Planting Grass

[Snipe Hunter]

Some grasses aren't compatible with each other. If you only kill the weeds and plant grass, you still might wind up with a mottled mess. IMHO, kill everything where you're planting new grass. If it's a small enough yard, and you're thinking about doing it in stages, you can just lay down a black plastic tarp over the area you want dead. It only takes about 10 days before everything under it dies.

I'm in a similar situation. Bad soil, too much shade, high acid content. Weeds love it, grass... not so much. The only nice lawns in the neighborhood are because they brought in better topsoil. I use a selective weed killer, and new weed species just fill in the gaps.

[KC]

Some grasses aren't compatible with each other. If you only kill the weeds and plant grass, you still might wind up with a mottled mess. IMHO, kill everything where you're planting new grass. If it's a small enough yard, and you're thinking about doing it in stages, you can just lay down a black plastic tarp over the area you want dead. It only takes about 10 days before everything under it dies.

I'm in a similar situation. Bad soil, too much shade, high acid content. Weeds love it, grass... not so much. The only nice lawns in the neighborhood are because they brought in better topsoil. I use a selective weed killer, and new weed species just fill in the gaps.

Been my experience that the weeds are just pretending to be dead.  

[Admiral]

When I lived in Charlotte, had red clay soil, and I mean heavy red clay. I happened to own a Troy Bilt 7hp tiller, a beast, and tilled the living chittt out of it, amended with compost, manure and some white clay like additive recommended by a golf course groundskeeper I knew, tilled again, put more organic material down, tilled again laying in some peat moss, then planted in the fall and watered religiously. Lot of work, and really, a PITA but I was young, strong and full of P**ss and Vinegar. But it did produce a very nice lawn in the end. I subsequently moved to NJ, but if I had to do it over now in Charlotte, I'd likely bite the financial bullet and lay down sod. But watch out for brown patch fungus, and also sod webworm grubs, they can wipe out a lawn, or sod, in a week or two, so you have to be vigilant. Also, every fall you should core aerate every year, and overseed every two years. That's my experience. Good luck

[Phil Thien]

When I lived in Charlotte, had red clay soil, and I mean heavy red clay.  I happened to own a Troy Bilt 7hp tiller, a beast, and tilled the living chittt out of it, amended with compost, manure and some white clay like additive recommended by a golf course groundskeeper I knew, tilled again, put more organic material down, tilled again laying in some peat moss, then planted in the fall and watered religiously.  Lot of work, and really, a PITA but I was young, strong and full of P**ss and Vinegar.  But it did produce a very nice lawn in the end.  I subsequently moved to NJ, but if I had to do it over now in Charlotte, I'd likely bite the financial bullet and lay down sod.  But watch out for brown patch fungus, and also sod webworm grubs, they can wipe out a lawn, or sod, in a week or two, so you have to be vigilant. Also, every fall you should core aerate every year, and overseed every two years.  That's my experience.  Good luck

This, and what the others said about peat moss and manure.  You just have to keep amending with organic materials.

Checking w/ local experts/university extensions can be very helpful.

[crokett™]

Sod is out, the budget committee "wants grass but not enough to pay that much $$$ for it". I tried telling her the sod would have a better success rate more quickly.

I'll look at hydroseeding.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Sod is out, the budget committee "wants grass but not enough to pay that much $$$ for it".  I tried telling her the sod would have a better success rate more quickly.  

I'll look at hydroseeding.

what kind of prices did you get for sod?? and what kind of sod.

[Cooler]

what kind of prices did you get for sod?? and what kind of sod.

I found this online:

https://www.angieslist.com/articles/how-...ay-sod.htm

How Much Does Sod Cost?

Rolls of sod cost about 28 to 45 cents a square foot, depending on the type and amount bought. For a 2,000-square-foot-lawn, that's between $560 and $900. If you decide to go with a pro for installation, the cost increases to $1 to $2 a square foot, or $2,000 to $4,000 for 2,000 square feet. Sod farms and sellers typically offer price breaks according to how much you buy - the more you get, the cheaper it is per square foot. Grading and tilling prior to sod placement add to abor and overall cost.

That does not cover the cost to remove all the old grass prior to laying the sod.  It sounds like a lot of work.  

And this:

https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/lawn-an...ng-prices/



Hydroseeding Costs

Homeowners can expect to pay between $500 and $4,000, or an average of $1,000, for hydroseeding a typical 5,000 to 10,000 square foot lawn. Hydroseeding averages between $0.06 to $0.20 per square foot or $2,000 to $4,000 per acre. Small jobs of less than 500 square feet will, instead, be charged an hourly rate of $24 to $30 per hour. However, most landscapers prefer to charge by the acre or square foot for greater accuracy.

[crokett™]

what kind of prices did you get for sod?? and what kind of sod.

Looking around its going to be 900.00<>1200.00 for our lawn.  the budget committee may accept that.  I'm still investigating.  Im looking at Zoyzia.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Looking around its going to be 900.00<>1200.00 for our lawn.  the budget committee may accept that.  I'm still investigating.  Im looking at Zoyzia.

Do not do Zoysia. turns green in june, dies in sept. Tough as nails to walk on and very hard on mower blades. $1200 is not bad. Need sprinkler system though if you want to keep in good shape.

[Cooler]

Do not do Zoysia. turns green in june, dies in sept. Tough as nails to walk on and very hard on mower blades. $1200 is not bad. Need sprinkler system though if you want to keep in good shape.

The problem with sprinkler systems is that they go on for 1 - 2 hours daily and that creates a nice green lawn, but one with a very shallow root system that will easily be damaged by kids running or  other activities.

Watering once a week for 6 hours is a better option.  It saturates the soil deep down and the roots reach down for that water.  It is a much tougher and more resilient lawn as a result.

Perhaps the modern sprinkler systems allow for weekly or twice weekly watering, but the older ones cycled on daily.