OT - yet another lawn care plea

[Dawghouse]

I've read all the others and this one will be quick. I'm throwing in the towel trying to battle the weeds. I went out a few weeks ago and sprayed the 17 out of them with the best stuff I could find online and you'd have thought I dump miracle grow on the damn weeds.

I need some names and numbers of places that service the Madison area. I'm trying to stay away from Trugreen if I can but at this point I'm not opposed to them. All I really want is someone to spray the yard and get rid of these damn weeds but I'm willing to go whole yard service if the price is right.

I'm going to be selling the house next Spring/Summer and I don't want the yard looking like *@#$ when it's on the market.

you can PM me names and numbers if you don't want them posted.

St Augustine grass if it matters (and I hate it)

 

[ultra dwarf]

What kind of weeds do you have? And what did you spray? Sounds like you sprayed the wrong chemical on whatever weed you have! When buying selective herbicides you really need to know what your target is!

 

[militarydog]

I've read all the others and this one will be quick. I'm throwing in the towel trying to battle the weeds. I went out a few weeks ago and sprayed the 17 out of them with the best stuff I could find online and you'd have thought I dump miracle grow on the damn weeds.

I need some names and numbers of places that service the Madison area. I'm trying to stay away from Trugreen if I can but at this point I'm not opposed to them. All I really want is someone to spray the yard and get rid of these damn weeds but I'm willing to go whole yard service if the price is right.

I'm going to be selling the house next Spring/Summer and I don't want the yard looking like *@#$ when it's on the market.

you can PM me names and numbers if you don't want them posted.

St Augustine grass if it matters (and I hate it)

Call David Leon at 601-529-2458. He did a great job with my lawn. He will examine your situation and take it from there. Trust what he says. You will be glad you did.

 

[RocketDawg]

I seem to have heard that some weed killers work by making the weed grow so fast that it literally grows itself to death. I could be misremembering, but I don't think I am. Maybe that's what you bought.

 

[Frexzell]

Do NOT use Tru-Green. If there is one thing I can ever say with the utmost conviction on this board, it is that. Again, do NOT use Tru-Green.

 

[gdogg]

Call Walter Killibrew with Southern Specialities. 601-624-2825. State grad. Knows his stuff. You will have zero weeds next year.

 

[Dawghouse]

What kind of weeds do you have? And what did you spray? Sounds like you sprayed the wrong chemical on whatever weed you have! When buying selective herbicides you really need to know what your target is!

Part of the problem is I don't know what weed is what, I have a little of them all I think. Definitely have a crab grass issue but that isn't growing yet, that comes in a few months. I used Bayer Advanced weed killer for St Augustine. It did nothing but piss the weeds off. That's another issue, I can't seem to find a great product that doesn't kill St Augustine.

I've tried to battle them for 4 years now and I'm done. I'd prefer a dirt lot than what I currently have. I already know I'm not going to have time to deal with my yard this year and I want it looking good next year when we sell. All that combined tells me I need to call in the professionals. If I wasn't moving next year I'd probably keep trying it myself but I know if I was looking for a house and saw my backyard it would be a big negative.


Thanks for the names everyone, I'll give one of them a call this afternoon.

 

[Hellsyeah]

I have a lawn request too. I'm completely surrounded by red oaks (especially in my back yard) and get maybe 2 hours of direct sunlight a day. My yard is basically all weeds and clover. Is there anything that I can plant that's cheaper than st augustine? I'm sending off soil samples to my local extension office but does anyone have a quick fix that I can do in the short term?

 

[RocketDawg]

Supposedly creeping red fescue will grow in fairly deep shade, but I've never had much success with it.

No need to try zoysia though. I have Zorro Zoysia, and it's supposed to be the most shade-tolerant zoysia variety and able to handle only 10% sun, which in mid summer is something less than 1.5 hours. I've got a couple small areas that get more sun than that, maybe like your 2 hours, and the zoysia has died. So it takes more than 2 hours, apparently.

Is it not too cold where you are to grow St. Augustine? It doesn't do too well here, and I've only known of a couple that have tried it.

 

[Hellsyeah]

Supposedly creeping red fescue will grow in fairly deep shade, but I've never had much success with it.

No need to try zoysia though. I have Zorro Zoysia, and it's supposed to be the most shade-tolerant zoysia variety and able to handle only 10% sun, which in mid summer is something less than 1.5 hours. I've got a couple small areas that get more sun than that, maybe like your 2 hours, and the zoysia has died. So it takes more than 2 hours, apparently.

Is it not too cold where you are to grow St. Augustine? It doesn't do too well here, and I've only known of a couple that have tried it.

I'm in north MS so I get about the same summer weather as you if you're in Tuscaloosa (just going by your screen name). St Augustine is way out of budget. Cheapest I have found is about $175 a pallet and I would need 5+ pallets to get the better part of my yard. Planted Kentucky 31 fescue last year and it has only come up in the places where I already have decent bermuda growing. Can't get anything to come up in the bare areas at all

 

[ultra dwarf]

Zoysia will grow in the shade, filtered shade, not lights out shade! You will also have more success growing grass in the shade if you raise your mowing height to 3 inches or more. Allows for more leaf surface area to gather light. You probably need to aerify the soil under the trees also. Soil becomes compacted under and around trees. Then check the pH of soil, 6.5-7 is ideal for zoysia. Good luck

 

[RocketDawg]

Tuscaloosa? No, wouldn't live there. Ha.

I'm in Madison County ... in the town of Madison, which is on the west side of Huntsville. Summers in Tuscaloosa are hotter than here, but it's plenty hot here, especially recent summers. I don't know a thing about St. Augustine, but it seems I've heard that it likes sandy soil. Kentucky 31 should come up OK assuming the soil is alright, but it might suffer some in the summer. Did you plant it in the fall?

 

[Hellsyeah]

I meant Huntsville, don't know what my fingered were thinking. I planted it about this time last year. Took it a week or two to come up and then lasted about a month after that. Watered daily, fertilized, pretty much went by the book from my research of it. Part of my problem is weeds but I'm starting a healthy dose of 2-4D treatment today

 

[RocketDawg]

If you haven't found a solution by this fall, try planting the Kentucky 31 in September. And you really need to break the ground up a little, even if it's just to aerate it really well. Around here, they also spread straw over the seeds to act as mulch, but I've never done that. Planting in the fall will give it a chance to come up and get established, and it'll have a head start next spring.

 

[RocketDawg]

Here's a weed identification web site from MSU: http://www.msuturfweeds.net/

At least you'll know what weeds you have with this.

 

[Hellsyeah]

Thanks. I broke up the ground all over before I seeded. Just did donuts with the 4wheeler. Probably not the ideal way but it was the easiest and pretty fun to do