Grass seed help.

[Socalx09]

I have bare and brown spots in the backyard due to the dogs. I have made a secondary area for the dogs, and closed off the grass area for now so I can patch up the areas. I have brought Scotts EZ patch repair. Didn’t work and what grew was weeds. Same result with vigoro. Unsure of what to do next. I am following the directions, but just getting weeds out of this mixes. It’s a fescue grass I’m thinking of just reseeding the entire area maybe with a mix of bluegrass and fescue. But, unsure of what brand and mix to use. In Corona and the grass area gets half sun and then shade in the afternoon. Willing to order off amazon as well.

Can any recommend a grass seed brand that won’t give me weeds?

Thank you!

 

[Mr. C]

I like the Marathon seed Tall fescue i think we get. and you need to fertilize every 4-6 weeks
We also give our dog Grass Saver tablets so she won't burn the lawn. The actually work pretty good if you give them the tablets
dailey like it says. (takes a week or so to start working)

If you have a gardener, iMHO you will always get weeds because they bring them from every yard.

 

[Universal Elements]

Ours looked like that due to big dogs. It’s looking better and still some work needed. Water it on a daily basis. Get an aerator and use t on the whole area. Use this grass seed. You can get some at Home Depot in smalller bags and around $20.

https://www.scotts.com/en-us/products/grass-seed/scotts-turf-builder-thickr-lawntm-sun-shade

 

[grumpy88]

Buy a piece or two of sod . Marathon 2 is very strong and robust . We had 2 100lbs dogs when this picture was taken too

 

[bowtiejunkie]

How much sun does that space get?

I have good luck buying seed and fertilizer from Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply. Looks like they have one in Corona. I forget the brand of tall fescue I bought in 50lb bag (maybe just the Ewing brand), but the fertilizers are all Simplot/Best brand.

Rake out the loose dead grass. Rough up the bare dirt. Seed. Feed with 6-24-24XB+ Simplot. Then, cover with some top soil (I use the old school steer manure). Water 3x daily until you see new grass germinate and then back off the watering. About a month after you seed, feed with 18-5-0 Simplot. That's my $0.02 and how I get great results.

 

[Riverfamlee]

As someone mentioned you need you aerate the soil. It’s looks compacted and the seed will never take well. I would break up the dirt , slap some nutrients in it and overseed the whole thing with marathon 2 .

Now the fun part , cover the whole thing with a thin layer of good ol manure. Helps keep the seeds in place and the birds from eating them. And most of all it helps incubate the seeds. Smell goes away in a few days (Usually) lol

 

[Riverfamlee]

Or option B. Use round up on the remaining grass. Once it’s dead then rototill the whole thing and then sod it

 

[bocco]

X2 on aeration. You can probably find a local guy that does it.

 

[HNL2LHC]

That is not the seed that I thought you were asking about.

 

[Racey]

@SoCalDave is the grass seed expert i think

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

With your grass that long in areas...it will work better if you aerate....you can rent them at Home Depot....that small area should be easy......now if it were Spring...I'd say mow that shit super short and stir up the soil in the patchy areas...and just overseed with a fescue blend seed. Then cover all the seeds with topsoil....they need to germinate under that topsoil......keep it moist and water everyday....tougher in Summer cuz its hot.....dont want to dry out them seeds or cook em.....water water....I over seed mine every couple seasons in Corona....but I do mine like in late Jan or Feb. Timing it right when we get dumped on with rain so you get a good root base.

 

[TrollerDave]

Plant concrete seeds.


Sorry. I know I’m no help. I tend to kill anything green.

 

[SoCalDave]

@SoCalDave is the grass seed expert i think

yeah but it's considered a weed...

 

[Jed-O]

The female dogs pee is still potent in the soil and spreading everytime you water.
Try tilling up the existing soil in and around the affected areas, remove and replace with compacted soil and then seed, feed and water.

 

[Socalx09]

Ok so everyone is pretty much in agreement here! (For once) I need to clean up the dead grass area. Aerate the whole lawn. Break up the dirt, add nutrients, over-seed and cover with top soil, keep it wet.

Thank you! We have our own lawn mower now that the Gardner uses to prevent weeds and other grasses after the front yard got taken over this summer. It took a lot of work to gain control of the front yard in the heat of summer!

Dogs are male. But, one of the labs pees like 2 minutes straight and drinks a lot of water and repeats. I think he may be the problem! I’m going to try those tablets. Any side effects for your dogs? @Mr. C

Geez! Just looked at the weather and it’s going to be hot! But, need to get this fixed ASAP. Have a party at the end of October and don’t want the side-yard looking bad!

 

[highvoltagehands]

Didn't that area used to have concrete block walls and fill gravel? If so, Did you remove all the contaminated soil and replace it with good fill dirt before planting grass? Cleanup/amend soil and try planting sod.

