lawn care

shdybrady · #1 04/19/12, 08:14 AM

Last year we bought our little farm and was happy as can be to be homeowners a 22 years old. Well now the new is wearing off and while being a home owner at a young age is a great feeling. Im starting to want to be proud of the look of the farm. We have for the most part a very thick and green lawn. But a good abit of it is weeds and there are some patches here and there. Can someone give me methods and what grass seed would be a good combo for my lawn for a all year round green lawn? By the way we have pretty fertile soild and the water table is very high where Im at. When I was digging holes for fence post, I couldnt dig 12-18" without hitting water.

ronbre · #2 04/19/12, 08:26 AM

when you are digging, save the sod and plug pieces of it into the bare patches and then you won't require grass seed.

as for the weeds, are any of them edible weeds?

a good tool for removing weeds is a weedhound..a rod with a handle at top and 4 nails at the bottom that grabs the weed, pull up and out and knock it off with the handle at top..and bye bye weed..no need for chemicals..

some people also use cornmeal or corn gluten products on their lawn for a pre emergent weed control

shdybrady · #3 04/19/12, 08:28 AM

now Im not afraid of hard work, But I have a very large yard and there are a ton of weeds. I dont think manually pulling them would be an option. Even if i didnt i would have one patchy yard lol

Cliff · #4 04/19/12, 08:35 AM

We don't do lawn per se. Anything here has to be useful. Traditional lawns aren't practical. We have a few acres around the house and between the house and the road. We rotate it as pasture. Don't seed it and especially don't discourage weeds - except thistle, horse nettle, things like that which we hack off or dig out manually. A pasture with weeds is more nutritious for animals than just straight grass. In the process of adding a couple sheep again because they eat some things cows/horse/goat don't like. Haven't had any for a few years so those things are getting a little out of control. I won't use chemicals on my property. It is bush hogged a couple times a year.

My neighbors from californey who think you should live like city people in the country hate it lol. They think it will "give them snakes." Hahahaha

shdybrady · #5 04/19/12, 08:39 AM

well I agree with you 100% when it comes to a pasture. My pasture has a pretty good mixture of grass and weed. Ill seed it once a year with grass but wont try to choke out the weeds. Ill pretty much let it be and let my goats forage on what they want. But the part I am talking is my actual yard where my son plays. And I know playing in the weeds wont hurt him, Im not that kind of a parent. But it is definitely an aesthetic thing. I just want that part of my land to be nice lush and green grass.

luvrulz · #6 04/19/12, 08:47 AM

A city friend of mine asked me one time how I handled all the leaves I must get.....well, I don't do a thing. I have so much going on and no one can see my yard unless they come down the drive and are invited. I don't worry about the weeds - I mow them just like I do the good stuff! LOL And I mow over 6 acres with the asparagus fields and blueberry bushes. I don't have enough energy to do everything and the weeds don't bother me.

Cliff · #7 04/19/12, 12:02 PM

Wow you are 22? I think you are doing an awesome job with things in general. It's excellent that you know what you want and already have a farm. I grew up this way but wasn't especially interested in homesteading as a way of life till I got older. You seem bright and you are really observant and know what questions to ask which is 3/4 of the battle

About the grass thing, personally I'd just maybe seed the bare patches and mow the rest, weeds and all. But I also don't like chemicals and wouldn't want to use them especially where a child plays. Kids are exposed to so much garbage in the environment already that we have no control over.

As a side note, some of those weeds should be edible and will be more nutritious than things you can grow on purpose

shdybrady · #8 04/19/12, 12:58 PM

yeah I didnt want any chemicals. I believe you can do lime and it helps with weeds. But I have been told you have strong enough grass and keep it cut it will choke out the weeds. Thats more the direction I wanted to go. I definitely dont want any chemicals mainly because I dont want my chickens picking them up when the forage.

By the way thanks for the kind words. I only got this far from listening to my elders and to most of the people on this forum lol

RonM · #9 04/19/12, 01:38 PM

In my area I would reccoment Kentucky 31 Fescue, it is tolerant to heat, dry weather, reqires little if any fertilization and will grow in either sun or shade....I have used tons of it when I was landscaping...

johng · #10 04/19/12, 02:17 PM

Centipede grass is hard to beat for yard grass. It won't stay green all year but, doesn't require much fertilizer and does not need mowing very often. You can buy it as seed to do large areas. Or sod if you don't mind spending the extra money. I used the seed in my yard and it had pretty much coverd by winter.

Backfourty,MI. · #11 04/19/12, 02:48 PM

I use to try & keep the weeds out of the actual yard by the house but would cost a ton in Weed & feed products & I don't like all the chemicals in my yard.
Out where we are & all the big fields I figure it's impossible to do so now we just cut the actual lawn & as long as it's green that's all that matters, it looks nice when it's done.

Welshmom · #12 04/19/12, 02:56 PM

I'm with backfourty. Weeds grow in my lawn, but when it's all cut, it all looks green from the road

Besides, it's more like the lawns we had as kids, before everyone's lawn had to be ready for the cover of a magazine at all times. Someties in August when it gets dry here, my lawn wouldn't be green at all except for the creeping charlie!

Joshie · #13 04/19/12, 05:28 PM

I think it all depends what's around you. The neighbor next to us has cattle. He doesn't spray he pasture (and he has a lot of pasture). Weeds come off that place like crazy and there's just not much we can do to keep down the weeds. Our "lawn" consists of a little bit of grass and a whole lot of dandelions and other weeds. If DH didn't keep it well mowed we'd have large thistles and burrs.

Ozarks Tom · #14 04/19/12, 06:26 PM

My suggestion for your area would be Bermudagrass. You can seed it, or plug it (buy a few pieces of sod). That grass is known in some quarters a "devil grass" because it spreads out, and chokes out the weeds and any other grass. Lush and thick, heat tolerant (I had it in Dallas for years). I wouldn't recommend it in town with close lots, as your neighbors would have a yard full of it in a couple years.

Nancy · #15 04/20/12, 03:47 PM

We've got a grass and weeds mix. Has been this way for 25 years. We say if it's green it's not muddy and let it go at that. Like someone said when you mow it it all looks good from the road.

Alice In TX/MO · #16 04/20/12, 05:03 PM

Habiturf - it's a three seed blend for durability and low maintenance.

You may have to call to ask about purchasing seed.

How to Articles: Native Lawns: HABITURF™ – the ecological lawn

fireweed farm · #17 04/20/12, 07:55 PM

Start some beehives. Immediately you will be thrilled to see the weediest patches be of use to your own bees.

Limon · #18 04/21/12, 08:18 AM

First off, there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a nice lawn if that's how you want to spend your time. It's your life, and if that's what makes you happy, go for it.

That said, a strong growth of grass will stand up to a weed invasion, but I don't think you'll suffocate an existing patch by tossing some seeds on top of it. If you have a lot of weeds, there's no easy way to get rid of them without using chemical means.

You can dig up the weeds in a patch at a time, or if they're in really big patches, see what it costs to rent a sod cutter. You'll have to either re-sod those spots, or reseed them. If the grass you have is doing good, see if you can find someone locally who can identify what variety it is, and stick with that. I have had to reseed parts of the yard over the years, and it's very obvious. Grasses have different growth rates, so it looks neater if you get something that has a similar growth rate to what you already have.