I am not licensed to apply chemicals and have little experience with yard repair. My dad asked me to help him with his yard (freebie) and I need some advice. The yard is 95% crabgrass. Our plan is: Kill everything with Round-Up Wait a few weeks aerate and seed with annual rye Aerate again and reseed with tall fescue in fall We're in western N. Carolina. Any advice would be appreciated.
This is a good yard to learn from! I don't think you have to worry about being sued by the old man if you don't get it exactly right.Sooo...Kill what is there.Then, rent a Bobcat with a Harley rake.You can rent a set up like this here for about $ 350.00 a day / 8 hrs. on the meter.Completely renovate the entire yard- it will turn under all the old dead growth, and make a perfect seed bed for seeding the new lawn.You can also change some contouring of the yard at this time as well.It could be a good time to learn to use a skidloader too(if it is something you will be doing eventually)Seed and straw(don't forget a good starter fertilizer at app time)water, and remove the straw when the grass gets to about 2-2 1/2", then mow as it allows.The first mowing will help force lateral growth of the new grass.Don't forget a good nitrogen treatment about 30-40 days afterwards.Good luck!<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/12/12_7_17.gif' border=0></a>
Since this is your fathers yard, ask him to wait until early to mid fall. spring time seeding could be a problem due to the fact that weeds are actively growing, ground soil is at a much lower temperture, But to anwser the question remove all the exsisting lawn and start over becausecrabgrass is hard to control and being that 95% of the lawn is consumed with it you dont have a choice. You can spray the lawn with non selective weed killer use a sod cutter or bob cat w/ harley rake to remove turf also take a soil test to determine what the soil is lacking and best time to do this is when the lawn is dormat. use good quality weed free seed, starter fertilizer. we dont use straw to much unless the customers request it. we use compost or peatmoss figure out your pounds per sq. ft. for correct seed and fertilize applacation and water well about 1" per week and the best time to water is in the morning. If you follow these rules your dad will be very proud of you and his neighbors just might want to hire you. good luck
