Advice on reviving lawn

Suhan

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Hi!

When I first moved into my house, my backyard had nice green grass. Now, it seems to be completely overrun by weeds and I’m not sure if there’s actually any grass left, and it’s growing too fast. From what I gathered online, I will need to apply a weed killer over the whole lawn and then top soil, and final step is lay new turf. I’m looking for advice on whether this is something realistic to do on my own as someone that knows close to nothing about lawn maintenance. Or is this something that needs to be done by a professional, if so, who should I be contacting? Turf laying services? Landscaper?

I’m based in Sydney, Australia
 

Suhan

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This is my lawn
 

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Meadowlark

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Howdy neighbor.

Be very cautious about using weed killers as they kill indiscriminately. Starting over can be very expensive and/or labor intensive. Honestly, it doesn't look that bad to me...but I'm not a "lawn of the month" type person...but as a rancher I do grow a lot of grass.

On one picture is appears to have significant shade which can be problematic for certain grass growing. Have you ever tested the soil?

Regular watering, mowing, and fertilizer for your soil should be sufficient.
 

PGB1

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Hi Suhan,
Please be very cautious with weed killers. If you have children or pets, absolutely skip the toxic ones.

Note that, with many weed killers, insects walk on the treated lawn. Birds eat the insects and get sick or die. Worm population goes down. Squirrels and other lawn-walkers get it on their paws, lick the paws and get ill or die.

On my street, every time someone gets the lawn sprayed with weed killer by a company; the next the day the neighbor and I pick up dead squirrels and birds. Sometimes 3 or 4 squirrels and a dozen birds in a morning. (I have the big trees, so the squirrels and birds live here.)

There are less or not toxic products available. Chelated Iron works very well.

Please accept these suggestions with respect. The decision of what to use is yours.

Paul.
 

oneeye

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I big challenge with a lot of homeowners is Sunlight exposure. If you have ornamental grass you will need at least 6 hrs of full sun for it to grow well. Many weeds can grow in less than six hours of sunlight, as they are generally adaptable to various light conditions and can still thrive with moderate sunlight exposure. Make sure you have plenty of Sunlight on the lawn before doing anything. For areas with less than 6 hrs of full Sun or shady lawns, one can use ground covers like Mondo grass, Vinca Miner, or many others.
 
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I had the same problem with my backyard!
The first thing I did was apply a weed killer to get rid of the weeds, but I made sure to follow the instructions carefully. After that, I used a lawn aerator to poke holes in the ground, which helps the grass grow better. Then, I spread some topsoil to level things out. Finally, I laid down new turf. It was a bit of work, but totally doable if you take it step by step.
If you're unsure, you could always ask a landscaper or turf laying service for help. They’ll make sure everything’s done right.
 

PGB1

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I big challenge with a lot of homeowners is Sunlight exposure. If you have ornamental grass you will need at least 6 hrs of full sun for it to grow well. Many weeds can grow in less than six hours of sunlight, as they are generally adaptable to various light conditions and can still thrive with moderate sunlight exposure. Make sure you have plenty of Sunlight on the lawn before doing anything. For areas with less than 6 hrs of full Sun or shady lawns, one can use ground covers like Mondo grass, Vinca Miner, or many others.
Some people I have known gave up on grass for low sunlight lawns, opting for clover as a ground cover. It sure is soft under foot.
With clover, one mows twice a year, never waters after it is established and never is there a need for fertilizers. Thre are no brown spots from gifts from pets.

One negative is that it will need to be re-seeded every few years. A work-around to re-seeding is to plant turf grass with it. The turf grass holds the seeds that the clover drops so that they can establish themselves. But, the mowing twice a year goes out the window!
 

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