# Need help with abandoned yard.



## HGX_Fisherman (Feb 26, 2009)

Hello all, this is my first post in the gardening forum, but in the coming months and years it will certainly not be my last! My wife and I just bought a house and have grand plans for the backyard, including gardens and various citrus trees. However, the yard itself needs attention BAD!

The house had been vacant and unmaintained for a year and a half before we bought it and the yard definitely shows it. It’s about 10000sf and is all weeds, not hardly a blade of grass to be seen, there's a small strip of St. Augustine on the east side of the house that gets protected from the full sun, but that's about it. The yard has about 5 inches of dead thatch that has completely choked out the ground below it which has become rock hard.

The current plan is to rent a sod-cutter and make several passes to cut through the thatch and get down to bare ground that we can then water and soften so we can re-seed the yard with a full-sun variety grass and add a little bit of compost/topsoil. If anyone has any suggestions of how to remedy our yards current ailments we are open to any and all recommendations. Our only restriction is that we just bought the house so we are a little strapped.

Also, there is a French drain system in the yard, we have found one drain cover, but it appears to be clogged and is full of black smelly water. So that a project for later.


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

You might be better served with a tiller or tractor and disc vs the sod cutter. Make the thatch into fertilizer/compost and it might save you a step. Water the yard generously for a couple of days, then till or disc for the best results. 
Obviously, sodding the entire area would result in the fastest finished yard, however expensive. Seeding or "patch" sod can also provide a finished yard but takes longer.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

+1. I think I would till it and then come back in with sod/seed depending on what grass you want in there. If you go with ST. Augustine and use sod, the more sod the quicker you will have a re-established lawn....and lots of watering ahead.


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## fangard (Apr 18, 2008)

Can't seed St. Augustine. Have to buy pallets. Also, you may want to till then round up the whole thing. You run the risk of tilling weed seeds back into the ground.


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## Tate (Aug 25, 2005)

You could try an all bermuda yard. I would consider it if I had a blank slate. It is softer, requires less water, less fertilize, has less diseases than St. Augustine, looks better when properly mowed (golf course style), and you can seed it. I would try to get as much of the old weeds etc. out as possible. You could turn it into compost as stated before, but you need to make sure the compost really heats up to kill all of the weed seeds. Good luck.

Tate


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

buy the bayer weed killer for southern lawns and a hose end sprayer, follow the directions and spray the yard, not shrubs or flowers you want to keep.

once everything dies back in a week , rake it all , then mow it short.

you will know what you have to work with as far as existing yard.

you prob want to re-sod st augustine and will need several pallets, the stuff is stupid heavy so either get it delivered or rent a lowboy

water the heck out of the yard and fert . with a high nitrogen fert. with some sulfur and iron in it.


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## Bowzer (Dec 2, 2010)

I took over a house that had barely been maintained similar to what you posted. We, too, had to do a low cost approach for a while. 

I was told by a local nursery that one of the best things to do was let the grass do a lot of the work for me with the weeds..some of which seemed to be headed as small timber. So, first thing was cutting the lawn down to ground level and then I watered the bajeebers out of it. High Iron fertilizer and serious insecticide treatment (I won't list just how aggressive I got on this but I didn't have a fire ant or chigger dare come on the property for a year after). This gave remaining grass a chance to help choke out the weeds naturally which was quite fast. I also should have at least rolled an aerator drum across if not tilled but time got away. Later, some determined crabgrass was hit with round-up.
Ground was bad unlevel with low spots, etc, so I gradually built up to even by the shovelful...also used my drop spreader to add topsoil each week as could be afforded (made up for some aeration issues). Since then, I've actually just kept on with fertilizing per schedule listed on Garden Line (Randy Lemmon's regime) with good success.
Yard is healthy but with mixture of grasses. Also, could have made my watering more effective with more aeration of the existing topsoil. Next step would be bringing up grass strain of choice but getting rid of the place shortly so...
This worked as a low cost approach for me. Your results may vary.

Good luck...this drought will make the watering a chore but your foundation probably needs it just as much. Once you start, keep it even around the place. Look forward to seeing some pics of some nice green!


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## redexpress (Apr 5, 2010)

Depends on your budget really. If you can re-sod, then till it up and re-sod. You might find St Augustine for as little as $65 a pallet delivered, you will have to call around. If not re-sodding, I would mow it high, wait a week and spray with the Bayer per CoastalOutfitter. The herbicide needs leaf surface area to work. You will have to identify where you have St Augustine and where you don't. If a large area doesn't have any St Aug, then you may want to re-sod. But, St Aug will send out runners 4' per year. I had an empty lot next door to me that didn't have any St Aug on it. Four years later it was pretty filled in with St Aug. If you mow it too low, you encourage weed growth. Set your mower as high as it will go. The St Augustine will choke out the weeds, eventually. All that being said, if it's only 1000 sq ft, I think I would re-sod.


