- Cover the ground with an opaque tarp for two weeks to kill the weeds
- bring in good topsoil, enough for 2-3 inches depth of coverage, 20%
oragnic for fast growth
- seed using high quality brand name seed, eg. Scot's

Will be much cheaper than sodding or hydroseeding, even if you use the
expensive topsoil. Using good soilk and seed, along with regular watering
91-2 times a day depending on how wet your weather is) should get you grass
in under two weeks. I did it in July and had new grass in six days, but in
2-3 weeks it was much more mature and spread out.


"FGreen" wrote in message
om...
My lawn is ~6 years old, was new when I bought the place. It looked
pretty good initially, but later I realized that the ground where the
sod was placed didn't have good soil at all. Pretty rocky, and had a
heck of time planting a small tree (which looks sickly and isn't
blooming much flowers at all).

The lawn now has a lot of dandelions, I mean, a lot. I used one of
those extraction tools from Home Depot. It does a decent job, but the
roots are rarely taken out completely, and there are just too many.
Too many to even use weed-b-gone selectively.

So, I'm thinking of redoing the lawn, probably in the fall, and need
your help. I'm thinking I need to
- Till up the ground
- Kill the existing dandelions/weeds with...?
- Put in good soil
- Put in new grass (hydroseed? sod?)
(I know I need to do more studying on it, but need to discuss it with
a neighbor that shares the lawn in this 2-family home, so basics would
be sufficient for now.)

My questions are...
- What tools do I need, if I do it myself? I only have basic
gardening tools. Rent a rototiller?
- Is there a way to get rid of existing weeds without using chemicals,
once the lawn is dug up? Cover it up to choke it? We've got dogs and
young children.
- If not, how long would it take for it to be 'safe' for dogs and
children? It'd still be a dug up ground, but you know how kids are...
they love dirt!
- Would I be better off hiring someone? (I know that's a very
subjective question...)

I'm in New England and the lawn get a lot of sun. I don't think I'd
need the soil analyzed, since whatever is there is just almost rocks,
and I'd be putting in new soil.

I'd appreciate any help.