Weedy yard

[AndroidGirl89]

My yard is awful! It is full of weedy grass and I am not sure what to use to kill the thick weedy stuff but not kill the good grass. This summer we had a bit of a drought and it seemed to kill the good stuff and cause the weeds to just take over! I would love some tips on what to do!

 

[Jessi]

Honestly, if it's really *that* bad, you might be better off killing it all and then re-seeding.

If it's only in certain areas, though, then maybe try pulling the weeds instead? If you can get them out by the roots, they're less likely to spread.

 

[Jed]

Honestly, if it's really *that* bad, you might be better off killing it all and then re-seeding.

If it's only in certain areas, though, then maybe try pulling the weeds instead? If you can get them out by the roots, they're less likely to spread.

They're good options. If you do want to kill that area, use a brush cutter or lawn mower and cut it close to the ground.
Then go and buy some quality weed mat the wider the better and cover the area.This will inhibit grass and weeds from growing. We do it in our vegie gardens between crops.The cut weeds and grass are also a mulch underneath for the earth worms.

 

[sissy]

Weeds die off in the cold so putting down anything now is use less .I have found that I put all my coffee grounds in my yard and they help make the soil healthier .But best thing is if you do decide in the spring to put down weed killer put down lime as it helps fertilizers work better .I lime my soil all the time because weeds do not like sweet soil but where you have acid loving plants it may harm them or kill them .Lime and epsom salts works great to control weeds .

 

[AndroidGirl89]

I'll try Epsom salts and lime in the spring then! We were using a reel mower before this happened but once we got that thick weedy grass we had to buy a regular mower to deal with it! What drives me nuts too is we get those tall reedy weeds too!

We won't be renewing our lease at this home so I don't know if it will get bad enough to deal with when it gets warm again thankfully- but I'm going to need to remember all of this when we move into our own home.

 

[jubbly]

We had this problem but we found that regular mowing does eventually kill the weeds off.

 

[Shirleyc Cox]

The best way to control dandelions and other weeds in your yard is to grow a thick, vigorous lawn. Dense grass crowds out weeds and blocks the sunlight their seeds need to germinate. If only a few weeds dot your lawn, changing your maintenance tactics might be all it takes to get rid of them. And if your efforts at hand-to-hand combat haven't worked, take heart. There really is a way to pull out even stubborn dandelions so they don't come back.

 

[jubbly]

I was advised to use a knife to take out weeds individually by the roots but this would take days on my lawns.

 

[AndroidGirl89]

Yeah- it would take forever to do our whole yard by taking everything out at the roots. I do not have that much time!

 

[Shirleyc Cox]

You may try organic methods to remove dandelions from your lawn. Mow them over this helps to prevent the flowers from further spreading their seeds across your property. Pour boiling water over the plant this will kill them and end the future growth. Cover them with mulch, dirt or make sure the dandelions doesn't get sunlight.

 

[sissy]

If you just remove the flower heads and lime your yard well that works too .Sweet soil from lime keeps weeds away .Here there were lots of pine trees growing so had to lime the last 8 years just to get grass to grow .Also had to plant trees as developer took all the trees out so fruit trees and pretty trees went in and only buy the trees over the years at end of season sales .

 

[lovinglife]

Or just use your dandelions as a food source.... supposed to be good, even with all the dandelions we have, no thanks, I do however feed them to my bunnies, they love them.

 

[LindsayMetheny]

I also have a "weedy yard". This is very frustrating to me because my husband and I spend a lot of time working in the yard to make it pretty. Our yard would look very nice, but within a few days of mowing there are weeds popping up everywhere.

 

[JaimieSkye]

We get those really picky weeds that will grow a foot over night if you don't pull them right away. I forgot what they're called right now? I haven't found anything that will get rid of those things. They love to grow around my daughter's swing set. I have to pull them daily because it really hurts if you step on one of those. Anyone have any ideas for me? I don't have to deal with this now since it's winter, but I'd like to head it off at the pass right away in the spring.

 

[Lanie]

When I first moved into my current home, the yard was a mass of hip high weeds and many of them were those awful prickly things. My husband has it fixed now and it's been five years. What he did was cut the weeds down before they went to seed. He manually pulled the most dominant, without getting too nit-picky. He raked it religiously with a cheap dethatcher each fall when the grass was dying and each spring after the first growth was sprouted and ready to cut. He aerated it once or twice and now we have a beautiful green lawn. I know it sounds like a lot of work but this is what you need to do if you want to have a healthy lawn. As for your prickly weeds JaimieSkye, I don't have any suggestions other than trying to get grass to replace the weeds, especially as it is a play area for your kid.