Hey all! My wife and I just bought our first house in central Texas, and, while we love the house, the yard has … a lot of potential that it’s not quite meeting. I have no experience taking care of a lawn other than mowing it, so no idea what I’m doing and I’m a little lost. So I’m hoping for help!
There are some patches of great grass growth, and I love the grass type. Based on my research, I THINK I have ryegrass, but I’m not sure. The front yard has quite a few big bare spots, so I’d like to plant the same type of grass there.
But there are also quite a few weeds. I’m happy to go at them with a weed killer, but I don’t want to kill the grass I’m trying to grow.
So, in essence, what are the next steps I should take to
A) grow this lush, soft grass in the bare patches in our yard
And
B) kill the weeds without killing said grass?
Pictures are attached, but I’m happy to take more if people need to see more. Thanks lawn experts!
by ViceroyGrammar
2 Comments
Is that ryegrass? I’d assume it’d be long dead once our temps get to 90F here in Texas if it was ryegrass. Ryegrass is a cool season grass that we sometimes use in the south in the winters to overseed so that we have a green lawn all year long but it dies come summer.
I want to guess it’s overgrown Zoysia (good) or torpedo grass (bad). If it is zoysia it’s a very slow spreader but should eventually spread into those bare spots if you cover the spots with some topsoil and mow it at 3″ or higher. I love my zoysia. It’s soft on the feet and tolerates shade.
There is a product called Image for Southern lawns at orange and blue stores. It will kill our southern weeds. However if your grass is torpedo grass or ryegrass it will kill all of it since they’re considered a weed. Also do not use this weed killer when air temps are over 85F or it could cause cosmetic damage to the Zoysia.
The second picture is common Bermuda. I’m pretty certain it’s not ryegrass in Texas