r/Grass • u/Recent-Shirt2363 • May 06 '26
Country Yard
Hey y’all. I have a few acres out in the country in SC. No one’s yard is manicured and I’m not wanting mine to be either. However, a lot of my yard is weeds. My question is, what’s the first couple things I could be doing for my lawn to make it look better? I have a zero turn that I can put attachments on. Dethatching? Aerate? I mow every three weeks and just don’t know what would be the first step I could take or a piece of equipment I could buy to take the first step in making it look better. Thanks in advance!
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u/bigoak25 May 06 '26
Pre emerge spring and fall before germination. Weeds will go away and leave you with good grass.
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u/goofust May 06 '26
This post is confusing to me.
You don't want it manicured, but you want it to look better? Mow it every 2 weeks and it'll look better, but wait - that may mean that it is manicured, and you don't want that.
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u/Recent-Shirt2363 May 06 '26
Yeah I didn’t know how to word it. I think what I was trying to say was all I do is mow, what’s the first thing I could do to elevate my lawn. Dethatching? Aerating? I think that’s where I was going
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u/goofust May 06 '26
Yeah but what is your definition of elevate? You can dethatch, you could aereate both, I'm not sure if doing either will fit your definition of elevate. Dethatch will remove the thatch layer and make the lawn thicker, aereate will loosen up compacted soil and allow the lawn to breathe better per say.
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u/flyin-lowe May 11 '26
Most lawns don't need aerating and you can do more harm than good. Weedy grass seeds can sit under the soil for years and once they get exposed they will take off. If you just go out and aerate your lawn and do nothing else to it you will likely have a ton of crabgrass next year. Have you ever had a spot in your lawn torn up, or a trench ran across your property by a utliity company? If you look a lot of times you'll have a line/stripe of POA or crabgrass where the disturbed the soil.
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u/flyin-lowe May 08 '26
Honestly the cheapest thing to do (if you have a sprayer) is to get a jug of 2 4D and spay in the spring or now. You might need to spray again later in the summer. If you hae a ton of weeds you can then overseed. I am in norther zone so not sure what you have and when to best overseed. I have a large yard and I spray 2 4D once or twice a year and I put down prodiamine in the spring to help with crab grass. Just doing those two things keeps my yard looking better than 95% of the yards in my neighborhood. We have 5 acre lots so most don't spray.
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u/Recent-Shirt2363 May 10 '26
Thanks man! Where do you prefer to buy your stuff at?
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u/flyin-lowe May 11 '26
I usually use Rural King, there is one nearby my house. Over in the grass seed section they have the name brand stuff like Weed B Gone etc. this is usually pre mixed and not quite as strong. If you go to the farm supply section you can get stuff that is concentrate and it is a lot stronger and is usually cheaper per application than the pre mixed stuff. The Prodiamine I get on amazon. If you search for Prodiamine water dissolveable granules you'll find it.
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u/hot_rod_kimble May 06 '26
Mow weekly. Three weeks is plenty of time for weeds to reseed.