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#1
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My lawn looks crappy - any suggestions?
I recently bought a house as is, and the lawn looks like crap. The
previous owner neglected to water it regularly and keep it maintained, so half of the lawn is pretty much dead/weedy. It's St. Ausgustine grass. Any suggestions on how to redo my lawn? I don't have a lot of money, so I can't hire a contractor or buy a truckload of new St. Ausgustine. I'm thinking along the line of renting a tiller and reseeding it with another kind of grass (What kind of grass can coexist with St. Ausgustine?)... What's the best way to approach this project? I've asked people at Home Depot and they weren't very helpful. |
#2
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My lawn looks crappy - any suggestions?
"carol k" wrote in message
... I recently bought a house as is, and the lawn looks like crap. The previous owner neglected to water it regularly and keep it maintained, so half of the lawn is pretty much dead/weedy. It's St. Ausgustine grass. Any suggestions on how to redo my lawn? I don't have a lot of money, so I can't hire a contractor or buy a truckload of new St. Ausgustine. I'm thinking along the line of renting a tiller and reseeding it with another kind of grass (What kind of grass can coexist with St. Ausgustine?)... What's the best way to approach this project? I've asked people at Home Depot and they weren't very helpful. (1) get a bag of cheap grass seed. Scarify the soil (rough it up w/ a rake) where bald. Spread the seed and stomp it down to get good soil contact. Top dress it with soil or compost to keep the birds from spotting it. Keep it watered for the next few weeks - every day for short periods will keep them moist without washing away the seed. This will at least result in something more or less uniform green in color and probably acceptable enough if one doesn't look to closely. (2) Realize that we're going into the time of year that's hardest on lawns, which aren't really adapted for this climate anyway, and be philosopical about the fact that the yard will look like crap until you have the time and resources to replace the neglected lawn properly, perhaps this fall when the weather cools. (3) Get creative and replace with something other than lawn. Native grasses and plants, colored gravels, etc. This can be done piecemeal as you have the finances, if you start with a well thought out plan. Keep your eyes open when you drive around your neighborhood, or visit some *real* nurseries in the area, partial list below. This may not be an acceptable option for you - you may like the look of lawn, have children, or CCRs that prohibit anything but that stretch of suburban green. Again, this is not Merrie Olde Englande where the perfectly manicured lawn is "native." Since you're fighting nature, lawns here require considerable time and resources to maintain. http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/index.html http://www.bigredsun.com/site/tweet.html http://www.hillcountrywatergardens.com/ http://howardnursery.com/ http://www.itsajungleaustin.com/ http://www.tedstrees.com/ No web site: Utility Research Garden, 638 Tillery St., Austin TX 78702, (512) 386-9453. Barton Springs Nursery, 3601 Bee Caves Rd Austin TX 78746, (512) 328-6655 Great Outdoors, 2730 S Congress Ave Austin, TX 78704, (512) 448-2992 |
#3
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My lawn looks crappy - any suggestions?
If anything, I'd spend my money on a good dethatching procedure and
make sure you water very deeply every five days and the grass will fill in. You can cut your own plugs and put them into the areas where there is no turf now. After you water it well for a few weeks, fertilize it with a quality product. For turf I like Bradfield alfalfa pellets, but Sustane or Lady Bug is also a great product. If you continue to mow regularly, water deeply and fertilize it, you will fast have a lovely lawn. On Tue, 02 May 2006 09:12:51 -0600, carol k wrote: I recently bought a house as is, and the lawn looks like crap. The previous owner neglected to water it regularly and keep it maintained, so half of the lawn is pretty much dead/weedy. It's St. Ausgustine grass. Any suggestions on how to redo my lawn? I don't have a lot of money, so I can't hire a contractor or buy a truckload of new St. Ausgustine. I'm thinking along the line of renting a tiller and reseeding it with another kind of grass (What kind of grass can coexist with St. Ausgustine?)... What's the best way to approach this project? I've asked people at Home Depot and they weren't very helpful. |
#4
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My lawn looks crappy - any suggestions?
On Tue, 02 May 2006 22:09:55 GMT, Jangchub wrote:
If anything, I'd spend my money on a good dethatching procedure and make sure you water very deeply every five days and the grass will fill in. You can cut your own plugs and put them into the areas where there is no turf now. After you water it well for a few weeks, fertilize it with a quality product. For turf I like Bradfield alfalfa pellets, but Sustane or Lady Bug is also a great product. If you continue to mow regularly, water deeply and fertilize it, you will fast have a lovely lawn. What's considered a good dethatching procedure for my lawn? And how much do you think it would cost? |
#5
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My lawn looks crappy - any suggestions?
On Tue, 02 May 2006 15:34:19 GMT, "Mike Harris"
wrote: "carol k" wrote in message .. . I recently bought a house as is, and the lawn looks like crap. The previous owner neglected to water it regularly and keep it maintained, so half of the lawn is pretty much dead/weedy. It's St. Ausgustine grass. Any suggestions on how to redo my lawn? I don't have a lot of money, so I can't hire a contractor or buy a truckload of new St. Ausgustine. I'm thinking along the line of renting a tiller and reseeding it with another kind of grass (What kind of grass can coexist with St. Ausgustine?)... What's the best way to approach this project? I've asked people at Home Depot and they weren't very helpful. (1) get a bag of cheap grass seed. Scarify the soil (rough it up w/ a rake) where bald. Spread the seed and stomp it down to get good soil contact. Top dress it with soil or compost to keep the birds from spotting it. Keep it watered for the next few weeks - every day for short periods will keep them moist without washing away the seed. This will at least result in something more or less uniform green in color and probably acceptable enough if one doesn't look to closely. (2) Realize that we're going into the time of year that's hardest on lawns, which aren't really adapted for this climate anyway, and be philosopical about the fact that the yard will look like crap until you have the time and resources to replace the neglected lawn properly, perhaps this fall when the weather cools. (3) Get creative and replace with something other than lawn. Native grasses and plants, colored gravels, etc. This can be done piecemeal as you have the finances, if you start with a well thought out plan. Keep your eyes open when you drive around your neighborhood, or visit some *real* nurseries in the area, partial list below. This may not be an acceptable option for you - you may like the look of lawn, have children, or CCRs that prohibit anything but that stretch of suburban green. Again, this is not Merrie Olde Englande where the perfectly manicured lawn is "native." Since you're fighting nature, lawns here require considerable time and resources to maintain. http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/index.html http://www.bigredsun.com/site/tweet.html http://www.hillcountrywatergardens.com/ http://howardnursery.com/ http://www.itsajungleaustin.com/ http://www.tedstrees.com/ No web site: Utility Research Garden, 638 Tillery St., Austin TX 78702, (512) 386-9453. Barton Springs Nursery, 3601 Bee Caves Rd Austin TX 78746, (512) 328-6655 Great Outdoors, 2730 S Congress Ave Austin, TX 78704, (512) 448-2992 Thank you for your wonderful reply. I don't have many options as far as the front yard because of the deed restrictions, but the back yard is definitely a candidate for something other than grass. |
#6
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My lawn looks crappy - any suggestions?
On Wed, 03 May 2006 06:13:28 -0600, carol k
wrote: What's considered a good dethatching procedure for my lawn? And how much do you think it would cost? You can rent the machine or pay someone to do it. Call around and get prices. I don't know how big your lawn is. It shouldn't cost too much and certainly will be helpful. If you can't afford that, see if you can hire someone to do core aeration. You can call one of the better garden centers for a recommendation. The Natural Gardener Barton Springs Garden Center The Great Outdoors |
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