Hi All, my wife and I bought this house a few years ago and the whole backyard was completely concrete. My wife wanted a dog so I tore up the concrete, added sprinklers and planted Tall Fescue sod. Unfortunately, for whatever reason (soil may have been too compact for proper drainage, little sun in the winter, ect) the lawn started strong and then became very sparse and patchy, and after watering/rain it stays very muddy which when combined with tilling the soil for the lawn led to a ton of weeds popping up (everything around here seems to have weed issues), so I pull the weeds, but that leaves a holes in the lawn which makes the dog think it’s ok to dig.
We had our first baby this past summer so I want to have a lawn ready for her to play on at some point. I’m willing to put in the work, potentially even if I need to digging up the whole area in order to fix the drainage, but I’m not sure where to start.
TLDR: How do I fix my lawn long term? I have a new baby and a dog who will potentially be eating the grass, the lawn seems to have poor drainage and a weed issue, is in full sun in summer and mostly shaded in winter, zone 10a, willing to do whatever is necessary within my budget to pay someone or things I can do myself. Thanks! and sorry if I missed anything
by SheerluckHolmes_
1 Comment
Honestly, doesn’t look that bad. I’ve seen a lot worse. Obviously you need to cut it but overall the grass that’s there looks healthy.
Doesn’t sound like you want to spray weeds because you have a dog so hand pulling will be you best bet. It’s pretty close to being time to put down pre emergent so that should help with the weed problem come spring. For the most part, pre emergent should be safe for dogs in 24-48 hours after application.
Then come fall time overseed with some high quality seed. CGI tall fescue is a safe bet. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to have a successful overseed. You don’t need to overseed every year but you can monitor that based on damage from your dog or the heat.
You really should get on a fertilizer plan but since you have the dog and the baby(congratulations), you might want to look into organic fertilizers.
I’m not a drainage expert but there’s definitely an issue there. I’ll let others chime in on that.
Best of luck.