Advice please ?

[Ghimizdroc]

Dear forum,

I am writing here because I would like to ask your opinion on a little project of mine. As you can see in the photos attached, our recently purchased property came with a little garden which hasn't really been maintained. I have neither the time nor the budget for this precise activity, at this point, so, in order to try to get it in as much order as possible, I already plucked most of the weeds by hand ( with root and all ). I want now to :

* dig up the rest of the weeds;
* buy a bunch of soil - apply soil to even it out, even if that means covering some already existing "grass";
* buy a rake to even out soil
* buy lawn seeds and just throw them as evenly as possible all over the place
* sprinkle like there's no tomorrow

Could you please tell me if my plan would yield at least 20-30% of desired results ? I would be happy with that, this year. I just want at least 20-30% of seeds to take root. I know it will not be optimal etc, but, like I said, for this year, to have something that would resemble a lawn with no empty patches and dandelions everywhere

Thank you in advance for your time and patience.

Dragos Gheorghe

34 yo new home owner

 

[Ghimizdroc]

PS: How do I remove those annoying weeds growing in between concrete slabs ?

 

[Ghimizdroc]

PPS: I am so sorry I do not know how to edit posts : or should I just take up a shovel, dig everything out ( will it work if I just turn the soil upside down, will the existing vegetation die or I have to pick up manually after digging everything that is left ? ), buy soil and plant new seeds ?

 

[Sheal]

Welcome to the forum.

With the current limitations you have it would make sense to use a specific weed killer for use on lawns, assuming you are happy to use chemicals in your garden. This will save you hours of digging. Lawn weed killers usually take 2 to 6 weeks to work and disappear from the soil so you wouldn't be able to sow grass seed during that time.

Using topsoil is a good idea for levelling and the grass seed would germinate in that without a problem. When the seed is sown it will take up to two weeks to germinate and start to grow. During that time it must be watered once a day (unless it rains) until it is established.

Your suggested plan is very good. I've only provided a little more information for you.

When you've written a post and posted it on the thread you will then see and Edit 'button' at the base of the post to make any changes.

 

[ChrisH]

PS: How do I remove those annoying weeds growing in between concrete slabs ?

A simple method is to use boiling water, or even boiling vinegar. You just have to be careful with the hot liquid.

 

[mac1911]

PS: How do I remove those annoying weeds growing in between concrete slabs ?

Boiling hot water, can also use A kill it all weed killer

 

[mac1911]

Dear forum,

I am writing here because I would like to ask your opinion on a little project of mine. As you can see in the photos attached, our recently purchased property came with a little garden which hasn't really been maintained. I have neither the time nor the budget for this precise activity, at this point, so, in order to try to get it in as much order as possible, I already plucked most of the weeds by hand ( with root and all ). I want now to :

* dig up the rest of the weeds;
* buy a bunch of soil - apply soil to even it out, even if that means covering some already existing "grass";
* buy a rake to even out soil
* buy lawn seeds and just throw them as evenly as possible all over the place
* sprinkle like there's no tomorrow

Could you please tell me if my plan would yield at least 20-30% of desired results ? I would be happy with that, this year. I just want at least 20-30% of seeds to take root. I know it will not be optimal etc, but, like I said, for this year, to have something that would resemble a lawn with no empty patches and dandelions everywhere

Thank you in advance for your time and patience.

Dragos Gheorghe

34 yo new home owner

Not knowing your location or grass types my tips will be on what I can say is “basic”
Lawn care
1st get a soil sample - this will let you know what you need as time goes on for application of lime/fert

Depending on your area and watering I would wait till optimum seeding time for your grass/area

Its not a bad time to level off any ineven spots , may a sandy/loam/compost mix
Search up on the many ways to level a lawn , you can keep touching up the low spots until your ready to seed

So what I did to recover my lawn
Soil test
Pre emergent weed control
Fixed low spots
Dose of fertilizer
After the soil sample came back I corrected PH
More fertilizer as directed by soil test.
Now almost 2 years later my lawn is doing very well.
By then you might be ready for more in depth lawn care like , dethatching, aeration and maybe a irrigation system

I dont have irrigation so when the hot dry months come I let my lawn go dormant . Only watering the heavy traffic areas around the house and pool.

See pics bellow for what I went through

Here is my lawn a few days ago still fighting weeds as is the battle

 

[cpp gardener]

Since you're not a gardener, yet, your 'quick fix' will work just fine. You only need to spread the seed in the bare patches. For the weeds in cracks the boiling water/vinegar woks if they are annual weeds but not if they're perennial like dandelions.

 

[Larchwood6]

PS: How do I remove those annoying weeds growing in between concrete slabs ?

Sprinkle salt between the slabs on to the weeds.

 

[mac1911]

I have been sweeping in some pre emergent into the cracks seems to help a bit.

 

[Black_Thumb]

For killing weeds in cracks, mix up some homemade weed killer. It's not full of dangerous chemicals. It involves vinegar (20% horticultural vinegar is best but the 5% type will do), Epsom salt, and Dawn dishwashing liquid. I sprayed them one day and the next day they were already turning yellow and dying. Just be sure you don't spray grass that you want to grow because it'll kill that too.

Ingredients

• 1 gallon white vinegar (20% is best)
• 2 cups epsom salt or table salt
• ¼ cup dawn dishwashing soap

Instructions

• Pour the vinegar, dish soap, and Epsom salt into a spray bottle. Shake up until combined.
• Let settle for 2 minutes then spray the weeds! Make sure you soak the entire weed with the formula.
• Let sit for a day then come back and see them dead!
• NOTE: Make sure you spray in the afternoon when the weeds are not damp from dew.

 

[cpp gardener]

Skip the table salt and the recipe sounds okay. If you can get ahold of the 20% it works really good as a contact herbicide.

 

[Jersey Devil]

I used Bondide Chickweed Clover & Oxalis Killer. It kills just about every weed there is, but will not harm grass. My lawn is thin now but someone told me it was because half my lawn was weeds and now they are gone. IDK, just know the stuff is so easy to spray on and it works. And... one of the weeds it kills within days is poison ivy, and am I for one ever grateful for that

 

[Black_Thumb]

My lawn is thin now but someone told me it was because half my lawn was weeds

I hear that. I think half of my yard is weeds too. It looks great when I mow it, but if you look closely, it's a whole lot of clover, wild violets, and some other stuff I have yet to identify that seems to grow like crazy along my entire driveway. My driveway has about 600 ft. of edge to it, so getting rid of that stuff will be a challenge too. I need to buy an edger for starters, and then I'm considering what kind of border I could do with it.