Is the grass in your frontyard yellow?

I actually have what I call a Siamese yard. There is no structure dividing my yard from my neighbors. Evidently there once was a small river rock filled bed but this was filled in and planted over by the previous owners to house their genius French drain system. Long story but the upshot is that it appears as one contiguous blob of grass where one side is bathed by a sprinkler system (his) and one side is fighting for its life due to lack of moisture (mine). This and the massive propagation of buttercups that now infest both our yards make us look pretty ridiculous. Oh well. Never set out to be a sod farmer anyway. Hate the stuff.

 

It yellow, it's long and it's weeds.....er......native grasses?

The plan was to put a lot of brick in the front yard leaving a small central area for some green. I wanted maintenance free green as in don't have to mow. Well the brick is in, there is a fountain in the middle and there is irrigation on timers to minimize/optimize watering. I tried planting Korean grass but could only afford three flats. While it was busy dieing the weeds moved in. Mostly because the moron who did the front yard didn't listen to me about preparing the yard. It used to be Bermuda. And the Bermuda will continue to come back because he didn't prep prior to the landscaping.

I think I should just majorly kill the entire square with some very heavy chemicals. As much as I don't want to do that I think it's the only way. Then after time has passed or whatever the directions say....start all over again.

It was supposed to be a token patch of grass. It's just long, yellow weeds now.

BTW have failed to find a contractor for my driveway replacement. I want to replace it will driveable grass or what RCP block and brick calls Turf Block. It's also refered to as checkerboard or grassmat. Basically little concrete blocks you can drive on that you can plant grass in between. I plan to plant something you don't have to mow but that is green. It will be on the drip system with timers. The installer the manufacturer recommended just wasted a week of my time not calling me back and then not showing up for two appointments. I wanted to get this signed and calendared this week. Now I'm at square one still trying to find an installation contractor. Apparently if your job isn't big enough they're too good for you. No wonder if you don't own a MacMansion you can't have a nice yard unless you can do it yourself. I can't jackhammer and haul away my own driveway or lay 90lb blocks so I'm out of luck I guess. Just pi$$es me off.

 

Most of our lawn was ruined by renovations (replacing drain tiles tends to do that), and is slowly being replaced by garden. More than half, and soon to be all, of what was front lawn is now filled with flowers of all description, many native. The side yard will be a patch of raspberries and blueberries, and we're planning some vegetable gardens for the back, amongst the trees. A drip irrigation system is next, for those rare times nature doesn't do the watering for me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 14 2007, 08:22 PM) [snapback]478863[/snapback]</div>

I'd recommend against it, unless you get a contractor who knows what they're doing. The city put one of those in an alley near me. I suspect to discourage skate boarders. Unfortunately, it also discouraged cyclists, pedestrians, and strollers. It was a broken ankle law suit waiting to happen. They came to there senses and paved it over. It probably would have been less intrusive is they had just left it dirt with some drainage.

Ask for referrals.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 14 2007, 08:22 PM) [snapback]478863[/snapback]</div>

As a mom with several patches of dead grass I think you should just be able to cover the lawn with something and it will die on its own.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RonH @ Jul 15 2007, 11:19 AM) [snapback]479107[/snapback]</div>

It's my driveway. No one is supposed to be strolling across it. It's not part of the alley, it's on my property and there are fences that go to the property line on both sides. All it has to be is strong enough to drive the car on and allow me to wheel the trash and recycling cans out for weekly pickup. And I will be getting a contractor that knows what they're doing. I just called a service that will find me contractors that are not only licensed for this but they also do background checks for criminal records, lawsuits, etc. They're called Service Magic. If they work out, I'll be using them to find me other contractors in the future like house painters or plumbers. Word of mouth isn't doing it for me when it comes to finding reliable people.

Service Magic- finding contractors in your area

Driveable Grass

Turf Block

 

What grass? We have a front yard, but it's mostly weeds. Topsoil in this area is really dark sand. We have plenty of water, but it goes right through to the aquifer.

Tom

 

I live in the "evergreen" state... all the dandelions in my yard are green... oh, and the mossy patches. I have a bunch of lovely little white clover blossoms, and some little white flowers... and some really tall things that are .. oh, hey, they've bloomed out with yellow flowers!
Grass? who needs it!!


Seriously, as the dandelions get dug out, they are replaced with "walk on me" herbs... hopefully, someday, our yard will not ever need mowing...

 

Yes, yellow (or brown!). I never water the lawn. It's not rained enough here so even my neighbors who have watered their lawn have crappy looking lawns. I'd truly like to rip it all out and put in a native carex that only grows to around 6 inches. No mow, no irrigation. It spreads by rhizome, so it would be a great replacement for the non native grasses but our money is being spent elsewhere right now.

I don't use chemicals so weeds are definitely an issue. I think I pulled over 300 dandelions in the Spring. I just recently started applying corn gluten. This is a natural corn by product and it's an herbicide of sorts. It prohibits seedlings from surviving as it prohibits moisture uptake. However, I'm still evaluating if this stuff works as it takes up to three years to be effective. And, I still have to pull mature weeds as these aren't killed off by the corn gluten. So, I still have a lot of work cut out for me.

