Lawn on the Texas Coast

13 years ago

I recently bought a house in Galveston, Texas. I have 2 dogs and I want to make my backyard more dog friendly. I have no gardening/yard experience. I think I have some clover grass in the backyard. And what looks like crab grass in the front. Apparently some st. augustine grass all over. lots of weeds :( I think the dogs eat the weeds, and its not being good to their stomachs.

How can I restore the lawn? what are the best weed killers? what is the best time of year to start doing the work?

thank so much!

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Comments (3)

dchall_san_antonio
13 years ago
Fertilize now with something that is NOT weed-n-feed. Then in 2 weeks spray the back yard with "Weed-B-Gone for Southern Lawns." For the front yard I would use baking soda. Seems crazy but baking soda is very salty and will kill almost everything except St Augustine, which is highly salt tolerant. If you want to use baking soda, write back and I'll provide details on how to do that. There are some tricks.

Here are the basics of lawn care to get you started.
2. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.
1. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above.
1. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.
maelee66
Original Author
13 years ago
great, thanks. How long will it be before I notice a difference? also, how often should I just the "Weed-b-gone"? Sorry for all the questions! I am not sure if I should use baking soda, since I don't really know what I am doing, lol. Is it possible to use too much?

thanks again!
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dchall_san_antonio
13 years ago
WBG works in a few days. It works by stimulating growth in the plant which kills it. Some will actually curl they grow so fast.

Baking soda will work in two days. You should see damage in a few hours. The trick to baking soda is to get it to stick to the weed. Many weeds are hydrophobic which means water beads up and falls off. In order to get water to stick to it, you have to use a "sticker." Stickers are either soapy or sugary liquids. You can make your own with soap and sugar. Click here to watch a video explaining everything. There may be some damage to the St Aug but it will come back fast. The weeds will not come back. If you use baking soda, please give it a 2-week rest and scatter some compost on the area you use the baking soda. Baking soda is a non selective fungicide and will ruin your soil's biology. Adding compost will fix it faster than anything else. The guy in the video used nylon hose to apply the baking soda. You can use a sock. Baking soda does not ruin the sock so you can use any sock. The reason for the sock is to just control the application of the baking soda. Also try not to inhale the baking soda or get it in your eyes. It burns.

I notice in the video it works on dallis grass, too. I always forget that part. I have d-grass currently. Guess I know what I'm doing next weekend.

Lawn on the Texas Coast

Comments (3)

dchall_san_antonio

maelee66
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Lawn on the Texas Coast

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dchall_san_antonio

maelee66Original Author

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maelee66
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