Question
Hello Charlotte!

We live in Madison, WI, and our yard is probably 80% weeds--crabgrass, creeping charlie, dandelions, etc.  I was considering roto-tilling it and re-seeding, but I have a few questions first:  1.  Do I need to kill the weeds before roto-tilling or will just roto-tilling wipe the slate clean?  I've heard the weeds will just grow back if we don't kill them.  2.  If we do need to kill them all, is there an organic alternate to round-up?  I've heard that I should round-up the whole yard, but we're close to the lakes and would rather not add chemicals.  3.  Can we still do it this spring?  Considering there was still a frost warning last week, I'm assuming this still counts as spring, but want to make sure!  4.  What can we use as fertalizer?

Any other hints to creating a healthy, beautiful lawn are appreciated!

Leah

Thanks,
Leah

Answer
Hi Lean;
DON'T use ropundup. It kills EVERYTHING!!!
You don't need to till it all up if your soil is loose enough to drain fairly well, and you have some kind of grass started already.
An organic program will do away with the weeds, because weeds will not thrive in rich soil.
Organics will make rich soil.
If your soil is cay and you need to loosen it up quite a bit to get water to the roots, put about 4 to 5 inches of cedar bark mulch down, and till it into about 8 to 10 inches. Tjhat will put a 5-/50 mix of bark mulch and existing soil, and the cedar bark mulch will keep it loose for a couple of years till it composts, and by that time, your micro-orgamisms will have gotten a good toe hole on adjusting the soil, and the ceadr bark, as it composts, will add more good compost to the soil.
It should be in very good shape.
I had a; those weeds you mentioned, and more besides, and all I did was start using sugar, and deep watering for the first 8 or 9 years.The weeds started to die out in a couple of weeks, and more were gone each mowing. By early summer there were no weeds in sight.
Some came back next spring, but fewer, and even less the next year, and after that, they don't even come up.
If yopu cut down the weeds before they set seeds, then mowing and leaving the clippings will not make new weds.
If you til, till in the weeds too.
Let them go into the soil and feed the grass they tried to kill. Also, if you don't till, just start the organic program, and mow the weeds too. They will add some green while you are waiting for the grass to spread.
If you put in some sod, go ahead and put it there.
I use any weeds and anything else that is vegetable, and the leaves in the fall, all sorts of vegetable matter in the composter.
Even if the weeds do put down seeds, when the soil is nice and rich, they will not thrive if they do come up.
Here is the program I have used.
Also, go ahead and use al;falfa meal and lava sand now. They are full of nutrients and will help the grass get a berret start.
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You will constantly improve your soil if you go on a totally organic program, and don't use any chemicals at all.
I have beenm on such a program for the last 9 to 10 years, after breaking my back and ruining my body trying to maintain a decent lawn, with only mediocre results.
the organics has freed me from about 90% of the physical work, about that much of the expense, and the results are a think, beautiful yard with no weeds or harmful insects.
Man!!! Wish I had known all this 50 years ago !
The corn clutem meal is an organic product.
If you use organics, and then use chemicals, you will cancel out the organics.
Chemical fertilizers kill all the beneficial microbes, nematodes and other beneficial insects and critters that work around the clock improving your soil.
Beneficial microbes enrich the soil. Chemicls do NOT.
If you put a little too muchj chemical products on the lawn, it will burn your grass, and do a lot of other damage.
If you put too much organics on it, all you do is waste a little time and money.
Sugar does absolutely nothing but nourish the beneficial micrebes. THEY do the work.
Weeds will not grow in rich soil. If they cme up, they will start to die out right away.
The first time I use sugar was in the spring. I had not put any chemicals on the yard since the fall feeding, so they were all worn out of the soil.
I had a lawn about 50% full of dandelions, crabgrass, johnson grass, clover, dollar weed and some other shallow rooted weeds like chickweed etc.
a couple of weeks after I put down the sugar and watered it in, I had about half as many weeds. Nobody had pulled a weed or anything. My husband had just mowed.
I went nuts, like a school of sharks in a feeding frenzy, and ran out and bought more sugar, put it down and waterewd it in.
A couple more mowings, and there were so few weeds. In a few more werks they were all gone.
The next spring about half as many weeds as before came up, but in a few weeks they were gone.
All I had done was the sugar in the spring, and I did that again in the fall.
I used baking soda disolved in water for black spot on my roses and powdery mildew n my crepe mytrtles. That works much better then the chemical fungicides I had used before.
I started getting a nice herd of lizards, toads and grass snakes in my yard.
I had a BIG grub problem every year. I haven't had that since, nor do I have those nasty tent catapillars dropping on my head from the trees.
I see lizards running in the trees and along the fence. I never see the grass snakjes, which is fine with me. I seldon see a toad, but they are all there.
Sugar; I use 4 or 5 pounds per 1000 sq.ft. I just broadcast it by hand, and water it in well. If you spill a blob in one spot, no problem. No burning or other damage.

Watering; I always water to a depth of at least 6 inches. Deep watering like that encourages a deep root growth. That protects from heat, cold and drought damage, and prevents thatch. I water with soaker hoses, and run them till the water is close to the edge and is about to start running off the yard. then I turn it off and wait an hour or so for it to soak in, and turn it on again. I keep doing that until it is wet down to a depth of 6 inches at least. Even here in our Texas heat, I water only once a week, unless it stays well above 100 for a week or more, which it sometimes does. then I look at the grass, and if my St. Augustine is folded up, lengthwise, I know it needs water. It folds the blades up to reduce the area exposed to evaporation. Burmuda, when it gets thirsty, bends it's little blades a little, like it is bowing.
My earthworms and cock roaches etc tunnel through the soil, and that keeps it aerated. Their castings add nourishment. Cockroaches are beneficial. They normally live in the soil and feed on other harmful insects. We put down pesticides, and kill their food supply, so they come in our houses to get food and hide from the pesticides.
I use fresh rosemary to keep them out of my house.

Baking soda disolved in water, about 2 TABLESPOONS per gallon of water, sprayed on top and underneath all the leaves, prevent molds and fungus on plants. You can also use it for fungus in the soil, or you can apply agricultural corn meal and water that in. About 10 pounds per 1000 sq.ft.

Corn gluten meal is an organic fertilizer and weed killer.
It won't interfere with the sugar.
None of the organics calcel each other out.
Alfalfa meal is another good food to add. Just sprinkle it on in about the same thickness the sugar goes on, and water. It is full of nutrients. So is lava sand. Yopu can add it to the top of the soil, dig it into the soil, or add it when you are adding soil, or putting soil in a comntainer for a plant.
Alfalfa meal, as well as generally nourishing the soil, helps promote larger and more blooms in blooming plants and house plants.
You can also make a tea of it for foliar feeding or for watering house plants.
Put 1 cup alfalfa meal in 5 gallons of water and let steep overnight. Still and use to water plants, or strain it and put it in a garden sprayer for foliar feeding.  Be sure, if you strain it, to dump the dregs on the soil somewhere, it is still full of nutrients.
You probably won't need more fertilizert than that. I didn't use anything but sugar for about 8 or 9 years, and last spring, I leartned about the alfalfa meal and lava sand, so I use them.
If you have more questions, write to me.
I am very happy to share what I have learned, and am learning.
Charlotte