Can a "weed-and-feed" product save a weedy lawn?

[DerbyDad03]

Let's say a person has a lawn that is 75% grass, 20% a wide variety of weeds, mostly clover but also dandelions (mostly pulled) and few different types of broad leaf weeds (mostly pulled) and 5% bare (mostly because hours were spent pulling patches of dandelions and broad leaf weeds,

Let's say this lawn is 30' x 50'.

Let's say the owner would like 100% grass, 0% weeds and 0% bare spots.

Can this be done with a "weed-and-feed" product, some overseeding and diligent watering or does the owner need to start from scratch?

If the owner needs to start from scratch, can the existing "everything" be rototilled under or do all of the weeds (and grass?) have to be killed off first?

I might as well mention the soil condition. I'm pretty sure that the soil could use some work, but the owner is on a very limited budget and probably can't afford to have 30' x 50' x 3" of top soil brought in. I can get the soil tested for her so we know what we're up against.

I can line up labor from various sources to help the owner out with tilling, seeding, watering, etc. but asking for actual cash for top soil and other rmajor treatments is not going to work.

What are her options? Thanks!

[Doug]

What is your time frame? Do you know what type grass and soil? If you need it by next week seriously, I'd say kill everything and lay sod on top but that would cost.

In general without knowing the answers above, I think the answer is yes but it will take most of this season or into next year. My dad had a St Augustine lawn and tho I thought he was crazy, once he mowed it to within a 1/2" of the ground. It looked horrible when first cut. I don't remember now but I think he watered it and fertilized it after that and by the following year, he had a gorgeous lawn.

[dpb]

Roughly a postage stamp...

Assuming the grass variety that is there is something desirable, sure.

No point in that drastic--and it'll still take the same problem getting fixed that are the problems in the existing...

No point in doing anything until this is done and done for various areas to check.

The money spent on any product until you have this done is just throwing money at it w/o any idea whether it will/won't solve the problem.

Find the local County Extension office--they'll have all kinds of advice and probably access to soil testing as well apropos to the local conditions.

[bob haller]

is a perfect lawn really necessary?

I no longer use harsh chemicals on my lawn, just some fertilizer.....

if the lawn is green i am happy

[gonjah]

Weed and feed is bullshit.

Pull your weeds or mow them.

[dpb]

On 6/11/2012 5:39 PM, bob haller wrote: ...

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That's up to OP or the neighbor lady/person to decide, not me...

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[clare]

SOME weeds pretty well need a killer, just like some crooks need to be shot. Pulling them, like jailing a crook, just lets him come back nastier than he started.

[Frank]

I use it now and then but spot spraying usually works better.

Also depends on weed and things like crabgrass are best left to a pre-emergent herbicide.

Over seeding is good and works best in the fall.

Unless you tear it up and start from scratch, this is not a job that can just be done overnight.

[dpb]

...

Well, the link doesn't say to never use a herbicide; it just is pushing to not use the combination products. Which ain't a bad idea; as they say it's rare the time to treat and fertilize coincide and also not often really need the whole yard--plus they're more expensive than herbicide would be as an additional separate product w/ the same amount of fertilizer.

The only one that really makes much sense imo is the crabgrass pre-emergent if have a stand of it; it is about the only practical solution there (altho still may be better off w/ just the treatment w/o the fertilizer).

I don't recall ever fertilizing a lawn--it needs mowing enough as is.

I do pull a lot (being in SW KS on farm where the tumbleweeds and everything else blows all winter, get reseeded regularly) but there's no way can possibly do the full yard that way. Spent a goodly part of today doing thistle and mowing and while can see some progress there's more than could do if spent all day every day the rest of the summer to go...

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[clare]

And even tearing up and starting over requires some time and effort to kill the weeds or they just come up again in the new lawn in a couple of months.

[Frank]

Not to mention occasional bug and fungus problems. I saw someone years ago plow up and put in a new lawn to lose it to sod web worms.

