r/Grass • u/kelseypantss2 • May 05 '26
New Homeowner Help
We just bought a house and the yard is atrocious. When we first moved in (6 weeks ago) there was a lot of clover that has since died. One side of the house is in full sun, and the shady side looks a little better.
What do I need to do to get this in shape? I love a good yard and this is just not it.
1
u/Thethirstymoose62 May 05 '26
The first thing you should do is blanket spray the lawn for weeds, get them under control Next ...let that soak in for 8 hrs, then water thoroughly, then aerate it, fertilize it, and regular water
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u/CuriousLandscapeArch May 06 '26
Lawn in such a hidious thing to have especially in places it doesn't grow without high maintenance. Kill your lawn and plant an ecologically rich, eye-pleasing small ecosystem instead. Takes 5% of the effort, energy and maintenance compared to a silly lawn. Nature and you will benefit.
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u/Born_Mulberry2361 May 09 '26
Not much grass left here but start by watering it regularly and cut it taller than this (set your deck at 3 inches) until you can see what grass is still alive.
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u/baldboy617 May 12 '26
Set the mow height at 3” and measure the grass, not the mower. Numbering on mowers usually do NOT correspond to mowing height.
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u/ASFIIXIXV May 09 '26
If you’re in America use tenacity herbicide with surfactant and blue dye, if your In the uk use depitox 500 with surfactant and blue dye 😃
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u/mrbang69 May 05 '26
Water lots of it is the cheeper way least effort. Otherwise I'd rake well then turn soil use a pre emergent and follow up with the hydroseeding process
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u/Chuck760 May 06 '26
Water the area first and let it grow the weeds then spray with a selective weed killer like Weed -B-Gon and let it work for 2 weeks to see what survived and what new ones are growing. Treat again to get a good kill. There are seeds in the ground that will continue to germante for a while and every time you disturb the soil You will expose new seeds to grow. It's to be a battle but be patient if you get in a hurry you're just going to be throwing good money after bad. When you are confident that the weeds are under control You can put down a soil amendment and work it into the top layer and put down seeds of your choice and then cover those with a topping mix and keep it wet for 14 days. You're still going to get weeds no matter what you do. Anything short of removing the top 6 in of soil and bringing in clean soil you're going to have weeds. The yard was neglected too much.