My lawn is a major mess. I live in Central FL and the grass type is bahia.
The front yard isn't too bad but it has lots of patches of what I believe is
crabgrass and TONS of dollarweed.

The backyard is another story. over 1/3 of it is pretty much all weeds.
Crabgrass (again, I think) and various other entities that are definitily
weeds . There is probably now live bahia in this entire 1/3 area.

Now I realize this is a garden newsgroup but I'm not into gardens/gardening.
I'm looking for advice on how to handle this. Can I effectievly kill the
weeds in the frnt yard and get it fully healthy?

Can I do anything to slavage the backyard portion that is bad, or do I need
to till it all up and start over?

When I bought my house in Virginia, my yard was predominantly weeds. We
contracted with Lawn Doctor. They came in the fall and on 2 separate
occasions gave our lawn the Round-Up treatment. Then they came and seeded
over the dead stuff. We stayed with them for a year and they came and took
care of our lawn on regular intervals (6 times that year). That first year,
we had a beautiful, green lawn with few weeds. The only thing I regret is
not having tilled the yard before they seeded. Our soil tends to be
compacted. I thought they were going to till after they killed off the
weeds, but they did not.

The point to my story? Live with the weeds now because I think it's too
late to start. My understanding is that it's best to try to establish a new
lawn in the fall when the weeds start to die off. My suggestion would be to
give the whole back yard the Round-Up treatment, then when everything is
brown, you may want to till just to loosen the soil. Then seed and use a
starter fertilizer.

Everything I've read indicates that a healthy, thick lawn prevents weeds
from taking over. I've witnessed it in some neighboring lawns. Use a weed
& feed on the front lawn in the spring. It may be too late for you now but
it's still worth a try, in my opinion.

Hope this helped.

Lynn

"Evan Mann" wrote in message
om...
My lawn is a major mess. I live in Central FL and the grass type is bahia.
The front yard isn't too bad but it has lots of patches of what I believe
is
crabgrass and TONS of dollarweed.

The backyard is another story. over 1/3 of it is pretty much all weeds.
Crabgrass (again, I think) and various other entities that are definitily
weeds . There is probably now live bahia in this entire 1/3 area.

Now I realize this is a garden newsgroup but I'm not into
gardens/gardening.
I'm looking for advice on how to handle this. Can I effectievly kill the
weeds in the frnt yard and get it fully healthy?

Can I do anything to slavage the backyard portion that is bad, or do I
need
to till it all up and start over?

LFR wrote:
When I bought my house in Virginia, my yard was predominantly weeds. We
contracted with Lawn Doctor. They came in the fall and on 2 separate
occasions gave our lawn the Round-Up treatment. Then they came and seeded
over the dead stuff. We stayed with them for a year and they came and took
care of our lawn on regular intervals (6 times that year). That first year,
we had a beautiful, green lawn with few weeds. The only thing I regret is
not having tilled the yard before they seeded. Our soil tends to be
compacted. I thought they were going to till after they killed off the
weeds, but they did not.

The point to my story? Live with the weeds now because I think it's too
late to start. My understanding is that it's best to try to establish a new
lawn in the fall when the weeds start to die off. My suggestion would be to
give the whole back yard the Round-Up treatment, then when everything is
brown, you may want to till just to loosen the soil. Then seed and use a
starter fertilizer.

Everything I've read indicates that a healthy, thick lawn prevents weeds
from taking over. I've witnessed it in some neighboring lawns. Use a weed
& feed on the front lawn in the spring. It may be too late for you now but
it's still worth a try, in my opinion.

Hope this helped.

Lynn

I hope you realize that everything you have written, while technically
correct, is not politically correct. Within 24 hours you will hear from
paghat, gardengal and many other pseudo-environmentalists who will
chastise, castigate, flame and otherwise smear your good name. Good luck.

Why not just have a variegated lawn like I have? Now I've got some tiny
lavender flowers on a tall stem, balloon flowers, the oxalis is beginning to
flower and of course the dandelions! (which the tortoise loves to eat!)

