Hey everyone, I'm just looking for some advice on what to do with my lawn (new house). It is essentially all weeds. I would like to have a nice lawn to play with my dogs on. I am not wanting to over use herbicides as we would like to have some garden space in our backyard.
We are located in Colorado Springs and my neighbor had mentioned having issues growing grass and spending a lot on water a month. I am looking for grass seed that will do well without having to spend hundreds on water a month.
- What would yall recommend to clear this out so I can plant seed.
- What type of seed should I get?
by LiquidQuantum
28 Comments
Knock all those weeds down as low as possible, put down some better soil and put down some Jonathan Greene black beauty ultra… I’ve had the best luck with that seed
holy moly i thought my project was going to be tough.. sorry i have no advice but good luck!
Just become one of those lazy people and call it a pollinator yard and proudly post it all over facebook like you put effort into it
Control burn that shit
Hmmm…. Can you rent a brush hog mower to knock it all down first? Maybe try to chop it up as much as possible. Rent a dumpster and rake it up. Rent a tiller, till the yard til you do not see any green. Then overseed your yard and water like no tomorrow. Will it be a lot of work? Ya, but no chemicals will be used at all.
You will probably get some weeds growing back but that will happen regardless unless you have your yard professionally graded, which is another option, but probably the most expensive.
If ever there was a lawn that called for a complete redo, it’s this one.
Spray Glyphosate on the whole thing and start from scratch.
Use Roundup (glyphosate) to kill everything. There’s nothing to be salvaged. We use Roundup because it goes inert once it hits the soil and won’t affect future seeding. Then after a few days the weeds will slowly die. Rake the dead stuff out then seed into it. There’s so much stuff here that raking it out should prepare the soil enough for seeding. Make sure you have good seed to soil contact. Water everyday.
Kill everything with roundup (won’t affect your ability to plant a garden later).
Rake up all the dead stuff.
Till the soil.
Put down a good drought resistant seed and rake in to loose soil.
Put down fertilizer.
Cover with straw.
Water for 10-15 minutes a day, enough to where the soil stays moist constantly but not enough to where is running off.
Mow your grass in about a month when it all comes in.
Although if you get hot summers you would be beat to just mow it short the rest of this summer and start this in the fall when daytime temps get close to 70.
Don’t do anything until fall. Maybe start spraying with 2-4D. See if there’s any grass under there. Honestly though I’d probably sod that. You plant with seed -it’ll be patchy for seasons to come. If you sod wait til fall so you don’t have to try and keep sod alive through hot summer
I saw this and immediately thought Colorado Springs. There are parts of the city where growing grass is very easy and then parts where its very hard because the “soil” is just sand and rocks. If youre around where i think you are you need a soil sample desperately.
https://preview.redd.it/pl54gisjms6f1.jpeg?width=392&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd9b536c785f296af7661dbe21b52192b45e4abe
Nuke it
See about renting a Brush Hog or similar type of machine to cut everything down as low as possible then rent a tiller and go to town! Sprinkle the grass seed all over it, rake it in gently and water it a bunch twice a day (morning and night). Once your grass is established you can water less but you need it to be strong first. I’ve always bought some cheap wire fencing and t post to keep the dogs off it for a month or so during this initial watering stage. Less traffic the better. Maybe some cheap wooden steaks and reflective tape to keep the birds away. You want that dirt constantly wet though.
Maybe some of the recommendations for grass seed on here will work better but I’ve always had good luck with Ace or Scott’s sun and shade mix. You need to water it as much as possible until the grass really starts to grow and let it grow TALL before your first mow. The tall grass clippings will help to resead the yard and provide shade for the soil which is important to keep the water from evaporating.
You will get weeds coming back but just try to controll them as much as possible. Over time though the grass should take over and the weeds should “weed” themselves out.
I live Gunnison county and have made a few nice yards through this and similar methods. Pretty inexpensive, and fun! Probably not the best method over all but is cheap and does work!
A controlled burn maybe the best way but idk.. someone else might have better inside on that.
In Gunnison, CO we have what we call Gunny Gold, which is a cheap top soil you can buy by the truck load from our Waste Water Treatment facility. I’m not sure if they have something like that in the Springs but would be a good thing to mix in to the soil while you till it up.
With basically any turf grass, you’re going to be using like 3-4 gallons per square foot per month in July and august. So make sure you can budget for that…
I live in the area and have SPF 30 hybrid bluegrass in my yard. It works well.
At this point, grass would be a weed to this lawn
Anyone in your area havw goats? They would have that down to bare dirt real quick plus give some fertilizer😊. Lots of businesses everywhere
I would say nuke. Drop some fresh dirt. Slowly amend to improve condition below. One idea, try buffalo grass? Its native to great plains. Still looks like grass, should need less water, but i neither grow this grass, nor live in the area.
Get some goats in to destroy it all and start over.
Will minimise the use of chemicals whilst having the same end result.
Honestly, on a cool day spray a 3 way herbicide. It has 3 chemicals to remove weeds without killing the underlying turf. Mow first, wait a day, then spray. As weeds die you will know how how much turf is there. Keep mowing and fertilize lightly till fall,then repeat and seed if necessary
Goats! See if you can hire some. Thats fairly common in my area to eat weeds down.
So, it won’t let me edit the post (I guess because of the pictures or something).
A few notes I forgot:
1. There is a sprinkler system.
2. There is also for some fucking reason landscaping fabric throughout the ENTIRE backyard that has very clearly failed and is also visible. I need to know whether I should add some soil and bury it or if I need to remove that material.
3. This is my first home as well… Please keep the negative comments out of here. This was a genuine ask for help. I don’t need your snarky comments or attempts to shame me. I am here to do something about my backyard, not leave it as is.
Following because we moved into a home recently with weeds as vast as this, not as dense. Grandpas weeded only does so much before you tap out.
We did the vinegar, soap, salt trick and it dried out a lot. But so much that it’s not going to get them all.
Slowly reclaiming our yard.
Some goats would love to clear cut for you
The answer
If I understand this sub correctly, a fresh sweeping with a nice broom and that’ll clean right up
Buffalograss is native to your area and needs little inputs and water. It may not handle the dog as well though. Now is a good time to seed it. It’s not a perfect grass but it can be a good choice.
Use glyphosate to kill everything. It breaks down quickly and you can seed in a week.
Otherwise, fescue is a good choice but may need a fair amount of water in the summer to stay green.
I think you’re gonna need a HUGE broom
Does it look like the house behind his yard is in aww of all the weeds?? Or is it just me??