My lawn (front & back) is probably mostly weeds. Is it worth it to spray weed killer all around? Wondering if there's even any grass!

Some landscaper is quoting me $85 to come out and mow, trim/edge, cut the weeds and spray weed killer. Not sure if that's a good, normal or bad deal but I think I may do it

About $25 of that are to mow, trim, and edge.

What exactly does he mean by "cut the weeds"?

Lol that's what I was thinking... We paid someone $30 to mow/trim/edge last week... so not sure where this extra $50+ is coming from in regards to "cutting weeds" and then I'm not sure how much it costs to professinally spray weed killer.

Unfortunately, we just moved in so I don't have any equipment or weed killer or lawn fertilizer or a weed sprayer or a lawn mower etc... yet so I'm kind of in a bind.

First... Don't panic. It's weeds, not a tree in the living room.

I'm guessing what lawn is there is some form of St. Augustine. Once it's healthy it will choke out the weeds and prevent their return. You've got enough little expenses with a new home, so let's try to avoid the nuclear route. Buy a broadcast fertilizer distributor and put down a good summer blend. It's too late right now for pre-emergent. Till the end of the summer, have your lawn guy more with his equipment as high as it'll go and shoot for 1in of watering per week.

Take a few weeks and see if things aren't looking better. Then let's reassess. Give that St Augustinea chance to recover and see what it'll do.

^ so I shouldn't purchase weed killer? Just try and fertilize the lawn for a few weeks first? Interesting, I'll give it a shot

Where are u located? I have an extra broadcast spreader, just taking up shed space.??

Dallas...

Sometimes Houston

Going thru central Texas (Waco) anytime soon? If so, shoot me an email, I'll meet ya and you can have it.

Yeah! That's what I'd do. There's a good shot that some of them are spring weeds that'll die off on their own soon anyway.

For its flaws, At. Augustine will spread voraciously especially when it gets what it wants. The mowing most likely isn't what the weeds want and it'll allow the St. Augustine to run right through them. After a while you'll know where you have lawn and where you don't. Those areas can be resodded, or depending on size and your willingness to wait, transplant runners.

Unfortunately no plans in the near-term going that way but thanks! really appreciate it.

Gonna give this lawn fertilizer a shot before I try and kill the weeds. The weeds don't look terrible until it's time for a mow

What are your thoughts on Weed & Feed stuff? Kill the weeds and fertilize the grass... Like this:

Just make sure your lawn guy is missing it high. In my experience, most cut way way too short.

I've never been a fan of the weed and feed, but that's just me... Nothing wrong with it though. Guys on the outdoor board shy away from it in favor of more targeted applications, but as long as it won't kill the flower beds I don't think it'll hurt.

Meh, we don't have any flower beds yet haha

Was gonna worry about most of the lawn/exterior stuff until after we were completely moved in and decorated, but the weeds have been such an eyesore, I figured I should try and get a head start on this.


Thanks guys for all the advice!

I would probably try the weed and feed (I don't use it anymore, but I would in your situation). Maybe then spray a broadleaf weed killer (the one you hook up the bottle to your hose). Definitely start mowing high assuming you have St Augustine as mentioned above.

One other item you might consider if the previous owners had kids is to aerate the soil. You can rent one that cuts little plugs out of the soil or get one that you just step on driving spikes into the soil.

If they had kids, the lawn likely got heavy foot traffic and the soil is likely compacted. If no kids, it's probably just neglected and not as necessary.

I would recommend a good lawn chemical company for a year or two to get it into shape. I use rhino. I did my own for years and did ok. But alway missed dates or whatever and struggled. They are 55 a visit and come 6 times (I think.) figured out that it wasn't that much more than I was spending on chemicals and now my lawn looks really really good. Worth it to me not to have to mess with it.

If you want to try them let me know, I think we both get a referral discount.

I have used the Nitro-phos products for the last 8 years and been very happy with the results. Here's their suggested feeding schedule.

http://www.nitro-phos.com/feeding-schedule.html

Just like the guys above said, I would also suggest going the fertilizing route before I would do a weed killer treatment. Also I was told to be very careful using weed and feed around trees. I believe it can eventually kill the tree (not sure on this, I just avoid using it to be on the safe side). Be sure to put out a pre-emergent this coming fall and in the early spring next year. If you do decide to use a post emergent (like wipe-out), be sure not to apply it when it's over 95 degrees (early morning or late evening is your best bet).

I hope it works out for you!

Weed and feed should be avoided if you have trees. The primary weedkiller in those products is usually 2,4-D, which is pretty effective at killing broadleaf weeds. With that in mind, think of your trees as giant broadleaf weeds.

You're better off doing spot treatment of weeds with a liquid spray and then regular fertilizer on the rest of the lawn.

The primary herbicide in weed and feeds isn't 2,4-D.

They normally just add some 2,4-D so that you see a quick browning of broad leaves and feel better about the product.

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The primary herbicide in weed and feeds isn't 2,4-D.

They normally just add some 2,4-D so that you see a quick browning of broad leaves and feel better about the product.

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2,4-D doesn't cause quick browing of leaves. It causes twisting (epinasty).

quote:

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I have used the Nitro-phos products for the last 8 years and been very happy with the results. Here's their suggested feeding schedule.

http://www.nitro-phos.com/feeding-schedule.html

Just like the guys above said, I would also suggest going the fertilizing route before I would do a weed killer treatment. Also I was told to be very careful using weed and feed around trees. I believe it can eventually kill the tree (not sure on this, I just avoid using it to be on the safe side). Be sure to put out a pre-emergent this coming fall and in the early spring next year. If you do decide to use a post emergent (like wipe-out), be sure not to apply it when it's over 95 degrees (early morning or late evening is your best bet).

I hope it works out for you!

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This should be a good start for you. Just avoid putting the weed and feeds under the drip line of trees. Just put regular fertilizer there.

Give it a shot.

Thanks everyone!

I'm just gonna give it a go today and:
1.) mow my lawn
2.) weed & feed everywhere except near trees and their drip line
3.) water/sprinkler about an inch
4.) wait and hope I didn't just kill my lawn

quote:

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I'm guessing what lawn is there is some form of St. Augustine. Once it's healthy it will choke out the weeds and prevent their return.

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I have the same problem in my front yard. There were mature trees with limbs almost touching the ground. I took the limbs up about 20 feet where I now get sun across the yard sufficient to support St. Augustine.

However, There are only small patches of St. Augustine on one side of the sidewalk to the front door. The patches are 1'x1' every 5' or so. Will that spread and take over the weeds? If so, how long will that take?

One the other side of the sidewalk, The ground is half St. Augustine coming in from my neighbors yard. The rest of the ground leading to the sidewalk is weeds. Will that half of St. Augustine work it's way to the sidewalk? If so, how long will that take?

I bought my home in August 2008. The front yard was sodded and the sided were sodded. The back was (and still is) left to it's own devices. That first late summer/fall my goal was to get settled and just keep everything alive. Along the sides, especially near the back you could still see the outline of the sod on the ground. That winter much of the sides died WAY back. That next spring I bought one square of plugs in an attempt to supplement the back yard. Some of them sorta took, but most of them I lost track of their location and they died off. It's been my experience though I've been able to get upwards of 6' of spread from the grass along the sides of the house as it began to wrap back around.

I expect this year the two will fully meet in the middle behind the patio. The grass from one side has been hampered as it had to also spread around an "island" of landscaping so it wasn't such a direct shot.

You can supplement my cutting and planting runners from healthier parts of the lawn or harvest them when you do your edging.