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Onarpos
Citizen
Username: Onarpos
Post Number: 49
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 10:46 am: | 
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We moved here about 3 years ago and have since had 2 babies so lawn care hasn't been a prioirity. (Plus we both never had a lawn before!) So this year, we hired Lawn Doctor to remedy a major ant problem and they convinced us to try their lawn service.
We went from ants but only about 1/4 crabgrass on the lawn to minimal ants but 9/10 crabgrass on the lawn. We are so frustrated. I've called Lawn Doctor to complain/ ask for a refund/ see what they recommend but I also want to hear what all the lawn experts on MOL have to say! What should we do? Is our lawn ruined?
Lawn Doctor says we should water more.... somehow I don't think that's the whole problem. Any advice about what we can do to get our lawn back would be greatly appreciated. |
cicely moncrieff
Citizen
Username: Cicely_m
Post Number: 80
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 10:59 am: |
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Lawn Doctor is a scam. I could write much more but do not have time. They make me very angry. |
Spare_o
Supporter
Username: Spare_o
Post Number: 444
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 11:02 am: |
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We had a fairly weedy yard about a year ago. We watered regularly and mowed it ourselves. I finally waved the white flag when our reel mower couldn't handle the weeds anymore and got too hard to push.
We called Naturalawn and I can say we still have a few weeds but the majority is grass, about inverse from a year ago. They don't provide maintenance but provide treatments that seem to be less chemical-y than some other services. We saw results after 2 treatments. Last fall we had them aerate and re-seed which made a big difference. Many people have commented on how nice our grass looks (which, in retrospect, may not be saying much since it was SO bad before). I think they may be more expensive than other services but since I didn't comparison shop I can only go by anecdotal comments.
I am happy with their service and can recommend them. PL me if you want to stop by to look.
http://www.nl-amer.com/nlawebsites/Somerset/frameset.htm
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Pdg
Citizen
Username: Pdg
Post Number: 1150
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 12:34 pm: |
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http://www.gardensalive.com/category.asp?c=10
Check the website above. They have great products - I just started using them this year - I bought some of their grass seed to fill in spots and it came up great with much better results than what I used last Fall from Millstone. I also applied some of their insect control - can't remember the name, but it took care of my budding grub problem.
Frankly, my lawn has a ridiculous amount of crabgrass and I applied preemergent crabgrass control this Spring! From what I understand, there is nothing you can do about crabgrass once it's grown, but the Fall and next Spring you have to apply a pre-emergent control. I already purchased my product of choice from Gardens alive and I'm hopeful that it will do what it claims. After the weather cools, I'll be applying their "OW! Plus" and again in the Spring (I'm told you apply for crabgrass control when you see forsythia blooming.)
Remember, the key to a weed-free lawn, is a healthy lawn with deep roots. |
tb0010
Citizen
Username: Tb0010
Post Number: 35
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 1:02 pm: |
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Crabgrass can only be stopped in the spring with a herbicide applied during the first half of April. Anything after that is ineffective. Would suggest throwing in the towel this year and starting clean next year. Seed, and add the first dose of fertilizer and crabgrass killer in early April.
When we bought our first house, we also fell for the Lawn Dr. pitch. They're an absolute waste of money -- they don't do anything special that you can't do yourself.
Specifically, if you use conventional fertilizers and weed killers, then all you have to do is go to Home Depot and buy the 5 - 6 color coded bags from Scotts or some other household brand name, and buy a spreader, which is extremely cheap. Then every few months (the color coded package tells you when), you simply dump a portion of stuff in the spreader and apply it. The first one includes the necessary crabgrass preventer [believe it's called Halts] and fertilizer.
Best of all, you do it on your time schedule rather than waiting for Lawn Dr's trrucks. |
Mike Rintzler
Citizen
Username: Beanpoppa
Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 1:05 pm: |
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Crabgrass is a tough one to get rid of, because it is closer genetically to the grass you want to keep. The best way to get rid of it is to put down pre-emergent treatments in the spring, which prevents it from germinating. However, these treatments also prevent new grass seed from germinating, so you are often stuck with bare spots for several weeks.
There are also crabgrass killers that you get get from garden supply/Home Depot stores. They work pretty well, but usually require 2 or 3 treatments to get ahead. If you have a lot of crab grass, you will then have a lot of barespots, and between July-Sept it can be tough to grow new grass. Also, most weed killers shouldn't be used when the temp above 80 degrees, as it will harm the rest of the lawn.
