"Josiane" wrote in message
om...
Our fescue lawn was always bad. We have invested in Chemlawn several
times but the weeds have always come back. Last summer, after an
extended vacation, we came home to find practically no grass left, all
weeds. I have resorted to just cutting the crabgrass short because
there's virtually no lawn left. The soil is dry, claylike and rocky
and I can tell it's never been landscaped. It's springtime and I'm
frustrated... is there anything left to do except till the whole thing
over in the fall and plant new seed? I've already tried that before,
and it failed. The new fescue never took, and bare patches that were
left were soon replaced with more crabgrass, clover and other weeds. I
was careful to water the seed and I'm not sure why it didn't grow. My
biggest suspicion is that it all started with me cutting the lawn too
short, which I'm told weakens the grass and makes it vulnerable to
weeds.
I've noticed that the only lawns in our neighborhood that look nice
are the sodded ones. The fescue lawns look similar to ours -- nearly
all weeds. We live in Georgia, btw.
I'm sure you can tell that I am a novice and know nothing about
gardening, so please be kind.

You've gotten some pretty good responses - fescue is a cool season grass,
most suited to less temperate, cooler summer areas than Georgia experiences.
Also preparation of a good fertile soil base for any type of lawn is
essential for its long term health.

Once you have corrected these issue, I'd urge you to reconsider utilizing a
service such as Chemlawn (or TruGreen or any of the other chemically based
lawn services). Ecologically conscious and knowledgeable gardeners
understand that a lawn that is maintained by these methods becomes dependent
on them and is less able to withstand weed invasion, summer drought and
fungal diseases once the service is stopped. In addition to applying
unnecessarily high quantitiies of both chemical fertilizers and herbicides
which contribute heavily to groundwater pollution, these are not pet and
child freindly substances. It is far better to encourage the development of
a naturally healthy lawn through proper soil preparation and grass
selection, correct mowing and watering techniques and moderate use of
fertilizers than to rely on chemical intervention. Your local extension
office should be able to help you with these pretty simple methods.

pam - gardengal