Speaking of baptism by fire...I hope the rest of your experiences with GW are better than this one. Y'all got off track early and it went downhill from there. You can have a weed free, low maintenance lawn, and do it without routine use of Weed-B-Gone. It is a matter of 1) growing grass that is suited to the location, 2) proper watering, 3) proper mowing, and 4) regular fertilizer. You are trying to hit todays issues but you have the recent memory of last year's issues weighing you down. I'm going to focus on this year's issues. The current symptom seems to be that your grass is too thin and it is allowing a variety of weeds to come and take over. Can you find the bag of seed you bought and tell us what the Guaranteed Analysis part of the bag says? I'm hoping that will explain the entire block of problems so far this year. I'm also hoping it will suggest a solution to be implemented in the fall. Fall is by far the best time to seed in the north. If you seed in the spring (early or late) there are weed seeds sitting there waiting to germinate. When you put in grass seed, all the weed seeds will germinate, too. You can prevent the summer weed seeds from germinating by seeding in the fall. Then in the spring you will be using a mature turf care program. That involves keeping the soil relatively dry and providing a tall grass to shade the soil. Keeping weed seeds dry in the spring can be hard with Mother Nature helping to water, but if you gain some sort of control over the moisture, then you should water deeply once every 1-2 weeks. Get out the hoses and sprinkler (I like an oscillating sprinkler). Keeping the grass tall seems to be your nature so that's good; however, when you do mow, mow at the highest setting on the mower. Auteck has not explained why he suggested mowing at 2 inches, but over the years the general consensus here at GW is that really tall grass is much better than anything else. Four inches works better for keeping weeds out and reducing your summer watering requirements. In the summer when the heat really hits, you can go without mowing for a month or two, but you should still water every week or two. The second problem with seeding in the spring is the new grass plants cannot tolerate the summer heat. Could that be why your lawn died last summer? Fall seeded grass has all winter and spring to develop deeper roots that can stand the heat and low moisture. Regardless of what the weeds are, you have some and need to get rid of them. The reason you have any weeds at all is your turf is not very dense. I am questioning auteck's idea that you have Kentucky bluegrass, because you should not have that thin a turf with KBG - unless that was what you seeded with this year (need the Guaranteed Analysis). The "dandelion" weed should die with WBG, but since it has not, I'm going to suggest that you fertilize right now, and then in 2 weeks, try the WBG again. Weeds that are not very healthy will not absorb the WBG and can even resist it. I know it seems crazy to fertilize the weeds so you can kill them, but that is exactly what I'm suggesting. Again, this is the consensus of Internet forum users over the ages. If you don't have a favorite fertilizer, look for a fertilizer like plain old Turf Builder that does not have any other additives like herbicide or insecticide - just fertilizer. If you are interested in an inexpensive organic lawn care program, here's a link to one. Also, it looks like you live in the woods. Does your lawn get much sunlight during the day in the summer? It must get enough for "crabgrass" to grow. True crabgrass needs full sun or it won't do well. Whatever your weed is, it acts exactly like crabgrass and looks much the same. I'm okay calling it crabgrass. I've been reading here for years and it always surprises me how early crabgrass appears in various parts of the country. My approach would be to discourage it with proper watering and mowing and to tolerate it (meaning no herbicides) one more season with anticipation and the hope of getting such a dense lawn next year that it will not come back. Yes, it can be done. For the fall, would you consider hiring a landscaper to resurface your entire lawn? In one morning he could fix the spots where the trees were, give you the best drainage possible, and prepare the soil for new seed. It would be a complete renovation which is why I don't suggest you spend a lot of money killing weeds this season. However, I'm not saying you should abdicate lawn care either. Treat the lawn as if it was the perfect lawn (despite the weeds) and it will surprise you. I should say that since you are not lawn people (yet, and I'm optimistic you will be), I have some doubt about the quality of the grass seed you have already purchased. It is very easy to buy a bag full of weed seeds when you are not experienced at reading the bags. It would be a shame to renovate and get the same problems back.

Best weeder I've owned in mmmmff years I got at Armstrong's a long time ago. I looked for a pic for this thread and found it's called a Cape Cod Weeder. Mine is around 18-20" long, don't get a short one as the reach is not just ergonomic, but useful under rose bushes. The ergonomic part that works best for me is that you pull the weed instead of push, which my back appreciates MUCH more. If you look around you can find lefty versions. Horizontally, it works great to cut the root at ground level for dandilion and bluegrass type weeds. For grassy, deep rooted weeds, it works great vertically by putting the pointed end directly into the dirt on the other side of the weed from you and pulling. Here's a link so you can see a pic, I've never ordered from them. Mine has a short loop of cord on the end which is also very handy. Here is a link that might be useful: Cape Cod Weeder

IMHO, go to "corded" tools, they're cheap, work well, and no battery hassles. Personally, I no longer have any battery operated tools. Became really disgusted with the batteries being dead and then not taking a charge whenever I wanted to use them. Also, the replacement cost of the battery is almost as much as you paid for the tool, battery and charger on sale. I don't know the terrain you're going to be using these in, how far away from outlets, etc. They'll work fine on a 100 foot extension, at least mine do. Both the devices you mention would tend to use up a lot of battery-fast so interchangable tools might be something you'd pay more for then not be able to use. Should you not be able to use corded tools, I'd plan on buying two new batteries every spring and hope they last through the summer. Just MHO. good luck, Ev

I have the asian designed hoe from Johnnys & I do like it very much. HOWEVER~~~~ my favorite favorite favorite thing is my Oak Valley Wheel hoe! I have the 8 & 18 inch blades, the furror & 4 tine. I LOVE it! DH fussed about the big expense, but he uses it too. Couple weeks ago as he was building a new goat pen he used the wheel hoe and attachments to clear the ground for over 200 ft of fence. He did say he was sore the next day, but my kids can even use the wheel hoe. If you visit their site they have videos of how it works. FYI~ I have a bulging disc in my back so I understand about the regular type hoe causing problems. I do find a stirup hoe easier than a normal hoe, but the wheel hoe is still the easiest of all.