I knew better, but...

[MVD]

When I bought my house there was a 5' x 12' fenced area that was used for the pervious owner's dog. There was no grass in the area and the ground was covered with rock. Around the fenced area were large bushes that I believe were dog woods. I wasn't really happy with this section of the yard, so I took out the fence, removed most of the dog woods and got the ground ready for grass. I knew it was the wrong time of year to plant grass, but I was impatient so I seeded it anyway. That was July 4. The grass came up and looked nice, but so did the weeds. I now have a terrible weed problem that I'm not sure how to solve. I'm thinking of buying some weed killer to spray over the area but I don't know what would work best. Any suggestions on a good product for that purpose?

[Pennyaline]

Mow it. Water it. Mow it. Water it. Mow it... You get the idea.

Eventually grass will crowd the weeds out, if you've been careful to mow before the weeds can blossom and set seed. Grass will even eliminate weeds that spread via underground runners.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

It's a small area. Weed it by hand for now, so it's ready for seeding at the proper time. Then, take care of the area BY THE BOOK, perfectly. The grass will eventually dominate.

By the way, without knowing what weeds you're dealing with, it's hard to say how bad they are. I have lots of purslane in my veg garden, and Ileave it in place until I need to use the area. It spreads like a mat, and chokes out other weeds. It pulls out very easily, and the soil underneath is in beautiful shape. I recently found out that it's great in salads, and contains all sorts of vitamins & minerals.

Others are nasty, and I remove them ASAP. Get to know your weeds.

[William Wagner]

Bill who loves wild purslane and has also purchased seed.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Clover, too. It quickly covers areas of my flower garden where I've cleared weeds, but waited too long to plant something. It pulls out easily the day after watering or rain, and the soil underneath is like a dream.

[Val]

A lawn mower.

Years ago, when the kidlette was small and we were broke, we moved into a house that had knee high weeds and saplings in a neglected, overgrown backyard. I yanked out the saplings and mowed the weeds. Where there were low spots I just filled it in with dirt and stomped it down, the grass took over the bare spots all by its self. After a few years of just watering and mowing (often enough so that the weeds didn't go to seed) we had a beautiful, tough as nails, kid proof lawn. It was the neighborhood play spot since nobody was hollering to "stay off the lawn!". Never did use any type of fertilizer or pesticide on that stuff and it put the constantly worked on "golf green" money pits in the rest of the neighborhood to shame.

I also hand picked the newly sprouting, tender dandelion leaves for salads and sautéed greens....yummy! But then, you could probably sauté an old shoe in shallots and butter and it would be yummy ;)

Val

[Val]

In my neck of the woods we call it the "yabut" syndrome. They ask a question, they get an answer and then respond with, "yeah, but......yadda, yadda, yadda."

*sigh* Val

[Kay Lancaster]

Hand pull, or wipe each weed individually with glyphosate. Most of the broad leaf selectives have at least a 3 week witholding period before you can reseed, which puts you well into the time I like to seed in most areas of the US.

If you didn't dig or rototill before your summer renovation, consider mowing the current plot as short as possible, and then digging it over and reseeding -- especially with a significant amount of clay in the soil. Even little dog feet can do a good job of squishing out the air space from soils over time, and it'd be easier to do a good aeration when you're renovating.

Kay

>

[William Wagner]

My concern is that their family way of making mistakes concerning nature or gardening is becoming vague and folks need total strangers to attempt to fill the gap.

21 first century schizoid man which I Identified with 40 years ago comes to mind. The ability to pass info in a text based device is poor. We who think we know must offer examples if anyone wants it. My kids think we have a strange garden but no one has asked how to improve the soil Yadda yadda.

Got to get dirty and interact with people.

21st Century Schizoid Man 7:26 King Crimson Court of the Crimson King Rock

Bill

[MVD]

Wow, a lot of snarky comments here. Actually I did think about getting on hands and knees and seeing how many of the weeds I could get pulled that way. I'm a little affraid that I'll end up pulling a lot of grass out too because many of the weeds are vine-like. But I assume the response to that would be that the grass will spread and fill any bare spot left where grass was pulled out. What do you think about my idea about cutting short and overseeding the weeds and grass in a couple weeks? Before I seeded I did dig the entire area so I don't believe soil compaction is a problem.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Not snarky at all. If you are presented with ideas, it's expected that you will respond to them. You've gotten relatively few responses, so it's not like it's a monumental task to respond.

Your question about the timing for seeding cannot be answered unless we know where you live. It's best done in cool weather, unless you are willing to cover the entire area with burlap, and mist it one or three times a day, depending on heat, wind, etc.

Where do you live? City & state, please.

[MVD]

I live in Northern Illinois.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

In that case, you'll hand weed until the middle of September, and then reseed. As far as compacting the soil, any time you walk on soil that's not hosting a good root system from one plant or another, you're compacting it. Work from the middle of the area to the outside. If you must return to the middle before the grass is really rockin', place a long board across it.

[dr-solo]

Fall is absolutely the best time for seeding for grass because native weed seeds wont germinate in fall, but non-native grass will. you can use weed killers on an established lawn, but not on ground you want to seed, it really affects germination. I suggest using a hoe to CUT the weeds off to the ground. Do not pull as this will expose more weed seeds. then find some finely ground compost, mulch or marsh hay and put a watering device on a timer water it every day. the "mulch" will rot and break down and by mid Sept. it will be ready to seed over the top of the new organic layer. right before seeding, chop the weeds down again. next spring start early with a pre-emergent to get rid of weed seeds. later you can use a weed and feed, if needed, but only squirt the weeds, dont do the whole lawn. Ingrid

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:52:25 -0000, MVD w