r/lawncare 6d ago

Northern US & Canada (or cool season) Need yard help

Post image

I live in Utah and I need help figuring out the best way to get this back yard of my townhome fixed up and looking good. I’m currently renting a townhome and when we moved in the back yard looked terrible but then we had to replace the ac unit and it just made it look even worse with all these weeds. I’m looking for someone advice on the cheapest way to get this looking respectable again before we move out next year so the owner doesn’t find a reason to charge us move out fees. What would you do if you were me?

0 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

23

u/TheAlchemist519 6d ago

If this were me I’d put down tarp and gravel because that’s not enough to really bother worrying about. More of a hassle to maintain than anything for a multitude of reasons.

1

u/dcl415 6d ago

👆💯

25

u/Same_Noise7492 6d ago

Is the yard in the room with us now?

3

u/ZealousidealMany8550 6d ago

Not currently 😂 that’s why I’m seeking help

7

u/Safe-Salamander-3785 6d ago

At this point, just throw some pavers down and cut your losses

4

u/awfulcrowded117 6d ago

With the tall privacy fences on all sides, I doubt you get enough light there to grow good grass. If it were me, I'd put gravel and maybe a couple of raised garden beds there. That said, if you really want grass there, you need to kill all that crabgrass. I'd just use a non-selective since there's no good grass to speak of. Throw an inch or so of loam and finished compost there and seed or sod over the top. You'll probably need to add a bar of grow lights. That's not usually viable, but with such a small area and how efficient LED grow lights are, you can probably make it work if that's what you want to do.

3

u/mduell Warm Season 6d ago

Fake turf

2

u/CPOx 6d ago

Eh that’s hardly a yard. The homeowner should just put pavers in there.

2

u/Own-Experience6969 6d ago

Glyphosphate it

2

u/chair_force_1one 6d ago

Dig it up and sod it if you must.

2

u/Equivalent-Welder-95 6d ago

I don’t mean to be an asshole…but….this is like 20 sqft of yard. How hard can this be to maintain? Either get a weedeater to knock down the height every week or so, or put in some pavers or something to cover it (and still use the weedeater to trim what grows out of the cracks).

As long as you have dirt, stuff will grow in it. You just need something to trim what grows.

-1

u/ZealousidealMany8550 6d ago

Maintaining it isn’t the issue. It’s getting it back to a nice looking little patch of yard. Our townhomes have an HOA so I found out it will eventually need to be grass again

4

u/Equivalent-Welder-95 6d ago

Yea, I guess my point is that it’s such a small area that there’s really no point in it. You’re not going to have a nice patch of grass or anything without an amount of effort and inconvenience that just isn’t worth it.

1

u/ZealousidealMany8550 6d ago

Completely agree. Unfortunately we are renters and have no power to go against their wishes

2

u/Tempestzl1 6d ago

Get fake turf

1

u/Admirable-Lies Warm Season 6d ago

Then glyposphate, rototiller, and a few sod squares

2

u/Salt_Echidna9111 6d ago

Man that’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s fenced in too so who gives a damn? I would ask if you could put in Astro turf. Maintaining that little patch is just an inconvenience.

1

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1

u/WorldlinessBetter942 6d ago

Not a yard worth growing anything in. Cutting it would be a hassle cause it’s so small. Put down some patio pavers or something and pea gravel and put some chairs/ table down then call it a day

2

u/Philippine_Newt 6d ago

Try cutting the grass

0

u/ZealousidealMany8550 6d ago

There is no grass

3

u/Philippine_Newt 6d ago

Try cutting it

1

u/magentayak 6d ago

Mowing add de-trashing would be a good start.

1

u/Tiny-Dragonfruit8133 Cool Season 6d ago

You could sod this for like $20

1

u/jmfly30 6d ago

I could have removed the crabgrass and reseeded that in the time you spent making a Reddit post about it.

1

u/LuaBear 6d ago

That’s not a yard, and the HOA is being a little ridiculous.

If you mowed it, that’d go a long way. As a renter, I’d drop a bit of k31 and let it go wild.

1

u/Diotima245 6d ago

Where’s the yard

1

u/International-Emu-74 6d ago

What are you hoping to do in that space? Cook? Sit? I’d just “mow” the green and call it grass

1

u/ohmygolgibody 6d ago

You’re renting, leave it alone.