I hate my grass.. DIY grass replacement?

[shaolinmonk]

Hey guys,

Read many threads in here about weeding, re-seeding etc..etc.. and i just suck at this and have no luck.. weeds just come back and grass doesn't seem to grow.. (i suck at watering consistently..

So i'm about to give up and just rip it all out

I don't even have a large lawn maybe 200sf max.

So where do I start and what do I need? Do i just dig it all up and roll in the new ones? and water water water?

ANy idea how much this would cost and when the best time to do it would be?

Also how do I dipose of all the old grass?

[purplesnow22]

Interlock? Artificial grass? :P

[Mars2012]

You hate (or refuse to do) lawn maintenance - if you were to rip it all out and put down new stuff, will you end up in the same situation? If you want a nice lawn, it needs to be weeded, watered and fertilized. And, the better the base soil, the better the results you will get. It would be a waste of money to put in new stuff and not take care of it. Just my two cents.

[glugglughic]

Invest in one season for a company to do it re weed and feed. I did what you did - last two years of my own seeding, adding enriched top soil, etc. I had a company (franchete) come in and my lawn is much better. It will take another year of filling in some small spots and keeping the weeds down for the grass to really get rooted. I found it worth the investment - espcially since I had done the grass instal myself a few years ago. You really need to invest time/effort and some money to maintain it until the grass gets mature enough to choke out weeds.

A company can tell if your soil balance is off as well which is likely contributing to the weak lawn (or pests).

[hondanation09]

i have artificial grass and mulch...love it and perfect for small lawn. $15 per sq ft installed including removal of grass, weeds, weed barrier, landscaping black barrier. it will be much cheaper if you remove old grass etc or even install grass on your own.

[sienna owner]

U might as well go artificial

[packardbell]

reno depot had some artificial on sale.
never need any maintenance.

[shaolinmonk]

I don't mind doing the maintenance, but the lawn came with the house that way,, i don't mind pulling weeds weekly or something but I just don't see any improvement i just want a nice thick lawn to start and stay motivated lol

[sienna owner]

I don't mind doing the maintenance, but the lawn came with the house that way,, i don't mind pulling weeds weekly or something but I just don't see any improvement i just want a nice thick lawn to start and stay motivated lol

but in OP you say you suck at watering consistently?? if you really want a real grass lawn, then you might as well invest in an inground sprinkler system that can be set on timer.....

depending on how you want to go about, you can roto-till it all and manually remove all the weeds, or you can simply use weed-b-gone, or any other weed killer with 2,4D compound that is available in the states (if you're from ontario, and then either hire a company to re-sod, or buy it yourself and resod.
either way you have to water it a lot until the roots establish,

cost? depends what "route" you want to take, so you have to shop around for sod prices.

getting rid of old grass?? not sure what municipality you're in cause normally it's not considered "trash"

GL

[shaolinmonk]

i do suck at watering consistently but if i see pretty grass i think i'll be more motivated to maintain vs. this discouraging up hill battle...

i'm in the markham area too..

[sienna owner]

U think you'll be more motivated?
Sounds like in the end you'll just get a landscaping company to mow,etc

Have have 3 bottles of WBG from the states, but 2 are on hold for an RFDer as I think he still wants it. U only have 200 sq ft though, so it shouldn't take long to pull them all out by hand. Plus, with the heavy rain, should be easy to do...and u get the instant gratification of seeing no weeds on the lawn rather that wait for the WBG to take offect.

[shaolinmonk]

U think you'll be more motivated?
Sounds like in the end you'll just get a landscaping company to mow,etc

Have have 3 bottles of WBG from the states, but 2 are on hold for an RFDer as I think he still wants it. U only have 200 sq ft though, so it shouldn't take long to pull them all out by hand. Plus, with the heavy rain, should be easy to do...and u get the instant gratification of seeing no weeds on the lawn rather that wait for the WBG to take offect.

i mow the lawn every week and use the weed digging thing every week, damn things just keep coming back.. and grass just looks crappy, patched dead, yellow and all sorts of random wild grass growing (not weeds but are?? lol)

i'm too cheap to pay for landscaping services