Hi, I just bought a house last fall at San Francisco Bay area. The lawn at
backyard is full of weeds, and the size of the lawn is about 1500sq. And
only about 1/4 of the lawn has good grass. I am not an expert by any means
in gardens and lawns. And I want to renovate this lawn by myself. So I am
seeking help here.

I think I have 2 options:
1. Use weeds killer spray to kill the weeds;
2. Plow the lawn, then reseed;

For the first one, someone told me that using too much chemicals is not good
to soil and my own health. And for the second one, people told me that I
need to throw away those plowed soil otherwise the weeds will grow back with
new grass.

If someone can give me some advice on how I should proceed except for hiring
a professional, I'd really appreciate. Thanks!

On Fri, 7 Mar 2003 11:14:08 -0800, "Li Hao" wrote:

Hi, I just bought a house last fall at San Francisco Bay area. The lawn at
backyard is full of weeds, and the size of the lawn is about 1500sq. And
only about 1/4 of the lawn has good grass. I am not an expert by any means
in gardens and lawns. And I want to renovate this lawn by myself. So I am
seeking help here.

I think I have 2 options:
1. Use weeds killer spray to kill the weeds;
2. Plow the lawn, then reseed;

For the first one, someone told me that using too much chemicals is not good
to soil and my own health. And for the second one, people told me that I
need to throw away those plowed soil otherwise the weeds will grow back with
new grass.

If someone can give me some advice on how I should proceed except for hiring
a professional, I'd really appreciate. Thanks!

Without seeing your lawn it's hard to give good advice. But, killing
weeds and sowing seed do not go together. Find out what kind of weeds
are there. Find out the best time to overseed in your zone. Find out
when weeds are actively growing in your area. Also, find out the
best kind of grass seed for your area. Good decisions are very much
time-based. Look at the best lawns in your area, give the owners a
complement, and find out how they care for their lawn. Also,
consider the drought conditions. All of this is locally determined,
so your best bet is to visit a nursery in the SF area.

"Li Hao" wrote in message
...
Hi, I just bought a house last fall at San Francisco Bay area. The lawn at
backyard is full of weeds, and the size of the lawn is about 1500sq. And
only about 1/4 of the lawn has good grass.

Instead of weed killer, you might want to use a general herbicide (Roundup
etc), which will allow you to get a clean start. After a couple of
applications you shouldn't have a problem with weeds growing back. For a
lawn that size you could just use a hand spray bottle for application, which
minimizes overspray (do it on a calm day, and cover any nearby valuable
plants).

You could simply apply the seed the day after the herbicide, and rake in.
The dying plants will protect the seed while it germinates, and their
rotting roots will make room for the new grass plants in the soil. Keep well
watered of course. Get a good quality seed, appropriate to your climate,
soil and light conditions, and apply heavily.

Additionally you might rent an aerator (a machine that puts small holes in
the lawn) or get a company to do this. It will give the new grass a better
head start. And of course there's always the roto-tiller, but I'm not
convinced its necessary unless the soil is really compressed.

Finally, you could hire a company to put down one of these new seed/mulch
combinations. Some are even colored green for an instant result!