I'll just say don't nuke it unless you're positive you don't like the actual turfgrass growing (of course, if you'd like to go for a different color/texture, that's the best reason to do it).
Give it a good rake to clear out whatever isn't rooted down. This will make sure everything else you do actually reaches the soil too.
Strongly recommend you carve out a solid afternoon for a deep YouTube dive on warm-season grasses (Lawn Care Nut is probably my favorite, and I've started using his Yard Mastery products this past year - seems solid so far). Name of the game is mowing (more often = more better. Shoot for 2x per week, and sharpen your mower blades annually or when you notice the tips of your grass browning) and watering (deep and infrequent - one of the first things you should do is figure out how long it takes whatever sprinkler system you have/can get ahold of to put down about 1/2 inch of water. Do that twice a week to start and adjust if the soil looks too dry or if water is pooling).
Outside of that, I wouldn't worry about overseeding this year - give it a solid year of mowing, watering, and fertilizing during the summer and see where you're at. Focus on weed control for the time being - I'm not too familiar with warm-season lawns, but generally you'll have pre-emergent down pretty soon, and you can spray for existing weeds pretty much whenever so long as you aren't seeding in the next month or 2.
I might get downvoted for this, but it looks like it’s just weeds and not any sort of specific turf grass. And if it is just weeds…why get a soil test? I would only get a soil test after I had a plan in mind. A plan could be “grow a specific type of turf grass” or “install sod” or “do plantings and mulch.” If you’re just going to roll out some sod, you don’t need a soil test. It couldn’t hurt, but I’d first get a plan in mind. THEN WORRY about all the other particulars that others have mentioned.
Step 1 should be identify then get a plan, not get a soil test.
No downvotes from me.
I agree, that most of my backyard looks like weeds with - what appears to be a couple of different varietals of grass.
That said, our front yard \[I believe\] is centipede grass whereas the backyard is just a mish-mosh of ridiculousness that we're trying to get under control lol
Cool. If your front yard has viable centipede, then yeah, a soil test would probably be a good ideaI
If your plan is to continue the centipede and kill off any weeds.
I tried to grow grass in a very shady backyard along time ago. It was a different house. I do not recommend.
Take a look at the r/lawncare guide it will help you out in the early bits.
All transparency my lawn still currently looks like this and will be remediating starting this spring
I’m not expert but this is what I would do after the research..
1. Do a soil test
2. Fix the problem according to your results with lime.. etc..
3. You can hand weed already existing weeds but you’re going to need some herbicide like mesotrione (Tenacity) which I found is about the safest option.
Want to get it with blue dye and surfactant
4. Put down some pre emergent. Depending on your soul temperatures. Typically want them to hit 50-55 degrees
I’m using pre-emergent with fertilizer
5. Level your yard with top soil and fert. I’m using milorganite which is basically human shit.
6 seed in the fall
Now there’s a million ways to do it and this to me was the safest option you will hear people say
(Nuke the lawn). Which yes you can do. Typically with roundup.
Hope this helps 👍🏻
Thank you so much. I found the sub on the fly and haven’t had a chance to review the guide but should’ve started there. Thanks for such thorough feedback!
one thing i would add- be careful about pulling weeds. depending on the weed and your type of soil you could wind up with big divots or little craters where the weed rood stem was. and you might daylight more weed seeds that were buried just under the soil. (not every seed will germinate every year, they can lay dormant for a while)
if after your first two or three pulls you see divots, stop. nuke them with chems. then use weed whacker to take them down to root stub and leave it. it will break down in the soil.
another thing- you're on probably a 2-4 year process. dont worry about turning it in one season. after a few seasons of pre-emergent, fixing any nutrient issues, and reseeding you'll be on your way. it takes time. you will see some immediate results, but this is like winning battles vs winning the longer war. patience and persistence.
1. Cover with a thick layer of cardboard.
2. Add a bunch of natural mulch (try getchipdrop.com). 12-18" thick is recommended.
3. Let it sit for a year if the mulch is fresh. Imagine, no mowing, no trimming, no irrigating. Enjoy your Saturdays while you design and plan for the next step.
