Lawn care
- Thread starter RICH17
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I had to put sod in my yard in a few patches where the previous owner had their kids swing set. This was my yard in the fall last year, it's all in the scott's turf builder.
As a part time Ace hardware employee and home owner, here are a few tips...
As soon as it starts to warm up, rake and clean up your yard as best as possible. Get all last years leaves, twigs, and dead grass off the lawn. If you want put down some quality top soil for a fill in. Kentucky Blue Grass is good for this region, and likes a mix of sun/shade. Look at the back label and it will tell you exactly whats in it, weed free %, expiration date, etc. Keep any animals off the areas you are trying to grow. It might be tough, but new grass is very fragile.
Spring/Fall is the best time to grow grass. Fall is ideal, but spring is fine. You must water the lawn daily religously for the grass to germinate and at least a week everyday after it starts to grow. This is extremely important. Best time is in the early morning before the sun gets hot. Watering in the evening is not recommended since the water sits over night and can promote bacteria/fungus growth.
Be careful with fertilizer. If put down a crabgrass preventer, which usually is applied in spring, it actually PREVENTS new grass seed from germinating. Make sure you get a fertilizer that is safe for seeding. For example, Scotts Step 1 will not allow germination, however they have a product called Step 1 for Seeding that still prevents crabgrass but allows new seed to germinate.
Do not mow the new grass until its well established, I'd say at least 6 weeks. Good luck!
As soon as it starts to warm up, rake and clean up your yard as best as possible. Get all last years leaves, twigs, and dead grass off the lawn. If you want put down some quality top soil for a fill in. Kentucky Blue Grass is good for this region, and likes a mix of sun/shade. Look at the back label and it will tell you exactly whats in it, weed free %, expiration date, etc. Keep any animals off the areas you are trying to grow. It might be tough, but new grass is very fragile.
Spring/Fall is the best time to grow grass. Fall is ideal, but spring is fine. You must water the lawn daily religously for the grass to germinate and at least a week everyday after it starts to grow. This is extremely important. Best time is in the early morning before the sun gets hot. Watering in the evening is not recommended since the water sits over night and can promote bacteria/fungus growth.
Be careful with fertilizer. If put down a crabgrass preventer, which usually is applied in spring, it actually PREVENTS new grass seed from germinating. Make sure you get a fertilizer that is safe for seeding. For example, Scotts Step 1 will not allow germination, however they have a product called Step 1 for Seeding that still prevents crabgrass but allows new seed to germinate.
Do not mow the new grass until its well established, I'd say at least 6 weeks. Good luck!
i am/was a landscaper. sod it. everyones grass is pretty shitty due to last years drought.
depending on size, i can get a roll of sod for about $1.18 which is delivered to the sod farm daily. make sure good topsoil (id say get compost soil) is down and make sure to wet the ground before putting it down. water once daily after 4pm when the sun can still hit it. dont mow it for at least month, prob 6 weeks like mentioned and the first times you cut it, use a very light push mower.
depending on size, i can get a roll of sod for about $1.18 which is delivered to the sod farm daily. make sure good topsoil (id say get compost soil) is down and make sure to wet the ground before putting it down. water once daily after 4pm when the sun can still hit it. dont mow it for at least month, prob 6 weeks like mentioned and the first times you cut it, use a very light push mower.
yea i'm in the same boat. i have a ton of crab grass and dandelion everywhere. the previous owner did no lawn care and it just spread. i'm trying to figure my options out. my yard will be changing this year so im not worried about growing new grass this spring but i wanna eliminate all the weeds and crab grass. think it would be better to:
- lay weed killer down ?
- tear up the whole yard and start fresh with sod?
- ???
- lay weed killer down ?
- tear up the whole yard and start fresh with sod?
- ???
how dense are the weeds, if they have taken over most the yard, and you cant see much grass, when you kill the weeds, your left with dirt as the good grass hasn't been able to dig in. a lot of my customers think by killing the weeds and such, that fresh healthy grass just pops up. not always the case! a good weed and feed (not scotts) within a few weeks should help a lot, after that, id just spot treat the bad areas with weed b gon
yea by the time i remove the patches of weeds all that is left is dirt. some of the weeds roots are 6+ inches into the ground.
what would you recommend for a good "weed and feed?" my goal right now is to kill everything that is not grass. i will be digging up parts of the yard and leveling out other parts. so my plan to have the yard full of grass will come mid summer/fall.
what would you recommend for a good "weed and feed?" my goal right now is to kill everything that is not grass. i will be digging up parts of the yard and leveling out other parts. so my plan to have the yard full of grass will come mid summer/fall.
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