Got any grass left?

Holy crap my lawn is quickly turning into what looks and feels like a cardboard box!! It just won't rain here in south central WI. I see the northern central counties are getting pummled though. At this rate I might as well prep my mower for winter. Funny how weeds survive though....

Queen Anne's lace is the second year growth of a carrot, probably a wild variety. They sure are all over the place this year. I had a 2x4 area of Oregano that I dug up and removed last fall, because they had gotten invasive and spread into the lawn and adjacent flower beds, where they out-compete and swamp out everything. Unfortunately, the seeds on the Oregano were mature, and as I carried the plants to the front curb, I inadvertantly seeded my lawn with it. Guess what grew REALLY well in my lawn during the drought? I've spent the last 2 weeks, a few minutes every night, pulling oregano from my lawn. The stuff spreads via woody runners, and I had several patches that were 12-18" around that completey wiped out the grass, before I realized what was going on. Smells good, tho.

I cut the grass Friday evening and could have cut it again Monday. We have been getting some nice rain in the Green Bay area for some time now and more thunderstorms forecasted for tonight. I just hope they hold off until I get home from work and can get the grass cut because it needs it and I wouldn't be able to get to it until Friday.

That's Queen Anne's Lace and from what I understand they are not native to prairies but are considered an invasive to them. At least I have helped to cull them out of a prairie restoration that I have worked on in the past under the direction of the fellow who started it. I've had a few pop up in my lawn too, which as actually returning to a shade of green this past week since we've finally gotten a fair amount of rain lately. (Just north of Madison.) Tim

Caz, if it were me I would get the topsoil now and get it spread out. Every couple weeks if you have access to a drag or tine harrow drag it over the weeds to kill them or pull them out. It is cheaper than spraying every couple weeks. If you don't have access to a drag, or even a disc round-up is your best bet. You can buy generic round up at a coop and save some dollars there as well. Round up needs to contact the plant for it to work. As long as you don't put down a Pre-emergent herbicide you are safe to plant with in 2 weeks of your last application according to the label. I would only wait a week but I am impatient and experience tells me it will be fine. If you can supply consistent water get your seed down in early Sept. The warm days and nights will help you get a stronger start. Just remember once those seeds pop you need to keep them moist all day long. IF you can swing it financially cover the seed with a product like PennMulch. I believe Home Depot carries it. It is a paper based mulch that keeps your seed moist and reduces erosion and wind problems. It really reduces the mount of watering you need to do. You would use that instead of straw which is a pain in the arse and only adds a ton of new weed seed. After you have mowed a couple times and your lawn looks to be growing well you can come back a spray a three-way herbicide to kill your broadleaf weeds. Make sure you read the label and you should have a happy lawn. Remember more is not better.

My lawn is done.....Haven't mowed it since fathers day...rain has bypassed this area....northwest fond du lac cty.....

Caz, all brands of weedkillers are different. Some remain in the ground and prevent growth for up to 6 months. Some only kill what is currently growing. I believe the roundup falls into the second category. If you wanted to apply it now just to get rid of some eye-sores and then plant in a month or two you should be fine. Just stay away from the ones that keep killing or you won't have a lawn.

Random "lawn" question here... I just moved into a new build and don't have a lawn in yet, planned on waiting until late August or early September to do that. But in the mean time, the weeds are starting to take over. Should I hit them with round-up or another weed killer now or should I wait until I am ready to put a lawn in? How much in advance of putting my lawn in should I apply the weed killer to avoid any residual affects to the lawn? I have clay right now but plan to put top soil down when I seed it.

Yes, but it's all brown.

The 1" of rain we got last week might have saved the grass from dying, but it'll take a lot more to get it green again around here. On another note, I did water my garden last night. Turned on the sprinkler around 8pm last night.......remembered it was on at 9am this morning...DOH!!!

Just got in from mowing the back yard, first time mowing in over 6 weeks, it looks pretty good! Have been watering a bit, water restrictons here in Fitchburg also. The front yard was not watered, it's pretty much toast! I am more concerned with keeping the trees alive. Hopefully more rain this week, my water bill is gonna be a shocker!

If you intend for your "winterizer", a name to get you to buy it, to be available for uptake during aerification you will need to apply it a couple weeks before. It takes time for fertilizer to break down and become available to the grass. Rule of thumb is make sure your grass is healthy before you aerify to insure a quick recovery. Spring and fall is best in most cases because grass is rooting at that time. Roots will readily fill up those holes. Exceptions would be if you had very compact area that needed extra attention, it was so dry you could not get any water into the ground, you had some thin areas and you wanted to break up the soil surface a bit to add more seed. IF you don't water during the summer you can't expect much. You can however have a kick butt lawn in the spring and fall if you keep it fed, mowed, and watered.

Thanks guys... Yes, soil is extremely compacted (I can drive my truck all over the yard, and you'd never know the difference). Actually that's my primary reason for wanting to aerate - usually every good rain I have a 4' x 8' area in the back yard that turns into a mini-pond.... improving the grass is a side-benefit. Doesn't help that ours was the 2nd house built in the area, and every surrounding lot / house was built higher than ours. (My wife said when she was growing up, they'd lace up their skates and ice skate in the back yard every winter - ARGH) But since we're in a watering ban (Germantown), watering isn't an option - I guess I'll have to wait awhile.

I would say hold off. Aerate in the fall when weed seeds are not germinating because alot of seed falls in the hole and then grows. Also lawn is stressed right now and does not need the extra. Also you want to aerate in the fall during winterizer application because that is when your grass is shooting out ryzomes and thickening up. The winterizer getting to the roots really helps. Just my 2 cents.

Would aerating at this point be a terrible idea? Not necessarily. If you have compacted soil that is not allowing water in it may be beneficial. The key is you really need to make sure you can keep it well watered afterwards. Pulling cores will leave channels for more water to contact the soil but it will also leave more soil exposed to the air. IF you can't commit to keeping it watered don't do it. Biggest challenge would be getting the tines into the soil. Hopefully the last couple days of rain bought us some time. I know the weeds in my lawn sure look proud this morning!

Would aerating at this point be a terrible idea? I'm thinking yes, because the lawn is already stressed, but I don't really know..