WFFaithful
Well-known member
Don't forget the preemergent
I needlessly toiled and wasted money using big box store products. Things really started working when I went to Southern Season (SS). Brought in a lunch bag of soil for testing. They told me exactly what to get and when to apply it. And it worked - and endured!
Living in NC, our soil is acidic so lime needs to be regularly applied. Again SS will tell you how much and when. Now is the time to get pre-emergent down (bought from SS) to stop the weeds head start on the grass. Get some weed killer down to kill what has already come up. Re-apply pre-emergent in May. Prep soil around Labor Day (lime, fertilizer, etc). Plant grass in October. SS has special grades of grass from NC State (bronze, silver, gold) that is pricey but worth it. All grass, no filler, no weeds (yes, big box store seed does contain weeds - "oops, how'd that get in there; now you need some weed killer, right this way...."). I bought SS gold. I think it was $100-$120 for a 50 lb sack. It was great. I also bought different seed for shady areas - Wyatt Quarles Shady Nook. Been happy with it.
I had a neighbor sod his yard with zoysia and I'm thankful it is encroaching in my yard. He actually lets me get sprigs from his yard to plant into mine. As it spreads, I keep sprigging it into new areas of my yard. Encouraging his zoysia is my long term plan. Fescue from SS was my last attempt to grow grass until zoysia spreads. Zoysia is a slow spreader relative to Bermuda, and it likes the sun/hates the shade. It stops right on the shadow my house makes on the front yard. So I'll take zoysia in the sunny areas and Shady Nook in the shady areas.
I guess what I am saying about zoysia is you can get a single pallet and use it for sprigging. It will take a while, but if you have more time than money.... My zoysia grows about 4-5 ft/year.
Oh, and onions thrive in acidic soil. Lime will actually get rid of them for you.
We live across the street from a floodplain (McMullen Creek) and the lower part of my yard is in it too. Constantly wet down there during the winter, although I don't have any trouble growing grass in most of it. Any suggestions on plants that would soak up water? (In Charlotte.)
Do you mean Southern States? I thought Southern Season sold like pecan logs and fancy grits.
I've been a battle with my HOA for years because my front yard is a big hill that gets blasted by the sun with zero shade in the summer. Fescue sod dropped dead every single year even with constant irrigation so I finally threw down Bermuda, which has taken just fine. But the HOA classifies it as a weed and not grass (and it has spread to my slightly-pissed neighbor's yard, but fuck him), so they keep telling me to burn it all. But fuck off, it is green and stays alive and looks generally like grass. Would they rather have that or dead grass and dirt?
I've been a battle with my HOA for years because my front yard is a big hill that gets blasted by the sun with zero shade in the summer. Fescue sod dropped dead every single year even with constant irrigation so I finally threw down Bermuda, which has taken just fine. But the HOA classifies it as a weed and not grass (and it has spread to my slightly-pissed neighbor's yard, but fuck him), so they keep telling me to burn it all. But fuck off, it is green and stays alive and looks generally like grass. Would they rather have that or dead grass and dirt?
Don't make lawncare harder than it needs to be. Weed and feed in the spring, seed in the fall, water as needed. Also, raise your mowing deck up to a minimum of 3" if you have fescue, so the sun doesn't burn it up.
My thing is I want to be able to start enjoying (read, not be embarrassed) about my lawn ASAP. Which is why I'm leaning towards professional help. Needed to address this last late summer/fall when we first bought the place.
Rent some goats. They’ll clear that land in no time and give you a blank canvas.
Or get a lot of Roundup and go Chemical Ali. Hippie neighbors won’t like it, but you also won’t have goat turds all over your yard either.