Question
I don't know how else to get rid of the weeds.  My new years resolution is to have a great lawn in 2007. Starting with weed erasure, what steps should I take to do that? Our house is in Greenwich, Connecticut, probably usda zone7.

Answer
Are you suggesting you might be considering Roundup as a solution to your weeds?

Say it isn't so, Sandy!

Or are you (I hope) just giving your "Roundup" of your New Year's resolution?

Just in case... let's go over the bad things about Roundup, and then you can intelligently decide NOT to use it.

Roundup is a fancy, concentrated, intense version of Glyphosate - The MOST WIDELY USED WEED KILLER IN THE WORLD.  Glyphosphate is BAD.  Roundup Glyphosphate is DEVASTATING.

But... but... but... How can a chemical that kills PLANTS hurt an animal?

How can a Biodegradable chemical be considered dangerous at all?

Well well well: Remember those ads Monstanto used to run about how safe :)  Roundup is?  How it is biodegradable :)  ???  How it is environmentally friendly :) ???

No more!

Not in New York, at least.

Monsanto HAD to change its ads for Glyphosate products, including Roundup, because the N.Y.S. Attorney General decided these ads were criminally misleading.

Roundup is NOT safe!

Roundup DOES harm people and the environment.

And so Monsanto is now forbidden to use the words "biodegradable" or "environmentally friendly" in ALL its Roundup ads.  (It had to cough up $50K in fines.)

There have been lots of studies and statistics about Glyphosphate.  I've put many of them down.  Some recent studies were done in France and the U.S. and released in 2005.  They confirm the same thing, over and voer: Roundup is extremely lethal to amphibians; very efficiently absorbed by the human liver and placenta; alters RNA; etc.  Glyphosphate poisoning is the third most reported cause of pesticide illness among farmworkers in California.  So much for "safe".

Now, Sandy, I honestly do feel your pain.  The lawn of your dreams is just around the corner.  
Have you done a soil test?  Cornell Cooperative Extension will analyze the clay/organic/etc composition of the soil you want to grow grass in.  They will give you a scientifically accurate recommendation of what's in it, and what isn't.

OK, maybe you simply think that organic gardening is for
people who wear moccasins and smoke marijuana.  People who survive on vegetables and voted for George McGovern.  Maybe you think that sprinkling Weed-and-Feed or Roundup on the grass is just a responsible homeowner's way of taking care of their lawn.

Tsk, tsk.  

Think about it, Sandy.  Your grass can't grow in purified soil.  We need the balance of Nature - the Nitrogen cycle - the smooth, effortless, easy way that microbes and molecules work together to create a soft, rich, healthy soil.  When you put grub killer (and why would you have grubs anyway?  the natural predators should be taking care of those) and weed killer in the soil, you open up opportunities for undesirables to emerge and cause all kinds of trouble.  The soil is no longer healthy.  There is no longer any organic matter left in it.  And it becomes hard and compacted.  No tilth.

So: Make THIS be your New Year's Resolution: No Chemicals.

Begin with the soil test, and then do what they tell you to do.  Mow at the perfect height for your grass (want help with that?).  Get your hands on some Corn Gluten for pre-emergent weed-wipeouts and put that stuff down THE DAY the Forsythias bloom in your neighborhood - it should be right at the door, ready to use, my friend, as those yellow blossoms open up!  Do not fool around with this.  And see how the summer goes.  Then in autumn, after you have done all the right things, make it a point to write to me again and ask me what to do about the grass seed.  It will be that time.  All good things come to those who wait and don't use Chemicals.

Besides, those Chemicals are REALLY bad for the kids.

It is time to turn over - pardon the new expression - a new leaf.  Thanks for writing.