What is the best way to kill weeds and insects?

Question

The back yard of my new home is over run with all varieties of weeds. Consequently there it is also over run with all varieties of insects. The yard is simply untamed. How do I kill off both on such a massive scale. I don't want to damage the adjacent neighbor's yards. I'd like to start new growth of grass shrubs and trees in the fall, so next summer I have a usable yard. I've never had a yard before, I'm not a gardener and don't have a green thumb. Any thoughts on how to accomplish this?

Answer 1

put some beer in a bowl and it should attract snails they will drink and die..

hope it helps

Answer 2

James Bonds answer is very good with a couple of exceptions. i would not wait until you have a frost to seed. late summer should be fine, as long as you can water the area.

I would not plant 100% blue grass, it is very prone to diseases, and it also takes 6 to 8 weeks to germinate.  I would use a mixture of blues, fescues, and perennial ryes.

Fescues will germinate in 2 weeks, perennial ryes with in a 1 week.

Don't get any grass seed that is labeled as quick grow or has annual rye on the list of seed types. It does come up quick but it only lives for one season.

I agree that cutting down most of the over grown area will get rid of a  lot of the insects, but if doing that all at once is not an option, then I would suggest spraying the area with Malathion.  This is an insecticide that is rated for use on veggies so it is pretty safe., and still does a good job. Even though it does tend to stink for a couple of hours after you do the application.

But you will be killing all insects, good and bad,  so you may want to think about doing that.

When it comes time to do the planting, loosen the soil, removal is NOT necessary nor is adding "granular form of cholorpyrifos" (which has been outlawed in the US anyway) rake smooth and put down your seed. You will want to rake over the seeded area lightly to blend the seed into the soil. Any seed left on the surface should be considered bird food.  Make sure that you will be able to water the area, if mother nature does not provide enough rain. if you wish to use a starter lawn fertilizer, look for one that is close to 18-24-12 a 50 bag should cover close to 12,000 square feet.

Also when buying the seed, which can be expensive for the good stuff,  you will want to know the square footage of the area so you don't over buy. When seeding bare ground, you will want to put it down at a rate of about 5-6 lbs per 1000 square feet.  If you are  over seeding you can get away with only 3-4 lbs per 1000.

If you have any other questions please feel free do drop me a email.

Answer 3

Well you could move house?

Answer 4

Well ....y not u call Ministry of Environment ad see what there can do for you....

Answer 5

Here's a tip...get rid of the overgrown weeds, and the number of insects will go down.  What I suggest doing is starting from scratch.  Get some Round-Up (grass and weed killer) and spray everything you want to replace that is in your yard.  After everything dies off, rake it all out.  You may even want to consider using a tiller on the area you wish to seed grass in.  Once you have all of the dead weeds and such removed, rake it out so it's all smoother and is the dimensions you wish.  Use a seed that is suitable for your area.  I live in the Upper Midwest of the USA...Kentucky Bluegrass does well there.  Apply the seed according to the directions on the bag and water water water for the first two weeks.  If you do this late in the season like fall...you can seed once the frost has hit and the grass goes dormant.  The seeds will germinate in the spring and usually there is less watering needed.  As you can see, it will be hard work to get it the way you want, but well worth it when you walk barefoot in your progress!  Good luck!

I didn't say you have to wait for the frost to seed...just giving examples of how to if you wait for fall to start the project.  I agree, late summer is fine for seeding.

Answer 6

Well, basically better to remove the soil of the area upto150mm and back fill it with new soil.

The above process will solve 75% of your problem.

If interested use granular form of cholorpyrifos chemical also after removing the soil and before backfilling it.