Any recs of where to start? Or a resource to start looking into. My grass looks terrible after the previous homeowner ignored it, and not even sure what to do to get it in better shape. We are in San Antone.
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Lawn Care 101 Help
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Last: 8 mo ago by one MEEN Ag
Pics would be useful. If it's that bad, a dual dose of nuking with RoundUp 2 weeks apart followed by soil prepping and resodding is oftentimes the "buy once, cry once" method that will have you thrilled with it in a few weeks vs a war that will take years. Two factors would lead me to this decision:
1) how much actual grass is there to work with vs weeds? If there isn't grass, it doesn't magically grow regardless
2) if it's inundated with grassy weeds like dallisgrass. Those are like Jason from Friday the 13th. What you use to kill it will stress your actual grass, and it never seems to die anyway.
3) Otherwise, I recommend the Neil Sperry approach.
a) spot treat the broadleaf weeds with weed-b-gone spray. Be careful around trees and shrubs
b) A 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer April 1/June 1/Aug 1//Oct 1 (can soil test, but a 3-1-2 is pretty much a Texas lawn staple)
c) pre-emergent weedkillers for grassy weeds at the end of Feb, end of May, and early Sept
d) keep it watered well
e) mow it every week in growing season. This means you are cutting weeds before they grow seed pods and helps the grass choke out the weeds
That will cultivate healthy grass which will gradually choke out the weeds. It's also a good approach even if you sod as it will keep your lawn in great shape
1) how much actual grass is there to work with vs weeds? If there isn't grass, it doesn't magically grow regardless
2) if it's inundated with grassy weeds like dallisgrass. Those are like Jason from Friday the 13th. What you use to kill it will stress your actual grass, and it never seems to die anyway.
3) Otherwise, I recommend the Neil Sperry approach.
a) spot treat the broadleaf weeds with weed-b-gone spray. Be careful around trees and shrubs
b) A 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer April 1/June 1/Aug 1//Oct 1 (can soil test, but a 3-1-2 is pretty much a Texas lawn staple)
c) pre-emergent weedkillers for grassy weeds at the end of Feb, end of May, and early Sept
d) keep it watered well
e) mow it every week in growing season. This means you are cutting weeds before they grow seed pods and helps the grass choke out the weeds
That will cultivate healthy grass which will gradually choke out the weeds. It's also a good approach even if you sod as it will keep your lawn in great shape
Ignore it until the drought is over. Unless something changes, we'll probably hit the next stage of watering restrictions over the summer, and you won't be able to water it enough for it to overtake bare areas or weeds. You definitely won't be able to water sod enough unless you want to spend your mornings hand watering the entire thing.
I would just start with the reddit landscaping subreddit and start youtubing everything about lawncare.
San Antonio has gotten really strict on watering and you're entering summer. Thats a tough time to nuke your yard, resod and water around the clock to keep it from dying.
But don't despair. Do what Duberstein said. Start pulling weeds, spot treating stuff. Putting insecticide down and herbicide. Water what you have when you can.
In general to grow grass is the same as any crop. Soil, sun, water, drainage, fertilizer are the basics. Keeping bugs and funguses away are built on top of the basics.
It really takes around 2 years to get a good lawn if you're not going to nuke it. I started taking lawncare seriously about 4 years ago and it took about 2 years to make it look nice. You'll see improvements after one season and big gains after a year. But it takes 2 years to see overall a good product.
Also, nobody really has a good lawn without a sprinkler system. Rainbird sells really nice low water using sprinkler heads that get good pressure balanced coverage.
San Antonio has gotten really strict on watering and you're entering summer. Thats a tough time to nuke your yard, resod and water around the clock to keep it from dying.
But don't despair. Do what Duberstein said. Start pulling weeds, spot treating stuff. Putting insecticide down and herbicide. Water what you have when you can.
In general to grow grass is the same as any crop. Soil, sun, water, drainage, fertilizer are the basics. Keeping bugs and funguses away are built on top of the basics.
It really takes around 2 years to get a good lawn if you're not going to nuke it. I started taking lawncare seriously about 4 years ago and it took about 2 years to make it look nice. You'll see improvements after one season and big gains after a year. But it takes 2 years to see overall a good product.
Also, nobody really has a good lawn without a sprinkler system. Rainbird sells really nice low water using sprinkler heads that get good pressure balanced coverage.
Wasn't aware of potential SA watering restrictions, so yes, that would caution my advice on sodding. That said, you can start right now by applying a 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer, spot treating broadleaf weeds with Weed-b-gone spray, and in a couple of weeks spread some grassy weed pre-emergent (like Halts or Dimension). And get to watering it as much as you can while mowing at least weekly.
Do not use weed-and-feed products. They do neither job well and pose some risk to trees. It's tempting to buy when your yard is a mess and the nursery shelves are full of that crap, but don't do it
As far as watering restrictions are concerned, make the most of your time by shortening the cycle but running them back to back. This allows for a deep soak while minimizing runoff. Ie instead of one 20-25 minute cycle per station, run 10-12 minutes each but have it cycle thru every zone again as soon as the 1st completes. Use a tuna can to get a sense for how much water your system puts out and gauge cycle length. The texas rule of thumb is at least an inch per week in summer.
