my lawn is a mess,can it be corrected?

[Evan Mann]

My lawn is a major mess. I live in Central FL and the grass type is bahia. The front yard isn't too bad but it has lots of patches of what I believe is crabgrass and TONS of dollarweed.

The backyard is another story. over 1/3 of it is pretty much all weeds. Crabgrass (again, I think) and various other entities that are definitily weeds . There is probably now live bahia in this entire 1/3 area.

Now I realize this is a garden newsgroup but I'm not into gardens/gardening. I'm looking for advice on how to handle this. Can I effectievly kill the weeds in the frnt yard and get it fully healthy?

Can I do anything to slavage the backyard portion that is bad, or do I need to till it all up and start over?

[LFR]

When I bought my house in Virginia, my yard was predominantly weeds. We contracted with Lawn Doctor. They came in the fall and on 2 separate occasions gave our lawn the Round-Up treatment. Then they came and seeded over the dead stuff. We stayed with them for a year and they came and took care of our lawn on regular intervals (6 times that year). That first year, we had a beautiful, green lawn with few weeds. The only thing I regret is not having tilled the yard before they seeded. Our soil tends to be compacted. I thought they were going to till after they killed off the weeds, but they did not.

The point to my story? Live with the weeds now because I think it's too late to start. My understanding is that it's best to try to establish a new lawn in the fall when the weeds start to die off. My suggestion would be to give the whole back yard the Round-Up treatment, then when everything is brown, you may want to till just to loosen the soil. Then seed and use a starter fertilizer.

Everything I've read indicates that a healthy, thick lawn prevents weeds from taking over. I've witnessed it in some neighboring lawns. Use a weed & feed on the front lawn in the spring. It may be too late for you now but it's still worth a try, in my opinion.

Hope this helped.

Lynn

gardens/gardening.

[Fashion1st]

I hope you realize that everything you have written, while technically correct, is not politically correct. Within 24 hours you will hear from paghat, gardengal and many other pseudo-environmentalists who will chastise, castigate, flame and otherwise smear your good name. Good luck.

[Gloria Lenon]

Why not just have a variegated lawn like I have? Now I've got some tiny lavender flowers on a tall stem, balloon flowers, the oxalis is beginning to flower and of course the dandelions! (which the tortoise loves to eat!)

[Hal]

Raising a great lawn is a simple matter, you just water adequately to make green stuff grow, then cut it. Repeat, repeat, repeat! If you are willing to accept a bahaia lawn it will outgrow any weeds I've ever seen with water and frequent mowing.

If you are unhappy with bahaia, bahaia is tough, grows better than weeds and produces seed shoots in three days. One time kill isn't going to rid you of it because some of the seed will wait a year or two before sprouting and it will come back. There used to be a product called Poast, not sure it is still available, but it would kill Bahaia and not kill centipede. Ask your County agent if Poast or a similar herbicide is available for the grass of your choice and where to get it. It isn't cheap, but few things are these days. It also requires a bit of dedication. One must water first then spray the chemical while the Bahaia is growing fast, refrain from mowing and pray it doesn't rain for the required time it takes for the bahaia to absorb the chemical. If you are serious you will probably need more help and should be able to find some from the County Agent:

Hal

[David Hill]

"...........Why not just have a variegated lawn like I have? Now I've got some tiny lavender flowers on a tall stem, balloon flowers, the oxalis is beginning to flower and of course the dandelions! (which the tortoise loves to eat!) ........."

This sounds to me like a "Wild garden" or a "Meadow lawn" in the UK when we talk about variegation in the garden we usually are referring to plants with Leaves which are marked with multiple colours. See this link....

's worth looking at just for itself.

David Hill Abacus nurseries

[Evan Mann]

Watering is something that hasn't been done frequently from the previous owners (I've only been in the house since Sept, and it's my first spring/summer). The sprinkler system wasn't used but I repaired it and it is useable now.

If I water the lawn 2x a week and cut it weekly, the bahia should kill all the weeds that I have?

Some things I've read consider bahaia a week. My lawn guy said he'd keep it and not try to switch to Floratam St. Augustine (most commong in FL). I have 1/3 of an acre (less house) and I'm not sure what killing the entire lawn and sodding it would cost. Probably a lot.

I know I have crabgrass and dollarweed. I have another type of weed (I think its a weed) but don't know what it is. It looks like really nice grass... if my entire lawn was made of it. Any idea what it is?

just grows in round circle like tht, spotted throughout the lawn.