The Grass Doctor

How to get weeds out of my yard?

I just bought a new house and the previous owners did no lawn care at all. The yard is full of weeds. I need to get rid of the so i can plant grass. There is some grass that l would like to keep? any ideas. I have a spreader so if there is a fertilizer or some thing i can use.

Public Comments

1. Depending on where you live, as long as the temp is under 85 degrees there is a pre-emergent weed control and fertilizer you can use. Or use round up on the areas you do not want to keep. Caution... there are some types of weeds that will come back. When the new lawn is established, there is weed control that you can spray from a spray backpack. Just read the label or ask a store service associate.
2. I prefer to use lawn sand, relatively cheap and you apply it at 4oz a square yard. There are many good solution s in squirt bottles to apply to broad leaved weeds which are very good and work well in a week. Lawn sand is good for broad leaved weeds and also for moss. Heavy raking is required after applications. I have just done a large area and then applied Canadian grass seed to the area (available at homebase) then I spread a layer of garden peat on top to stop sun burning new roots. Worked out well.
3. I'll give you a couple of suggestions which really helped me when I bought my house a few years back. First, I hired a professional lawn care company to take care of my yard for the first two years I was here. It gets pricy but they get it to where anyone can take care of it. Try Scotts or True Green Chem Lawn. Or you can tackle it yourself. Scotts makes a four step fertilizer program that is quite simple. You apply step one in early spring, step 2 in late spring, step 3 in the summer and step 4 in the fall. I have one of the most beauitfil lawns in my neighborhood thanks to their system.
4. i have got to go with Steve and then when the current grass stand is healthy you wont have to do anything but continue a fert/pre emerge program and mow just remember to water heavy and infrequently as needed