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Am I wasting my time patching areas here and there on an old weedy lawn?

Am I wasting my time patching areas here and there on an old weedy lawn?


  #1  
Old 07-14-17, 11:25 PM
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Am I wasting my time patching areas here and there on an old weedy lawn?

I've been ripping out weedy areas of my front lawn and tilling to about 6 inches or so and then adding bagged topsoil and spreading mostly Pennington 3 in 1 grass and they are coming in fairly nice albiet with a good deal of crabgrass here and there.

Just today I mowed a small area maybe 7 square feet that was mostly crab and clover down to the lowest mower setting and realized that there was hardly any grass there. I didn't till it really but just loosened the soil with a small hand tiller, through down a bag of topsoil and put some more Pennington down and watered it.

I realize maybe a lot of people would just redo the whole lawn (which isn't that big really) from scratch, but I kind of like patching it here and there and I'm going to aerate and fertilize and stuff in the fall.

Is patching a waste of time?

Will the area I just patched that had clover and crab benefit from adding some grass there? I realize most likely that the crab and clover will come back, but I'm wondering if adding more and more grass and then fertilizing in the fall and maybe liming can somehow start to smother out the weeds and stuff.

I'm in New England and I read somewhere that most all New England lawns are acidic and most all need lime. I also have a good deal of dandelions, plantains, clover, etc and so i assume that my soil is acidic. Do you think this is the case?
 
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Old 07-15-17, 03:01 AM
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I'd spend some time introducing myself to the people on your road or street who have lawns that you consider good and consult with them as to how they've achieved this.

They have your same climate and basic soil types; they have, or had, the same pH, and their lawns have been established about the same length of time.

Ask them what they've been doing (or paid to have done) that has achieved these results in the same setting. Everyone loves a compliment, and the worst thing that can happen here is that you'll meet a few new Friends with whom you have some things in common.
 
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Old 07-15-17, 04:12 AM
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There is nothing wrong with patching up areas of your yard. Every year I find areas with different types of crab grass and have found a few shots of round up followed by a little top soil, seed and mulch brings it back.

If you have weeds, just use weed killer, no need to go to the extreme effort to replace.

FEED THE LAWN!
 
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Old 07-15-17, 04:33 AM
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Just like with the other patches you've planted crabgrass will be a problem. Your new grass will have difficulty out competing the crabgrass once it grows up through the thin layer of topsoil.
 
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Old 07-15-17, 07:32 PM
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If you have weeds, just use weed killer, no need to go to the extreme effort to replace.
I don't want to use herbicides. Also, right now I'm more concerned with getting grass in bare compacted areas and then fertilizing and liming in the fall along with aeration. I've also just the other day bought some sprinklers.

I'm going to take the approach that getting the soil right and trying to grow more grass, fertilize, lime, etc will smother out the weeds. I realize it won't entirely and am ok with that. I will be doing a lot of weeding in the coming years, but within reason hopefully!

I did see a couple organic weed killer sprays though and someone mentioned corn gluten. I don't want a chemical lawn, I'd rather live with the "weeds" and nature.

That however is not resignation. I will be working hard to get the best looking lawn that I can within reason. There's after all much more important affairs in life.

I've never done a soil test, but I assume that with all the plantain, mullien, dandelion, crab, black medic, etc I have acidic soil, although maybe a lot is also compacted soil from years of neglect before I moved in 2 years ago. Someone said that practically all the soil in New England is normally acidic. I'm hoping that liming will help with that in the fall.
 

Last edited by Brian1900; 07-15-17 at 09:55 PM.
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Old 07-15-17, 07:35 PM
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Just like with the other patches you've planted crabgrass will be a problem. Your new grass will have difficulty out competing the crabgrass once it grows up through the thin layer of topsoil.
Thanks Pilot, but the patches that I've done the crabgrass has been coming in significantly less than it was before and I have a lot of thick grass coming in. One patch was NOTHING BUT crabgrass before I planted the grass there. Other areas are just bare with coverings of black medic and so I till those areas a little and add new topsoil and they're also coming in quite good. Yes, I still get plantains here and there and a lot of crabgrass, but there are areas that I've done (I've done maybe 9 or 10 patches areas so far this summer) that have maybe one or two little crabgrass coming up and I just pluck them out. I realize this is going to be a yearly work in progress and I'm happy with that.
 
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Old 07-15-17, 07:39 PM
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I'd spend some time introducing myself to the people on your road or street who have lawns that you consider good and consult with them as to how they've achieved this.
The lawns in my neighbourhood all look crappy and weedy, no joking. I don't live in a rich or even upper middle class neighbourhood by and means!
 
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Old 07-17-17, 08:18 AM
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You've posted a lot about your lawn this year but you seem to miss a lot of what's said in response. As to seeding right now, it's not likely to work as this is the wrong time of the season to be seeding a cool season grass; you want to wait until August or September when the peak heat of summer is over.

If you're not going to use herbicides, you need to get a soil test done and ensure all the needed amendments are added to the soil to give your grass the best chance it can to fight all of those weeds.
 
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Old 07-17-17, 08:39 AM
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So a couple of other items I have found to produce a good patch.

1) buy some good seed, I never have weed/crab grass issues because I buy premium seed from a good landscape supply, probably pay more, but I get less of what I don't want.

2) topping, you cant expect good germination without a little help. they make clean straw topping (weed free) with tack that dramatically helps hold in the moisture to get the grass going

Use the above and you will have great results!
 
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Old 07-18-17, 02:39 PM
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You've posted a lot about your lawn this year but you seem to miss a lot of what's said in response. As to seeding right now, it's not likely to work as this is the wrong time of the season to be seeding a cool season grass; you want to wait until August or September when the peak heat of summer is over.

If you're not going to use herbicides, you need to get a soil test done and ensure all the needed amendments are added to the soil to give your grass the best chance it can to fight all of those weeds.
All my patches that I've done are coming in very thick with grass. Before there was nothing there , save for black medic and compacted soil. I water it religiously until it gets to 3 inches or so and then every other day or whatever. I think the grass will survive.

Yes, I'm also getting a lot of weeds like crab and plantain coming in along with some of the patches, but the front lawn has always been weedy. What I'm doing is getting more grass growing and tilling the soil to fix it from being compacted and then adding new soil also.

In the fall I'm going to aerate and add fertilizer and most likely lime also. New England soils are acidic and I bet mine is even without testing the soil
 
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Old 07-29-17, 02:20 AM
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Well everyone my lawn is looking pretty good nowadays. Yes, it still has a lot of weeds, but I'm happy pulling them and stuff. It's nice and green and the new patches are blending in nicely.

I'm going to be hopefully fertilizing with something organic in another month or so and maybe aerating and overseeding. At the end of August I want to clean up the little areas that have crabgrass and reseed them and add some new topsoil.

Also, is it ok to leave the crabgrass mulched on the lawn if it has not gone to seed yet? I don't let them get large enough to seed or at least I don't see any seeds so far.

I still have a lot of crabgrass, but nothing really severe in my opinion. The areas up front that were once ONLY crabgrass are now full of grass!
 
  #12  
Old 07-30-17, 10:10 AM
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You are wise not to use herbicides, especially if you have pets. Links have been found to cancer in dogs.
 
 

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