Help with the lawn

[williecoyote]

I'm going to guess that you have a Fescue lawn which has been invaded by Common Bermuda. What you have is two competing types of grass. The Fescue is a cool season grass, and the Bermuda is a warm season grass. They have different growing seasons, and different requirements. Bermuda creeps, and eventually will take over. This is most likely what has been going on. Fescue does not creep. Plant one seed, grow one chute. You maintain Bermuda low, and it will grow thick, and choke out the weeds. Maintain Fescue tall, and it will shade out the weeds. Fescue does not spread, so you have to scratch, and seed the bare spots. Bermuda loves the heat, and grows well spring through fall. Fescue doesn't like heat, and it grows best fall through late spring/ early summer.

Pick one, and kill the other. Then get on a maintenance program for whichever you prefer. Nice lawns don't happen by accident. Is your yard sunny, or shady? Bermuda likes full sun, Fescue will tolerate partial shade.

The best Fescue lawns are reseeded every fall. If you seed now, it will germinate, and come up, but the roots won't be well enough developed for the grass to withstand the summer heat, unless you can water it.

[mattdavis11]

Originally Posted by Nathans_Dad

I have a big issue with poa annua sprouting all over my yard right now.

It's most likely poa trivialis, and it's carried in by birds, wind, etc.. from the local hackersville (golf course). It'll be back next year, just let it burn up with the temperature. Although I like Scotts, I prefer Lesco products. I want a place with a lawn.

[kodioneill]

Keep in mind if you use Trimec or any pesticide of that type you wont be able to germinate seed for 6-8 weeks.

[RWebb]

pull the ivy out manually - the leaves have a waxy cuticle and are nearly impervious to pesticides

once pulled; repeat on sprouts every 6 months and the vine will die after 2 years

[Por_sha911]

Super-Genius (williecoyote): You are right on target. The next challenge is that the yard has both sun and shade. I'm thinking of seeding the shade areas with a seed for shade...
RWebb: that makes a lot of sense. I was told that the ivy was hard to kill but I never could understand why. I found that spot treating it with a weed killer for lawns did better than doing a full lawn wee/feed but it never got rid of it entirely.