--
gloria - only the iguanas know for sure

On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 03:08:52 GMT, "Evan Mann" wrote:

My lawn is a major mess. I live in Central FL and the grass type is bahia.
The front yard isn't too bad but it has lots of patches of what I believe is
crabgrass and TONS of dollarweed.

Raising a great lawn is a simple matter, you just water adequately to
make green stuff grow, then cut it. Repeat, repeat, repeat! If you
are willing to accept a bahaia lawn it will outgrow any weeds I've
ever seen with water and frequent mowing.

If you are unhappy with bahaia, bahaia is tough, grows better than
weeds and produces seed shoots in three days. One time kill isn't
going to rid you of it because some of the seed will wait a year or
two before sprouting and it will come back. There used to be a
product called Poast, not sure it is still available, but it would
kill Bahaia and not kill centipede. Ask your County agent if Poast
or a similar herbicide is available for the grass of your choice and
where to get it. It isn't cheap, but few things are these days. It
also requires a bit of dedication. One must water first then spray
the chemical while the Bahaia is growing fast, refrain from mowing and
pray it doesn't rain for the required time it takes for the bahaia to
absorb the chemical.
If you are serious you will probably need more help and should be able
to find some from the County Agent:
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/ces.htm

Regards,

Hal

"...........Why not just have a variegated lawn like I have? Now I've got
some tiny lavender flowers on a tall stem, balloon flowers, the oxalis is
beginning to flower and of course the dandelions! (which the tortoise loves
to eat!) ........."

This sounds to me like a "Wild garden" or a "Meadow lawn"
in the UK when we talk about variegation in the garden we usually are
referring to plants with Leaves which are marked with multiple colours.
See this link.... http://www.glasshouseworks.com/gallery3.html

It's worth looking at just for itself.


David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"Hal" wrote in message
...
Raising a great lawn is a simple matter, you just water adequately to
make green stuff grow, then cut it. Repeat, repeat, repeat! If you
are willing to accept a bahaia lawn it will outgrow any weeds I've
ever seen with water and frequent mowing.


Watering is something that hasn't been done frequently from the previous
owners (I've only been in the house since Sept, and it's my first
spring/summer). The sprinkler system wasn't used but I repaired it and it
is useable now.

If I water the lawn 2x a week and cut it weekly, the bahia should kill all
the weeds that I have?

Some things I've read consider bahaia a week. My lawn guy said he'd keep it
and not try to switch to Floratam St. Augustine (most commong in FL). I
have 1/3 of an acre (less house) and I'm not sure what killing the entire
lawn and sodding it would cost. Probably a lot.

I know I have crabgrass and dollarweed. I have another type of weed (I
think its a weed) but don't know what it is. It looks like really nice
grass... if my entire lawn was made of it. Any idea what it is?

http://www.llamas.net/~hdclown/weed1.jpg
http://www.llamas.net/~hdclown/weed2.jpg

It just grows in round circle like tht, spotted throughout the lawn.

"Hal" wrote in message
...
Raising a great lawn is a simple matter, you just water adequately to
make green stuff grow, then cut it. Repeat, repeat, repeat! If you
are willing to accept a bahaia lawn it will outgrow any weeds I've
ever seen with water and frequent mowing.


Watering is something that hasn't been done frequently from the previous
owners (I've only been in the house since Sept, and it's my first
spring/summer). The sprinkler system wasn't used but I repaired it and it
is useable now.

If I water the lawn 2x a week and cut it weekly, the bahia should kill all
the weeds that I have?

Some things I've read consider bahaia a week. My lawn guy said he'd keep it
and not try to switch to Floratam St. Augustine (most commong in FL). I
have 1/3 of an acre (less house) and I'm not sure what killing the entire
lawn and sodding it would cost. Probably a lot.