The grass that I've killed has been replaced with native stuff but that too has weed problems as the prior owner thought it was a good idea to put in a weedy introduced clover. I can't seem to get rid of the stuff.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 14 2007, 08:22 PM) [snapback]478863[/snapback]</div>

Just cover it with something, that will kill it. We successfully killed grass by leaving a pile of leaves on it for the better part of a week. I've heard other people laying down newspapers on grass (and holding them down with rocks or something) to kill a section. Or if it's small you could actually dig it up during dry weather and turn the sod upside down.

An area like that would look better with some kind of ground cover, like a geranium that can handle the winters, or sand phlox, or .... the list is endless.

Most grass problems can be solved by proper nutrition for the grass. If it's healthy, the weeds have a harder time competing. I pull up dandelions by hand (and a screwdriver), haven't used herbicides or pesticides for the last several years (tested my soil with a cheap home testing kit, found out it needed a richer nitrogen mixture). It is looking brown now, it's okay for it to go dormant, but after the drought of 2005, I make sure it gets an inch if it hasn't rained for a few weeks so it doesn't actually die.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Jul 15 2007, 11:25 AM) [snapback]479166[/snapback]</div>

Me too, but the oposiet end, and brownish yellow is the official July and August color for lawns in the Evergreen State. With all the trees, keeping the lawn green is not so critical, and the time will come soon enough that it is growing over 1 inch per day, so we enjoy these mow free months. You can recognize the transplants by their lush green lawns and good neighbor fences.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Jul 16 2007, 11:16 AM) [snapback]479631[/snapback]</div>

Tried newspaper when I tried killing off my sister's grass to plant a native garden. Just make sure to use very, very thick newspaper or it'll degrade faster than the underlying grass dies.

 

no my front and back yards are both tan.... and in sand color... oh... as in sand!

as much as i'd love to have grass.... my water bill would be OUTRAGEOUS..... so we have.... sand.....

 

Please don't douse your lawn with chemicals!!!
Black plastic construction cleanup bags are cheaper than chemicals and do a BETTER job oif killing the grass. Just cut the bags open and lay them out with landscape staples and the grass will be dead QUICK.

I also don't like the turf blocks. Looks dangerous and the depth of the soil will not be enought to support plants, anyways. I'd recommend laying landscape pavers in 2 strips for your tires, then you can plant anything inbetween.

As for my lawn, I'm yellow in the front where their is no shade and green where there is. The back is green, as it's mostly shaded. In the spring, I have to mow the front once a week, and the back doesn't grow much at all. In the summer, the front stops growing and I have to mow the back every week.

I really wish I could garden (food, not flowers) in the front yard, but I think it's prohibited in my area. Dumbest law I've ever heard of.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Jul 16 2007, 11:16 AM) [snapback]479631[/snapback]</div>

Depends on what it is.

I have Bermuda. In this area that's considered grass. When I moved in I took the carpets out of the house and laid them on the Bermuda to kill it. All summer. Covered in carpet and no water. The minute it rained.....the grass came back. It even survives RoundUp. There is no killing this stuff.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Jul 17 2007, 09:49 AM) [snapback]480210[/snapback]</div>

Tried plastic too.

The minute water hits the yard the Bermuda grows back. Plastic is supposed to be good for weed seeds. At the right time of year it can cook the seeds so that they never germinate.

There is no getting rid of the Bermuda. The roots or whatever those runners are can go down over 12-15 feet so there's also no digging it out.

I have 10 feet of driveway on private property. With the proper installation the Drivable Grass will support the car for the few times I go in and out of the garage. I feel confident something can grow in the dirt that Drivable Grass will hold. It may not be grass. Fine. I don't want to mow anyway. But it may hold something else. I'll probably try a variety of things so it isn't too uniform. Anything is better than what I have now.

 

My new driveway is in. It's seeded with dicondra so not green yet.



The new driveway

BTW I'm really happy with the Drivable Grass product from soilretention.com. It's firm enough to hold the car (and will get a little firmer as the plant material grows in) but it's flexible enough that I don't have to worry about cracks.

BTW when that bougainvilla was taken down and shredded I had 7 bags of mulch and some nice logs. It ALL fit in my Prius and went to my parents' house for the garden and the fireplace.

 

Thanks for posting pics. I like how it looks. It adds interesting character. Hopefully weeds won't find it to be a comfy home.

Why didn't they do the whole drive. Was it a cost issue or was this not needed for your intended purpose?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jul 14 2007, 04:31 PM) [snapback]478740[/snapback]</div>

Get weed and feed for the type of lawn you have, spread it over your lawn. Set the mower cutting level at no less than 3" off the ground. set your lawn sprinkler system timers for 20min per secition and water every other day to every two days.

You would want to set the timers for the drip units to run for 30min. to get enough water into the soil.

 

I think our lawn is done being yellow for awhile... it's been raining, POURING, nearly non-stop for a week now.

So, do you think my neighbors were laughing at me, Friday, as I was out washing my car, in the rain? Had to look pretty for the Portland meetup!