New home but bad lawn...

[Wames]

Ok, I just moved into a new house and the lawn is terrible. There are no bare spots but it's about 60-70 percent weeds, crab grass, etc. Should I kill off the entire pawn first or just try to plant a new lawn over this?!?

Help!!!

[ericlemson]

Yes, to killing it off. That is if you want a nice lush lawn.

[Wames]

Ok. So what's the best way to go about that. Just buy grass & weed killer?!? Yikes... the lawn is pretty big, about 1/2 acre.

[trekmann]

Hello Wames,

Hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your post. I too have a new lawn. The builder put seed down and then covered with hay back in April when I moved in. It produced no results and I have an abudance of weeds. I figured there wasn't much I could do, so put off doing anything until the fall. Now looking for advice on how to go about getting my lawn started.

[mngrassguy]

What type of grass do you guys have?

[dura to the max]

Ok. So what's the best way to go about that. Just buy grass & weed killer?!? Yikes... the lawn is pretty big, about 1/2 acre.

if you buy the commercial jugs that we buy its about $120/1.5gal of concentrate. 1.5 gallons of concentrate makes hundreds of gallons of spray when diluted correctly.

spray the entire lawn, give it a week or so and spot spray any spot that have re-germinated. at this point i would till the entire lawn, removing trash/dirt/grass from the property. smooth the entire area, add topsoil/lime/etc... then seed/starter fert. at this point it would be wise to use a pre-emergent on the lawn to prevent weeds from popping up next year (and over the winter).

[dura to the max]

Ok. So what's the best way to go about that. Just buy grass & weed killer?!? Yikes... the lawn is pretty big, about 1/2 acre.

if you buy the commercial jugs that we buy its about $120/1.5gal of concentrate. 1.5 gallons of concentrate makes hundreds of gallons of spray when diluted correctly.

spray the entire lawn, give it a week or so and spot spray any spot that have re-germinated. at this point i would till the entire lawn, removing trash/dirt/grass from the property. smooth the entire area, add topsoil/lime/etc... then seed/starter fert. at this point it would be wise to use a pre-emergent on the lawn to prevent weeds from popping up next year (and over the winter).

[dura to the max]

sorry for the double post...

[trekmann]

The builder put down tall fescue. Do I need to kill the lawn or can I dethatch, aerate, then re-seed??

[dura to the max]

and what exactly is dethatching going to do? the purpose of dethatching is to remove clippings and the like from around the base of the stalk to allow oxygen, water, and other nutrients in. it wont help your problem at all imo.

[mngrassguy]

Just aerate, seed and apply starter fert. It's to late the treat the weeds first.

[trekmann]

Thanks...any experience with one of those pull behind tractor aerators. Attached is a link to one I'm considering purchasing for my task.

http://www.agri-fab.com/products/45-0299.aspx

[mngrassguy]

Looks kind of cheap compared to my Lesco, not as many tines. Works great on most lawns. As long as there aren't any fences with small gates and are wide open with few obstacles. Also, not easy to back up. I think my Turfco WB does a better job too.

[dura to the max]

ive never had any luck w/ those type aerators...not heavy enough w/o mods to penetrate the soil.

[mngrassguy]

I added 2-100# steel bars. No problem getting good penetration with moist soils.

[trekmann]

Thanks, now I got my work cut out for me over the new few weeks....but I think I'm going to rent an aerator this time since from what I'm reading, a homeowner doesn't use it often.

Brent