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

WOW .... I would love to have the opportunity to have a new fresh canvas to create a wonderful play ground.

You could follow the above adivce, but might I suggest something out of the realm of standard thinking.

How about shrinking the size of lawn you need to mow and maintain???

How do you shrink it, you might ask?

Create a bunch of fun landscaping gardens, with native plants that need little to no maintence. This would shrink your mowing and watering.

You might consider having a real landscape designer come in a doing a design for you. I spent the money and had one done .... it cost me $600 to have one done.

It then took me 3 yrs to complete it. The cost was too high to have them do it 7K

But the design was worth it and it looks great!

Since you have some draniage issues most good landscape deisgners are certified for irragation and sprinklers.

If you do anything, dont just put down grass, there is reason what was there is dried up and gone.

Think native, think low maintence, which will cost you less in the long run. Also think green, and you could really come out ahead.


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## HGX_Fisherman (Feb 26, 2009)

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys, we don't even know where to begin!

I started the de-thatching process in the front yard with a till rake by hand, got the whole right side of the yard cleared out to find there were very few live stolons and a lot of bare dirt. Picked at the dirt a bit to find the upper three inches was very compacted and extremely hard. We've decided we're going to have to get someone to come in and breakup the ground and lay new sod out front, the HOA is a killer on deadlines...but its only going to take maybe 3 pallets to cover the front so it shouldn't be bad on our budget.

The backyard will be my baby. I think the game plan going forward right now is to take a power tiller and till up the ground 3-4 inches deep and rake off the dead stuff. Water it a few times to get the loose dirt moist and holding water again then spread the seed, a little bit of 13-13-13 fertilizer I have leftover, and top it off with a nice layer of compost. (How thick? Half an inch, an inch?) After all that, roll the yard with a drum to smooth and level it and water it daily and watch for the grass to spout.

I know it's not following exactly what you guys have been suggesting, but with what I have on hand, that method would be the lightest hit on my wallet right now. If any of you would like to amend the proposed method, please do, this is my first jump into lawn care and I know I'll make a few mistakes on the learning process. We are trying to transition the yard over from mostly St. Augustine to all Bermuda.


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

Dont use fertilizer on new sod ... it will burn the grass .... only use on established lawns


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## HGX_Fisherman (Feb 26, 2009)

Thanks for the tip Mudskipper, I didn't know that.

Is there any merit to that stuff that you're supposed to put down under the sod to break down the soil?


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

if it's that bad, might try ripper shanks on a box blade. sure would be quick...................LOL . got any pics? really curious, and sure would do some weed control up front, what have you got to lose ?


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

HGX_Fisherman said:


> Thanks for the tip Mudskipper, I didn't know that.
> 
> Is there any merit to that stuff that you're supposed to put down under the sod to break down the soil?


YES ... its called Medeina Soil Activator .... buy yourself two gallons of it for your yard.

I mix a few tablespoons per gallon of water and put it on the ground and on the bottom of the sod prior to put it down.

Keep in mind, with this drought you might consider delaying the your sod install ...... you already have to water it everyday for 2 weeks, out your water bill could get reall high with the way thigns are going


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## HGX_Fisherman (Feb 26, 2009)

Thanks Mudskipper. Yeah, we are highly considering putting off the backyard, not just because of the drought, but also so we can save up a little bit and put a proper sprinkler system in before we get sod down. The front will have to be done, otherwise we risk a citation from our new friends at the HOA, but it is small enough that I can water it by hand with no problem.

Coastal, and others, I have finally attached pictures of what I am working with. The first three pictures are of the back yard, and the last two are of the front yard.


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

Front yard can be saved with out new sod.

Add about a cubic yard of 2yr old leaf mold compost from natures way resource .... in conroe

Or go to Living earth technology and GET - FOREST FLOOR compost

Spread it real thin .... NO Fertilizer ... .this a natural fertilizer and new dirt all in one....

Water with 1 inch per week .... give it a month and you will be very surprised.

i do not think your will need new sod


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

Also take out that mound around that tree .... it will cause the roots to come to the top of the surface


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

suspect you had a combo of no water and chinch bugs

i would de-thatch as best as poss. might look into one of those spring mower blades, then water the heck out of it, you might not have to re-sod anything

then do as MS suggested


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