Lawn advice wanted

[path12]

Here's the situation. My yard is seriously one half dandelions, with moss underneath it. I'm trying to figure out how to handle this. My initial thought is to kill the shit out of it with weedkiller, thatch, aerate, reseed and peat moss; but that is really a helluva lot of work and I'm kinda lazy.......though willing to try it.

My brother suggested something like Chemlawn where they come out a couple times a month and in five-six months your yard is weed free. Anybody use anything like that?

The constraints are this:

1) I have a dog. I can't keep him out of the yard entirely. My first priority is to keep him safe.

2) I rent. It's not really my lawn. I'm willing to try and make it work, and I think my landlord will be willing to let me deduct the expense out of rent, but it's probably got to be a relatively cheap option.

Advice?

[Subby]

I would definitely contract with a fertilizer company. There are "greener" options than ChemLawn - we use a company that specializes in organic/natural fertilizer treatments...I think it is $30 a month (we live on a quarter acre) and they come 6-8 times per year.

Your situation might need some extra care at first (lime treatment for the moss, aeration, etc) but you are headed in the right direction.

[Drake]

My lawn advice is confined to "plow it up and pave it over with concrete".

[gottimd]

Astroturf!

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by path12

2) I rent.

Why isn't your landlord worrying about this then? I'd imagine that there is something in your lease about doing upkeep of the lawn but, I'd imagine that is confined to cutting & raking.

I'd be hesitant to just dig up the lawn without asking them first... maybe the owner likes dandelions.

I use whatever Scott's brand is out there and fertilize in the spring and fall. It seems to keep my yard relatively weed/dandelion free.

[Warhammer]

I'd use a Chemlawn type service. The beauty about using a service rather than doing it yourself is that the cost is roughly the same, and you can call them to come back out and nail any weeds they don't get, for free.

[wheels]

If your first priority is to keep your dog safe, then you definitely should not use ChemLawn or other carcinogenic treatments. There are natural weed inhibitors (like corn gluten) that should be applied in the early spring, before weeds like dandelions go to seed. Unfortunately, corn gluten will not kill existing dandelions. I just pull them out with the tap root attached using a weed digger.

If you want to make it harder for weeds to grow in your yard, you need to make the yard more suitable for grass to grow and less suitable for weeds: mow high to shade out the weed seedlings. Keep you mower blade sharp. Keep the clippings on the grass to provide natural nitrogen for the grass and soil. There are other steps listed here along with more info about the chemicals used on lawns.

http://www.healthylawnteam.org/home.htm

[Swaggs]

If you rent, I wouldn't spend the time/money to make a cosmetic improvement like that.

[Warhammer]

If you want to do it yourself, forget the fear mongers (quite a lot of what they complain about occurs naturally, arsenic, lead, aluminum [which happens to be one of most common elements in the earth's crust], etc.). Wear a good pair of thick leather gloves when applying the chemical if you do it yourself.

I've worked with and around people that handle a lot of this stuff for years and no one has had any ill health effects. Now don't drink the stuff, or get up close to it and sniff it, but if used properly it is safe.

[bryce]

If you are worried about your dog, after fertilizing just give the yard a good soak and all should be well again for little Fido.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by bryce

If you are worried about your dog, after fertilizing just give the yard a good soak and all should be well again for little Fido.

Yep. If you read the directions regarding the chemicals, they specify this.

[st.cronin]

Move to New Mexico. My yard is a bunch of rocks and cactii.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

If you rent, I wouldn't spend the time/money to make a cosmetic improvement like that.

Yeah, exactly. You're just wasting your money here, unless you have the slightest chance that someday you may buy the property.

[path12]

I understand the whole time/money thing, but I've lived here four years and plan to be here at least a couple more, and just don't want it to look like crap. I do plan on talking with my landlord after getting some cost estimates to see if they'll let me deduct it from rent, and if there is no agreement there then I'll just kill the weeds and let him take care of the rest.

We do have first option if they want to sell the house sometime, and I'd be interested in that if it happens, so there's some desire on my end to have it cleaned up also.

I appreciate the ideas so far, especially the rocks and cactus. I've put a call in to Nutra-lawn for an estimate and will wait to see what they say before doing anything else.