Your best bet is to wait until Sept, when temperatures are cooler, and then spray with crab-grass killer. Wait a week or 2, and then do it again. Rake up all the dead crab grass, and then re-seed. If you get the seed down early in September, you should be able to head into winter with a healthy lawn. Then, in the spring, get ahead of next year by putting down pre-emergent crab grass preventer.
I'd also recomend bringing a soil sample to a garden supply center (not a Home Depot) and getting it checked (pH). If you have the proper pH for grass to grow, it makes it harder for the weeds to take over.
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Pdg
Citizen
Username: Pdg
Post Number: 1151
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 1:07 pm: |
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Oops - just saw my typo.
The preemergent/fertilizer product I'll be applying is called "WOW! Plus". Also looked up the insect control product I used - it's called "Lawn-Gard Bioinsecticide". |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 8878
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 1:15 pm: |
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Crabgrass dies so it isn't worth trying to do anything this year.
We fought the battle for years; even dug up & started over with new seed one year. Finally went to Sav-a-Lawn who did a spectacular job, but we got rid of them this summer because we weren't too happy last year and I don't like the specialist (or whatever they call them) assigned to Maplewood.
One thing we have learned is to go with high quality products, especially grass seed. It's worth the extra $ to get your supplies at The Mill rather than HD. The extra bonus is that Mark Pierson knows his stuff. You can ask him about any yard problem and he'll tell you how to fix it.
Crabgrass is like an STD. You get it from unprotected close contact with your neighbors' lawns. Make sure to use protection in the spring. |
mogli
Citizen
Username: Mogli
Post Number: 36
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 4:04 pm: |
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Chemicals, no. Corn gluten meal, yes. This is what's in "WOW!" and is available in big bags from the Agway stores located slightly west of us. Same treatment as the chemicals (use your spreader in spring and summer) but it's completely non-toxic and decomposes nicely, adding nitrogen to the soil.
And yes, there is still time to stop this season's crabgrass from growing any more this year. |
crabby
Citizen
Username: Crabbyappleton
Post Number: 765
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 5:41 pm: |
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Excuse me everyone. But now is the time to start to get rid of the crabgrass. They don't call me crabby for nothing.
It is a two-step, two-season process.
Put weed-killer over everything RIGHT NOW! DON"T WAIT ANY LONGER. It will die and you should pick it out, rake it out, whatever it takes. Pull out any new seedling that comes up after the killer is down. SPot kill or do the whole lawn depending on how bad.
Then, a little new soil, and RESEED, and use those green pellets called SEED AID, and water water water and get the new grass going and growing by the end of August so it can establish itself before it gets cold.
THEN, in the spring, use the pre-emergent.
See, if you wait til spring for the pre-emergent, you will end up with bare spots from where the old crabgrass was the year before. AND YOU CAN"T PUT NEW SEED DOWN UNTIL 6-8 WEEKS AFTER using pre-emergent. Pre-emergent goes down in APril when it starts to get warmer, so that puts you in June end of June to start your new grass and then that puts you to end of July until you get a nice lawn.
So, there you have it from the crabbiest. |
calypso
Citizen
Username: Calypso
Post Number: 74
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 9:48 pm: |
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We dug up our lawn entirely, rototilled it, raked it, and seeded it. Twice we went through this process. We still had a lame, somewhat weedy lawn. Then last fall we called in the experts, who dug up the grass, put down a layer of topsoil, and rolled out sod (This also took care of the problem we had with lead in the soil). Now we have a truly beautiful, soft, thick lawn with nary a weed. Occasionally we get a few sprigs of nut grass, but they are easy to pull.
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Pdg
Citizen
Username: Pdg
Post Number: 1182
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 7:17 am: |
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crabby - I had to reseed this year after putting down my preemergent and yes I did have a lot of bare patches! (All that after completely raking up my dead lawn last summer and reseeding with "Premium" seed from Millstone, covering with their hay, dealing with all that and having a very sweet looking yard in the fall.) I spot-treated weedy areas at dandilion-time to try not to kill the seedings, and that plan didn't work well - lots of weeds! That said, isn't my new grass still too young to be able to take a general weed-killer right now? I'd hate for dealing with a crappy lawn this summer to be a wasted effort! |
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