MetEdDawg
03-29-2014, 06:33 PM
My wife and I just bought our first house in Metro Birmingham (finally leaving Auburn and coming back home)! We've got a few yard problems and seeing that I'm not a lawn expert and there are a lot on here who are, I figured I would take my problems here and get some ideas from anyone willing to offer help.
Problem 1: Privet. It's all over the place and it's in the small to medium tree phase. It's going, but I'm just not sure how yet. Was thinking of getting it by hand and getting roots out, but I figured I would see if there were any better/more effective ways to get rid of it.
Problem 2: Broad leaf weeds. Got a ton of them. I'm not quite sure yet whether I've got any grass under the weeds, but the weeds are a huge issue. I'm not thinking there is any grass underneath, so I've got to get rid of the weeds. Not sure what the best route to go is here but I eventually want to put some kind of turf grass down once the weeds are taken care of.
Problem 3: Moss. I've got some water collection issues from improperly diverted down spouts that I am going to correct that will hopefully help get rid of the moss. Also getting rid of the privet will help because it's providing extra shade to the moss areas that are already not getting a ton of sunlight during the day. This problem may just be one that I wait out to see if privet eradication and fixing water collection will get rid of over time. But any suggestions would help.
Problem 4: Couple of decent sized dirt spots. Looks like there was a storage shed of some kind at one point in the back yard, but now it's gone and it took the grass with it. It's in a low lying area with a lot of moisture. Hoping that diverting water from the down spouts to a different location will take care of the water pooling over the dirt spots. But once I get that done I don't know where to go from there to get it filled back in.
Problem 5: I eventually want to get some kind of turf grass over my entire back yard but I really don't know what to get or ow to go about it. I know the first three problems are going to take a long time to fix, but I really don't know where to start in terms of getting grass to grow back there once I've gotten this taken care o. I've thought of plugging my front yard and transplanting in different locations in the back, but honestly I'm not sure whether I should wait until I can get the first three problems managed and under control.
The back yard sounds like hell, but everything else about the place is great. The back yard is my long term project so I want to do it right. Don't have a ton of money up front to do much but I have enough to get a really good start and try and manage over time. (First time home buyers with a kid on the way doesn't help the budget). Any and all help would be much appreciated and I thank everyone in advance for any help or suggestions they can offer to me.
Problem 1: Privet. It's all over the place and it's in the small to medium tree phase. It's going, but I'm just not sure how yet. Was thinking of getting it by hand and getting roots out, but I figured I would see if there were any better/more effective ways to get rid of it.
Problem 2: Broad leaf weeds. Got a ton of them. I'm not quite sure yet whether I've got any grass under the weeds, but the weeds are a huge issue. I'm not thinking there is any grass underneath, so I've got to get rid of the weeds. Not sure what the best route to go is here but I eventually want to put some kind of turf grass down once the weeds are taken care of.
Problem 3: Moss. I've got some water collection issues from improperly diverted down spouts that I am going to correct that will hopefully help get rid of the moss. Also getting rid of the privet will help because it's providing extra shade to the moss areas that are already not getting a ton of sunlight during the day. This problem may just be one that I wait out to see if privet eradication and fixing water collection will get rid of over time. But any suggestions would help.
Problem 4: Couple of decent sized dirt spots. Looks like there was a storage shed of some kind at one point in the back yard, but now it's gone and it took the grass with it. It's in a low lying area with a lot of moisture. Hoping that diverting water from the down spouts to a different location will take care of the water pooling over the dirt spots. But once I get that done I don't know where to go from there to get it filled back in.
Problem 5: I eventually want to get some kind of turf grass over my entire back yard but I really don't know what to get or ow to go about it. I know the first three problems are going to take a long time to fix, but I really don't know where to start in terms of getting grass to grow back there once I've gotten this taken care o. I've thought of plugging my front yard and transplanting in different locations in the back, but honestly I'm not sure whether I should wait until I can get the first three problems managed and under control.
The back yard sounds like hell, but everything else about the place is great. The back yard is my long term project so I want to do it right. Don't have a ton of money up front to do much but I have enough to get a really good start and try and manage over time. (First time home buyers with a kid on the way doesn't help the budget). Any and all help would be much appreciated and I thank everyone in advance for any help or suggestions they can offer to me.