Ok you turf and lawn people

[MetEdDawg]

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.

[Political Hack]

not an expert by any means, but spreading sand in dirt spots will help the grass cover it and take root more quickly. Other than that, can't help you much. I use true green and they do ok, but I still get weeds and it pisses me off considering I'm paying someone to make sure I don't. I call them out a good bit for extra applications.

[trob115]

If there is a lot of privet, cut the hedges down to the stump and then apply a heavy dose of roundup to the stump. If it's just a few privet plants, pull those suckers up. Privet is extremly hard to kill because all it takes is one piece of root to regenerate.

[M.Fillmore]

Privet - cut it to the ground and then consistently run your mover over the area to cut down the saplings that come up from the roots. The lack of photosynthesis will eventually kill the roots. Roundup only works when applied to green material (leaves).

Broadleaf weeds: you are a day late and a dollar short for this year. Apply a pre-emerge herbicide in mid September and mid-February. For weeds out there now, the time to spray 2,4-D was in February whenever you have a 3-4 day stretch of warm weather as the broadleaf weeds are then smaller and more susceptible. Now that the weeds are bigger, it takes more herbicide and it is not so effective.

Turf: raise the mower height. This gives the plants more green material to produce photosynthesis and can thus build a better root system.

[Coach34]

2,4-D is a coaches favorite on football fields

[MSUDeltadawg1971]

Not true on a day late and a dollar short on broadleaves, you can kill them all summer long. Go to a coop and buy some Grazon P&D or Grazon Next and spray away. It won't hurt Bermuda grass and will kill damn near every broadleaf known. Read the label to see how much to mix per gallon.

It's not too late for 2-4,D, make sure you use amine and not ester. Ester will get up and move on you most likely killing yours and your neighbors flowers. But the temps have to be really high for that to happen and wind is your enemy with 2-4,D.

On the privet, you can cut it down and apply roundup to the inside fresh cut of the stem. It just needs to be able to translocate and by applying it to the fresh cut, it's in the xylem and phloem. Foresters chop into trees and inject roundup straight into a tree to kill it.

[rcsteph1]

Where did y'all move in metro area? I've been in Birmingham for last 4 years and the last two in Chelsea

[MetEdDawg]

Where did y'all move in metro area? I've been in Birmingham for last 4 years and the last two in Chelsea

Alabaster. I lived in Helena for my entire life and went to Pelham High School so I know the area well. Lived in Auburn the past 4 years and I'm finally getting out of there and getting back into familiar territory. Much more active alumni association and quite a bit closer to campus.

[M.Fillmore]

Not true on a day late and a dollar short on broadleaves, you can kill them all summer long. Go to a coop and buy some Grazon P&D or Grazon Next and spray away. It won't hurt Bermuda grass and will kill damn near every broadleaf known. Read the label to see how much to mix per gallon.

It's not too late for 2-4,D, make sure you use amine and not ester. Ester will get up and move on you most likely killing yours and your neighbors flowers. But the temps have to be really high for that to happen and wind is your enemy with 2-4,D.

On the privet, you can cut it down and apply roundup to the inside fresh cut of the stem. It just needs to be able to translocate and by applying it to the fresh cut, it's in the xylem and phloem. Foresters chop into trees and inject roundup straight into a tree to kill it.

No doubt it is not too late for 2,4-D but I'll stick by my statement. You have to jack the rate up much higher than 4-6 weeks ago. You can kill most anything if you jack the rate high enough.

[rcsteph1]

Alabaster. I lived in Helena for my entire life and went to Pelham High School so I know the area well. Lived in Auburn the past 4 years and I'm finally getting out of there and getting back into familiar territory. Much more active alumni association and quite a bit closer to campus.

Good deal. Alabaster and Helena are really nice! I really like being around Birmingham.

[Dobberdawg]

1. Cut down privet, treat stumps w/ picloram.
2. Since there's no turf grass nuke the broadleaf weeds with glyphosphate & 2-4-d combo.
3. Use a garden take to pull up the moss, bag it and toss it like fall leaves.
4. Don't worry about dirt spots until you're ready to put in the grass.
5. I'd just put down the same grass you have in the front yard, grade to slope slightly to the natural drainage. If you want to save $ use seed but mix sand in the spreader and cover with curlex to prevent erosion and help germination.