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First time garden owner, please help!

Hi there,
Finally got my own home, comes with nice garden...only it's got lots of bumps, lumps and patches and a lot of weeds of different types, most of which I don't know! I've tried some basic things, and turns out I may actually enjoy trying to fix it! But I need help
I'm hoping some people can help me identify
i) the weeds, and how to get rid of them
ii) what type(s) of grass I have and how I should improve it (maybe I'll need closer pics?)
iii) help level the lawn (it's very bumpy)
iv) any other general advice on fixing things!

I've put down Scotts Turf Builder Triple Action 4 days ago, and I see some wilting of Dandelions, although minimal. I know it takes time but I'm worried there's too many weeds and they are too established, but who knows maybe they will die as time goes on? I've gotten some Spectracide Weed stop concentrate for Lawns which I plan to spot treat with. Although I'm considering spraying the lawn with it using a hose end sprayer - any recommendations what the better appraoch is?

Some details; living in the US in the North East, lawn gets a lot of sun, it circles the house, so the patchy area is probably the part with least sun due to the house shadowing it for the first half of the day.

Attaching a few pics too (having just cutting the lawn), any help appreciated!





Posts

  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    Hmm, looks like youve got a nice big job there!  :smile:

    These guys are a great resource for advice on lawns in my opinion:
    https://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/topics

    Basically youre looking at removing all the weeds, not just killing them, removing all the dead  grass, reseeding or laying new turf entirely might be simpler.

    A couple of things you might want to think about though;

    Plants thrive in the conditions theyre in - grass doesnt seem to do that well here but other plants (weeds) do. Keeping the grass on top will be a continual job, not a once-and-done thing.

    Do you really want lawn in this problem area anyway?  Herbacious perennials, trees, gravel garden, there are lots of alternatives to lawn.

    Whatever you decide, dont worry too much, plants live and die, you can just start again if it goes wrong. 👍


  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Welcome to the forum  :)
    It does seem to be more weeds than lawn, and there are several people on here who will be able to identify them (not me, sadly). 
    As has been said above,  if you do want to keep it as a lawn, there will be a fair amount of work involved. You might want to consider reducing the area by putting in beds if you want to get into gardening. It's not a quick fix,  but it can be done. 
    As you're in the US ,it might be worth looking at gardening forums based over there, but l'm sure there will be some on here who can help.
    Better not to rely too much on chemicals, if at all, though to be honest. 

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    And to add to the above ... even if the chemicals kill the weeds in most cases you’ve still got to remove them, so you might just as well bite the bullet and take them out without the expense of spray.
    Lawn weedkillers are a triumph of advertising, not necessarily gardening 😉 

    By the way ... congratulations on your new home ... hope you’re very happy there. 😊 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Yes, welcome, we are not big advocates of chemiclas on here.  I dont feed or weed my lawn, we have to grandkids who are usually here school holidays, and 2 dogs, I like it cut short, and green, and thats its, unfortunately I dont know how to post pics on here, and dont have a smart phone.  It has been a mass of celendines which are dissapearing now.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    There's a hint in your opening salvo that you may not find a quick solution.  If you're prepared to accept that possibility in return for reducing the amount of effort involved, a roll  of what we call 'builders membrane' over here, i.e. fairly heavyweight black plastic placed on the area until, say, next February will completely nuke all but the most persistent weeds.  They can then be dug out individually (because they stand out) and you'll have the added advantage of generating a much clearer view of the patch in terms of humps and bumps, which is often disguised by the vegetation.  The resultant task is much easier - but you'll have to put up with the look of the thing for a few months.  I did it once, but not everyone likes the idea.
  • Waz-GardenWaz-Garden Posts: 3
    Hi everyone, thanks for the comments. I'm not exactly a huge advocate for chemicals...its just the only advice I've been given, what I've seen in videos, and its what the companies would do here if I hired "professionals"... I'm open to other solutions, that's why I'm here :)
    Also didn't realize this was a UK forum, sorry! 

    Its a pretty large garden, and it goes around the entire house (not all pictured) so I don't think plastic will be practical given that and the wind/location of the house. Plus we do actually have several trees and flower beds already, which are great. We so have concrete/gravel in places too. And we really do want some kind of grass lawn.

    I'm aware its not a quick :smile: solution, it will be at least a year and constant upkeep, but that's what home ownership is about :) and like mentioned, I've been enjoying more than I thought!
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I had a quick look around the internet and came up with this, it maybe of some help.
    http://american-lawns.com/
  • Waz-GardenWaz-Garden Posts: 3
    AnniD said:
    I had a quick look around the internet and came up with this, it maybe of some help.
    http://american-lawns.com/
    Thanks AnniD! I had read about testing the lawn too elsewhere, sounds like a good first step, I'll take a look into that site 👍
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