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Hello! I'm new to the area, and would love some advise on what to do with my yard....
From what I gather, my front yard was originally sodded, and compared to my neighbors it's doing so-so. There are front yards that look much healthier, but there are those that look far sadder than my own, too.
My back yard on the other hand..... not so good. From what I understand, it was originally seeded a couple of years ago using a Kentucky / Fiscus blend.... I know it was aerated last Spring, and given some type of weed & feed last Fall, but that's all the info I have on it.
Any suggestions on what to do with both the front and the back would be greatly appreciated. It's my first yard of any real size, and I would like to try and do things right.
Again, tips on liming, fertilizer or weed & feed, reseeding, et cetera, would be wonderful....It looks like Spring is on the way, and I want to give my yard the best shot I can.
Fertilize, water, weed, aerate & overseed (fall) and wait.
Spring is a lousy time to seed in this area. You can have some limited success with good watering and early seeding, but often the summer heat hits before the roots are established and the grass gets fried. So take care of what you have now, keep it healthy, and get ready to do the real work next fall.
Hello! I'm new to the area, and would love some advise on what to do with my yard....
From what I gather, my front yard was originally sodded, and compared to my neighbors it's doing so-so. There are front yards that look much healthier, but there are those that look far sadder than my own, too.
My back yard on the other hand..... not so good. From what I understand, it was originally seeded a couple of years ago using a Kentucky / Fiscus blend.... I know it was aerated last Spring, and given some type of weed & feed last Fall, but that's all the info I have on it.
Any suggestions on what to do with both the front and the back would be greatly appreciated. It's my first yard of any real size, and I would like to try and do things right.
Again, tips on liming, fertilizer or weed & feed, reseeding, et cetera, would be wonderful....It looks like Spring is on the way, and I want to give my yard the best shot I can.
You sound like my neighborhood. It was all timing for us how we started out. Those who had sod put down in the middle of the summer with drought and water restrictions have what you would think. I was fortunate, mine went down dormant and I was able to water last year. Like you everyone had/has a terrible back yard as they threw seed down and it eventually went no where. It was a contractors mix and that is mucho Rye. Our sodded front was Bermuda grass and that is a warm weather grass and should be planted in warm weather. Cool weather grasses are best left to the Fall. I reseeded my back last year with Bermuda and it did very well. I use a professional lawn service and you might want to do the same for a year or to until you are up and running. My neighbors with nice back yards had theirs sodded. Understand Bermuda is best done during the warm weather and whether you seed or sod it will need water and lots of it for awhile.
Fertilize, water, weed, aerate & overseed (fall) and wait.
Spring is a lousy time to seed in this area. You can have some limited success with good watering and early seeding, but often the summer heat hits before the roots are established and the grass gets fried. So take care of what you have now, keep it healthy, and get ready to do the real work next fall.
Great advice!! I've been here for 5 summers and fall is really THE BEST time to do overseeding/aerating, etc. The 1st spring that I did the overseeding very little grass lived through the hot summer and I ended up doing it all over again in the fall wishing I had waited. The time in waiting also gives you time to research what type of grass you want to grow and how well it does in our area. It took our home about 2 full years before I felt like we had a decent lawn (we didn't have irrigation).
right now is a good time to: fertilize and do preemergent weed control (althought it's getting a little late for pre-emergent). You should focus on those things right now, and then on seeding and aerating int he fall.
I will say that if you feel overwhelmed with your lawn, you could consider one of the local lawn services. I use EPM ( a locally based company) and they take acre of all the liming, fertilizing, and weed control. It takes about an entire year to really see the benefits, but if you keep up with it, it definitely helps and is not too expensive. I pay $39.00 per application for a 1/3 acre lawn and they come about 9 times per year.
I doubt I would be able to pay for my own chemicals to do the same thign for that amount. They've also started up a new "green" lawn service too. I don't know the exact details, but its supposed to be environmentally friendly.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.... Sounds like I'm best off to fertilize now (likely today), and tough it out until Fall to overseed. I'm up in Oxford, but know that there are several local lawn companies, I think I'll hold off for the time being, but perhaps hire someone to "fix" my lawn after summer comes and goes.
