North Texas! thanks!

How carefully did you sow the grass seed? If you didn't seed heavily and evenly, I'd try reseeding. Do you have grubs? Dig where there's no grass and look. This will also tell you if it's compacted. Grubs are white, C-shaped worms with brown noses.

How do your neighbors' lawns look? Is this an area problem?

For one seeding, I think it's not bad.

Explain your seeding process. Soil prep, ensuring seed-soil contact, covering and lightly mulching and watering.

tj

@sigrid @tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱ There are no grubs. Neighbors lawns are beautiful.

In the winter, i just threw rye grass seed with a spreader and then it rained for a week, so i suspected the seed washed away; hence the bald spots.

This spring, I aerated the lawn (with spiky aeration shoes) and then threw weed& feed. I haven't seeded this spring.

To narrow my question: What should I do to in the immediate time frame to fix this? Rent a tiller to break up compacted soil? then lay grass seed?

Is my "grass" actually weeds?

The "grass" is grass.

Great!!! Haha do you by chance know what kind it is? St. Augustine maybe?

Is your soil noticeably compacted? Unless you had builder vehicles compacting it or have easily compacted clay, I don't think you need a rototiller. I'd reseed the bald spots, making sure to water it well.

@sigrid I was just reading on soil types and I’m 80% certain my soil is clay. Clay soils are common in my area and last summer, I noticed cracking. After it’s rained and now the grass, clumps of dirt are very apparent. It also just looks compacted. Does this change the process for seeding?

Also, should I seed with Bermuda or just get St Augustine sod. I don’t know what type of grass I have…

You need to talk to your local county extension agent - lawn care is local. In my area (northern VA) aeration and seeding is done in fall so the new grass has all winter & spring to grow roots before our hot, dry summer tests it. Your situation may be similar. Rather than using a rototiller, you could rent an aerator at the proper time.

Maybe you could ask the neighbors what kind of grass they have to find out what does well in your area? Hybrid bermuda looks better and is easier to control than common bermuda (IMO) but has to be sprig planted. It would be more work rototilling, removing existing grass and planting the sprigs but it makes a nice lawn.

I'm concerned that rototilling the lawn will damage the roots of the OP's trees. The OP is focused on the lawn right now but protecting the health of mature trees feels like a bigger issue to me.

While this is cross-posted to the Lawn forum, it seems that none of those guys have shown up yet. I know nothing of warm season grasses, but I do know that rototilling is a big no-no in their book. It fluffs everything up, then the soil settles unevenly, causing bumps and lumps and general mess.

There are several trees around the yard…What is the sun exposure…there are shad grasses and sun grasses.

loading a spreader and broadcasting seed often does not work. do you have acess to peat, compost, owns a few rakes and shovels?

can you do your own research? or do you want someone on the internet to communicate woth? are you a social media person? vs in person conversations?

@a mat I would say partial sun in the summer once all the leaves come back in. I can go buy peat and compost, and I own rakes and shovels. I've done my own research and there is just SO MUCH out there and it is very overwhelming. Some people say use peat, some people say don't, some people say use compost, others don't - so many differing opinions and I don't know what the best option for me is. I don't even know what type of grass I have so unsure if I need seed or sod? Everything I've tried just hasn't worked so I'm feeling very discouraged. I was hoping to find someone on here that has dealt with this before and knows what they're doing, so that I can ask very specific questions and bounce ideas off of.

I am a social media person - if you know of someone good to follow for tips, please let me know.

A problem with social media is the anomality and the lack of responsibity from the posts. Different things work for different people based on user resources. What works for me, in my location may not work for you in your location.

You had tools but did not use them?

i recommend using your local resources..retail, neighbors, landscapers.

I raked and used a hand tiller/aerator before spreading the seed, but like I said, it didn't work. I didn't put peat or compost because I didn't know I had to or should have. Again, this is why I need help -_- I. don't. know. the. proper. steps. Tryign to get it right this time around so I do not waste more time/money.

Are you set on having grass/lawn? Would you consider a more diverse set of plantings? See examples below. Examples are just to give you ideas -- you'll need to pick plants suitable to your zone, amount of sun/shade in that area, wet vs dry, etc. If doing something like this, it's best to create an overall plan that you can implement over time.

Lake Magic · More Info

Nantucket Residence · More Info

Lush Los Osos Landscape · More Info

@RTHawk those are beautiful! I hadn't considered that, but I think it would be nice, especially along the flagstone pavers! The area along the back fence can be reserved for lawn.

A former golf course employee gave me this advice for planting grass seed - after the seed is applied, it must be watered every day for at least 10 days. After you see green, it needs to be watered every other day for two or three more weeks. “Never let it dry out,” he said.

This advice works well for me here in Missouri; I assume Texas grass would require just as much water.

