Based in NC.
This is a new build, just over 3 years old and it’s an absolute disaster because I have no idea what I’m doing. All I know is when it rains, that large patch gets flooded and when I added more concrete slabs, it got worse.
Had someone come out to the house and gave a quote for the following:
Spray and kill all the grass
Regrade the backyard for prover drainage – remove grass and soil as needed
Top soil compost mix
TifTuf Bermuda sod installation
Stone downspout for drainage
It’s EXPENSIVE but I know it might be necessary… but if there are other options I really wanna know.
I sort of wanna just throw some clover on there and see what happens ??
by bananascanning
23 Comments
I’m sorry, what lawn?
Dog or lawn, can’t have both.
Clover rocks. But you cant really do anything until next fall. Nothing will take now. You will also likely need to aerate and or top dress as well as throw down lots of lime(is that clay soil).
Don’t try planting Bermuda from seed. But you should look into bermuda sod and plugging. Could be an affordable long term solution to a fuller and easier to maintain lawn.
Not with a dog….
Walk your dog. Alternate front snd back. No
If I had been dealing with this for 3 years now I’d wait until the drought is over. Shit is cooked in NC right now.
If you have the money, do it. I tried to plant bermuda seed in a test plot in my yard last summer and failed miserably. It’s really hard to grow from seed, especially in this drought that’s been going on for over a year.
DM me. Where in NC? Depending on the area I can get you a good referral to a friend of mines company who did work for me. Very good prices and very knowledgeable. Small business just trying to grow.
I can’t speak for warm season lawns but if it’s anywhere near similar to cool season lawns here’s what I’d do.
1. Control weeds for the rest of the summer (others are right there’s nothing to be done for the grass until fall.)
2. Definitely aerate come fall.
3. Top dress and level as best you can with compost.
4. Seed (again this is fall, for me that’s September when temps start to come down.)
5. Rake seed in, apply starter fertilizer and something to hold it down (straw, tackifier, etc)
6. Water, water, water. (like 3-4x/day until it’s sprouted and then dial back frequency)
Would you happen to know what breed your dog is? Mine has some similarities but we have no idea what he is.
I have a German Shepherd that destroys my yard. I finally gave up and just started overseeding all the damn time. Annual rye grass mixes with a fescue blend. Annual rye grass will establish itself pretty much anywhere and gives a little protection to the fescue. I also put up strategically placed obstacles to keep the beast from running full tilt where I’m trying to cover a bare spot. My only goal is limiting muddy paws and erosion. Good luck, welcome to the suck
Of course! Might take longer than usual. Will have to regulate how much your dog sees the lawn
I’d let any weeds go a little nuts for a bit in that area, maybe even get some sand from the hardware store to help that. Plus the dog won’t care one way or the other. Should help stabilize the area a bit, and then start working on it in the fall.
If you’re going to do that, you need to pull the trigger very soon. You are going to need to water it until it floats for a while, so also factor in water costs. If you are spending all this money, you should also add in irrigation. It’s just not going to do great without water, and that’s anywhere.
You could DIY it. I can’t see the grading issues from the pictures, but if you know where topsoil needs to come in and fill you can do it or pay a day laborer to do it and clean up behind them. It’s going to be harder to DIY removing soil unless you rent a skid steer.
Core aerate the rest, top dress, and drop bermuda seed, plugs, or sod if that’s what you are looking for. Again, tons of water.
It also looks pretty sunny there, and zoyzia does well unless you are in the mountains. I would suggest doing it from plugs, but there are a ton of options and opinions there. Good luck!
I have dogs. I have a yard, not a lawn.
Sir, that’s a dog
Hope is hopeless unless you’re hopeful
Aerate, water, and more water whenever/wherever the dog pees.
I thought that was a driveway!
Look into zoysia grass. I think it works in your area and you may be able to start with some sod patches that will spread and fill in.
Dog or lawn – not both
Not going to ever look worse
I had a euro doberman over 100lbs. Lost him last year, but I couldn’t grow anything, even laying down St. Augustine sod wouldn’t last (I am in N. Texas). I do have the same drainage issue as you do though. I now have an 70lb pit mix and 80lb mailinos. My grass is finally filling in, I seeded with rye grass. With my dobie, I gave up and laid rubber mulch an inch thick on the dirt wherever it would flood. It kept the muddy paws at bay.
Clover is great at many things but as grass it’s one of the worst, a lazy chihuahua would destroy it completely in about a week. First in regards to the concrete, as long as you’re not seeing water sitting and pooling there the next day after the sprinklers run or it rains it’s fine, maybe it’s not draining as fast as it should but that’s ok.
As for the grass I notice that the rest of your lawn appears fine or at least in better shape, I’m guessing your dog like’s to hang out in that spot? If so you could just focus on that one spot and cut your costs drastically. Tiftuf is great grass, it will resist foot traffic and dog urine better than what appears to be tif419, celebration bermuda would also be a good choice since it’s a thicker grass that builds up thatch quickly so it can sort of act as protective layer against your dog’s paws.
There is also a grass called dog tuff, very low maintenance, 100% immune from dog urine, and seems almost immune to paw traffic as well. The downside is that it’s only available in plug form and is kind of pricy, also it tends to mound in clumps so you don’t get a smooth lawn but a bumpy/rolling meadow type grass. Perfectly fine for dogs and walking on but I don’t know if it’s the type of thing kids would want to play soccer on.
You can also try a geogrid solution:
https://www.amazon.com/Landscape-Staples-Geogrid-Erosion-Driveway/dp/B0DSBWDLWH
You would basically lay it out and instead of dumping gravel fill it with topsoil, then add another inch or so of topsoil then throw your new sod on top of that. The theory is that although your dog would continue tearing into it with their paws the lawn would be braced for lack of a better term and it would have less negative impact. It’s used all the time for grass driveways so paired with something like tiftuf or celebration will probably hold up better.