Question
2 years ago we had our back yard graded. we are now ready to install sod. the problem is that there is a massive amount of weeds and quack grass that has grown in. How do I prepare to be able to install our sod?  

Answer
The weeds are not the problem.  The Quackgrass... well I hope you are kidding about the Quackgrass because that is a big problem.

I guess we'll get over the bad news first.

Quackgrass "Elytrigia repens" -- Kindly refer to the photographs at the Mississippi State Univeristy Extension (www.ipm.msu.edu/CAT01_fld/FC04-12-01figQuackgrass.htm) or Iowa State University Extension (www.agron.iastate.edu/~weeds/weedbiollibrary/quackbiblio.html) and tell me: Does this look like your Quackgrass?

Please say no.

Quackgrass grows from thin, steely, underground stems that look like harmless roots and just won't die.

Young Quackgrass takes 2-3 months to develop these underground rhizomes.  This basically means you have three months to get rid of new Quackgrass.  Wait longer and you have missed the boat.

Tell me, Sabrina, How long have you been looking at that Quackgrass?

Rototill a lawn where just a single Quackgrass plant is growing, and you chop and broadcast tiny pieces that grow all over the place and take over your entire real estate.  A mature Quackgrass specimen will produce 25 seeds after flowering in July; seeds remain viable as long as 4 years.  

How do you get rid of something like this?

For the occasional invading weed, if you pull this weed out, make absolutely sure you are getting the entire root.  Rhizomes as small as a few centimeters long will create a brand new plant in a few weeks.

Some homeowners try the propane tank method of burning their weeds.

But with Quackgrass, a single burn just encourages the plant to grow more stems.  Researchers found that repeated burnings in early spring will weaken Quackgrass.  After that, new sprouts are more susceptible to drought and repeated hand weeding.  Adding Nitrogen to the soil spurs new growth, depleting the energy of the plant -- this technique is frequently used to weaken and eventually destroy many noxious weeds.

Eventually the weed loses the war.  It takes patience.  It takes diligence.  But it works.

I would like to point out that Roundup was originally hailed as the cure for Quackgrass everywhere.  But farmers have learned that over time this promise did not hold up.

First, eliminate the Quackgrass.

Then you can spread newspapers all over your lawn and cover it with humus and compost.  Now, sod.

Yes, I know it sounds crazy.  But you don't have to turn your lawn into a Superfund Site to put down your sod.  Newspaper is free, effective and it will eventually disintegrate.  Meanwhile, the weeds are dead.

The Quackgrass of course won't be eliminated by newspaper.  You have to take better measures for that.

The sooner, the better.  This is your best opportunity, right now, to eliminate the Quackgrass; you want to get rid of it before the sod goes down, because after that it will be insanely complicated and possibly undoable without destroying your sod along with it.