Pre-emergents for grasses

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Cat and So Lucky.
I wouldn't spend a lot of energy worrying about making it look like golf course turf. If it's green and lush and looks neatly mowed and edged it will complement the house enough to be appealing from the curb.

Cats probably right about the kitchen making the biggest impression.

I pretty much agree with this. When we sold our 3 acres in Arkansas this spring I kept the area mowed and trimmed much better than normal but it was not all grass. I usually let dandelions go so I can make Dandelion Jelly. Some areas were more Johnson grass than lawn grass. It looked neat but certainly not all good lawn grass. You want decent curb appeal but that probably means neat more than anything else. Curb appeal won't sell the house but lack of curb appeal can be a bad start.

We did not get an offer until I got the outside cleaned up and a lot of junk hauled away. I don't know how much of that was coincidence, it did not take that long for an offer anyway. If you are going to spend energy outside I think you are better off hauling junk away and de-cluttering. One of the interesting comments I heard from my agent was that the buyer really liked the chicken coop, she wanted to raise chickens. You never know what will strike a chord.

Inside is ultimately what will sell it. Talk to your agent if you are going to use one, see what they recommend doing. De-clutter the inside of your house. Box stuff up or get rid if it. Most real estate agents would prefer your furniture to be gone if possible so they can imagine their furniture in there. Make any obvious repairs and touch-up paint where needed. Deep clean, then de-clutter some more.

Selling a house is stressful, I can attest to that. It will take work getting ready. Try to stick with the basics, you'll have enough to do.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

OK, maybe I won't worry about the lawn. Out West lawns are trophy points. Silly I think.

Hubs has agreed to remodel the kitchen. We already had ordered and paid for all new appliances. We bought used cabinets last spring. Everything is in the 3 car garage. Oh, and a new sink, pendant lights and such. He wanted to abandon it all, but since he's going to get this house on his side of the balance sheet and sell it, he's motivated to get 'er done now.

Love you all for the wise advice. Truly.

 

[flowerbug]

OK, maybe I won't worry about the lawn. Out West lawns are trophy points. Silly I think.

Hubs has agreed to remodel the kitchen. We already had ordered and paid for all new appliances. We bought used cabinets last spring. Everything is in the 3 car garage. Oh, and a new sink, pendant lights and such. He wanted to abandon it all, but since he's going to get this house on his side of the balance sheet and sell it, he's motivated to get 'er done now.

Love you all for the wise advice. Truly.

i wouldn't either... mow it regular, mow it taller and that helps smother the weeds. if you have rabbits about they'll eat the dandelions and plantains out of there at times. crab grass is encouraged by low mowing. i used to weed it out by hand until Mom started spraying along edges so she wouldn't have to cut them by hand or trim them, but once she started doing that it left the ground bare and crab grass would take off from there. so i gave up/don't care any more about the grass.

i'd smother it all with cardboard and wood chips. that's my pre-emergent...

good luck all around MR!

 

[Grampa Greenjeans]

Former Chemical Lawn Refugee here. Look for something like Scotts Halts with fertilizer. Pendimethalin, Barricade, Dimension are good pre-emergents. Apply before crabgrass gets started as I prevents the seed from emerging. Follow the label directions. Take your time and get good even coverage. A good broadcast spreader in which you can overlap your passes is best. Drop spreaders are a nightmare.

You can spread it in your landscape beds as well to prevent weeds.
Do not confuse it with weed and feed. That is broadleaf weed control with fert. Got a few stories of customers nightmares with this stuff. One guy curled the leaves on his trees and landscape shrubs with 3 applications in a row. Yard was green.

Selective Pre-Emergent Herbicide Weed Killers | Do My Own

Selective pre-emergent herbicides allow you to control specific types of weeds before they

www.domyown.com

I get my Tempo from these folks for general insect control. Read up so you know what to looks for.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Former Chemical Lawn Refugee here. Look for something like Scotts Halts with fertilizer. Pendimethalin, Barricade, Dimension are good pre-emergents. Apply before crabgrass gets started as I prevents the seed from emerging. Follow the label directions. Take your time and get good even coverage. A good broadcast spreader in which you can overlap your passes is best. Drop spreaders are a nightmare.

