The Lawn from Hell

My front lawn looks like crap -- lots of bare patches, crabgrass, weeds, etc. I paid a landscaper a lot of money last year to re-seed; he covered the seeded parts for several weeks with hay and some kind of netting material; in the end it was a total failure and ended up looking even worse than before. So I spent some time this weekend trying the DIY approach: I raked, applied Milorganite organic nitrogen fertilizer, put down a bag full of grass seed, and hooked up the sprinker and gave everything a good watering. Going out this morning, what do I see: Ant hills. Dozens of them, all over my front lawn. WTF!!! Why?? I am trying to be a good citizen and not use chemical pesticides and fertilizers... somebody please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Could the watering have triggered the renewed ant activity as they cleared blocked surface tunnels? Or did you have that last year as well? Ants can be beneficial, killing other pests, although the hills an eyesore.

We gave up on lawn for 1/2 the front and created flower and bush garden (now just fighting the poison ivy). The other half was under construction for a porch project last year and so we raked it out level and sodded after construction finished in Dec. We bought the sod at The Yard http://theyardnj.com, rolled it out and left it over the winter. It came in lush this spring.

For crabgrass, corn gluten will keep the new growth, but I don't recall the timing, you may be too late in the process. You also cannot use corn gluten with new seed as it inhibits new grass as well as crab grass. (learned the hard way- reading about it after putting it down in new lawn a couple of years ago)

Depending on the size of your lawn, you might consider taking it all down to the dirt, mulching in some organics and sodding yourself. Not too hard, and you can do it in sections.

You probably already considered a lot of this, if not hope it was helpful.

We digged our front lawn 3 times since we moved in 5 years ago. We finally have something that can be "proud" off although it is not perfect. First round we had to dig roots for days (literally). Second round we had to dig out the weeds since the seed took too long and the weeds took over. Third time was after we did some walkway/sidewalk/drainage work and the then great lawn had to be digged up by the contractor to replace the clay pipes. The seed they used was horrible and nothing but weeds came back. So we did it all over again. Third time was the charm and we now just address spots here and there.
I agree with rowerg. Start over although you may want to consider waiting until the fall as it is getting very hot already.

Our front lawn is so bad, we have areas where weeds won't even grow.

skadave said:
Our front lawn is so bad, we have areas where weeds won't even grow.

Ha, that was ours when we first moved it. Nothing but dirt patches because there were so many roots from two very large trees on the berm that nothing could grow.

I am not saying that I need a perfect, golf-course-caliber lawn... I just need it to be well covered with green plant matter. I thought I had taken some positive steps this weekend, but now, all the ant hills... I know ants can be beneficial at eliminating other garden pests but if they're going to inhibit new grass, they need to be gone.

Unless you go the all chemical way, it can take awhile for the lawn to come around...maybe a number of years. Keep working to make the soil rich and the lawn will follow...

What are the conditions on your lawn? Does it get good sun, or is it really shady? Maybe light is part of the problem.

You might want to consider:

1-check with the Rutgers cooperative extension to see about soil testing.

2-Sod. Preferably sod cut that morning (not the stuff you might find at HD or Lowes). You'll have to have it delivered. You can either put it down yourself or have a landscaper put it down for you.

Before you spend money on sod, check your conditions and make sure the soil and light are right for the sod. Be a pity to waste all that money. Another possibility is the soil could be so compacted the seed can't take hold properly. I second the recommendation for the Rutgers program.

You should be able get sod that is for mostly sunny areas or for more shaded lawns. A good landscaper or garden center will ask you about that.

Well, a little early to know whether the seed will or won't take hold... it just went down yesterday. Just hoping all the ants won't inhibit growth of the new grass. Lawn gets a lot of sun so I doubt light is an issue.

After all the money I spent on the professional re-seeding project which was a total failure, I'm not giving any more money to any more "professionals" for sod or anything else until I've put in a good DIY effort.

I missed that part. Really? One day? It's likely to take 7 days just to see sprouts, let alone an actual lawn.

A few articles:

Growing Lawn Grass: The Organic Approach

How to Achieve a Healthy Lawn

How to Choose Between Seed and Turf

How to Maintain a Healthy, Weed-Free Lawn

I went to Cardinal Garden Center in Springfield - super helpful folks there. I explained what I was dealing with and they walked me through how to get the lawn up and running - no overselling, just helped me understand what would work in our area (and what I didn't need). I would recommend a visit to them if this latest pass doesn't work out.

@particleman I know it's going to take at least a few days to see if any grass will sprout. My main complaint, if you read my original post, was all the ant hills I saw on the lawn this morning. Worried that the ants will somehow sabotage the lawn fertilizing and re-seeding I attempted this weekend.

