pepin Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Well i didn't find a Landscape section here and let's face it "The House" doesnt get as much traffic as we get here...LOL So here is my Question... OK so I have a nice big yard....BUT it's all dirt and weeds....I live in California so we rarely have rain and we have had some rain lately and we are having a storm this weekend...my yard is still moist from the last storm so I want to take advantage of this storm. ok so my plan was to rototill the yard (i have access to 2 rototillers) ger rid of the weeds and then go from there....border out where i dont want grass maybe trenching for sprinkler system and have everything ready to seed it up for grass in the spring...BUT I heard that if i rototiller the thing I will end up with loads of new weeds! is this true!? am i going about this the wrong way? is there anything i can spray or spread to prevent weeds? Let me know what you guys think or know! All advice is greatly appreciated! P.S.Sorry for how this was written BUT i just came back from the bar watching football and Thursday night fights....I might be a bit tipsy... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmikez Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Now is the perfect time pepin im in riverside and were catching the storm also they say it's gonna be the biggest one in the past 5 years so soil right now will be perfect to work with right now I don't know the answer to the the weeds question but I'm sure once DR see's this thread he will be able to help u out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman_us Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 where in CA?i hand pick them in my yard. its better to get it out with the roots instead of just using chemical sprays or something like that.i heard vinegar works too against weeds.here in my area it will dry out quickly during the summer lol. ya i heard about the storm, hopefully we don't get any flash floods here. it gonna be a few tough days when it really gonna rain so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepin Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 where in CA?i hand pick them in my yard. its better to get it out with the roots instead of just using chemical sprays or something like that.i heard vinegar works too against weeds.here in my area it will dry out quickly during the summer lol. ya i heard about the storm, hopefully we don't get any flash floods here. it gonna be a few tough days when it really gonna rain so much. Hey madman thank for your input....I am in Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley I am too lazy to hand pick hand pick all the weeds...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman_us Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 use round up from homedepot when you rototill you still have weeds in there, they will grow backtake a pic of your yard.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK13 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 I dunno what the soil is like there, but when my dad was landscaping the house I grew up in, on one section of the lawn (kind of a side yard) he hauled in a bunch of horse manure and tilled that in, and that one section of lawn was still significantly more green than the rest of the grass two decades later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman_us Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 ya that makes sense BK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadlanthier Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Rain, we just got 4 ft of snow over 2 days. The only landscaping I'm doing is with a snowblower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK13 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Yeah, any new landscaping here would have blown away yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 my wife is a plantscaper as I am a tool freak, she has taken it upon herself a few years ago to take up landscaping/plantscaping ect ect as a hobby..I asked her and she says don't ever use a tiller ...... Great soil should be teaming with all sorts of organic matter in various stages of decay. Those little bits and pieces of organic matter allow for water, air and nutrients all to be carried down through the soil to your plants. Great soil is filled with billions of helpful bacteria, worms and microorganisms that play important roles in bringing nutrients to your plants/grass. Tilling the soil can ruin all of that.As soil is tilled over and over, that all-important structure is destroyed. Rototillers actually cause more weeds than they ever come close to eliminating. When a tiller is run every time those tines flip that soil, guess what else they are flipping? That’s right – hundreds if not thousands of tiny weed seeds. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman_us Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 looks nice comp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamianD Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 I wouldnt till in the grass and weeds. We did this in my fathers garden we built 2 years ago and he had a huge issue with them growing back in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR99 Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 First thing I would do is kill anything you don't want with roundup, then till everything under, next get some really good compost you might want to send your soil to get analyzed to see if its deficient in anything, After adding in compost till it again give it a little topdressing of compost, seed or sod what ever you plan on using , I would pick something that is very drought resistant. I don't know what is good for California I'm sure some agency can give you recommendations. I would also get one of those wifi smart watering controllers if your putting in an irrigation system. I'm sure water isn't cheap in California. Also forgot if you seed make sure you water it often but don't soak it and use a seed starting weed preventer system Scotts makes one. The what stops a lawn from being weedy is a nice dense healthy lawn. I just don't know about prepping out so far in advance is my only concern. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel L. Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 Hey madman thank for your input....I am in Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley I am too lazy to hand pick hand pick all the weeds...LOL My lawn used to suck with weeds, and my parents always complained that I needed to mow it every week because I am the only teenage boy in my family and really the only thing I would mow was the dandelions, so last spring I decided to spend a good amount of time on my knees weeding and throw fertilizer on it once every month, and mow it too about 2.5-3 inches every 2-3 weeks (I used to cut it to 1.5 inches every week). All I can say is the results are amazing the backyard looks better and stays almost weedless I have heard its due to the fact that you leave the grass tall it will shade the dirt preventing weed seeds from getting enough light to germinate, I don't know the exact specs but I read it in a garden magazine at a doctors office and it seems to work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepin Posted December 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 Thanks everyone for your input! I guess I will be pulling weeds out before I till.... good thing is I got some people to help me out for booze and food...LOL....now I have a new question...lol since I will be pulling weeds and rototiling the whole yard is there something i can mix in the soil for ticks!? I need to find a way to get rid of them once and for all! :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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