I'll second Mike's recommendation of the NCSU site, and also the suggestion for pre-emergent crabgrass control. Dimension has a bit of post-emergent control so it's not too late to get that down, but do it this weekend.
Another important thing that many people overlook - figure out how big your lawn acutally is. You know your lot size, but how much space do the house, driveway, and planting best take up? Subtract that and you'll know your lawn size. That's important because most everything is measured in "so much of this product per 1000 sq ft. Rough estimates are fine, just don't assume that your 1/3 acre is lot is all lawn since you'll probably be off by quite a bit.
Anyway, once you do the crabgrass control you'll have nothing to do but mow and water until late August. Set your mower as high as it will go, so that the lawn's 3-4" high after you've cut it. Most people cut the lawn too short and it burns out over the hot summer months. Once it gets hot, the lawn will need at least 1" of water per week to look its best. Many people opt for a compromise - less water to keep it alive even if it does look a bit ragged by the end of the summer.
Fertilize late Aug/early Sept, and also aerate here and overseed if you need to.
Fertilize again in late October.
Lime twice a year, whenever you get around to it
That's basically it. You could pay someone else to do these applications, but the majority of the work is going to be mowing and watering so it might not save you as much time as you think.
It doesn't really matter what kind of lawn fertilizer you use. Much of the "winterizer", "summer mix" and so on is marketing. If you're putting down seed, starter fertilizer wouldn't hurt. Otherwise just get the appropriate amount of lawn fertilizer without any extra nonsense (grub control, summer guard, insect killer, weed killer, etc) for the amount of turf you have.
If you do reseed, use a Fescue blend. Here's one area where a bit more money usually pays off. I've had good luck with the Rebels mixes and Southern Gold. I agree with everyone else - wait until the fall to reseed. I'd go for a Sept reseeding. This way you get a few months for the new seedlings to get established before the cold sets in. Keep the soil moist but not soggy for the 1st 3 weeks after you reseed, than gradually cut back on watering until the frost finally hits.
I'd avoid weed & feed combos. The times you want to put down fertilizer are normally times to avoid weed killer, and vice versa. If you have a specific weed problem, grab a spray for that particular problem and use it at the appropriate time (usually during the summer or early fall). Crab grass preventer / pre-emergent mentioned above is the only exception to this rule. You will need it - learn that mistake from others who've tried to go without instead of making the mistake on your own lawn
Lime is usually needed in some amount by most lawns in the area. The "right" way to figure out how much to use is to get a soil test done. Basically, you fill up a small box with dirt from several holes spaced evenly around your yard, drop it off at the Ag Extension office near the RBC center, and a week later you get a report back with a bunch of info on what your yard needs. See NCDA&CS - Agronomic Services Division Soil Testing Home Page for details.
If you're not up for that, a good guess is that your yard is going to be heavily acidic like everyone else around here. Add at most 50 lbs/1000 sq feet in one application since it takes a while to work in to teh soil. That sounds like a lot, but it'll typically take several applications to get the soil to the right pH for grass. Wait 6 months between applications, but any 6 month interval is fine. You can combine it with spring and fall fertilizer if you'd rather get it out of the way or you can do it in the summer and winter to spread out the work. It doesn't matter at all.
Lots of words here, but there's really not that much work overall. Do it for a year or two and it'll be like second nature.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.... Sounds like I'm best off to fertilize now (likely today), and tough it out until Fall to overseed. I'm up in Oxford, but know that there are several local lawn companies, I think I'll hold off for the time being, but perhaps hire someone to "fix" my lawn after summer comes and goes.
Thanks again.
Again remember the advice about seeding in the Fall is for cool weather grasses. If you are planting Bermuda that is not what you want to do. You really are asking for advice without filling in the blanks. What type of grass is your seeded area and do you want to match it up in the back. What type of grass are you p lanning to seed with? I know you said your back was seeded with a fescue but did they sod with fescue also? It is not safe for us to assume they did as my builder used Bermuda Sod in the front and a fescue/rye mix of seed in the back. The Bermuda would have started taking over the back as it spreads. However it would have created two different maintenance schedules if the back had taken.
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