You can spread it in your landscape beds as well to prevent weeds.
Do not confuse it with weed and feed. That is broadleaf weed control with fert. Got a few stories of customers nightmares with this stuff. One guy curled the leaves on his trees and landscape shrubs with 3 applications in a row. Yard was green.

Selective Pre-Emergent Herbicide Weed Killers | Do My Own

Selective pre-emergent herbicides allow you to control specific types of weeds before they

www.domyown.com

I get my Tempo from these folks for general insect control. Read up so you know what to looks for.

@Grampa Greenjeans I have about 10 acres; maybe 2 of that as lawn and trails, the rest being tree farm and prairie restoration areas. I've been wanting to make my lawn and trails look nicer and reduce the "weeds". I have a tow behind sprayer (Chapin 97761E) now that I'll be using for spraying for weeds, but need to then, obviously, apply grass seed [and fertilizer, lime, ...? I'm experienced in ecosystem & prairie restoration, not lawns] and thus was looking at seed spreaders/casters. In an effort to not waste or apply where I don't want it (landscape stone or mulch around trees) I was looking at a drop spreader once I realized that they're a little more direct in their application. However, I have some area to cover, so am wondering should I have both a drop (Agri-fab) and a mid size tow behind caster so I'm not trying to do everything with a drop spreader?

Or should I use the drop for the detail areas and then walk around with a shoulder bag spreader? I'll take whatever advice you can give

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

OH!!! I ordered Tenacity last summer from the big A. I also used a wetter and a blue marker. I was able to get rid of all kinds of nasty "grasses" that had invaded the home lawns I am managing at another place and kill the same and similar grasses here at my new place. It is some kind of product, that is for sure.

Thank you!!

 

[ducks4you]

@sprig, listening to the experts at Mid American Gardener, planting grasses in the Spring is a big waste of money. They suggested planting oats in the sparse patches, mowing them all summer, then planting grass over the oats in the Fall.
RE: pre emergent weeds, the Best remedy is to keep your lawn mowed. We did that, as most horse owners with pastures will tell you to do, and we have eliminated weeds in our pastures. You knock down the weeds and give the grass the ability to compete with it.
The oats cover crop I planted last October came in really thick, except where Eva ran all over it. Nice, deep roots are few weeds.

 

[catjac1975]

@sprig, listening to the experts at Mid American Gardener, planting grasses in the Spring is a big waste of money. They suggested planting oats in the sparse patches, mowing them all summer, then planting grass over the oats in the Fall.
RE: pre emergent weeds, the Best remedy is to keep your lawn mowed. We did that, as most horse owners with pastures will tell you to do, and we have eliminated weeds in our pastures. You knock down the weeds and give the grass the ability to compete with it.
The oats cover crop I planted last October came in really thick, except where Eva ran all over it. Nice, deep roots are few weeds.

Huh. That is a very interesting bit of info from experts I have always done spring seeding for sparse areas . I planted grass into November last season, as we were making new beds with grass paths. That is very late for my climate. My feeling is seed is cheap and why not give it a try. The grass looks great this spring, including the grass that I thought was planted way too late to make it through the winter.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Huh. That is a very interesting bit of info from experts I have always done spring seeding for sparse areas . I planted grass into November last season, as we were making new beds with grass paths. That is very late for my climate. My feeling is seed is cheap and why not give it a try. The grass looks great this spring, including the grass that I thought was planted way too late to make it through the winter.

The hardest part for me is seeding into the wet season in late fall. I feel like I have done nothing unti spring when it really thickens up.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Selling a house is stressful, I can attest to that. It will take work getting ready. Try to stick with the basics, you'll have enough to do.

i think rin many areas now is a pretty good sellers market so things may go easier for some people who are trying to sell.

in our area it is pretty hard to find a new place and bare acreage is way overpriced. i was driving yesterday past a place i would have loved to have had enough money to buy when it went on the market but they wanted $90,000 for one lot which was just a part of area! the entire farm at that price would have run over half a million... they had already sold two other lots so no way could i come up with that kind of $.