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bmillman78

My lawn is bad - please help

11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago

Hello, looking for advice both short term and long term.

I have used weed b gone, and weed n feed in the past. We pay for lawn care but they mostly just cut grass and put down crab grass pre-emergent.

The weeds come in apr/may. And the crabgrass/other stuff came recently.

Thanks so much!

Pics are below.

Comment (1)

  • 11 years ago

    Where do you live?
    What kind of grass do you have and want to have?
    What is your watering regimen? How often do you water and for how long?


    Weed-n-feed products are hard to apply correctly, so it's best to avoid them. It is much better to use a fertilizer to fertilizer and a herbicide to kill weeds.

    There is a stronger product called Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis killer. The bottle looks like this...


    There is another product called Weed-B-Gone for Crabgrass Control. That bottle looks like this...


    Since you know you have crabgrass I would try the orange bottle first and see which of the other weeds it kills before buying them both. Remember that all you're doing with these herbicides is wetting the leaves of the plant. You're not drenching the soil.

    I suspect you're not watering properly, but you might have other issues. If you could answer the questions up top the other issues could be addressed. Here are some basic 'best practices' for lawn care.

    Basics of Lawn Care

    After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct.

    1. Watering
    Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.

    You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week.

    2. Mowing
    Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush.

    3. Fertilizing
    Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything).

    At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.


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