[massp88]

I bought my house 3 years ago August. The lawn was in a decent shape (save for some good sized bare spots in the back yard and some weeds) and since then it hasn't not improved. This year I decided to give the Scotts 4 step program a shot and it did not really improve things - there are still a good amount of weeds and a good amount of very dead grass.

Here are some pictures of my lawn: https://imgur.com/a/eaxmO

The second and third photos show part of the lawn being dug up after we had our driveway widened.

What's the best course of action to get my lawn back into shape? I am not expecting to have a lawn like a fine country club. I would like to have a pretty decent lawn, say a B- or B grade if that makes sense. Does it need to be completely replaced?

 

[Eric]

Shoot I don't know, it's probably to late to do a reno this year as that would be my first choice. By the time you spray the weeds there probably won't be much left. I would focuse on the weeds this fall and possibly do a dormant seeding. Then see how it does in the spring, but just plan on doing a reno next year. It's possible to bring it back but it's takes time and work. Heck just 4 short weeks ago my lawn was gone, worst one on the block. Working outside today I had 3 different people asking me what I did to get it to come back so quickly and nicely(still looks horrible to me, but it's getting there). I looked at em and said time, money, and water! They looked confused and walked away! Lol

 

[Fronta1]

First things first - your soil. The soil in the photos looks awful. If your entire yard is like that, your gonna have a tough road to hoe, pun intended. So the first thing you can do this year is get a soil test.

Where you don't sample the soil, poke a screwdriver around and see how far you get. It will be interesting to see if you find chunks of concrete.

Most likely your going to want to sow some new seed. Tall fescue would be a good choice if your soil is poor.

 

[Sinclair]

You're late to the party for a renovation (unless this warm spell lasts into November) but you have the time now to do a really thorough kill, which most of us aren't patient enough to do in August.

First things first - make sure you get all the stones and debris out of the soil, and give the yard a bunch of passes with a core aerator. The soil looks very compacted.

For the kill: Glyphosate, wait 5 days, scalp the dead material, water heavily for 7-10 days to try to bring other weeds that may be hiding to the surface, glyphosate the survivors and scalp again. The whole thing takes about 3 weeks.

This will set you up clean for a dormant or spring seeding.

 

[ABC123]

do you have a sprinkler system or a way to water everything?

 

[massgrass]

I agree with Fronta1 and would definitely get a soil test. Umass will do it for $15 (see umass.edu) with a pretty quick turnaround time. They emailed me my results a few days after I sent them the soil sample. The results came with some basic recommendations and you can also email them at [email protected] with specific questions.

It can seem a bit drastic, but if I were in your shoes, I would probably start from scratch in 2018. If you have decent sun and watering capabilities, something like the Kentucky Bluegrass renovation GrassDaddy chronicled on his YouTube channel could be interesting. Basically, you nuke everything and start again from scratch in August.