Please tell us what state you live in.

This forum could best help you Kate, if you would supply a little more information. Where are you located, what kind of grass do you have, growing conditions, shade or sun, trees or no trees. Are you able to water your acre of lawn on a regular basis. What would you like to accomplish with this lawn (goals) ? Do you need all your acre of land in turf lawn or could some areas be more natural, weeds, wild flowers etc ? Bill Hill

90 miles north of Pitts, I believe zone 7. I don't know what kind of grass I have, but I do know I have trouble. My house sits in the middle of the acre and I have a 28'X16' Koi pond off the back patio. I have tons of flower beds and keep it very manicured (or at least I try). The back is completely fenced in with privacy fence (I will try to post pix this weekend). But these stinkin' weeds are crazy out of control - I HATE that ground ivy. I pick at every time I'm outside -- please help!
~Kate

but other than last year, water is not a problem. I want "golf course" lawn! Now stop laughing, I knew we all do! I just want to get rid of these evasive weeds and have thick green grass and my gardens.

~Kate

Right here are the only solutions I've seen for creeping charlie that are different from the usual herbicides. There are two responses that refer to borax applications. Apply the borax now in spring and again in fall. You should know that it will be an ongoing battle for a while.

After that, my response to you is exactly the same as in this thread. Soil test information in your area is here, and you can find your local PennState Cooperative Extension Service here.

OMG! Please do not use borax. Yes it will kill whatever your weed is but it will essentially sterilize the soil for any future plantings. Boron is a trace element needed for life. Beyond the trace amounts, it is toxic.

Can you find out what species the ground ivy is? There are many plants called ground ivy.

There are a number of typos in your 13:40 message. Are you saying you DO want a golf course lawn, or you do NOT?

Would you consider a clover lawn? I am thinking of Dutch white clover with the round white flowers everywhere that attract bees. A clover mix is about the most carefree and lush lawn you can have. It fell out of favor after WWII when the chemical industry flooded the market with "defoliants" that knock down broadleafed weeds. If you couple clover with other grasses (fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, or even bentgrass), you could have a nice turf and need very little care.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some clover pictures

Oh wow, I didn't know that, David. Thanx for telling us.

As I stated I "want" golf course lawn. Sorry I wrote 'knew', I meant, I 'know' we all do; as in we all want our lawns to look like a golf course. I'm really not crazy about the clover idea, but thanks none-the-less.

Kate....I'm in NC but this is a very helpful website for info - www.turffiles.ncsu.edu. Also, check out the website www.lebsea.com. They are out of PA & I can personally attest to the quality of their products. Shoot them an e-mail explaining your dilema & I'm sure they will have recommedations. I certainly don't have any concrete answers to the ground ivy problem you've got. I'd apply a weed killer (I've seen several that claimed to kill ground ivy) several times until I saw the results I wanted. And if the product I was using wasn't giving me results I'd try something else. And depending on the ivy/grass ratio I might even spray roundup several times. And, you've got all summer to rake & pull out as much of the dead/dying ivy as possible. The key is to hit the yard hard in the fall with aeration & a heavy overseeding of TTTF using the practices gained from the NCSU site & in talking to others. Obviously the denser the stand of grass the less room there is for the ivy to grow. Then in the spring you can apply a combination fertilizer/pre-emergent product to help keep the ivy from coming back. Hey, I have absolutely no affiliation at all with Lebsea but I know those are the products the best golf courses & most expensive neighborhoods use in my area. That was what made me choose them for my yard & I couldn't be more happy. I have a very hard time believing there aren't control products out there that can't be effective against ground ivy, if applied when it's growing & at the proper rate for multiple applications. Anyway, hope this helps in some small way & best of luck in getting the lawn you want.

at least now I have something to go on.

~Kate