Backyard
The back yard is covered with all kind of weeds, and grass is pretty much shot. We have lawn bugs and white worms. Things started being out of control about two years ago after we stopped grass treatments. We live in an semi-urban area, and we get a lot of what’s on the neighbors yards… Last week I contacted our lawn company and they recommended to spread fresh dirt and grass seeds. They did the work yesterday and spread around 1in of fresh dirt and seeds.
When I spoke to them, I asked if we should treat against weeds and parasites before putting the dirt or after, and they said that the order doesn’t matter as long as the treatments are carefully done and not skipped. So in the end, the dirt and seeds are already on our grass, and in the upcoming weeks, they will perform several treatments against weeds and parasites, especially lawn bugs…
We want to bring the back yard to an acceptable condition, not redo completely. Its different from the front yard which we want to redo from scratch.
Question 1: Did they put enough dirt (around 1in thick)?
Question 2: How often and how much to water the newly spread dirt and seeds? I guess less than new peat/sod?
Question 3: Are they right to say that order of things doesn’t matter much?
Front yard
Front yard is just as bad as the backyard. I got two quotes from landscapers, and one of them is offering two options: remove old grass, put new dirt (around 3 in) then place new peat/sod. The other option is the same but additionally he will remove 3-4in of the old soil before adding new soil.
The other landscaper told me that removing the old soil is unnecessary since treatments will be done. They proposed to remove the old grass, put new dirt (3-4in) then place new sod.
A neighbor who’s been in the same business told me that its absolutely necessary to remove the old soil because if the old grass is removed, only the top portion of the weeds will be removed and not the roots. According to him, the treatments will not work because the chemicals are entering the weeds from the leaves down to the roots. So by removing the top only (the old grass), the roots will grow again in the future.
There’s a difference of about $2000 between removing only old grass and removing old grass + 3-4in of old soil..
What do you guys think?