Southern Pennsylvania – side of yard has quite a slant. After patio was finished attempted to put down topsoil and seed that only lasted the first year. Now we have a ton of weeds (we know it’s bad). Can this be helped?
by Plenty_Space_7659
Southern Pennsylvania – side of yard has quite a slant. After patio was finished attempted to put down topsoil and seed that only lasted the first year. Now we have a ton of weeds (we know it’s bad). Can this be helped?
by Plenty_Space_7659
7 Comments
Topsoil is a bad idea 90% of the time, all it does is brings in new weed seeds and isn’t necessary most of the time. All topsoil is is soil from a construction site or landfill and probably lower quality than the soil you already have.
It wouldn’t be hard to fix though, wipe out the current weeds by pulling them, cutting them, then applying multiple rounds of gly, get a quality fresh highly NTEP rated seed that’s optimal for your zone, scarify the ground, broadcast the seed, roll it in, keep it moist until germination then properly water and fert it once it is established.
Here is what you do brother. Go buy Gordon’s Speedzone Herbicide (cool season). Put 1oz per gallon in a pump sprayer and it will fry those bastards. I promise you will not want to buy another big box store herbicide ever again. Will not kill crabgrass though. It is more expensive upfront but a little goes a long way.
Once all the weeds die, and they will, wait at least 2 weeks ( 3 is ideal) for the herbicide to wear off and till up the soil and plant your new seed. lightly rake the seed in and put some starter fertilizer on top. Then water water water.
Seed species:
Kentucky Blue – loves sun and water, spreads and repairs self well. Does not do as well in very shady areas. Take longer to germinate so be patient.
Rye- tolerates traffic well and grows quick. Some good types but usually the cheap seed that big box stores use because it grows quick and people are happy at first. Problem is ryes don’t do as well in the cold of winter and some are only annual seeds so come next year less grass.
Fine Fescue – The grass you want in the shady parts of your yard. Not as good in high traffic areas and intense heat.
Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF) – The new go to for many lawns. Use to be considered a weed (ky-31 type) but the newer species tolerate pretty much any conditions and look good. Drought, Heat and moderate shade tolerant. Good in high traffic areas. Main drawback is they don’t repair or spread like KB, but harder to kill. If you don’t have an irrigation system and aren’t going to water, especially in the heat of summer this is the seed type for you. A great seed mix is TTTF with KB to fill in where the TTTF wears down.
A great seed company is twin cities seed and a specific product that I promise you will love is called BLUE RESILIENCE (Tall Fescue & Kentucky Bluegrass Mixture). More expensive but honestly most of the big box store stuff is a waste of money where only a small percentage of the bag is quality seed that will last. Best to not let hard work go to waste.
Any additional questions just ask.
These pictures are making me itch.
Roundup, fusillade, tricoplyr, and NIS spray this and start over
You may be able to get something going if you choose a decent perennial rye. You could glyphosate anything green that you want dead, give it a few days and treat again. Mow/string trim it all to dirt, till/cultivate to rough up the soil, seed, and go from there. Late summer/early fall is more ideal for a cool season renovation. Best of luck!