 

[Mikes56]

Marathon 2. You can buy a tub of it on Amazon or EBay for $55. Don't waste your money on cheap seed, it's full of weed seeds.

 

[Mr. C]

Dogs are male. But, one of the labs pees like 2 minutes straight and drinks a lot of water and repeats. I think he may be the problem! I’m going to try those tablets. Any side effects for your dogs? @Mr. C

We have not had any side effects. She thinks they are a treat. It will tell you how many to give your dog by their weight.
We give ours 4 wafers a day. we try and do two with breakfast and two with dinner.

 

[HPBoats83]

How much sun does that space get?

I have good luck buying seed and fertilizer from Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply. Looks like they have one in Corona. I forget the brand of tall fescue I bought in 50lb bag (maybe just the Ewing brand), but the fertilizers are all Simplot/Best brand.

Rake out the loose dead grass. Rough up the bare dirt. Seed. Feed with 6-24-24XB+ Simplot. Then, cover with some top soil (I use the old school steer manure). Water 3x daily until you see new grass germinate and then back off the watering. About a month after you seed, feed with 18-5-0 Simplot. That's my $0.02 and how I get great results.

I agree with all of this as I used to work here for 8 years. I’d wait a few weeks for this project just because it’s so hot right now it’s just burning your seed. The house brand of Ewing’s fescue is certified weed free. When you do overseed you need to keep it cool by watering several times per day (5 or 6) but just for a short duration because all your trying to work with it the seed on the top of the ground, once it pops you can back it off to 3x per day until it grows a bit more. Also, mow shorter than you normally would when you over seed.


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[Socalx09]

Didn't that area used to have concrete block walls and fill gravel? If so, Did you remove all the contaminated soil and replace it with good fill dirt before planting grass? Cleanup/amend soil and try planting sod.

The old concrete wall was about 10 inches in front of the new wall. But that was all taken up and dig out. But yes, all gravel. Haven’t had any issues with it being green since last winter until the second happy lab came in the picture! I’m guessing too much urine between both dogs and marking.

 

[Socalx09]

I agree with all of this as I used to work here for 8 years. I’d wait a few weeks for this project just because it’s so hot right now it’s just burning your seed. The house brand of Ewing’s fescue is certified weed free. When you do overseed you need to keep it cool by watering several times per day (5 or 6) but just for a short duration because all your trying to work with it the seed on the top of the ground, once it pops you can back it off to 3x per day until it grows a bit more. Also, mow shorter than you normally would when you over seed.


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Thank you! I might just have to wait out this out weather anyways. Don’t really want to work in 100 degrees right now!

 

[Socalx09]

So I found a landscape company that specializes in this. 79.99 for front and backyard. It was 219.99 for full service in the back which I didn’t go for. So they are coming Wednesday to do the aeration in the front and back. So I’m probably going to buy seed, feed and top soil tomorrow for the backyard.

Question for the front yard. Do I need to seed it now? I believe it’s in good shape. Had a fight with crab grass in the summer, but got some good crab grass killer and got out most of it. Some brown spots from the sprinklers not hitting certain areas that I try to water every few days. The sod was from AG farms and was the elite plus. Which was a blend of fescue and bluegrass. So I’m not quite sure what seed to buy for that if I need to even seed it after aeration. No bare spots in the front.

Thank you!

 

[bowtiejunkie]

So I found a landscape company that specializes in this. 79.99 for front and backyard. It was 219.99 for full service in the back which I didn’t go for. So they are coming Wednesday to do the aeration in the front and back. So I’m probably going to buy seed, feed and top soil tomorrow for the backyard.

Question for the front yard. Do I need to seed it now? I believe it’s in good shape. Had a fight with crab grass in the summer, but got some good crab grass killer and got out most of it. Some brown spots from the sprinklers not hitting certain areas that I try to water every few days. The sod was from AG farms and was the elite plus. Which was a blend of fescue and bluegrass. So I’m not quite sure what seed to buy for that if I need to even seed it after aeration. No bare spots in the front.

Thank you!
View attachment 798921
View attachment 798922

That's not too bad of a price. Renting an aerator for the day will cost you most or all of that amount.

For crabgrass try this: Dimension 270G. Get it at Ewing in a 50lb bag. It has amazing results. Here near Fresno, I apply March 10th and July 10th each year (you can do another in November, but we get frost, so it dies off in winter) and I never have crabgrass. It was getting out of hand before Ewing suggested Dimension. The neighbor's yard (and every other house in the neighborhood) is mostly or all crabgrass. I have none. It's crazy how good this Dimension 270G works.

I'd wait to seed until the high temps are below 90, even better if below 85. It's not cheap to ramp up the fertilizer program w/side of Dimension. Ewing is pretty helpful with a schedule of application and the products. I don't work for Ewing, just a nice one-stop place for all the good products for the lawn.

