HELP! i don't know what to do with my yard!

15 years ago

Hi there! i need some serious help with my yard. i bought my house a little over 3 years ago, at that time they had put sod in but i doubt that they had prepped the land appropriately (as with other things in the house). my plan has been to completely redo the backyard at some point but due to other home improvements this has been put on the back burner.

i live in the city so the yard is probably less than 2000sf. when i moved in, there was mature tree of some sort that is pretty much a giant weed and a couple of large wild rose bushes in the yard. over the last couple of years the grass and mulched areas have been increasingly hard to keep them even sub-par condition.

i was sent overseas for work this summer and pretty much had to let the yard fend for itself. just before leaving i had the tree and rose bushes removed. as expected i came back to a dormant lawn (no irregation in the backyard) and LARGE weeds and mini trees all over. i still plan to redo the yard but cannot financially afford to do the full build out that i want to do at this time.

i am wondering if it would be a good idea to get a bunch of round up and rent a rototiller and wipe the back yard out and reseed before the fall. does anyone have any advice on this? the soil is very hard and lumpy back there and the tree sprouts are all over the grassy and mulched areas. my thought would be to just till the mulched area in as well as the distinction of the 2 areas does not do anything for me.

thank you in advance for any advice you can provide!

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Comments (3)

Billl
15 years ago
Mini trees seem like a big problem, but they really aren't. Trees naturally put all their energy into growing upward. They absolutely hate it when you mow over them and chop the tops off. They die off pretty quickly. This is true for most weeds that grow really tall too. The weeds that are bigger problems in a lawn are the ones that creep along down at the grass level.

If you are looking for a fix to get an acceptable lawn until you can afford more elaborate landscaping, overseeding is the way to go. IF you have some existing grass, just mow everything down as short as possible. If you have 100% weeds, spray them with roundup and wait a week before mowing. Rake up the debris so you can actually see dirt. Put down seed and fertilizer and keep it consistently moist until the grass is up. Once the new grass has grown enough to require mowing 3 times, you can use a broadleaf herbicide like weed-b-gon to treat any weeds that survive regular mowing.

If you are willing to put in a little more time and money, you can aerate and topdress after mowing short but before seeding. I would recommend against tilling. It just makes a bumpy lawn even bumpier and brings weed seeds to the surface. Just topdress with a thin layer of soil or compost and rake it smooth.
dchall_san_antonio
15 years ago
Now is the time to get going. DO NOT TILL. If the area is not level, spend your time leveling it. If you bring in more soil, which I suggest you do not, make sure rain drains away from all buildings. At most you might need a few bags of soil or sand to fill in holes. The reason I don't like bringing in more soil is that it can become habit forming. I don't know why but it happens. I have pictures of a lawn that is 8 full inches above the level of the concrete sidewalks. That happened over decades of topdressing with 1/4 inch of topsoil every year.

If you just want something green, do what billl suggests and be sure you have a mix that includes some kind of Kentucky bluegrass. The KBG will come in and continue spreading to fill in the areas between the fescue.
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jdp_vienna
15 years ago
Not sure why all of the aversion to tilling on this site. You can till if the following conditions are true and you follow the proper procedure:
If the soil is extremely compacted due to years of neglect (like the surface of a parking lot)
If you have more than 50-75% weeds (or no grass/bare spots)

The proper procedure:
round up
mow short (as short as possible)
till until soil is tiled to 4-6". it may take several passes if the soil is super compacted.
Now, here you can make a choice. After tilling millions of old weed seeds will be brought to the surface. This is just a fact of life. You can either 1.) water the dirt and wait for the seeds to germinate. Then KILL them with round-up. or 2.) get some top soil delivered that is weed free and spread it all over the tilled soil. This will re-bury the weed seeds and give you a nice layer of fresh top soil (get the 50/50 compost/soil mix) in which you can plant grass seed. Bury the seeds 2" down and you don't have to worry about them any more.
Yes, the ground will be bumpy after this. That is why the good lord provided us with a.)rakes and b.) lawn rollers.
Rake the debris up. Rake the soil to grade it. Roll it with a roller 1/2 to 2/3 full of water. This will give you level ground. If it isn't level, roll it again. This isn't going to compact the soil enough to worry about - it will just make the ground level.

So there is a time to till and a way to till. The blanket statements that just say: do not till aren't always accurate.