HELP! Make a nice lawn, from old pasture using my tractor ?

[mach]

Hey folks. 2 years ago I built a new house in the middle of a 5 acre pasture. So, my lawn is mostly dandelions, weeds, and crab grass. I've been told I should take a plow and turn-up my lawn, then reseed it. One guy told me he uses a plow to "cut" up his lawn every fall, then reseed. Does this sound like the right way? I'm afraid turning up my lawn full of crabgrss, will still result in a lawn of crab grass. What type of attachments do i need to fix my lawn? My lawn is located in North Georgia, so I have lots of clay and rock, which doesn't help my lawn project. I probably need to bring in top soil, but should I turn-up my yard? Or should I get a tiller and work in top soil? Or should I just rake it, or run a box blade and level it, before, after, or during seeding and adding top-soil. As you can tell, I have no idea... which way to proceed. I would greatly appreciate a step by step, to making a nice lawn for my family to enjoy. I've got a pretty good compact ford tractor, and a strong back. I just need to know what attachments + procedures I need, to make a nice lawn.
Thanks guys,
Mach

 

[Soundguy]

If you want a uniform grassed, golf course manicured look.. then yeah.. disc it or tiller it up, resead and then roll down.

otherwise you can just cut it often, irigate, and plant the grass seed you want to be the 'dominant' grass in your yard. if it was animal pasture.. it likely has crop and hay grass growing here and there.. etc..

soundguy

 

[Egon]

Make a nice lawn; It's not a one step process.

First you should cultivate the ground and then smooth it out. Get it as even as possible. Then wait till some weeds/grass to grow and cultivate again. Make sure your PH and nutrient conditions are proper. Then sow the lawn grass seed. Let it grow and cut at about 5 to 6 inches tall till you have a real Good catch and nice looking grass. Then you could reduce the cutting length by several inches but leaving it long will help establish a good root system.

It will not happen overnight.,

 

[MarkV]

Mach if it were me the first thing I would do is take a soil sample to the county extension agent for a soil test. Our Georgia soil is almost always acidic and will need lime to bring the PH to the right level. If the PH is way off the plants can’t process nutrients and you will not get a very good stand of grass. The extension office can also help you with the type of grasses that grow well in your area and the proper planting times.

For prepping the ground I would use Round-up to kill the existing vegetation, till, use a drag to smooth, seed, drag again to cover the seed and then use a roller for good seed to ground contact. After that hope we don’t have another drought this summer.

MarkV

 

[mach]

You mention using a drag. Like a piece of fence, or a box blade? I should till up my existing "crab / pasture grass? Or should I first saturate my yard with round-up, before I turn it up? Would i be better off to cut it with a disc, or borrow a tiller and pulverize it. Sorry, I have so many questions, but I know nothing about growing a lawn. I was thinking about trying some Azosia plugs, but I've heard it doesn't grow well in Northwest Georgia. Yes or no?

Thanks guys,
mach

 

[Soundguy]

There are specific drag harrows or heavy chain harrows. TSC website has a pic.

soundguy

 

[Tororider]

Yeah, you can either buy a drag(drag harrow) or make one. The nice thing about premade ones is that they have tines going down sometimes to help smooth.

If you want a groomed lawn, and want it faster than longer I would suggest renting a harley rake. It will take everything and bust it up and grade it for you. I have never used one, but from what I have heard/been told it will pretty much provide you with a finished grade after one pass. They aren't cheap, which is why I suggested renting, or you could find a used one and sell it when you are done.

Round up before turning the ground over. You want the weeds and crabgrass to die before tilling them so they don't come back(as fast).

Decide early how much you want to be a groomed lawn. 5 acres is a lot of lawn to maintain on a weekly(or more) basis. Not to mention fertilizing and watering.

Best of luck, post pictures when you start.

 

[GCLnIndiana]

Welcome Mach,
I just finished building a home in a middle of corn field. I planted grass seed this spring. I only have a box blade and prepped by scraping up the dirt with the box blade. I then made a drag with chainlink fence stacked and then strapped to the boxblade and smoothed the yard. I put out the seed with a broadcast spreader and then ran the drag back over everything. I started with packed clay and very few weeds. We've had a good amount of rain this spring and the grass seems to be doing well.

 

[Charlesaf3]

I'd skip the roundup - rototilling/plowing/cultivating will do fine - I find nothing comes back if done right. The annuals are seed born and annual in any case.

 

[jdmar]

I've done the same several times. I guess some questions would be how is the soil? I would guess it is great if an old pasture. The next question is what kind of equipment do you have or can you rent. Also...do you REALLY want 5 acres of lawn? I had that at my last house and have shrunk to about 2 acress mowed now. The rest we cut with a brush hog or flail. If you do want 5 acres you could even consider some old gang mowers (i.e. Jacobsen) to cut it fast.

If I did it, I would do this:
Round up (can rent a tow behind sprayer for about $25-40 a day). Wait several weeks. Mow really short (flail is best since it chops well but any mower will work with the old dry brown grass). If you need amendments/manure (often cheap or free) put them on now. Then either disc or rotatill. I use a 66" Befco that works great but will be a LOT slower than discing. Then drag to level. I have a home-made wood beam with bolts followed by a large fence piece but this did not work nearly as well as an arena/drag mat. Those matts really level amazingly well. They can usually be turned rough side or "gentle" side down--rough levels better. I was really amazed at how well they cut off highs and filled lows.

If you have rocks you could then use a york rake, Harley if you can rent one, or rockhound on a skid steer. This will take a lot longer than you think...and you need to put the rock/junk somewhere...and 5 acres will be a big pile.

Then seed well and let nature take its course. You could straw if desired but I admit I never did except on hills. The birds did not not get much. If you use the drag matt after seeding also it helps cover the seed but also alligns it into rows...it sprouts and starts off loking like you planted wheat with a seed drill. But it fills in great. Then follow a good fertilizer and weed control regimen for at least the first few years. Once you have good dense grass and leave it tall enough you choke out most weeds.

Hope this helps...I hope I didn't leave out an important step! Good luck and post some pice for us!

Peter