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#1
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Tilling the yard advice please
I have a small backyard (18' by 30') and the lawn is several kinds of
grass and has been overrun by crabgrass and clover. There are also hard bald patches where I can't get grass to grow. It's mostly sun and the soil is fairly clayish. New York City area. The local Garden World place suggested ripping it up with a tiller and putting down lime, starter fertilizer, and seeding. I should then cover it with some soil so the birds don't eat all the seed. I can rent a light or medium duty tiller at the local Home Depot and I'll likely do it this Saturday. I've read that the existing lawn should be killed with Roundup or another broadleaf herbicide, but I let my cats go into the yard and don't want to put down anything that will harm them. They eat the grass. So my plan is to till it and try to remove as much of the existing foliage as possible. It's really only around 400 sq feet of lawn so it shouldn't be too backbreaking to get the stuff into bags once I rip it up. Actually my plan is to do it twice. The first time I get out the old stuff, then put down the fertilizer and lime and such, and then till it again to get it all mixed up well. Then seed. Am I just wasting my time to try this without using Roundup? Should I be mixing in peat moss? Any comments greatly appreciated. Thanks. |
#2
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Tilling the yard advice please
On Apr 17, 8:04 am, dgk wrote:
I have a small backyard (18' by 30') and the lawn is several kinds of grass and has been overrun by crabgrass and clover. There are also hard bald patches where I can't get grass to grow. It's mostly sun and the soil is fairly clayish. New York City area. The local Garden World place suggested ripping it up with a tiller and putting down lime, starter fertilizer, and seeding. I should then cover it with some soil so the birds don't eat all the seed. I can rent a light or medium duty tiller at the local Home Depot and I'll likely do it this Saturday. I've read that the existing lawn should be killed with Roundup or another broadleaf herbicide, but I let my cats go into the yard and don't want to put down anything that will harm them. They eat the grass. So my plan is to till it and try to remove as much of the existing foliage as possible. It's really only around 400 sq feet of lawn so it shouldn't be too backbreaking to get the stuff into bags once I rip it up. Actually my plan is to do it twice. The first time I get out the old stuff, then put down the fertilizer and lime and such, and then till it again to get it all mixed up well. Then seed. Am I just wasting my time to try this without using Roundup? Should I be mixing in peat moss? Any comments greatly appreciated. Thanks. I live in a completely different part oif the country than you (Florida) but have just gone thru the same procedure that you are planning...twice. The first time (a year ago i did it without putting any roundup on the lawn) I tilled the lawn and laid down sod on top of our good soil here. withing a few months the weeds were choking out the grass and I had to do it all over again. This time I put roundup on the lawn and killed off all the weeds and existing grass. I just finished tilling it and have raked off all of the dead weed and roots and stuff. All I have is nice black dirt waiting for the sod which will be delivered tomorrow. Keep the cats inside for awhile while the roundup does its thing, |
#3
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Tilling the yard advice please
On Apr 17, 1:19 pm, Capri wrote:
On Apr 17, 8:04 am, dgk wrote: I have a small backyard (18' by 30') and the lawn is several kinds of grass and has been overrun by crabgrass and clover. There are also hard bald patches where I can't get grass to grow. It's mostly sun and the soil is fairly clayish. New York City area. The local Garden World place suggested ripping it up with a tiller and putting down lime, starter fertilizer, and seeding. I should then cover it with some soil so the birds don't eat all the seed. I can rent a light or medium duty tiller at the local Home Depot and I'll likely do it this Saturday. I've read that the existing lawn should be killed with Roundup or another broadleaf herbicide, but I let my cats go into the yard and don't want to put down anything that will harm them. They eat the grass. So my plan is to till it and try to remove as much of the existing foliage as possible. It's really only around 400 sq feet of lawn so it shouldn't be too backbreaking to get the stuff into bags once I rip it up. Actually my plan is to do it twice. The first time I get out the old stuff, then put down the fertilizer and lime and such, and then till it again to get it all mixed up well. Then seed. Am I just wasting my time to try this without using Roundup? Should I be mixing in peat moss? Any comments greatly appreciated. Thanks. I live in a completely different part oif the country than you (Florida) but have just gone thru the same procedure that you are planning...twice. The first time (a year ago i did it without putting any roundup on the lawn) I tilled the lawn and laid down sod on top of our good soil here. withing a few months the weeds were choking out the grass and I had to do it all over again. This time I put roundup on the lawn and killed off all the weeds and existing grass. I just finished tilling it and have raked off all of the dead weed and roots and stuff. All I have is nice black dirt waiting for the sod which will be delivered tomorrow. Keep the cats inside for awhile while the roundup does its thing,- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I'd also suggest going the Roundup route. Roundup breaks down quickly, so you can seed as soon as the existing grass and weeds are dead, which is about a week to 10 days. I'd just keep the cats off it till it's been tilled. I'd also suggest putting this off till Fall, which is by far the best time to do this. You will have less competition from weeds, won't have to worry about crabgrass, and with declining temps and Fall rain, nature is on your side. If you do it now, you need to be able to keep it well watered, including during the coming summer, when the new grass won't have deep roots. If you do this in Sept, the grass has a lot more time to establish in cool season Fall/Spring, which is what it wants to do. You can do it now, but be prepared to deliver a lot of water and to deal with weeds. Mixing in peat moss or similar organic matter is always a good thing. It's just a trade off as to what you have available and how much it costs vs what soil you have and how much it needs to be improved. I would not cover the seed with soil, unless you have some method to do that very evenly and lightly. Just raking the seed in lightly should do the trick. Make sure you use the right type and best quality seed. |
#4
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Tilling the yard advice please
