My lawn looks like crap. I see three problems--weeds, ant hills and bare
spots. So I want to kill the weeds and the ants, and get grass to grow in
the bare spots. I don't really need a perfect looking dark green lawn, but
no weeds and good grass coverage would be nice.

Some of the bare areas are beneath a few large oak trees. I've heard that
it's really tough to get grass to grow under trees, so I'm either taking the
trees out or just put up a border and mulch around the trees.

Another problem (I think)--two different kinds of grass in my yard. The
prior owner planted zoysia on the side of the house, which gets a lot of
sun. The rest of the lawn (sun and shade exposure) is (I'm guessing) some
kind of rye/fescue blend. Do I need to treat the zoysia differently as far
as fertilizing, weed killer, etc.?

In what order should I work on the lawn? Weed killer now, then ants, then
wait 'till fall to put seed down? I'm in the Philadelphia, PA area.

"O.B. Juan" wrote in message
news:T4B0g.1513$9.1196@trndny04...
My lawn looks like crap. I see three problems--weeds, ant hills and bare
spots. So I want to kill the weeds and the ants, and get grass to grow in
the bare spots. I don't really need a perfect looking dark green lawn,
but
no weeds and good grass coverage would be nice.

Some of the bare areas are beneath a few large oak trees. I've heard that
it's really tough to get grass to grow under trees, so I'm either taking
the
trees out or just put up a border and mulch around the trees.

an alternative is to box around the trees and put in a garden (either soil
height or slightly raised) and plants some shade loving/tolerant ground
covers. My wife put in tulips around one of our trees which did well for a
while until I knocked them out with the lawn mower by mistake.

rob

located in pacific northwest.....lotsa rain during winter
months....drought like conditions during summer when one wants a good
looking lawn.
Soil here is **** poor. It packs down and gets as hard as concrete. So
last week had a guy dethatch the lawn. Dethatching gets rid of the dead
layer which prevents nutrients from getting to the roots. This week he
will come back and aerate. Aeration is probly what lawn needed most.
The aeration machine takes plugs about 6 inches long from the soil. You
can leave them on top or rake them up. The reseed like crazy. Maybe this
method might help.