lawn**. A lot of lawn nuts apply milorganite 1x a week.
- Use Ortho cco for things like clover, ivy, chickweed. Cheap. Weeb B Gone or Speedzone for everything else. Spot spray.

If your serious, and are committed to this, read this forum: http://aroundtheyard.com/forum.html

You can spend a decent amount of time on your lawn (some people...me included....like to). That forum will teach all you need to know and save you money so you don't get dependent on some lawn care company.

Good luck, btw, pictures always help.

PSUturfgrassscience05 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hard to recommend a procedure without seeing your
> lawn. If it's more than 50% weeds, then tear it
> all up and start over. You can use a
> detacher/tiller/weedwackerk to do this. If you
> don't have topsoil, you will need to bring in some
> - composted soil works best (w/ humus, etc).
> There is no way to grow a lawn in hard clay soil.
>
>
> As for seed, there is only one kind you should be
> using - LESCO premium, sold by Home Depot (for
> homeowners). You will want a Bluegrass/perennial
> Ryegrass mix.
>
> NOT FESCUE.
> NOT FESCUE.
> NOT FESCUE.
>
> Fescue is what everyone sells. It's cheap. It
> grows fast. And it will last a season. Fescue
> needs to be continually reseeded or it will
> eventually disappear. In terms of sod, it is
> garbage. DO NOT BUY IT.

Do you live in this area? I ask because most garden centers around here push people to tall fescue. For some reason they treat kentucky bluegrass like a second cousin. In all fairness, there are quality tall fescue seeds that are quality and don't thin out over time. Yes, you will need to overseed in damaged or thinned areas.

For the uninitiaded, kentucky bluegrass is better in one major area, it spreads and fills in sparse/damaged area on its own via rhizomes.

It's too late to do all this now. Any new grass will be too young to make it through the summer. A lot of your effort will be wasted. Just keep the weeds cut down and tackle this in the fall. It's really the best time for a new lawn.

After a few yards worth of renovation - my two cents:

- KILL THE WEEDS - Get a good weed killer and kill weeds. No matter what if there are to many weeds they will block out the good grass.

- THATCH - If the yard hasn't been cared for getting rid of the thatch layer is critical - Seed won't grow if it can't reach the soil. This is a painful job, but invest in a thatch rake, or hire someone to do this, but seeding without thatching is futile.

- TOPSOIL - Soil in this area is largely clay - not good for anything! So get some good topsoil. I would recommend finding someone who sells a dump truck full (a few hundred dollars) rather than bags which can easily add up to way more.

- GOOD SEED - DONT BUY CRAPPY SEED! - It is only a few dollars more for good seed - I've had great success with REBEL in this area . Seed (remember the old adage - 1/3 to the birds, 1/3 will die, and 1/3 will succeed) when its cooler/wetter weather and keep moist for 14-21 days. If seed comes up in a few days its CHEAP seed, it needs to grow roots first, then come up.

I would recommend waiting until the FALL - You need warm days and cool nights and moisture to really grow seed successfully - so you have a few months to kill the weeds, thatch, and get that topsoil going.... And have fun!