Use a weed killer in the spring. Note that overseeding is a waste if you put down a weed killer. Do the seeding in the fall and apply the weed killer in the spring AFTER the seeds have sprouted and took hold. You will get mediocre results with a weed and feed applied now, but it will help keep them down a bit. If you have a lot of dandelions, best to get spot spray for them.
In any case, it will take a few years, depending on condition.
Can't stand dandelions, they just make it look ugly when they're seeding
- the rest of the weeds I don't mind though (well, other than thistles, but we usually only get a couple of those a year which I just dig out). I'm not sure if there's anything that will selectively kill dandelions and nothing else, though...
It's all relative. 30' x 50' is a heck of lot larger than the 3' x 4' front lawn I had growing up in NYC. As a kid, cutting the front lawn meant getting out the spring loaded hand held clippers and crawling around for about 15 minutes.
The back yard was a different story. That took a few passes with the reel mower followed by a trim around the edges with the hand held clippers. Maybe 8' x 15'.
Put on a couple bags of 19-19-19 ( triple 19). That's all you need. If she can't afford to get the lawn looking perfect, she can't afford to maintain it. Which means she don't need it anyway.
Hank
Some of the first questions are what the final objective is and what kind of grass and weeds are there now. Do you want a perfectly uniform lawn, that is of fine texture, nice uniform dark color, disease resistant, early to green up, etc.? Or are you OK with an average lawn? Is what's there now mostly a grass that's consistent with the objective? Or is it crap grass that's course, not uniform, etc? Are the weeds typical broadleaf weeds that can be easily killed with a selective herbicide? Or are the weeds undesirable grasses and other weeds that won't be killed with a general purpose lawn weed killer?
If you have too many problems and want that real nice lawn, that suggests renovating it by killing the whole thing off and starting over. Not that difficult to do, but is should be done in Fall.
If you want to salvage and work with what's there, then I would apply a product like WeedBGone using a tank sprayer. That delivers the product right to the weeds that need it. It's most effective and uses less herbicide. In a couple weeks, you repeat on the surving weeds. Once the weeds are under control, it should only need to be done couple times a season.
If the weeds are really everywhere so that even with a tank sprayer you'd wind up spraying most of it anyway, then I'd consider the WeedNFeed product for the first time. But IMO, the spray is more effective. Also, most important time to ferilize is in the Fall, followed by Spring. That's all I do.
And if you go with working with what's there, the time to overseed would be in the Fall. Get rid of the weeds now and the grass will fill in some on it's own. Then in Fall, over-seed if needed.
The homeowner's desires, and her budget, are mutually exclusive.
Patch in the bare spots and keep it mowed.
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Not if her desire is a not much more than a somewhat decent looking yard that is not being taken over by broad leaf weeds, which is what is happening now.
The amount of weeds has increased substantially since she overseeded some large bare spots, especially where the plow dug up a section near the street. Since seeding that area and tossing some extra seed here and there, she's been watering twice a day to keep the new seed moist.
The new seed in the larger bare spots is coming in nicely, but the weeds (especially the broad leafs) are loving all that extra water too.
I weeded a significant amount of broad leaf weeds from the perimeter of the bare spot by the road and along the edge of the driveway where water tends to collect. As I was pulling weeds I noticed how many clumps of the broad leaf weeds, as well as other types of weeds, could be found here and there through out the lawn.
That's when I started wondering what it would take eliminate the various varieties of weeds and help the grass fill in, thus my question about weed and feed products. I've never tried them since SWMBO hasn't wanted them used on my yard because of the kids. I've been able to manually keep up with the weeds so my lawn is at least OK to look at, but she may be relenting on the use of chemicals now that the kids are out of the house. I think she wants to wait and see how the (not next door) neighbor's lawn turns out if I choose to go that route.
Even if the neighbor would really like a Better Homes and Gardens magazine cover lawn, she's realistic enough to know that she can't have that for free.
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No, fertilizing makes for a healthier lawn - proper nutrients encourage rhyzome growth which fills in the blank spaces from below so weed seeds from above don't get a hold. Too much NITROGEN makes the grass grow long and lush, and makes it use a lot of water - and need a lot of mowing. The micro-nutrients, like iron etc, make the grass stronger, more drought resistant, darker, denser, etc - which is a GOOD thing. The squirrels, birds, etc contribute their own fertilizer as well.
Even dead roots hold soil - and the "Rule of the Southern Ontario Lawn" is "if it's green in August, it ain't grass!!!"
That's one reason why seeding in the Spring is not the best time and now it's really nuts, unless you can't avoid it. If you seed in the Fall, there is a lot less competition from weeds, plus you have declining temps, cool nights, that diminish the need for watering.
Pulling weeds disturbs the soil and provides a place for weeds to grow. Combined with the watering, it's a vicous cycle.
I've always believed a tank sprayer is the most effective because you can put the product right where it's needed and avoid covering the whole lawn. But if the lawn is largely covered with weeds, I would be OK with using a granular, product.
Sure, the lefty moron attempting to read (not succeeding)what I've written.
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