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PLEASE HELP!! New Homeowner with ugly lawn

4K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  kb02gt 
#1 ·
First of all, I just want to say hello and thank you to all of those who stopped in to read my post.
I live in South West Florida and my lawn is a disaster. It looks horrible and just like crab grass and weeds, I am not sure what steps to take to bring this yard back to life.

I have a bunch of brown spots which I am assuming is now dead grass - I am hoping to get some advice on how I can start to correct this horrendous lawn. Do I need to rake out the dead brown spots and lay some new top soil and seed?
I hate to sound ignorant but I know nothing about what type of grass I have, what kind of seed I would need to buy and rather than going into Home Depot or Lowes and asking an employee who doesn't care to be there or passionate about landscaping I decided to drop in here.

I have attached photos below, there is even a picture of my neighbors lawn who has a full lawn and has been like that since I moved in. I would love to get my lawn up to par so I don't have to be "that neighbor".

Thank you so much again, and I do apologize for how beginner I am with landscaping.















 
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#2 ·
What's your budget? You could just kill everything and get sod installed, but that would probably run you $2k-$3k...

For example, I was in your shoes when we're bought our house in February.

This is about $3,500 worth of lawn (sod, compost, fertilizer, metal edge) but 12 weeks of progress.

Then



Now

 
#3 ·
Start killing weeds ASAP if you plan to nurture whatever it is you have back to life. Or nuke it all and sod if you want a nice yard this year. Your neighbors don't see you as that guy right now, they see you as the guy who they hope will turn that pile of random vegetation around. Don't let them down, be a hero! You have allot to undertake but it is a very rewarding hobby.
 
#4 ·
While you are thinking about how much you can afford, I would do the following:

Get a 4 gallon battery-powered backpack sprayer. You'll be miserable with anything else. My opinion.

On a day after the lawn has had sufficient water in the days beforehand to get the weeds nice and healthy, use Image Weed Killer for Southern Lawns at a rate of maybe 3 floz per 1,000 sq ft, spraying evenly over the entire lawn. I would also mix in an insecticide such as bifenthrin or cyzmic. Best to spray in the evening when the temps are lower to avoid damaging the desirable grass.

You'll need to make sure your desirable grass is getting watered regularly. This isn't usually difficult in Florida during the rainy season (now).

Use a rake to start pulling up as much dead grass as you can. I use a small shrub brush to target my dead patches. The living grass will grow into these areas. If you want it to happen faster, plant plugs or get sod.

After 3-4 weeks, I would hit the weeds with Image (FOR SOUTHERN LAWNS) again.

In about two months, you'll have more experience spraying and can move on to other chemicals which will target the remaining weeds.
 
#6 ·
Mine was as bad 2 years ago. I hit the weeds and planted SOD and plugs on prob 20% of the law. Lucky I had some natural St Aug growing in the law (looks like you do too). In the last 2 years I have gotten it to grow to around 75% St Aug. Takes a while! I still have a year at least until I think i'll be looking great. Tho I would rather have zoysia

edit: btw i live in S Florida. Neighborhood looks very similar. Your house built in the 60s? So many neighborhoods that look just like that lol. in both South and SW FL
 
#7 ·
saeroner said:
Mine was as bad 2 years ago. I hit the weeds and planted SOD and plugs on prob 20% of the law. Lucky I had some natural St Aug growing in the law (looks like you do too). In the last 2 years I have gotten it to grow to around 75% St Aug. Takes a while! I still have a year at least until I think i'll be looking great. Tho I would rather have zoysia

edit: btw i live in S Florida. Neighborhood looks very similar. Your house built in the 60s? So many neighborhoods that look just like that lol. in both South and SW FL
I am in Cape Coral, the house was built in 2003. Thank you for your post!
 
#9 ·
WOW!

Excellent turn around on both the lawn and the house. :thumbup:

Jap274 said:
What's your budget? You could just kill everything and get sod installed, but that would probably run you $2k-$3k...

For example, I was in your shoes when we're bought our house in February.

This is about $3,500 worth of lawn (sod, compost, fertilizer, metal edge) but 12 weeks of progress.

Then



Now

 
#10 ·
I would start by killing the weeds starting to come up in the dead areas and if allowed put down a good fertilizer. Then if sod is out of the budget get a couple of trays of plugs starting in the front yard. You won't need to water as much since it is rainy season. You can keep adding plugs as timer and money allows. Also mow on your highest setting.
 
#12 ·
I would say if you've got torpedo grass in there. Then definitely torch the whole thing.
Otherwise fairly simple fix:
1) drop dithiopyr now
2) keep these 5 things in mind always: (listed in order of importance)
fungicide - Azoxy, Clearys, propiconazole
pre-mergent - dithiopyr, prodiamine
pesticide - Imidacloprid, Bifenthrin
weed killer - Celsius, Image, Sedgehammer, blindside
fertilizer - 15-0-15 or 16-0-8 (slow release)

Blindside - great on crabgrass, best in lower temps
Sedgehammer - best for slow kill on sedge when hot out
Celsius great for any other type of weed except grassy ones and best used in high temps.
Image - great for spot treating during high temps and light broadcasting during lower temps 80 or less. Preferably 75.

Imidacloprid - for now Bayer Complete Insect Control (has Imidacloprid & beta cyfluthrin)
Bifenthrin - Sevin (has Bifenthrin & Zeta-Cypermethrin)

Dithiopyr has broader coverage for weeds but doesn't last as long as prodiamine.

You will need water. And a lot of it. Figure on watering 1 day on then 2 days off, and so on. 1/2in per session. Oh and never water during the day. At least not yet. Also have your fungicide ready.

Also cannot seed your grass type. Must use either plugs, sod, or that other one I'm forgetting.
 
#15 ·
kb02gt said:
@ionicatoms correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Image for southern lawns had a formula change. They went from Atrazine -> Dismiss/Dicamba/Penoxsulam .
I used to see them sold side by side. I'm not sure if Atrazine version (which didn't have the "Southern" moniker) was superseded, or if it's just in short supply like so many other products these days.
 
#16 ·
ionicatoms said:
kb02gt said:
@ionicatoms correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Image for southern lawns had a formula change. They went from Atrazine -> Dismiss/Dicamba/Penoxsulam .
I used to see them sold side by side. I'm not sure if Atrazine version (which didn't have the "Southern" moniker) was superseded, or if it's just in short supply like so many other products these days.
I know that Atrazine was banned for a good while from the store shelves. And was recently brought back a few years ago. Unfortunately now, Spectracide hose-end sprayer is the only form of atrazine at the big box. With the exception of Ace Hardware who tends to carry more prosumer type products such as full rate Atrazine. But yeah same here not sure what the hold up is.
 
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