It ain't a yard, it's weeds.

April 14, 2011 11:48 AM

What is the best thing to do about all the weeds in my yard? There's hardly any grass remaining.

It is Spring as you know. I live in the Southeastern US. Total yard is about one acre. I have almost nothing but weeds in the front yard, with exception to one side where gradually the neighbor's centipede (or is it bermuda?) has crept in a bit. The back yard is all weeds with exception to some mossy areas I don't mind. Moss is good. Except the back yard is not a yard, it is a steep hill (going up, not down).

The family and I react strongly to pollen and allergens also and I think controlling these weeds may help.

We have a little of everything probably...crabgrass, clover, a weed with a violet little bloom on it, chickweed, I don't even know what all is out there.

If I'm lucky I have one day a week to work outside. That is an important factor. If it rains or if a kid is sick or something else calls me away, no yardwork for a week.

Kill it all and put down sod? Kill it all and put down seed? Wait til Fall? There is too much info about this online, and much of it is conflicting.

posted by rahnefan to home & garden (6 answers total)

My dad, the agriculturist, swears by Weed-n-Feed, and fresh grass seed. Follow the directions on the bag, and it might not be beautiful right away, but it'll get there.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:54 AM on April 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

An acre is a lot to water. I would consider broadcasting some bermuda or some other drought resistant grass seed, and possibly some broad leaf weed killer. How shady is your yard? That may make a difference.
posted by Daddy-O at 11:55 AM on April 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you can afford to sod an acre of Bermuda, that will give you an indestructible yard in the SE US. But an acre of Bermuda sod is going to cost as much as a decent used car.
posted by COD at 12:59 PM on April 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

We had a similar issue. I put down weed and feed one month, than grass seed the next month, and repeated for a year. At the end of that year we had an amazing lawn with no weeds, and it only took about 15 minutes each month to do.
posted by markblasco at 1:31 PM on April 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

You've got maybe one free day a week and an acre of yard, unless you want to spend that day cutting grass don't plant grass.

I'd kill it all and plant clover. Clover grows where you are, grows easy, is a nitrogen fixer and requires very little maintenance (mowing, if you want, every six weeks or so). It's not a great cover for high activity areas but it will attract all sorts of bees when blooming which is kind of fun. If you don't want the bees you just have to cut it when it starts blooming.
posted by Mitheral at 5:51 PM on April 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

I forgot to mention I'm a big dummy; it's about half an acre, not an acre. Don't ask how I continue to get that wrong but I persistently do.
posted by rahnefan at 5:36 PM on April 15, 2011