Hello and thanks for reading first off.
Now the problem.... my back lawn. My back lawn grows some serious killer weeds. It has lots of nettles and both of these...
https://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/51/ ... 165891.jpg
It's also in pretty bad shape. It's got some dirt patches as well as the aforementioned weeds (give or take another weed type as well). It doesnt seem like I could just weed it and plant grass over it either. It just looks too bad.
I wanted to just do something simple and plant Rye Grass (The PH I took last year was pretty normal across the board, I live in Pittsburgh so it gets hot in the summer and cool/cold in fall and winter). The backyard gets A LOT of sun.
So my questions are as follows....
Would I need to aerate my lawn completely to be rid of all these weeds? (They are EVERYWHERE!)
What weeds are those?
Is Rye Grass a good choice? I want simple, easy, and cost effective. It doesnt need to be an award winning lawn. I just want nice grass for the kids to play on.
Will it be ok to start this process within the week? It's spring time and the weather is just starting to get nice (frosts are over) and were getting lots of rain.
How can I keep these weeds down? Is there a special type of grass feed that will kill weeds?
Thank you very much!
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Pittsburgher22
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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Your picture is a little dark, but the one on the left is purple dead nettle (where "dead" just means it doesn't sting, like stinging nettle). It's a common lawn weed.
Despite the looks, I'm not sure that you couldn't weed it well and then seed all the bare spots, maybe overseed the rest as well. Technically I think re-seeding is best done in late summer or fall, but it will work now too, if you do it right away before hot weather comes. Grass is very frost tolerant, but has a hard time getting established in the heat.
I don't know how aerating would help in getting rid of weeds, unless you mean tilling... Aerating is just putting lots of little holes in your lawn to make channels for air and water to get through. It is beneficial to the lawn AND the weeds.
There are weed n feed products that are combination fertilizer and herbicides to kill weeds. Herbicides are poisons! If your children and pets are going to play on that lawn, I personally don't think it is a good idea to put poisons on it:
https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/ehc ... _feed.html
It's your backyard. You said you don't care about award winning. Just keep everything mowed and it all blends together.
Despite the looks, I'm not sure that you couldn't weed it well and then seed all the bare spots, maybe overseed the rest as well. Technically I think re-seeding is best done in late summer or fall, but it will work now too, if you do it right away before hot weather comes. Grass is very frost tolerant, but has a hard time getting established in the heat.
I don't know how aerating would help in getting rid of weeds, unless you mean tilling... Aerating is just putting lots of little holes in your lawn to make channels for air and water to get through. It is beneficial to the lawn AND the weeds.
There are weed n feed products that are combination fertilizer and herbicides to kill weeds. Herbicides are poisons! If your children and pets are going to play on that lawn, I personally don't think it is a good idea to put poisons on it:
https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/ehc ... _feed.html
It's your backyard. You said you don't care about award winning. Just keep everything mowed and it all blends together.