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new lawn and older lawn questions

14 years ago

I renovated my front yard and noticed weeds coming up but in a specific area along the flower bed. For the most part the new lawn is coming in good except for a area that water will not drain too well, its along side of the driveway pitching away from the house. It does not look like a really low spot but the ground looks saturated even after running the sprinkler for only 5 min.

Also my back yard (not renovated) is being over come by clover. I hate to have to spot treat because it is about 1/2-3/4 acre and would take forever. What can I do to get rid of this clover problem?

Comments (4)

hogan_nj
Original Author
14 years ago
One more thing the seed I purchased was expensive and a good quality seed (reccomended by rutgers) It stated on the bag .001% weed seed. Yet weeds are growing.
andy10917
14 years ago
Did you disturb the soil when you did the renovation? Seeds can sit in or on the soil for up to 30 years in a few cases waiting for the right conditions to happen. The constant sprinkling makes everything germinate - your seeds and the weeds too.

For the Clover, you can get Ortho's Clover/Chickweed/Oxalis Killer (or anything with 8% Triclopyr), which can be put down with a hose-end sprayer. It works. Keep in mind however, that large amounts of Clover are a sign of low fertility. Find about why the fertility is low, or it will be back.
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A lot of people like clover. I believe they ignore the bees. My favorite buzzy insect is the paper wasp. I am nurturing a nest of them outside my back door. I like them because they clean up the caterpillars from the yard and, if I don't bother them, they don't bother me. Would you be willing to spray vinegar on the clover? You could try that on a hot, sunny day (hah, hah, Portland!). Maybe just a sunny day. You only spray the leaves, not the soil. Vinegar should kill the tops. Spray again if/when it comes back. It will come back from seed until the seed is all gone. Seeding over existing grass is done all the time, but usually in the fall when the underlying lawn has settled into a routine. In the spring you will be fighting against the clover trying to grow fast on the nutrients stored over the winter. If you try it, scalp the grass/weeds as low as you can before you start. You want to get the seed in contact with the underlying soil so the roots will grow into soil. Roots will not grow into air if the soil they sprout into is being held above the soil by other plants. What kind of grass were you thinking? I think rye is very common in the PNW. You might be able to keep the weeds out by mowing your grass at the highest setting on your mower. Tall grass shades out the weed seedlings underneath and stops them from photosynthesizing.
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bpgreen
14 years ago
There are weed seeds everywhere, so the weeds that are coming up may well be from seeds that were sitting in the soil already or that blew in from nearby fields.

Don't do anything about the weeds this year. Wait until next year and deal with them then.

In the established area where you didn't seed, you can spray a broadleaf weed killer over the whole area if you want. There are some that are formulated especially for clover.
catbird
14 years ago
You might also want to put out a preemergent herbicide (Preen seems to be the most available one) to keep more seeds from germinating. The package will tell when and how to spread it, but you'll probably want to put some out now to stop the winter weeds and some in the spring. A lot of weeds are annuals and this year's plants won't come back next year, so the way to get rid of them is to prevent new plants from coming up.

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