Do not use weed-and-feed products. They do neither job well and pose some risk to trees. It's tempting to buy when your yard is a mess and the nursery shelves are full of that crap, but don't do it
As far as watering restrictions are concerned, make the most of your time by shortening the cycle but running them back to back. This allows for a deep soak while minimizing runoff. Ie instead of one 20-25 minute cycle per station, run 10-12 minutes each but have it cycle thru every zone again as soon as the 1st completes. Use a tuna can to get a sense for how much water your system puts out and gauge cycle length. The texas rule of thumb is at least an inch per week in summer.
What month would you think is a good time to plant sod? October?
Thank you. I think it's mostly weeds, not grass. Is Weed be gone better than Round Up? I figured round up was off the market due to lawsuits, but apparently it still exists. Was hoping for something that doesn't cause Cancer for killing weeds. We don't have a sprinkler system, but our front yard is small, and I figured I would start with that. I will look up Neil Sperry--I recognize the name. I will look into everything you mentioned. Seems like a learning curve, but I am interested.
Weed b gone is for broadleaf weeds. RoundUp will kill grass, weeds, all of it. You go Weed B Gone if you are going to resuscitate by just killing broadleaf weeds. You go RoundUp to kill it all and sod, or at least kill hopeless sections. It's not going to give you cancer.
You can plant any month, its just a matter of watering. You can put sod down in winter if you want. Sod during summer means you're trying to keep a very thin scrape of plant from drying out during extreme heat. Very hard to do on restricted watering.supermanrv said:
What month would you think is a good time to plant sod? October?
Round up is in the same cancer-causing category as eating red meat so I hope you're not a fan of a good steak.
Round Up makes a few different products now. You want Glyphosate if you're going full nuke.
Round Up makes a few different products now. You want Glyphosate if you're going full nuke.
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Too late for full nuke.
Go get the 3-1-2 fertilizer. The numbers are usually on the bottom right of the bags. It is a ratio, so it will be something like 15-5-10. It is not always easy to find at HD or Lowes, so try your local Ace. Do it once a month.
Read the label on your weed killer. Some don't do well when it is hot.
If you have the money, get a sprinkler system installed while the lawn is a mess. Moving the hose and sprinkler around is a pain and it never gets the job done properly.
Go get the 3-1-2 fertilizer. The numbers are usually on the bottom right of the bags. It is a ratio, so it will be something like 15-5-10. It is not always easy to find at HD or Lowes, so try your local Ace. Do it once a month.
Read the label on your weed killer. Some don't do well when it is hot.
If you have the money, get a sprinkler system installed while the lawn is a mess. Moving the hose and sprinkler around is a pain and it never gets the job done properly.
supermanrv said:
What month would you think is a good time to plant sod? October?
Shoot for early March. It'll be actively growing, there's no real frost chance, and March-May are going to have halfway decent rain chances and the ground won't dry out too fast. By the time summer rolls around it should be at least somewhat established and able to take some reduced watering.
If you hire it out, start calling around in August or September.
Welcome to the fold. You can order your white new balances for mowing on Amazon.supermanrv said:
Thank you. I think it's mostly weeds, not grass. Is Weed be gone better than Round Up? I figured round up was off the market due to lawsuits, but apparently it still exists. Was hoping for something that doesn't cause Cancer for killing weeds. We don't have a sprinkler system, but our front yard is small, and I figured I would start with that. I will look up Neil Sperry--I recognize the name. I will look into everything you mentioned. Seems like a learning curve, but I am interested.
About roundup. I'm not going to weigh in on cancer data. I generally place it up there with anything else I handle that is meant to destroy life whether it be weeds or insects-handle with care. The consumer isn't going to be given access to the level of exposure compared to full on crop dusting farmers but don't be playing with it just because the metadata is inconclusive.
Wear gloves, spray downwind, don't overspray, wash your hands and take a shower pretty quickly afterwards. Also, save yourself a lot of heart ache and buy a roundup branded sprayer and never put anything in it besides roundup.
You don't want to be the guy who next year is spraying insecticide or a liquid fertilizer on their plants out of their unlabeled roundup sprayer and nuke your hard work.
Would highly recommend you take the time to install sprinklers now before you get going. If you actually want a nice yard its a must. And any effort you put into your yard is gonna get sidetracked by the mess of trenching.
Its really not that hard to install sprinklers. Its just hard work out in the sun so its understandable why people don't want to do it. I would get a quote for someone to put sprinklers in the front yard so you'll have someone come put the anti-siphon valve, tie into the main water line, and pull sprinkler wire. And then you can tie in and add backyard stuff yourself as you get more confident in your abilities.
Its really not that hard to install sprinklers. Its just hard work out in the sun so its understandable why people don't want to do it. I would get a quote for someone to put sprinklers in the front yard so you'll have someone come put the anti-siphon valve, tie into the main water line, and pull sprinkler wire. And then you can tie in and add backyard stuff yourself as you get more confident in your abilities.
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