Our home was built in 2003. Bajillions of dollars and hours have gone into the front gardens (about an acre of perennials with stone paths between), while the rear yard has gone mostly neglected. The builder probably put down grass seed, but right now it’s a patchwork of tall weeds (some more grass-like than others), large, bare spots of dusty dirt and rock, and great swathes of Virginia creeper. Oh, and mole hills/tunnels, lots of varmints. It gets mowed four or five times a season (if it’s lucky), and we cleared out the leaves once or twice a few years back. The overall area isn’t too large—perhaps 100’ x 50’ give or take.
We’ll eventually bring in a series of landscapers to give us estimates, but I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do in the meantime. We’re on a well so I’d like to minimize chemical applications, but from what I’ve read about Virginia creeper, unless I have access to both nuclear weapons and an orbital vehicle, I might as well give up.
This OP is prompted by our plans to rent a rototiller in a couple days (for another project). I had an image of tilling the yard, then throwing handfulls of seed down and hoping for the best. Then I had an image of a great, muddy pit and lots of regrets—so I thought to ask before tilling (how many mistakes could I have avoided had I asked before…?).
I have no expectations of developing a golf course-like surface, but would any small effort/expense yield a noticeable improvement? Any advice will be appreciated.
The advice you get will depend greatly on where you live. Planting fescue at this time of year would be a risky prospect unless you live someplace relatively cool and moist. However in the south it is just about the perfect time to plant some warm season grasses. In either case, tilling is a great way to get good germination.
We’re in downstate NY–the rural part of the Hudson Valley.
The end of our driveway has a large patch of never-been-cultivated ground. It was cleared (it’s surrounded by woods), probably for construction, but is just ragweed and various grasses. We’re going to till that and throw down handfuls of seed from those Wildflower in a Bag things. Sure, it’s more weeds (to most people), but the more flowering weeds down there the better.
Don’t till your yard. Buried not very deep beneath the surface are many millions of weed seeds just waiting to be brought to the surface and start growing in the warmth of the sun they have never seen before. DrDeth’s idea about laying down a barrier seems best since you don’t want to poison your water supply.
If you don’t have close neighbors or they wouldn’t care, plant dandelion seeds everywhere. That would be low-maintenance, and they are edible! White clover is another option. It’s very low maintenance and looks good & green if kept mowed.
We’re working on creating a clover lawn, too (I seeded with clover and grass seed, and am continuing to seed in every hole I make from pulling dandelions up - I’m getting clover shoots coming up now).
Regarding cool season grasses (your area), spring is the second best time to start a seed lawn, late summer is the best.
To build a good lawn, I rototill, grade, lightly roll, fine grade, seed, lightly drag an upside down spring rake to cover some of the seed, lightly roll, and keep moist through germination and then water less frequently but more deeply as the roots go down.
If needed to achieve a neutral pH, lime or sulphur should be incorporated in the tilling stage. A starter fertilizer can also be used at this time, or fertilize as it starts growing.
You’ll have more luck at this time of the year with rye, as opposed to fescue or bluegrass as it germinates much quicker. There are some very nice rye blends for turfgrass.
Don’t let it get too high before mowing (with a sharp blade), never cut off more than a third of the height at a time and try to mow it about 2 1/2" or higher.
Use slow acting fertilizers with about a 20% first number around Memorial Day and Labor Day.
In a lot of large developments (at least here in Canada) the first thing they do is scoop off the top layer of topsoil down to the clay undrneath. After all, that soil, unlike the less fertile crap below, is worth something. Plus, you’re still going to haul away lots of crap soil from the basement excavations, why mix good stuff in with it?
So the show homes then have a nice pretty front lawn, and the back is bare clay until someone buys the house and pays to have good topsoil spread. Not much will grow there, mostly weeds, certainly not lush lawn.
I would spray Round up or something, grade anywhere needed, til, and spread seed. I used to be a big fan of the fine red fescue. I am using more and more of the perenial rye. Cover it with straw. An alternative is paying for hydroseeding.
Yes, you will get weeds, but many of them will yield to broad leaf week killer. A barrier will kill existing weeds but at best only the weed seeds near the top.