At what point do you give up and just dig up your lawn, start all over

[txlibdem]

Our lawn is about 80% weeds in some parts, maybe 50/50 in others. I've applied all of the Home Depot/Lowes recommended weed treatments and fertilizers but the weeds always outnumber the blades of grass. This has been a battle for 4 years now and I'm losing ground with each coming season.

When do I just give up the ghost and kill off the lawn and start over with freshly graded and amended dirt?

I've looked into the following to kill the weeds and grass:
MSMA
Roundup
Laying down overlapping rows of plastic
Laying down overlapping rows of tarp

Am I giving up too quickly? Should I give a lawn company a try? My neighbors on either side have a lawn company just to do the weed control. But that would stress the budget ($40 7 times a year).

Any thoughts? Have you tried any of the above (and how did it turn out for you)?

[Stinky The Clown]

1. When we bought our house 30+ years ago, the lawn was like that

We hired a lawn service that, unlike GreenLawn or ChemLawn or one of the spray-stuff-and-run services, did the work manually. It cost at least twice as much as the ChemLawn service but over the course of two seasons they got us a great lawn that still looks pretty good to this day. They aerated several times but never tilled. They limed, and weed-killed, and fertilized, and seeded. We watered and cut and maintained. It cost more, but the results were very nice. They had always told us that they'd be out of a job with us in two years and they were. They didn't provide routine lawn mowing, just this program.

I think they were called SuperLawn. I think they were a franchise. I have no idea if they still exist.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

2. There are different methods to correct that.

One way about it is to use the round up and kill of those weeds and everything else. Maybe spread the landscape liner after it is all dead. Than-build up the lawn area with top soil -five inches or 8"'s there about. Than roll it with a water roller -you rent that-or a compactor- if you use a compactor go with 8 inch's of top soil. Than spread lime as directed and from there you reseed. But you use the quick grow and with-in two weeks you will have that lawn you want. Of course you water the lawn every day for the first month or so.

Same procedure if you go with sod-the instant lawn. The specialty seed - grows very quickly and you get that stuff and a consult at a nursery which would be the same kind of place that supplies the places you get yer top soil from or sod-instant lawn- or beauty bark -rock all that. Professional landscapers or landscape design specialist's buy their materials from the big outfits-usually located in the rural districts-you would look up landscape suppliers or ask your local outfit where you buy beauty bark and top soil -sod -trees all that who their suppliers are.

Or at lowe's or home depot garden-where do they get their sod-instant grass .

Years ago a property management outfit offered me a bunch of money to solve a problem similar to yours-except it was moss- these were condo's- each unit had a front lawn and half of those unites had moss for a lawn because the property was essentially pan rock. What they do is dump about 8 inch's of top soil over the pan rock and plant over the top of it- that might last without proper maintenance for about 5 to 8 years if it's done properly. But thats over pan rock.

OK so, first off go to a nursery and get a consult-that's what I did ,You might take a 12"by 12 " sample with you dirt and all. I am no landscaper but for that kind of money I became one for the duration of the project !
Originally ,I was going to go with top soil and sod-but on the consult -they said sod will cost far more than you need to spend- this was sod farm.

I took the problem to a big outfit, got a lengthy consult for free,, came away with that with a specialty grass seed -insta grow enough to solve the whole of the problem the lime-and the rest is the top soil and the labor.

It was actually my supplier for drain rock and other construction associated materials that sent me to their supplier. All outlets such as home depot and lowe's for example buy from local suppliers-be it roofing materials-or lumber-or doors or windows or cabinets or whatever. And you can buy from their suppliers too.Suppliers sell to most anybody-but who would think to make the trip ?

So first of all you need a professional consult at the source-and it's free.

Good luck with your project and do not despair-there is always a solution.

[txlibdem]

3. Thanks for the reply

Darn, that's a lot of work. I'm leaning toward the roundup plus plastic covering for the lawn, especially since we have several huge outbreaks of Dallasgrass on the southern front, s. rear and n. rear sections of the yard. The remedy for this native grass? Dig up the plants and remove all soil where the seeds may have fallen. Sounds like a cancer more than a weed.

Our HOA is a stickler for maintaining the grading exactly as the engineers planned it so I'd have to dig out 8" before I could put in 8". Gawd, that would suck!

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

4. You may not need the 8 inch's of top soil

Take the problem to a nursery and find out what they say about solving the problem. Not the nursery at home depot -but a landscape supply outfit in your locality. Such a place will sell commercial products that hardware stores don't.

It's like I said there is a solution- but you got to get to the right place. Go where they grow in your locality ! Take a 12" by 12 ' sample with you -dirt and all .Have you ever seen sod-grass ? Phone book is the place to start -make some calls . People who specialize in horticulture in your locality will understand the very nature of your problem. Persons who work in stores such as home depot or any hardware outfit are just sales-people -they will tell what the product says on the bag or container !

A landscape supply outfit will carry commercial grade products that you will not find at hardware stores. And you won't find horticulturists at hardware stores either ! Go where they grow !

[txlibdem]

5. We have a local nursery but they're not exactly a helpful bunch there

I've tried to engage various employees there in conversation about my yard debacle and all they do is point me to the shelves where they stock "natural" pest and weed killers. The only other nursery I know of in the area (how shall I put this delicately) they have a great selection but there is a language barrier -- not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. No help there, just more pointing me to the aisles of supplements with no "how to" help.

I've sent a couple emails to the local extension service but haven't received a response yet.

There is a local radio personality called "The Dirt Doctor" who sells organic lawn supplements, etc., but you have to sign up for a subscription to his newsletter to get any real answers. I'm leaning toward trying that out.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

7. Try searching outside of your locality

A big landscape supply outfit where you buy beauty bark and top soil by the truck load-you know -where they use a pay loader with the bucket to load it on yer truck. An outfit that has professionals there for the express purpose of consulting customers with problems such as yours.

If nobody at a nursery you went to could say or do more than point-than that is a shabby operation. Go where they grow.

[txlibdem]

8. Thanks for the advice - It'll take some time to do that search but sounds like its worth it

:hi:

[LiberalEsto]

10. If you have pets, keep them inside when using Roundup

and take off your shoes so you don't track the stuff into the house. Roundup is a nasty chemical in my opinion.

[trud]

6. are you stuck with a lawn?

because of the hoa? I have some lawn, but more is going into gardens as time goes on.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Forget trying to kill the old grass and weeds

Hire a landscaping company that has one of these:

http://www.ito-video.com/bobcat-video/bobcat-landscape-rake-video_605b90842.html

After about a half a day or so depending on the size of your lawn the area will be ready for sod or seed.

It just grinds all the old stuff up and leaves a yard suitable for replanting.

Good luck.

Don

[kentauros]

11. I know this was posted around May and you've likely taken care of it by now,

but I found a site the other day that's good to know (for those that have lawns; I don't.)

Organic Lawn Care For the Cheap and Lazy


Also, on the subject of "weeds", I really feel like more people should be aware of the background on "weeds":

In Defense of Weeds
Don't Kill Those Weeds!!!
Weeds - Guardians of the Soil

Of course, you aren't required to follow any of that, but it would be nice to see more homeowners forego the herbicides for better soil (and subsequently plant) health instead ;)

[txlibdem]

12. Thanks for the link

I finally got around to reading it and I think I've found my main problem: I've got less than an inch of soil, the rest is Texas black clay.

The link answered my long standing questions about why all my neighbors water the lawn every day (or every other day) and they all have lawn care companies to take care of the weeds and fertilizing. Also, when I cut back my watering to once per week everything (including the hedges) began to die. This clay here is a wasteland.