how to fix this mess...

1173 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by probasestealer, May 16, 2018

Milefl

Discussion Starter · May 15, 2018

Hey everyone, I am new here. I just recently found this site and was hoping I can get the help I need to get my lawn looking great.

I have uploaded a bunch of photos of my yard that I need guidance on fixing.

Here is the background.... my property is divided into two parts, the level part of my that surrounds my house and a steep hill in the backyard.

The hill I am pretty sure needs a complete kill and rehab in the fall. I do not know a lot about weeds past dandelion and crabgrass but I know that slope is so full of weeds, tall grassy weed, check pictures below.

The level part surrounding the house was completely tore up when I had a septic system installed last year. I think they used some sort of weed seed mixed with a little grass seed when they seeded and put straw down. You can see in some of the other pictures of the front there are dark patches mixed with large patches of light green. The lawn is very thin. The light green patches is not grass. At least I do not think so. It is more of a stalk that if it grows to about 6" has a seed head.

I am not sure if I should do a total kill and reseed with a quality grass seed in the fall or not.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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probasestealer

· #3 · May 16, 2018

1. Kill it all.
2. Decide when you want to kill it. I'd recommend you fallow. Kill it soon, keep it watered and spray it every 1-4 weeks. You want weeds to germinate and then kill them
3. At this point I'd skip pre-emergent. But Halts might be an option of you do it soon.. anyone else have an opinion on this?
4. I like mid August to seed. In NC I did my last Reno 8/13
5. Decide on seed. Kentucky bluegrass, hybrid bluegrass (my new favorite) of tttf
6. Water, water water

Basics... Plenty of info on this site. We're happy to help

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probasestealer

· #6 · May 16, 2018

Milefl said:
Sorry you guys already answered the last question I asked. If I start this in June that will give me 2.5 months before I would seed in mid to late August.

Don't aerate if you can help it (resist), you risk bringing weed seeds to the surface. Kill, kill, rake the dead/thatch and continue killing. I typically kill a few times, scalp slowly bringing down the deck as low as it will go and bag the clippings. That cuts down on raking and soil disturbance
I personally think 2.5 months is enough. I did 1 month last year, tons of crabgrass pressure last fall. Crabgrass dies as the weather cools.
Read about Tenacity at seed down. You can spray it, or Scott's has mesitrione + starter.

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probasestealer

· #8 · May 16, 2018

I agree with the above. But remember, mesitrione is a better post-emergent than pre-emergent

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