Today I went to the Arpahoe Acres Nursery to speak to Mary Jane, their grass expert. (I’m not kidding. The woman at ACN who is the resident expert on all things grass and weed is named Mary Jane!) I was instructed to bring her samples of my grass from the front and back of the house. I had pulled up a clump of each and bagged them in ziploc bags labled front and back in advance of my visit to ACN.
Mary Jane wasn’t the nicest person but she seemed to know her stuff. She examined my samples first by picking them apart and then by placing them under a microscope. She showed me how the root of the weed turned at a 90 degree angle which she explained was why it was so dangerous–that this was how it took over yards and destroyed the non-weed-grass. She then pulled out a book which detailed just how destructive that weed was to a yard.
Mary Jane then showed me a book on seeding. She showed me how there should be a sprinkling of grass seed but there shouldn’t be too much in one spot. She explained that I need to use a hand spreader to place the grass seed and then to cover it with 1/8″ of top-soil. I asked if there was a tool to spread the top soil and Mary Jane said something like, “I don’t care how you do it, use a shovel, use your hand, doesn’t matter to me.” I asked her how much seed and soil and she calculated, based on my estimaged 3600 square feed of yard, that I would need aproximately 9 pounds of seed and 12 bags of soil to patch my yard. I asked how long I should water and she said 10-15 minutes at a time. I then asked what sort of sprinkler she recommended and again she told me she didn’t care–the point is to keep the yard wet.
The folks at the ACN (aside from Mary Jane) were very friendly and helped me load my 9 pounds of seed, hand spreader, weed killer, and 14 bags (I erred on the side of caution) of top soil into my car. I was pleased to discover that all of it fit in my trunk and I didn’t even have to drop the back seats! Additionally, all of this only cost me about $50. Let’s hope it works!