Need help with my lawn!

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

We bought our house last May just East of Dallas. It was a slightly distressed property, needing a good deal of work on the inside. The exterior, needed work as well, however, we opted to wait on that until we had some of the other renovations complete.

The yard appeared to be a mix of Bermuda, St. Augustine, and weeds. Lots and lots of weeds. I spent some time last year spot spraying and trying to get the weeds under control in the front yard. Most of the decent bermuda appears to be along the street at the front of the home, in a strip maybe 5-10' wide and running the width of the yard. St. Augustine is growing quite well in the shaded areas, mostly along the right of the home and at the back of the back yard.

The back yard is a lost cause at this point, any time we get .5-1" of rainfall it is standing in water, as drainage is VERY poor. I have developed a plan of action there to start moving the water around and getting it to drain out of the yard.

Now, on to my question, I am wondering if I should seed my front yard with bermuda, or attempt to fertilize what is there and allow it to spread. I put down Lesco pre-emergent last fall, and applied again in early March. I read a post somewhere here, where pre-emergent is a No No if I want to seed. It was only applied in the front.

These aren't close ups, but it will give you an idea of where we started and where it is now.

This is what we had when we moved in, a yard full of weeds, clover, crabgrass, you name it, it was probably in there

[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/black2002ls/House/20140510_170600_zps7118095d.jpg[/IMG]

This was taken about a week ago. As mentioned, I did some weed killing last fall, tried to maintain the bermuda with water, and have applied Pre-Emergent twice.

[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/black2002ls/House/20150408_192959_zpsggmdl9gs.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/black2002ls/House/20150408_192712_zpsochd1hbo.jpg [/IMG]

And just to show the disaster, this is the back yard...

[[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/black2002ls/House/20140731_071303_zps9gbnyyss.jpg /IMG]

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Comments (4)

r_d_butler
Original Author
11 years ago
I attempted to embed the photos for easy viewing, but had zero luck, not sure what the trick is on this forum. I tried every link PB had to offer. I can get closer pictures if needed
grasshole
11 years ago
If you want bermuda, and you say there is some bermuda already there, I'd give it a shot.

Mow low, feed it with a nitrogen fertilizer, and make sure it gets adequate watering. If bermuda is there, it will happily spread all over the place.

Even better, get a soil test at Logan Labs and amend as necessary. http://www.loganlabs.com

helpful link!!!
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dchall_san_antonio
11 years ago
There's only one way to get rid of the St Augustine. Start now mowing it low. Then some time this summer, once the bermuda is growing well, stop watering altogether. Assuming you get no rain, in about 3 months the last of the St Augustine should be dead. The bermuda will look terrible, but it will come back as soon as you water. Once it is dead and crispy, the St Aug will not come back. If you don't get rid of the St Aug, it will take over the bermuda and choke it out.

What is your plan for the lake in the back yard? You have to be careful how you divert water so it does not flow toward your house or into your neighbor's house/yard.
r_d_butler
Original Author
11 years ago
i have thought about tring to keep the st augustine on the right side, as it is not connected to anywhere I have permuda.

As for the lake, I was originally going to have tge entire lot re-graded. I work in residential new construction so grading and drainage are common place. I have changed my plan to filling some of the larger low spots, pushing the water around and getting it out. Once I minimize the large areas of standing water, I plan to utilize drains. I am hoping to end up with a couple of spots that hold water, instead of a plethora of them. On the right side, I was thinking about a dry well, but due to where underground cable and electric are runni g, that may be tough.