Question
QUESTION: I recently moved into a new home in Chesapeake, VA and the back yard pretty much consists of crab grass and weeds. Where do I start? I want nice grass back there and believe I need to somehow start from scratch...any ideas? Thanks.

ANSWER: It's never too early to get up close and personal with your local Cooperative Extension Office:

http://offices.ext.vt.edu/view.cfm?webname=chesapeake

These are the folks who will be doing your Soil Testing when the weather warms up and it's time to do that kind of thing.  Without knowing EXACTLY what's in your Soil, you won't know what it's missing or what it's got.  No point in shooting in the dark when it comes to starting off with a clean slate.  Your work is going to be hard enough without making key decisions based on pot luck.

So find out where they are.  Stop by the office.  Ask for all the contact details, the bill schedule (this information is cheaper than the guy who mows your Lawn will charge for one hour's cut), the instructions, where to park the car, the hours.  It's the step people skip over all the time mainly because the spots for Scotts Lawn Products don't tell them to do this during halftime.  It's the MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO to grow a beautiful Lawn next Summer.  And it couldn't be easier, or cheaper.

Now, your choice of Grass will be determined by a few things:

1.  How much Sun do you have?  Don't look out there now if you have a lot of Trees and think it's all Sunny.  After those Trees leaf out, the Grass won't have Sun anymore.

2.  Are you so excited about going out there to mow your Lawn once or twice a week, water as needed, monitor constantly that you find yourself looking out the Window at the Lawn you don't even have now?  Bluegrass could be the Grass for you.  There's a shade-loving Bluegrass now.  If you're made of money, you can grow it.  If you have tons of Sun, you can grow a Sun-loving Bluegrass.  I'll need to know a little more, but whatever you do, get yourself a state of the art Grass, because there's NO REASON NOT TO.  They are always improving these strains and you may as well buy the newest model since you're in the market.

3.  Most Weeds are Annuals; some are Perennials.  Annual Weeeds can be stopped in their tracks with Corn Gluten Meal, a non-toxic, high-Nitrogen, slow-release fertilizing Weedkiller that zaps sprouting Weeds just as they get out of the seed.  Perennials can be yanked out or weakened and mowed and weakened and finally shoved out by your new, healthy Lawn.  Science has come a long way since they dreamed up things like 2,4-D.  You can use it to build a pretty Lawn this Summer.

Seedland.com is one of MANY Grass Seed Retailers on the internet that can guide you on Grass selection.  I have bought lots of Seed from them so I feel comfortable telling you about them (www.seedland.com).  Local garden centers tend to sell what gets distributed, not necessarily the best bang for your buck -- although the rumor persists that they somehow have zeroed in on things that thrive in a particular region.

I could go on, but maybe it's time for you'd like to post a followup question or two.  Thanks for writing.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for all the great information. Like anything else it seems to have a successful lawn I need to do some research and put in some prep work. I will definitely contact my Cooperative Extension Office. My buddy redid his lawn and has had tremendous success with Bermudagrass. Also my neighborhood is a community group and they take care of the front lawn, which looks fantastic. Maybe I should ask them what type of grass they put down and what they use to keep it looking so good.

Once I've picked out the grass and gotten the seed, I guess my move is to eliminate the weeds. It sounds like you're suggesting spot treating and allowing the new seed to push the weeds out. The weeds are pretty numerous and are very close to outnumbering the grass. Should I use sod instead or should I cut it down as low as possible and spot treat each weed?

Thanks again for the help.

Answer
The words 'spot treat' make me nervous -- sounds like you're getting ready to RoundUp the whole yard.  Not necessary, ESPECIALLY if you're going to fill this plot with Mack-truck-solid Bermudagrass, which is famous for its pull-no-punches growth habit.

Let's say you're on the fence about the health hazards of RoundUp.  We can set that aside.  Instead, look at it this way: The best Grass grows out of healthy Soil, right?  'Healthy' Soil is TEEMING with micro-organisms that generate constant vitamins and minerals for your Grass.  RoundUp will wipe out a lot of them.  Ditto, the Earthworms down there -- and if you don't have many, you want to change all that.

Why use RoundUp if it's going to point the Soil in the opposite direction?

ESPECIALLY if you don't need it?  Because Bermudagrass will NOT put up with Weeds.

Sure, there are a few that will try; just yank them out, and you're done.

Dandelions are on that short list -- remove them, tap root and all, make sure they don't seed.  Then count how many you removed.  Keep a list.  Mid-Summer, pick up that list and you'll see how effective it is.  The Dandelions are history.  Mission accomplished.

There is no reason to spend money on something like RoundUp and run around aiming this water pistol type container at your Dandelions when you can remove them like a bad tooth and compost them in the back.  Plus there are side effects to RoundUp.  I won't go into it now but someday lots of people will wish they had not been there done that.  

Just remember that most Weeds are Annuals.  Their days by definition are numbered.  As long as you don't let them seed, they be gone forever.

As for your Grass selection, there are a lot of varieties of Bermudagrass out there, new ones every year.  Some grow best from plugs, others from Seed.  The top hybrids are usually plugged.  You should also be aware that unlike other Grasses, Bermuda varieties look very different from one another.  See if you can get the NAME of the hybrid they used in the Grass you like, and then you can match it.  Tell me what you find out.

Also, there are rules about caring for Bermuda that don't apply to other Grasses and you don't want to make the wrong decision and have to fix it.  Corrections are a royal pain in the ... neck.

If you can't get the name of your favorite Bermuda, select another one that's state of the art and proven in trials in your region.  I'll post for you the results of the Turfgrass Trials in your area if you like.  Let me know what you find out and we'll go from there.  Great to meet you.