I'm fighting an invader now, Japanese stilt grass.

[Norminn]

Tilling it all under would be an insane amount of work, and fairly pointless unless you were installing sod. Weed and feed's are usually expensive and not great to apply together. Lotsa folks would disagree, but feeding may not be all that important (depends how much more often you want to mow). Broadleaf weed killers will get rid of lots of stuff; MOST broadleaf weeds. Hubby and I rehabbed a really sadly neglected Florida condo lawn, about 1/2 acre and about 1/4 dead bare. Had to start with rebuilding the irrig. system. Then, when some leftover broadleaf herbicide seemed to work miracles, we got really serious about the lawn...not to make it picture perfect (we got close) but to make it attractive and easier to maintain. Toughest fight is crabgrass and it's relatives, which require PRE-emergent herbicides at right time (early spring).

Once we applied b.l. herbicide, almost all the broadleaf weeds were gone; you can count on existing seeds to grow more for 2-3 years, then subside a lot. After our first appl., it only required spot treatment occasionally. Good to mow before they produce seed, and mow higher, especially during hot, dry weather. Proper mowing makes a huge difference, as it prevents moisture depletion and weed growth.

Fertilizing? How fussy do ya' wanna' be? If the grass is a healthy green, forget it. If the soil is hard clay, forget grass.

[gonjah]

The only thing I use now is Dillo Dirt. It has it's controversies but the stuff works better than anything I've used to keep the lawn thick and healthy. I do use a tiny bit of Amdro for the fire ants, but as little as possible. It seems to work well too.

[dpb]

...

Well, we use feedyard residual (but not in yards) ( :) ) so I don't have any problem w/ that...

I still ain't a'gonna' fertilize the yard unless there's some very unusual reason to do so. :)

Amdro rocks indeed, btw...

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[HeyBub]

First, "bullshit" is a pretty good fertilizer.

Second, the assertion to which you pointed us came from Austin. So did the bumper sticker:

SOUTH AUSTIN We're all here because We're not all there

[krw]

I have two lawns, one has a beautiful Zoysia lawn and the new one a weed field, with a little grass mixed in. I can tell you that the one with the nice grass is 10x easier to take care of. Weeds grow like, well, weeds.

[gonjah]

:-)

[dpb]

On 6/11/2012 5:48 PM, gonjah wrote: ...

Follow-on to previous...I just used the lot calculator at to see just what we're mowing---what we call the "inside" yard around the house that do water at least enough to keep alive and treat as a lawn area is just under 1A. That's quite a lot of hand weeding when the wind blows all the way from Austin to Saskatchewan w/o a thing to stop it... :)

The machine lots and area around the barns, elevator, feedlots, etc., etc., that keep mowed for to not to have to fight the worst of the weeds is about 14A. Outside that for fire break I keep another area mowed short during dry weather that's about another 20A.

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[Home Guy]

Yes.

You don't even need to over-feed.

But this really needs to start in April or May - not June.

Best results when the daytime temp's don't get above 80 or 85.

I used to use liquid weed'n'feed (hose-end sprayer, about a gallon jug - a little on the heavy side).

But that product is no longer available in my area.

Instead I use the concentrated weed killer (applied through hose-end sprayer) and I put down a granular fertilizer (I mix several types). I have a large - but irregular area, so I use a hand-held rotating dispenser.

Crab-grass usually requires a non-standard herbicide.

You might also have grubs.

Bottom line: Liberal use of herbicide (weed killer) and fertilizer can do amazing things - without requiring over-seeding or soil amendments. You don't even need to go heavy on the weed-killer either. But water ->

you can never have enough water.

Order of importance:

- fertilizer

- water

- weed killer

- insect killer

- top-soil (or other soil additive / amendments)

I never aerate either (that is a crock of shit money-making fraud).

I bag (and remove) the grass clippings when I cut my lawn.

[Home Guy]

Why?

Why are you being a coward like this?

What is your reason for doing that?