 

[Deja_Vu]

I agree wait till temps fall before you seed then when you do make sure you water several times a day to keep it wet.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

I probably wouldn't reseed that front till like late Jan early Feb if it's not too cold....time it with the rain that usually dumps good around then. In the meantime....just get a weed n feed for now...they usually have a Fall version...I like Scotts... but even some of the other brands have been fine. You'd be surprised how quick your lawn will green up by using a weed n feed pellet in a spreader.....actually, you should be doing that at least 2 times a season anyways to keep it poppin

 

[Socalx09]

That's not too bad of a price. Renting an aerator for the day will cost you most or all of that amount.

For crabgrass try this: Dimension 270G. Get it at Ewing in a 50lb bag. It has amazing results. Here near Fresno, I apply March 10th and July 10th each year (you can do another in November, but we get frost, so it dies off in winter) and I never have crabgrass. It was getting out of hand before Ewing suggested Dimension. The neighbor's yard (and every other house in the neighborhood) is mostly or all crabgrass. I have none. It's crazy how good this Dimension 270G works.

I'd wait to seed until the high temps are below 90, even better if below 85. It's not cheap to ramp up the fertilizer program w/side of Dimension. Ewing is pretty helpful with a schedule of application and the products. I don't work for Ewing, just a nice one-stop place for all the good products for the lawn.

I will try this. I’m going to go by Ewing like you suggested and check it out. The crabgrass killed me this summer. It was too hot to pull it every day and just took over. I ended up buying a product off amazon made by primsource. It killed the crabgrass fast and other weeds, but it isn’t a preventer. I will do this to prevent it. I know the lawn looked green, but I couldn’t stand that it was crab grass all summer.

 

[Socalx09]

I probably wouldn't reseed that front till like late Jan early Feb if it's not too cold....time it with the rain that usually dumps good around then. In the meantime....just get a weed n feed for now...they usually have a Fall version...I like Scotts... but even some of the other brands have been fine. You'd be surprised how quick your lawn will green up by using a weed n feed pellet in a spreader.....actually, you should be doing that at least 2 times a season anyways to keep it poppin

Will get some weed and feed for the front. When the drought happened two years ago and they wanted corona to go “california gold” for the lawns. It never recovered so my dad had to pay a good amount of money to have the front yard redone. It stayed dark green for a year and half after that. I have been teaching myself how to maintain the lawn a lot this year. But, this summer crab grass took over. I thought the gardner could control that, but he just kept mowing and I realized you had to put preventive stuff in the lawn. I don’t know why, but I have developed an attachment to keeping the front yard weed free and dark green haha. So I think next year will be successful with all this new advice!

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

There is a Scott's weed n feed with crabgrass preventative in it....that's the one I use early Spring. There was a season or two that I had crabgrass too......as it died off in winter, I ended up just mowing it waaaay down super short...and that's when I reseeded it. Haven't really seen it back...just try to keep the roots thick so it has no chance...along with using that Scott's pellet with crabgrass preventative in it.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

You can use this for Fall/Winter....

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

This is the crabgrass one.....

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Or if your crabgrass is under control...use this.......this is the one I use mostly....less than $20 a bag I believe. Use it as you notice your grass not quite as green...or when small weeds start to pop up in early Spring. Few times a year is good. Water it well when you apply...

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Mine in late May after using Scott's in maybe late Jan early.Feb......

 

[Mandelon]

For the seed to grow it needs to stay wet for three to four weeks. Like you have to water it twice a day, every day. If it dries out....they won't grow. We do this all the time for bank owned homes.

Mow low, fertilize, overseed heavy, cheap topsoil to help keep the moisture in. Water it like crazy. Fescues don't naturally spread like other grasses do. You have to seed them. Did I mention it needs to stay wet? LOL

 

[DWC]

Wait a week until it cools down and put down a shade mix. Start watering the area, rough it up and put down a starter fert with it. Water a couple times a day for 2-3 weeks. Don’t put the weed n feed down for a couple months.

 

[Mandelon]

Weeds come from the gardeners. The little bits of weeds, seeds, and grass bits fall off their mowers and they spread shitty grass into your fescue like an STD at a frat party. If you have a new lawn... you need a dedicated mower for it.

 

[TPC]

Marathon 3 fan here. The directions say it doesn't creep but yes it does and heals bald spots all by itself nicely.
I use the Pacific Sod fertilizer White bag specific to Marathon you buy at the Do It Center once every three months and the Scotts Green Up once in April.
I may live at Crank Shaft manor, but we have the nicest lawn and roses.

 

[Socalx09]

Mine in late May after using Scott's in maybe late Jan early.Feb...... View attachment 799360

Thank you!
That lawn looks great! Cute pup too!