I know I have crabgrass and dollarweed. I have another type of weed (I
think its a weed) but don't know what it is. It looks like really nice
grass... if my entire lawn was made of it. Any idea what it is?

http://www.llamas.net/~hdclown/weed1.jpg
http://www.llamas.net/~hdclown/weed2.jpg

It just grows in round circle like tht, spotted throughout the lawn.

On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 22:45:02 GMT, "Evan Mann" wrote:

If I water the lawn 2x a week and cut it weekly, the bahia should kill all
the weeds that I have?

I'd almost bet the farm on that. I understand bahaia was developed
at an experimental station near Byron Georgia and Georgians have been
trying to control it ever since. I had it mixed with my centipede
and battled it for three years. I still have a sprig or two, but not
as much as when I started.

I don't care for the bahaia as a lawn grass because of the seed
shoots. Three days after mowing the seed shoots are standing a foot
high and make it look like it needs mowing again. That means it
looks like it needs mowing more than half the time if you mow it once
a week.

Some things I've read consider bahaia a week.

Do you mean weak as in not able to deal with drought? Don't believe
it. It is tougher than centipede, which would be my choice because
it requires less water that St. Augustine and doesn't grow quite as
fast requiring less mowing.

My lawn guy said he'd keep it
and not try to switch to Floratam St. Augustine (most commong in FL). I
have 1/3 of an acre (less house) and I'm not sure what killing the entire
lawn and sodding it would cost. Probably a lot.

I'm in Middle Georgia and don't know your lawn guy and wonder why he
would suggest keeping bahaia unless he has already tried to rid a lawn
of it, or knows how often you will want him to mow it. Your best bet
for local advice on a lawn is the County Agricultural Agent. He will
know what works best in your location.

Regards,

Hal

"LFR" wrote in message news:jEF2c.11600$fD2.3516@lakeread02...
When I bought my house in Virginia, my yard was predominantly weeds. We
contracted with Lawn Doctor. They came in the fall and on 2 separate
occasions gave our lawn the Round-Up treatment. Then they came and seeded
over the dead stuff. We stayed with them for a year and they came and took
care of our lawn on regular intervals (6 times that year). That first year,
we had a beautiful, green lawn with few weeds. The only thing I regret is
not having tilled the yard before they seeded. Our soil tends to be
compacted. I thought they were going to till after they killed off the
weeds, but they did not.

The point to my story? Live with the weeds now because I think it's too
late to start. My understanding is that it's best to try to establish a new
lawn in the fall when the weeds start to die off. My suggestion would be to
give the whole back yard the Round-Up treatment, then when everything is
brown, you may want to till just to loosen the soil. Then seed and use a
starter fertilizer.

Everything I've read indicates that a healthy, thick lawn prevents weeds
from taking over. I've witnessed it in some neighboring lawns. Use a weed
& feed on the front lawn in the spring. It may be too late for you now but
it's still worth a try, in my opinion.

Hope this helped.

Lynn

"Evan Mann" wrote in message
om...
My lawn is a major mess. I live in Central FL and the grass type is bahia.
The front yard isn't too bad but it has lots of patches of what I believe
is
crabgrass and TONS of dollarweed.

The backyard is another story. over 1/3 of it is pretty much all weeds.
Crabgrass (again, I think) and various other entities that are definitily
weeds . There is probably now live bahia in this entire 1/3 area.

Now I realize this is a garden newsgroup but I'm not into
gardens/gardening.
I'm looking for advice on how to handle this. Can I effectievly kill the
weeds in the frnt yard and get it fully healthy?

Can I do anything to slavage the backyard portion that is bad, or do I
need
to till it all up and start over?


I have a suggestion - get rid of LAWN DOCTOR!

I contracted with these con-artists last year and have had ongoing
service! Now, with the spring my yard looks WORSE than ever and their
reply?

There is "nothing" we can do about the weeds now!

HELLO? Isn't that what we contracted with these professionals to do?

I've cancelled my contract and am putting a big sign in my yard - I
figure if I have to be embarrased by what they did to my yard they
should be embarresed too!