[samadams951]

Hello friends, new to the forum. I live in San Antonio, TX and just moved into a house with a lawn that needs some love. I'm open to advice and here's a short video showing what I have going on.

https://youtu.be/2xloGBlaEzA

Open to any and all comments. Thanks!

 

[Tellycoleman]

!st Welcome to TLF
your first post was a video AWSOME!!!

OK
Not to sure about your definition of full sun all day. Your entire Video is shot in shade. Do all parts of that area and I mean all parts get 8-10 hours of sun?
Have you put any fertilizer on the lawn?
What kind of chemicals do you have for Weed kill?
Might just be good to put down a weed and feed.
Honestly with the shade that i see on the picture you will always struggle with a patchy lawn. The shade from your house and your fence. The lawn is patchy from lack of sun.
I think your best option would be to forget about grass in that one little area. Landscape rocks would honestly be better and save you alot of money and frustration. You are going to struggle with that area. In the back where you said the lawn is lush is promising. However it to is under trees and Bermuda will struggle.
If the trees are yours can you thin out the canopy?
Hopefully others will chime in as well

If you really want grass i would dig up all that construction debris and replace with sand/topsoil. And get your water hose off the grass.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Welcome to TLF. I'd recommend getting a soil test first to see what the state of your dirt is at. While that's getting analyzed, you should consider how much sunlight the areas of your yard are going to get in total. You've got enough St. Augustine in the corner to use it to start plugging the rest of the yard that's thin. I'd recommend trying to work with what you've got if your budget is thin. Otherwise, sod is a viable option to get a pretty even and instant lawn. You know the St. Aug will work because that's what you've got that's alive. Develop a plan of attack to take on the winter weeds, because right now you're going to be battling the summer weeds that have already germinated. Lay off of the fertilization and watering of the thin areas until you decide what you're going to do with those areas that lack grass.

 

[samadams951]

Yes the area on the side of the house gets 10-12hrs of sun a day.

Hoses are off the lawn now!

I have a bag of lawn soil and 2 bags of composted manure I was debating casting across the problem area after core aeration....
Is the crabgrass something a weed and feed will fix? Or do I have to pull them all out like I began to do?

Thanks again!

 

[Ecks from Tex]

Make your overall goal this year to get control of the weeds and to encourage growth of your existing grass as much as you can. Lots of ways to accomplish this.

Next year you can sod or plug to fill in gaps

 

[samadams951]

Any quick ideas on weed control and controlling grass? Sorry... I'm just wanting to do it right.

 

[samadams951]

And should I still water during this 95+ degree weather?

 

[Ecks from Tex]

Any quick ideas on weed control and controlling grass? Sorry... I'm just wanting to do it right.

It's no problem at all that is what these forums are for and I'm in the same boat as you as far as asking questions and wanting to learn from others.

I only looked on my iPhone but you have St Augustine from the look of it. That makes your weed killing a little more tenuous, but if you have the budget for it you should pick up a 10 oz bottle of Celsius herbicide and apply it at the lowest rate late in the evening (cool temps). Herbicide of any kind is rough on St Aug during the summer months in our area (I was born in SA and lived in Kerrville many years), but Celsius WG seems to be the most forgiving.

Then you need to get some pre-emergent to keep them from coming back. I use several, but as a starter kit I would keep it simple and apply Prodiamine 65 WGD.

You're going to need a sprayer. We all like the Chapin 20v backpack sprayer around here because it's a heck of a deal on Amazon. But you can survive on a pump/hand can, we all did it for years before lithium batteries were readily available.

Don't stress over the equipment, just get out there and put the work in, take the advice of some of the pros on this forum, and I promise you'll see results.

 

[Ecks from Tex]

And should I still water during this 95+ degree weather?

Absolutely. Water more. A lot more.

Do you have irrigation or what is your watering method?

 

[Redland1]

Check out Ewing irrigation.You can get most of the stuff you need except Celsius.They carry Trimec southern instead which is a 24D herbicide.

 

[samadams951]

Thanks for the support!!

I currently use an impact sprinkler for the narrow side strip and one of those fan sprinklers kids run through to cover most of the backyard.

I'll look into the Celsius but other wise I'll do the hard labor to pick all those weeds myself.

 

[Ecks from Tex]

Thanks for the support!!

I currently use an impact sprinkler for the narrow side strip and one of those fan sprinklers kids run through to cover most of the backyard.

I'll look into the Celsius but other wise I'll do the hard labor to pick all those weeds myself.

No matter what you need pre-emergent or you're just spinning your wheels pulling weeds.

 

[samadams951]

Even this late in the season?

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Something is better than nothing. I actually just sprayed Dimension (dithiopyr) on a guy's lawn here in GA. I felt a little more comfortable with that product on his lawn instead of Barricade (prodiamine), because I'll actually get some PostM (postemergent) control on the crabgrass, as well as getting a PreM (preemergent) barrier down for the weeds that haven't germinated yet. Your PreM barrier is your best weapon in the war, and I agree with what others have said about getting your weeds under control first. Once you get the weed pressure off of the turf, it'll grow really well. Plus, mowing grass is fun; cutting weeds is not.

 

[Ecks from Tex]

Even this late in the season?

Yes. Crabgrass can germinate again in the summer plus a bunch of other stuff. And you will be better served if you get a jump on pre-em going into next season, meaning when you put down pre-emergent in February (the time when it should first be put down), you don't have a lot of winter broadleaf and residual from this summer

And just note that you shouldn't consider Celsius or another post-emergent herbicide the easy way out (ie in lieu of hand pulling). Unless you're pulling every weed by it's root system, you're actually helping most weeds propagate by hand pulling. Hand pulling is good weeding practice if you can get the entire root system and because it can make room for the turf grass to thicken up and prevent future weed growth (thick grass is always the best preventer). But I'm your situation you have no thick grass so herbicide is not just a luxury but a necessity in my opinion if your goal is to reduce weeds in the lawn during your first year, which is what I recommend.

 

[samadams951]

Alright so my plan of action is this (feedback appreciated)

Get a PreM and cover both front and back yards with it, continue watering, wait for results and mow maybe once a week? Once every other week? Should I bag, or mulch clippings? Should I still aerate the yard?

 

[Greendoc]

Even this late in the season?

Yes. Crabgrass can germinate again in the summer plus a bunch of other stuff. And you will be better served if you get a jump on pre-em going into next season, meaning when you put down pre-emergent in February (the time when it should first be put down), you don't have a lot of winter broadleaf and residual from this summer

And just note that you shouldn't consider Celsius or another post-emergent herbicide the easy way out (ie in lieu of hand pulling). Unless you're pulling every weed by it's root system, you're actually helping most weeds propagate by hand pulling. Hand pulling is good weeding practice if you can get the entire root system and because it can make room for the turf grass to thicken up and prevent future weed growth (thick grass is always the best preventer). But I'm your situation you have no thick grass so herbicide is not just a luxury but a necessity in my opinion if your goal is to reduce weeds in the lawn during your first year, which is what I recommend.

And able to pull every single weed in the lawn before it sets seed, pulling weeds is what I call wasted work. Treat it and free up time for watering, fertilizing and mowing. Mind you, I have seen lawns where weeds were under control via hand weeding. The owners of that lawn have no life. They are pulling weeds every day. Moment they stop pulling weeds, the lawn goes to hell in a handbasket rather quickly.