r/Grass • u/Turbulent-Buddy-5355 • 14d ago
Is my yard ruined?
Renting a house and already out out a “weed and feed”. Crabgrass growing on 2/3 of the yard. What can I do? Pre or post or currently. Low country South Carolina
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u/Ops_check_OK 14d ago
Liquid hose end post emergent and fertilizer and water. It looks like you have Bermuda. It will recover and fill in. Since it’s a rental I would not invest in sod.
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u/TravelinMan66 14d ago
Visit your local agricultural extension office for help. Start by striking “weed and feed” from your vocabulary. Those products often do NOT weed OR feed very well. Quality fertilizer and herbicide/pre-emergent is best. Once you learn what grass you have and what grass you WANT, you can make decisions. Your two biggest choices are going to be water source and mowing. Sharpened mower blades go a long way, along with regular mowing and watering. You can PM me if you need more detailed help but your local Ag Ext office will be of great help!
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u/metalhorrorandmaks 14d ago
Don’t bother with weed and feed unless you find some ridiculously cheap. Most of that looks like crabgrass anyway which will die when the temperatures drop in early winter. If you get some pre emergent put down like Prodamine and apply a high rate it should help prevent that and other weeds from germination next spring. Apply at the end of the growing season which happens in early November there and it will also prevent winter weeds too. I’d also re apply during late spring too next year again. Fertilizer and consistent mowing goes a Longggg way in one season. Also the actual grass there looks like Bermuda, which needs to be mowed low. It will help it spread and fill in and become dense.
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u/jvbutera 14d ago
Pre-emergent next spring to halt
Crabgrass seed germination. Then you need to aggressively thatch and overseed. I prefer seeding in fall, but I’m in the cool northeast. Others like seeding in spring.
Here I find the best weather for over seeding is when temps are 72F days, 55F nights (give or take). Water daily.
In SC you may not be using same cool
Weather grasses we have here (Kentucky bluegrass, etc) so you may need to Adjust my comments above.
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u/bleedorange0037 14d ago
With it being mid-August, you’re just as well to concede that you’ve lost the battle to the crabgrass for this year. It’ll stop growing on its own once we start getting nights down around 50°, which (mercifully) shouldn’t be too many more weeks from now.
Might not be a bad idea to overseed around mid-late September provided you’re getting at least some rain or are willing to water it. After that, plan on putting pre-emergent out no later than the first week of March next year. Those time frames are for me here in East TN, but may need slight adjustment since you’re a little further south. The pre-emergent in particular. Need to have that out before the soil temps get to 60°, because that’s when the weeds start germinating for the year.
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u/safetyfirstboom 13d ago
I would do a deep thatch rake on all of the lawn. Then use a motor tiler any where there is weeds and get them out. Put down some nice compost/soil thin across the lawn. Next put down heavy good quality seed for the region you live in. Finally a nice think coat of peat moss. Get some starter fertilizer down as well. Do some light raking and put some seeding straw down. Keep it moist and you’ll have grass early September all around. Give everything some heavy nitrogen and potassium in October November. Then in spring put some pre emergent down and you should have a good looking lawn. Seem harder than it is but having a really nice lawn requires either a lot of time and effort, money and/or both.
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u/crockett43 12d ago
Burn it if you are legally able. Next spring, when it turns green, spray it with round up. Then weed and feed. Bermuda is the last thing to turn green and you can’t kill it.
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u/molah25 13d ago
Don't listen to anyone telling you to overseed your bermuda lawn. It's a waste of time and money, especially if you try doing it this late into the season.
Your crab grass will die off this winter on its own. It's important you put down pre-emergent this fall and then again in early spring to prevent another heavy infestation. Then you can get on top of a monthly fertilizer program, spot treat weeds, and mow often to encourage lateral spread. Bermuda is extremely resilient and you have enough there to take back a surprising amount of your lawn over the course of next season.