What I'm starting with this Spring...

The yard is looking bad. There are a few spots of St. Augustine that are healthy and ready to take on the summer. So that’s good. On the other hand, all around the perimeter along the driveway and sidewalk, the lawn has been overtaken by a combination of Bermuda grass, clover, thistle, crabgrass and other weeds I haven’t the will to research and identify.

Last weekend, I mowed with the mower at the highest setting (which is where I plan to keep it for the entire summer). I let things stabilize and recover for a few days, and then did a full-yard treatment with RoundUp for Lawns weed killer.

The RoundUp did a good job on the clover and thistle, but the crabgrass was mostly unaffected.

Today, I aerated the lawn with my manual, two-prong aerator. Then, I raked out all the leaves, dead grass and weeds. The thatch, it turns out, wasn’t as thick as I thought and now there is a lot of exposed soil. My intent here was that in raking over the holes in the ground (from aerating just prior), some of the organic material would find its way into the holes and continue decomposing, adding some natural nutrients. And, when it rains and I start watering again, the water will penetrate a bit deeper, encouraging deeper roots.

After all that, I did a spot treatment with RoundUp non-selective herbicide (glyphosate) on the spots of crabgrass and other weeds still hanging on in areas where it’s either Bermuda grass or otherwise bare. I also went around the perimiter to spray the Bermuda (where there was no St. Augustine) as I want the St. Augustine to fill in those areas later.

The plan for next weekend is to add some 7-0-20 Yard Mastery ‘Stress Blend’ fertilizer.