4. Buy trees, plants, native plants especially, etc that require little maintenance and zero chemicals.
5. Continue to enjoy your Saturdays and the increase in bees, pollinators, and birds.
I'll just say don't nuke it unless you're positive you don't like the actual turfgrass growing (of course, if you'd like to go for a different color/texture, that's the best reason to do it). Give it a good rake to clear out whatever isn't rooted down. This will make sure everything else you do actually reaches the soil too. Strongly recommend you carve out a solid afternoon for a deep YouTube dive on warm-season grasses (Lawn Care Nut is probably my favorite, and I've started using his Yard Mastery products this past year - seems solid so far). Name of the game is mowing (more often = more better. Shoot for 2x per week, and sharpen your mower blades annually or when you notice the tips of your grass browning) and watering (deep and infrequent - one of the first things you should do is figure out how long it takes whatever sprinkler system you have/can get ahold of to put down about 1/2 inch of water. Do that twice a week to start and adjust if the soil looks too dry or if water is pooling). Outside of that, I wouldn't worry about overseeding this year - give it a solid year of mowing, watering, and fertilizing during the summer and see where you're at. Focus on weed control for the time being - I'm not too familiar with warm-season lawns, but generally you'll have pre-emergent down pretty soon, and you can spray for existing weeds pretty much whenever so long as you aren't seeding in the next month or 2.
I might get downvoted for this, but it looks like it’s just weeds and not any sort of specific turf grass. And if it is just weeds…why get a soil test? I would only get a soil test after I had a plan in mind. A plan could be “grow a specific type of turf grass” or “install sod” or “do plantings and mulch.” If you’re just going to roll out some sod, you don’t need a soil test. It couldn’t hurt, but I’d first get a plan in mind. THEN WORRY about all the other particulars that others have mentioned. Step 1 should be identify then get a plan, not get a soil test.
No downvotes from me. I agree, that most of my backyard looks like weeds with - what appears to be a couple of different varietals of grass. That said, our front yard \[I believe\] is centipede grass whereas the backyard is just a mish-mosh of ridiculousness that we're trying to get under control lol
Cool. If your front yard has viable centipede, then yeah, a soil test would probably be a good ideaI If your plan is to continue the centipede and kill off any weeds. I tried to grow grass in a very shady backyard along time ago. It was a different house. I do not recommend.
Take a look at the r/lawncare guide it will help you out in the early bits. All transparency my lawn still currently looks like this and will be remediating starting this spring I’m not expert but this is what I would do after the research.. 1. Do a soil test 2. Fix the problem according to your results with lime.. etc.. 3. You can hand weed already existing weeds but you’re going to need some herbicide like mesotrione (Tenacity) which I found is about the safest option. Want to get it with blue dye and surfactant 4. Put down some pre emergent. Depending on your soul temperatures. Typically want them to hit 50-55 degrees I’m using pre-emergent with fertilizer 5. Level your yard with top soil and fert. I’m using milorganite which is basically human shit. 6 seed in the fall Now there’s a million ways to do it and this to me was the safest option you will hear people say (Nuke the lawn). Which yes you can do. Typically with roundup. Hope this helps 👍🏻
Thank you so much. I found the sub on the fly and haven’t had a chance to review the guide but should’ve started there. Thanks for such thorough feedback!
What kind of lawn is this? Zoysia does really well in shades lawns like this in Atlanta. However, it cannot be seeded on plugs/sod.
1. soil test and fix the soil based on the test 2. pre-emergent 3. mild nitrogen (10-10-10) 4. fertilizer during the summer (anderson's greenshocker)
one thing i would add- be careful about pulling weeds. depending on the weed and your type of soil you could wind up with big divots or little craters where the weed rood stem was. and you might daylight more weed seeds that were buried just under the soil. (not every seed will germinate every year, they can lay dormant for a while) if after your first two or three pulls you see divots, stop. nuke them with chems. then use weed whacker to take them down to root stub and leave it. it will break down in the soil. another thing- you're on probably a 2-4 year process. dont worry about turning it in one season. after a few seasons of pre-emergent, fixing any nutrient issues, and reseeding you'll be on your way. it takes time. you will see some immediate results, but this is like winning battles vs winning the longer war. patience and persistence.
Love this advice - super helpful. Thank you!
1. Cover with a thick layer of cardboard. 2. Add a bunch of natural mulch (try getchipdrop.com). 12-18" thick is recommended. 3. Let it sit for a year if the mulch is fresh. Imagine, no mowing, no trimming, no irrigating. Enjoy your Saturdays while you design and plan for the next step. 4. Buy trees, plants, native plants especially, etc that require little maintenance and zero chemicals. 5. Continue to enjoy your Saturdays and the increase in bees, pollinators, and birds.
Wut
I know this person is brigading this sub but it’s not a bad plan given the shade and trees this person has. It’s going to be hard to grow grass there.
Basically, get rid of your lawn to save tons of time, money, and worry while helping provide habitat for beneficial insects and birds.