Hi -

Looking for a bit of advice on a lawn reno. I bought a house where two big dogs had lived, and the backyard lawn shows it. Some grass, lots of weeds, some grassy areas with gravel mixed in. Very uneven. There are lots of clumps of good grass (not sure what kind), and a good portion of the yard sits on bedrock (not sure how deep).

I'm no expert, but the basic plan is to:
1. rent a huge tiller and turn it all
2. mix compost in with the soil & rake out clumps of grass
3. remove the clumps
4. level the yard & roll it out
5. sod

But, I don't want to do all that work, and then find out my old weeds are just going to grow back through the new sod. Any suggestions? Does that sound like the best plan?

Thanks,
Trevor

 

Your plan is good.

Expect weeds to return. You will have some weed seeds in the soil. Use an appropriate weed killer to eliminate the weeds as they appear. Good luck with your project.

 

Thanks for the response.

Ideally I'll minimize the potential for weed seeds - I know I could skim the top layer off the whole lawn and get rid of it, but that's not an option for a couple of reasons (financial, and no access to the yard for a bobcat). Is there a way to kill the weeds during this process? Maybe treat it with something after I till it and before sod, or even tarp it for a few weeks?

Cheers

 

Weed seeds will lie dormant for years and then germinate and grow. The best plan is let them germinate and then kill while in the tender growth stage.

 

I'm a fan of killing everything with RoundUp or similar by spraying it, waiting a couple weeks and spraying everything still living a second time. Then start your process.

If the area is small enough, you can kill everything with heat by laying black plastic over it for a few days.

 

+10 on mitch's suggestion.

Just spray wait and kill all vegetation, then till add some good soil and seed or lay sod.

Dick

 

Thanks for the help. I'll get going on it in a few weeks time and keep you posted.