On 17 Apr 2007 10:19:07 -0700, Capri wrote:
.... I live in a completely different part oif the country than you (Florida) but have just gone thru the same procedure that you are planning...twice. The first time (a year ago i did it without putting any roundup on the lawn) I tilled the lawn and laid down sod on top of our good soil here. withing a few months the weeds were choking out the grass and I had to do it all over again. This time I put roundup on the lawn and killed off all the weeds and existing grass. I just finished tilling it and have raked off all of the dead weed and roots and stuff. All I have is nice black dirt waiting for the sod which will be delivered tomorrow. Keep the cats inside for awhile while the roundup does its thing, Thanks, I was sort of afraid of that. But I just looked around for the toxicity of Roundup and came across this: http://www.alternatives2toxics.org/c...site/round.htm Doesn't look too promising. Without the cats I might be willing to do it but with the cats? No, I don't think so. There seem to be some safe crabgrass killers such as this: http://www.crabgrassalert.com/safe_herbicides.html but I how do I really know that it's safe? Arrgh. |
#5
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Tilling the yard advice please
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#6
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Tilling the yard advice please
dgk wrote:
I just looked around for the toxicity of Roundup and came across this: http://www.alternatives2toxics.org/c...site/round.htm Not to worry at lawn kill dilution rate. Your mouthwash is -many- times more toxic. -- http://NewsReader.Com/ |
#7
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Tilling the yard advice please
All I know is the TV new in the Austin, TX area said herbicide runoff like
roundup are killing invertebrates and fish in and near the local water hole (Barton Springs). The purpose of peat moss is to loosen up the soil and breaking down to feed bacteria, which in turn makes the soil more nutritious to the foliage. I don't know if your soil needs this or not. You said clay soil. Consider some sandy soil added, and some peat moss or other organic to feed long term. Use the tilller to mix it in. -- Dave Apathy and denial are close cousins "dgk" wrote in message ... I have a small backyard (18' by 30') and the lawn is several kinds of grass and has been overrun by crabgrass and clover. There are also hard bald patches where I can't get grass to grow. It's mostly sun and the soil is fairly clayish. New York City area. The local Garden World place suggested ripping it up with a tiller and putting down lime, starter fertilizer, and seeding. I should then cover it with some soil so the birds don't eat all the seed. I can rent a light or medium duty tiller at the local Home Depot and I'll likely do it this Saturday. I've read that the existing lawn should be killed with Roundup or another broadleaf herbicide, but I let my cats go into the yard and don't want to put down anything that will harm them. They eat the grass. So my plan is to till it and try to remove as much of the existing foliage as possible. It's really only around 400 sq feet of lawn so it shouldn't be too backbreaking to get the stuff into bags once I rip it up. Actually my plan is to do it twice. The first time I get out the old stuff, then put down the fertilizer and lime and such, and then till it again to get it all mixed up well. Then seed. Am I just wasting my time to try this without using Roundup? Should I be mixing in peat moss? Any comments greatly appreciated. Thanks. |
#8
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Tilling the yard advice please
On 18 Apr 2007 01:33:11 GMT, Steveo wrote:
dgk wrote: I just looked around for the toxicity of Roundup and came across this: http://www.alternatives2toxics.org/c...site/round.htm Not to worry at lawn kill dilution rate. Your mouthwash is -many- times more toxic. That may be, but I don't let the cats drink mouthwash. I don't drink it either. But they would eat RoundUp if it's on the grass. |
#9
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Tilling the yard advice please
On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:39:10 GMT, "Dave"
wrote: All I know is the TV new in the Austin, TX area said herbicide runoff like roundup are killing invertebrates and fish in and near the local water hole (Barton Springs). The purpose of peat moss is to loosen up the soil and breaking down to feed bacteria, which in turn makes the soil more nutritious to the foliage. I don't know if your soil needs this or not. You said clay soil. Consider some sandy soil added, and some peat moss or other organic to feed long term. Use the tilller to mix it in. Thanks. Even if I don't manage to get rid of all the crabgrass and clover, at least the soil will be stirred up. Before I do this I'll try to get the soil analyzed to find out what I really need to do. |
#10
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Tilling the yard advice please
dgk wrote:
On 18 Apr 2007 01:33:11 GMT, Steveo wrote: dgk wrote: I just looked around for the toxicity of Roundup and came across this: http://www.alternatives2toxics.org/c...site/round.htm Not to worry at lawn kill dilution rate. Your mouthwash is -many- times more toxic. That may be, but I don't let the cats drink mouthwash. I don't drink it either. But they would eat RoundUp if it's on the grass. You put it in -your- mouth. I'd like to see a cat or dog die from eating weeds that were sprayed with round-up. Never happens in 100 years. -- http://NewsReader.Com/ |
#11
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Tilling the yard advice please
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#12
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Tilling the yard advice please
dgk said:
On 18 Apr 2007 01:33:11 GMT, Steveo wrote: dgk wrote: I just looked around for the toxicity of Roundup and came across this: http://www.alternatives2toxics.org/c...site/round.htm Not to worry at lawn kill dilution rate. Your mouthwash is -many- times more toxic. That may be, but I don't let the cats drink mouthwash. I don't drink it either. But they would eat RoundUp if it's on the grass. And, since they're not made of plant material, they'll be fine. It may make them puke, but the grass would do that anyway. The minute dose they would receive from the few blades they'd eat would do nothing to them. You're fsking clooless. -- Eggs -I went to school to become a wit, only got halfway through... |
#13
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Tilling the yard advice please
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#14
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Tilling the yard advice please
Steveo said:
I went to school to become a wit, only got halfway. Eggsactly. Ain't it funny how sometimes "random" becomes quite opportunistic? =) -- Eggs A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well. |
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