QuestionI am living in Boston area. I brought a house 9 months ago. Last 2 weeks, I had people to cut many trees in the backyard. Now, I get more sun light in the backyard and want to re-build the lawn. There are many different kind of weeds. My backyard has about 2000 square feet. How should I re-build the lawn ? Do I need to remove old grass and the weed first ? What kind of equipment will make my life easier to do the job ? What kind of grass seed I should use ? What is the cost ?
Thanks
AnswerHi Ernest Ng,
You have submitted several questions:
"...remove old grass...rebuild...?"
There are more than twenty popular grass types and they do vary in their particular needs.
However, given the basics of an appropriate grass-type for the given climate, enough sun-light, good to mediocre soil and so much water per-week, all common turf grasses are easy to grow. Add some extra water and an occasional fertilizing nutrient boost,... all common turf grasses are VERY EASY to grow.
Again, all grasses like lots of sun-light and will need about 1-3 inches of water per week to do OK.
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If you have a dominate turf-grass comprising a weedy lawn, decide if you want to continue with this as your grass-type of choice as the rest of the weedy stuff is eventually eliminated.
Replacing an entire lawn and starting all over can be a bit labor intensive but worth the effort because of all the new grass cultivars the horticultural scientists have produced for the residential turf markets. A total renovation will also provide the opportune time to do a major work-up to improve the top-soil that exists. You may also want to consider installing an under-ground watering system before a new lawn is established.
If it is an old lawn (more than 12-15 years), you may want to consider 'up-grading' to one of the new super-hybrid turf-grasses which will be easier to maintain due to drought and disease resistance and improved appearance qualities.
Your local garden center should sell the most popular new grass seed and also you can find many new cultivars on the web for mail-order. Your state's agricultural university may have a horticultural web-page with some of the best recommendations for your locale.
ABOUT COSTS.
Cost can vary considerably depending mainly upon how you choose to install the new lawn and the extent of preparations you may accomplish which will guarantee long-term excellence and success. Options (in order of expensiveness) can include seed, sprigs, plugs, sod and hydro-mulching.
Other options which affect the budget include, as stated, installing a sprinkler system and also working to improve the existing top-soil. These can add hundreds to thousands of dollars to the project costs.
Only warm-climate grass types can generally be started from sprigs. Hydro-mulching is a commercial method and the one with which you may pay the most but also have the best guarantee for success.
If you can do the work yourself you can save considerable expense since the labor charges alone can vary from $12-20+ per hour for some of the action.
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START FROM SCRATCH.
To do a total renovation, reduce the old lawn to nil and bare earth. Work to improve the top-soil (a soil test is recommended). Install an irrigation/sprinkler system if wanted. Then start the new grass-type by the method of choice.
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ABOUT WEEDS.
Weeding any area of land is a continual and on-going process. If you are starting a new lawn from seed, DO NOT use PRE-ERMERGENT HERBICIDES as you attack any and all weeds you find. This type of chemical halts seed sprouting for not only weeds but the wanted turf-grass seed as well. After the lawn is well established, use this type of chemical for the most efficient way to become generally weed-free. Keep any weed from going to seed and you will eventually be able to reduce its populations.
Use GLYPHOSATE preparations to spray-kill and eliminate dense vegetation patches or entire grassy or weedy areas. This chemical works fast and efficiently to reduce areas to bare earth.
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"...What kind of equipment..."
You will need only the typical and common tools and equipment that most home-owners will always have around for general lawn-care use. Your local lawn and garden center will have everything you need. You may want to order quality top-soil and/or top-soil amendments from a local supplier to improve the existing top-soil. For this you may need a wheel barrow and shovels/rakes.
A quality sprayer is recommended for spray-killing any unwanted vegetation (weeds or an entire old lawn). This piece of equipment, if properly maintained, can last many years and be used for all other categories of spraying (insecticides and fungicides, etc.).
Once you may get to the bare-earth phase to install a new lawn, you may want to invest in or rent a ROTO-TILLER to churn the top-soil and to work in the various top-soil amendments to improve the soil. Doing this can be a lot of work, but can do much to guarantee future success with all your greens-keeping efforts.
Visit the Lawnology web-pages link below to find the index for all the various articles that explain more about each step to get to that perfect lawn you want.
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WHEN TO SEED:
Warm climate grasses are usually installed in the spring while the cool-climate grasses are best seeded in the fall. In general you can sometimes get any grass-seed started anytime you can keep the areas well watered and protected from temperature extremes. It can be futile to try to start grass seed in the summer heat.
"...What kind of grass seed...?"
Only Use plants and grasses rated for your climate-zone.
HORT ZONES from ZIP CODES:
http://www.arborday.org/trees/whatzone.html
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Boston, MA comprises horticultural plant hardiness zones 6-7.
This is an intermediate hort-zone and you can use several grass-types and mixes.
>Use cool-climate grasses such as recommended Tall Fescue for Zones 0-5/7
>Use warm-climate grasses such as recommended Bermuda grass for Zones 5/7-9
>And use mixes for the intermediate zones 5-8.
A pure stand of Tall Fescue OR Bermuda grass would be an appropriate selection for hardiness and ease of cultivation. You can also use a mixture or plant Bermuda only where there is the most sun-light and use Fescue for the shadier areas.
Most local lawn and garden centers will sell grass seed for cultivars most popular in your area. Web-shop for the new super-hybrids for mail-ordering these; again some of the new varieties can be well-worth looking for and trying to get established if you plan on keeping your property for any length of time.
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With a good fertile-loamy well draining top-soil, best quality hybrid grass type(s), 1-3 inches of water per week, plenty of sun-light, ...almost anyone can have an excellent lawn with a minimum maintenance effort.
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I Hope this has answered your question(s)!
Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more Lawn and Garden Tips, Facts and Links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html
Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com
___ Jim Gibbs,
Microbiologist/Botanist