If you want to have grass, then, given the tree situation, St Augustine is going to be your best bet. Having said that, there are some very shade tolerant varieties of zoysia, but I cannot name one for you. There used to be one out of Abernathy, TX called Shadow Turf, but they are out of the grass business now.

Here's what I would do:

1. Call three local nurseries and ask if they sell St Augustine pieces (approx 2-ft x 3-ft). Also ask who sells the most sod in your area. There will likely be one nursery that sells many pallets of grass every day. That is the nursery you want to deal with because they have the freshest sod and the lowest prices. Call them to determine the terms of the deal. In my case they told me to be there by noon because they sold 14 pallets per day, all before noon. Do NOT buy from Lowe's or HD unless you absolutely have to. They might sell 2 pallets every 2 weeks, so it's awful.

2. Prepare the area for new grass by spraying with this stuff.

Read the instructions 2 or 3 times to make a plan for spraying. You do not want to get that stuff on you. The atrazine should kill all the weeds you currently have as well as their seeds. Do that now. Give the weeds 3 weeks to die and then rake or scrape the area down to bare dirt. DO NOT rototill. That would be a mistake as mentioned above. Level the surface as you rake. Find high spots and scrape that soil into the low spots. Step on the loose soil to firm it up (down?). Don't jump on it, but step on it and continue looking for low spots to fill. Every low/high spot will be a bump you have to mow over later, forever, so get it as right as you can. You can use sand to fill in low spots as necessary.

3. Measure how much sod you want to buy and start buying it. You may need to make multiple trips depending on your vehicle(s). Lay the sod the day you purchase it for best results. St Augustine sod can get a disease sitting in a stack for a day.

4. As you install it, be sure to butt each piece up against the adjacent pieces so there are no gaps. If you have gaps then you should drop some sand between to keep it level. Adding sand is a pain. Roll the new sod down with a rented, water-fillable, roller. Alternatively you can walk on every square inch to ensure good sod-to-soil contact. Again, don't jump on it.

5. When you water the new sod pieces, water only enough to moisten the surface of the soil under the sod. The roots will now grow into dry soil below. All it has to be is moist, never soggy or mushy. Water lightly (5 minutes) several times per day the first week. After a week you can back off on the frequency to once or twice a day. After 2 weeks, try to lift a piece of sod at a corner to see if the roots have knit into the original soil. Assuming they have, then back off on watering again. Try watering a little longer (15 minutes) but only every other day. Eventually as the sod matures, you should be watering deeply only once every 2 weeks when temps are in the 80s and once per week when it warms into the 90s. Deeply means 1 inch all at one time. You'll have to measure that with your sprinklers by setting out several tuna or cat food cans and timing how long it takes to fill all the cans. That is your watering time from now on.

6. Fertilizer. I cannot suggest a chemical fertilizer, because I have never had success with them. I've used nothing but organic fertilizer since 2002. What I would use would be alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Apply that on the day you install the grass. I do it by hand because even the small pellets don't flow reliably through my broadcast spreader. If you miss an area you can always come back with more. If you get too much on an area that's no problem either, because it's organic and takes 3 full weeks to become available to the grass anyway. Here's a pic of alfalfa pellets. You can find them smaller. What you don't want is the horse cubes the size of your thumb.

7. Mowing. Mulch mow after you have new growth up to 5 inches high. Mow at the mower's highest setting always. There is never a good reason to mow St Augustine lower than the mower's highest setting. You can mow every week or every other week.

If you don't already have a string trimmer, you'll need one to keep those step stones somewhat clear. The St Augustine will grow between them and try to cover them. The grass will succeed if you don't keep after it. I would pull those stones out and make a wooden pathway. Think a walkable deck, 4 feet wide and 4 inches above the surface (on a treated 4x4 base).

@dchall_san_antonio thank you thank you thank you!! This is the step by step I need!! I do like the idea of taking out the stones - just need to consider my budget. As I asked in the other post, do you have experience with seed? It’s a little more budget friendly than sod.

Either way, I need to spray the weed killer, right?

My latest reply to your front yard post should cover you for front and back. If you had unlimited funds, then I would say "Yes", to the weed killer; however, if you want to skip the weed killer for this year, you can get going on the St Augustine pieces planted in the shade and let them start to grow. Weeds may not be pretty, but they are green. In the interest of your budget, for the price of the weed killer you could buy 2 more pieces of St Augustine and get that started spreading.

St Augustine will spread once it takes hold. Due to the coarse texture of the blades, it provides a canopy of shade over top of the soil. A dense canopy of tall St Augustine will choke out most of the grasses it encounters. It cannot compete with broadleaf weeds like clover, dichondra, or horse herb. The horse herb can be pulled easily if you catch it early (it's a pathetic weed), but clover and dichondra reseeds faster than you can keep up. If you get those in the mix, then that herbicide is the best way to get rid of those, permanently. If the St Augustine makes it through the season without the broadleaf weeds, then you can rethink the herbicide for next April (2025).