I'm in central NC and I will say you need patience. When I bought my house, the yard, both the grass and natural area, were as you described, a disaster.

For the grass area: I got a contract with a weed killer company. Mine is Weedman (interesting name for today's times) and slowly, the weeds died out and the grass filled in. I did do some aeration and overseeding a few years but don't do it anymore now that the grass is established. They do a pre-emergent, fertilizing and lime. Costs around $500 for the season. I never water the grass. It gets a bit brown in the hot summer but next spring, it's back green and thick.

For the natural area: I had a lot of dallisgrass. At first I thought it was an ornamental. Ha! I also had a lot of other weeds I used to spray like crazy. Finally, I was advised by a landscape pro to use Snapshot pre-emergent in February. Magic! After the first year, very few weeds. Second year and beyond, no weeds all summer. If a few crop up after a rain, I give them a quick squirt with weedkiller. Gone.

Good luck!

If it's a large yard I'd work with it. For a smallish one I'm going to nuke it like yesterday and have a beautiful lawn next spring. How many sf is your lawn?

Hi All, thanks for the feedback. The yard is approximately 2,000 sq ft (in the front) which is what I am focused on right now. It's now mid-August and I have definitely had to change up strategies a bit over the course of the summer.

I did end up buying the Revolver to use with the Celcius and it did kill (a few) patches of the dallisgrass. BUT, there were also a LOT of patches that came back with a vengeance. I think some of it even waved at me as I walked by with my sprayer. Ha!

So by early July, I started encouraging the Bermudagrass like crazy. I was adamant at first that I did NOT want Bermudagrass, but after some extensive research, I realized that is the only thing I have a chance of growing in the full-sun, dead-heat of our NC summers. Plus, that was pretty much the base of the yard and it's aggressive as $#@! so I just decided, "If you can't beat them, join them."

So, I put down two entire bags of Milorganite over the 4th holiday. Then by mid-July, I could really see the new dallisgrass poking its ugly head through so.....I hit it HARD with glyphosate. No more cat and mouse game. Then I watered like crazy and a week later hit it again. Then watered like crazy and two weeks later....I hit it AGAIN! Now, it's almost completely dead. I have giant patches of muddy brown mush in my front yard, but I don't care because that stuff had to die.

I feel like I still have two solid months of continuous growing season left for the Bermudagrass to take over, so I'm hoping it can spread out and at least produce a base for next season. But I have ordered Prodiamine for the winter weeds and I also have a spring pre-emergent ready to go in early March next year (crabgrass, etc.) We shall see I guess?

This year has turned into a bit of a bust because I was really hoping to not have to kill giant patches of yard, but this dallisgrass is relentless. If you leave any sign of life, it comes back even worse! I have been told not to overseed Bermudagrass with additional Bermuda because it will almost never be the same texture of your current (common) grass and will end up looking like another giant patch of weeds. So I am literally just waiting this out to let the current grass take over.

It's crazy because I filled in two patches of holes with potting soil (where I dug a few of the weeds out), and placed some "runners" of Bermuda into the soil and two days later.....it had started to take root in the potting soil! I'm telling you, if any grass has a chance to choke out weeds and take over a yard....it appears to be Bermuda! (You can see the runners in the pic!) *And a few extra residual weeds...ugh!*

Have you given any thought at all to what all those chemicals are doing to your soil, the local watershed and all the life other than you that depends on them? And for what, a pure stand of a green carpet that the vast majority of people will never know or care how much time, money and effort you poured into it. An excel spread sheet.

And now that you are switching to Bermuda, happy twice weekly mowing at a low setting in high season if you want it thick enough to keep the weeds out.

I actually have, and have stuck with the labels for spray rates. Listen, I do understand the ramifications of my choices this year to *finally* get a yard that I can enjoy, thanks for your judgy concern though? After I get the yard to a place where I don't have to mow a WEED every two days (you apparently have no idea how fast dallisgrass grows) then I will never have to use this stuff again. So yeah, I went all in this year. Mowing GRASS twice a week will be a blessing.

*shrugs*

I have a very clear idea of how fast things grow in WNC. I know, I know, some people like lawn mowing and turf, so make your grass healthy and happy with best cultural practices and you won't need so many chemicals.

Those chemicals tend to have a short half life and break down quickly. I doubt you are harming much. Of course, best practice is not to use them if you don't need to but sometimes it is required for a decent lawn. Nothing wrong with that. Sounds like you are finally kicking dirt and taking names!

I'm certainly trying! Obviously the ultimate goal is to have a carpet of Bermuda where no weed can poke its ugly head. But no way that's happening with bunches of dallisgrass all over. I had to pull out the big guns this year! 🤣