I sympathize. Our lawn has been problematic in all the time we've lived here, despite DIY and professional reseeding attempts. I've heard that pouring hot water into the ant hills will eradicate them, and the following seems to support this. It also offers other suggestions. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/ant-hill-bumps-yards-52016.html

You could try this to get rid of the ants, and get yourself some cool art in the process

FYI, I wouldn't worry too much about the ants at this point. As rowerg said, it's quite possible the ants were just reopening their colonies to open air.

That video was really something... pretty sure I don't have fire ants; they're not native to this region... are they?

Maybe if we keep watering the lawn the way we're supposed to, the ants will move on to drier territory?

Consider ground ivy as an alternative to grass. A couple of neighbors of ours had it, and it looked quite nice, and the care was easy.

Tom_Reingold said:
Consider ground ivy as an alternative to grass. A couple of neighbors of ours had it, and it looked quite nice, and the care was easy.

Same with clover. It worked really great in our backyard which was really shaded and not getting the same attention (waterings and fertilizers) as the front. We did not want to use chemicals in the backyard since our son runs around and the grass was having a hard time growing. The mini clover has done a great job filling in the bare spots and it does not require as much water.

I've been thinking about putting down several kinds of invasive ground covers and letting them fight it out.

Back to the grass seed thread! Is now a good time to seed the lawn again? My neighbors just had this done and had beautiful green grass sprout in an amazingly short period of time... My DIY seeding project last spring did help the appearance of my lawn somewhat, but the grass or whatever it was that actually grew did not look especially attractive... don't think it was crabgrass, but it wasn't the lush lawn I had been hoping for...

According Scotts / Prof. Google, now is the perfect time to seed. Probably want to thatch and get rid of the green stuff (crab grass and the "unattractive" grass you mention) before you do. Also, when buying seed, check the date - I've noticed that Home Depot Vauxhall still has some stale bags.

bluepool said:
Back to the grass seed thread! Is now a good time to seed the lawn again? My neighbors just had this done and had beautiful green grass sprout in an amazingly short period of time... My DIY seeding project last spring did help the appearance of my lawn somewhat, but the grass or whatever it was that actually grew did not look especially attractive... don't think it was crabgrass, but it wasn't the lush lawn I had been hoping for...

I googled seeding grass in NJ. Mid September to first week is what Rutgers U recommends. Anybody want to do mine?

I had a 90% dirt lawn when I moved in 10 years ago. Seeded once then used fertilizer and weed killer every fall and now I have a complete full lawn. The first 3 years were rough but it probably bothered the neighbors more than it did me.

Haven't read all the comments, but now is the time to consider core aeration and over seeding. Aside from all the other reasons grass might not grow (tree roots, lack of sun, etc.), if the soil is compacted, the roots aren't able to spread out and absorb water effectively. Google core aeration, it may just be something to look into.

http://www.twp.maplewood.nj.us/Calendar.aspx?EID=1305&month=10&year=2015&day=3&calType=0

This Saturday - yard & garden workshop. I'm bring my favorite lawn pests...

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!

We just took up over half or our lawn area in our of our back yard up because it was so overtaken by crabgrass. In the process I've just noticed those little false strawberry and clover nets that are choking all my new planted seed. I had done a chunk with new "top soil" from HD this spring. That all died and was overtaken by fresh crab grass. The "top soil" was an untreated organic brand which turned out to have very little dirt. lots of sticks and wood pieces. It could very well have had crabgrass seeds in it.

In the springit is overcome by lesser calendine, which grow by little bulbs AND by their fine roots.

It's hell.

Started by obsessively pulling weeds, then moved on to hoe and shovel when I realzed there's not much worth saving. I don't mind doing it, only problem is I don't have all the time in the world.

The crabgrass is insane. I had be composting and using my own humus,I had the gardener put the grass clippings in there. Since my compost is not the steaming hot kind, I don't think any weed seeds were killed. it became a crabgrass seed incubator.

I also think our mow/blow team are making matters worse with the weed whack/blow routine. I resorted to sweeping the damp soil to get rid of the fresh distribution of seed on the newly exposed soil from the last time they came.

For years I've been a "no chemical" yard keeper. Well, all the grass the house came with in the back yard is now pretty much dead. I resorted to a Scott's crabrass killer/lawn fertilizer this year. NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER.

Crabgrass seeds can last 5 years under ground.

My feeling is that the only resort: dig the whole thing up and start over. Wish me luck!

tom said:
I've been thinking about putting down several kinds of invasive ground covers and letting them fight it out.

Please don't. They get into other people's yards.