Recently bought home... grass was awful. Huge bare area and filled with weeds throughout. This spring, I just filled in most bare areas with grass seed, and it took pretty well. There are still some barespots and weeds have been coming in pretty hefty in bare spots and everywhere else.
I was going to use Scotts Turf Builder Plus 2 Weed Killer now to kill weeds. Should I use that - is that the best next step?
OR... should I keep pulling weeds and planting grass seed? Because I know if I use the Scotts with weed killer, I can't plant grass seed for about 4-6 weeks.
Ultimately, what should I do next?
2007-06-13 06:01:26 · 5 answers · asked by Blasters 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
If your planting grass you better have a LOT of rain were your at or it won't grow at all.
2007-06-13 06:16:31 · answer #1 · answered by Bookworm 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Use the Scotts Turf Builder. Grass won't take very well in the summer anyhow. Wait till fall to plant your grass seed. Just don't go to heavy on the fertilizer and weed killer since it is summer and dry or you may end up killing off some of your grass. If you use the granual mix, make sure to be careful where you spread it or it can kill off your flowers and stuff. Also it's recommended on the bag to wet the grass down first before spreading so the granules stick to the leaves better and kill the weeds better. I personally like the same version from Scotts but in the sprayable liquid form that is in a bottle that fits on the end of your garden hose. You can control where you spray it and it is quick and easy. Just pick a day to spray it when it is not supposed to rain for a few days and it is not windy.
You may not see the weeds dying for a week or two. I got disgusted after about a week and thought it wasn't working, but then after about 2 weeks I was like "Wow! It really works!" It won't kill everything on the first go around so you may need to treat a couple times, but you will notice a significant difference. Your grass may look a mottled brown for a while but after a week or so and a little rain your grass should come out of that.
Two other things I've found that work really well is to fertilze your yard pretty early in the spring and fertilize it pretty good. Fertilize it with a mainly Nitrogen based fertilizer. Then fertilize it again in the fall but with a fertilizer that is about even as far as the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium. Grass grows in the spring and fall and not in the summer. If you fertilize too much in the summer you risk burning your yard and drying it out too much.
Jerry Baker has a book on just grass and yards. You can look him up by author on http://www.booksamillion.com. I think the book is called Green Grass Magic, but not sure. It's a very good book to have. I haven't followed all of his advice, but of what I've taken time to follow from his book, it has turned my brown patchy weed-filled yard to looking as good or better than the neighbors who hire the professional lawncare companies. In fact, mine is greener than theirs.
Below is the website for the book. Jerry Baker has his own website, but you can buy the book cheaper at Books A Million than you can directly from his website.
http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?id=3817556312872&isbn=0922433828
Jerry Baker's website is http://www.jerrybaker.com
2007-06-13 06:20:08 · answer #2 · answered by devilishblueyes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Getting the grass established is a long process!
I would do the Scotts now and for the rest of the summer. It is starting to get too hot in most areas to be planting more grass. Your grass will continue to thicken on its own as well, and would benefit from the fertilizer in the Scotts. Not to mention giving you a little break from the weeds. Although you can keep pulling if you care to. Then start at it again in spring to get grass going again, reseeding, etc.
Happy mowing!
2007-06-13 06:13:57 · answer #3 · answered by Debette 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you'll need to do some more reseeding and in that case just opt for a regular lawn fertilizer, geared for your grasstype. Just make sure that it good for new seedlings. Weeds find it harder to grow in areas where the grass is coming in strong and thick, plus you can always go around and spray herbicides specific for your weeds directly on the problem. Or dig them out...haha. ;) This method took me about a month to reduce my weeds by about 90%.
2007-06-13 06:13:59 · answer #4 · answered by Kerry T 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
talk to professionals who fertilize. They have better fertilizer that you cant get in stores and you need a license for.
They have liquid fertilizer that kills weeds in about a week.
2007-06-15 09:17:35 · answer #5 · answered by EastCoastRider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