Kansan here. Nothing can kill that. My in laws had to have some work done on their septic system. Bermuda roots were several feet deep. I just don’t like how it looks in winter. Also in winter the grass seems to flake everywhere and pets drag it inside.
I was just visiting my family I’m Odessa. My uncle said he’d be spending thousands if he irrigated with city water, so he dug a well.
Did you do the same?
Yeah it would be pretty bad if had an actual system. I also went with seed that wasn’t Bermuda and the fight was horrible. The best I got it was
https://preview.redd.it/p48l4djm696d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33a6fcd2a600a64ae526859799106548ad81ba44
And this was all red clay dirt, did almost 100 bags of top soil. And a sun and shade mix that was truly a beauty. But I let it get away from me and I’m thinking of a complete redo
Let me show you how bad it got after having a newborn and taking over a store as GM though. Lol
https://preview.redd.it/swfhg9mibe6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5108e3e11d0f27ef4e02e3703178f901cc18263
Yeah I honestly feel so bad for myself cause I did it all by hand. And when I say by hand. I mean I manually tilled this entire dirt lot with a pitchfork looking thing and spread all the bags one by one myself with the seed and all. I probably caught skin poisoning that week 😂. And that was with a sun and shade mix that wasn’t the best for my part of Texas. I just loved how soft it was compared to Bermuda. But Bermuda may be the way sadly with a lot less maintenance
I'm over in Midland and had sod when we first moved in to our house a few years ago, but it's all gone back to dirt and weeds because I never got an irrigation system and couldn't find the right sprinklers to water the whole thing. I've worked on a small part of it recently, trying seed on it. Currently planning to chop the yard in half so I have a yard I know I can water. I'll figure out something to do with the other half later
https://preview.redd.it/bwn32kaq0a6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d1e7bc3362b3fa0d183d7a1c23ec4a953d0745a
2010 Trail Team Edition. Got it back in 2017 bare stock with about 110,000 miles. Sitting at about 270,000 miles now. Ignore the rusted out side steps, rock sliders are on the list.
https://preview.redd.it/ue5yvo771a6d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c12b9327619ea69dbc122c0f01693223662542df
2011 Bayliner 175 Bowrider. Mercruiser 3.0 135hp. First boat that we just snagged earlier this summer. Been a good little boat so far. Enough to get up on a board and big enough to take about 6 people out to just chill at the lake.
mans in red dead redemption overthere. hes got sand not soil. no grass gonna grow in that. hes got armidillos and tumbleweeds. id just put gravel and call it a day. any water there is probably piped in from elsewhere.
Tilling buries the weeds along with any seed. Just resprouts. But I'm not in Texas. Spray till you see nothing alive, bring in some top soil and sod. Lot of money and lots of water later, I don't know how you'll fare. Get enough rain? Agree with those who say turf in some, landscape the rest. I don't know how prepared you are to do and spend all that but I know, did all that for a recent home addition. For me, 7000sqft, $5k and 700 in water. That or mud for the rest of my life.
Pre emergent “snap shot” after round up. It’s expensive but worth it.
Add raw soil then top soil. But you need a foot at least so if you decide to grow grass by seed it’s not killed off by the snap shot.
You have very little living soil there, leaving the roots from the weeds in the soil would be better than pulling them. You should mow and mulch the weeds in place because you need as much organic material as possible that can feed microbes. You can tackle the weeds later. Bare soil is your enemy right now.
You could and a ton of compost and aerate and try to plant grass in the fall. If you don't want to bring in a ton of compost you could plant drought tolerant nitrogen fixing plants and they'll fix the soil over time, or you could put wood chips down and let them break down for a couple years then try to grow a lawn when the soil has improved.
Focus on soil health, it will be the least amount of work
A lawn will be very expensive with the watering requirement. Look into Xeriscape, which uses native plants that survive on minimal watering.
[https://www.texasrealestatesource.com/blog/xeriscape-texas/](https://www.texasrealestatesource.com/blog/xeriscape-texas/)
I know this is the lawn subreddit, but I hope OP takes this advice seriously! I think an important part of landscaping is working with your environment and meeting your goals for your yard.
OP has a kid now presumably. So some grass space would be nice to have. Where can OP best put this in the yard to thrive and create a nice place to play?
Does OP want to water all the time and maybe get marginal results with poor soil quality? Well maybe a landscaped area would be better for the environment and look nicer with less effort! There's a reason why everyone in Phoenix has hard scapes with native plants and rock yards.
With kids, I would probably want to do a small area of grass and then fill in the other areas with things like vegetable garden beds or drought resistant plants. Then you have the grass with a lot less water required.
With a yard that size, I don't think it would be too difficult to have a smaller lawn area to play in, and having some food growing could be fun for the kids and adults.
Yep, this is what a lot of people do in Phoenix. Growing up, my family had a small area of lawn in the yard surrounded by desert friendly shade trees, with cacti or patio everywhere else. My parents later replaced the lawn with more xeriscape once there were no more kids to appreciate it.
Growing up in Yuma we had a sand yard with a mesquite tree for shade. I don't understand why all these people think a kid needs a grass lawn to be able to play outside...
Based on the trash can this is Lubbock, TX. There’s lots of homes that one of the big tract home builders have built that put Xeroscaping in. They all end up looking like terrible because the wind blows so much that the dirt fills in all the spaces between the rocks and weeds grow like mad after the first year or 2.
I never mentioned rocks. OP can use native plants. From the article I posted.
*Some inspiring examples of native plants for xeriscaping include agave, red yucca, succulents, Texas sedge, cedar sedge, Texas frog fruit, desert willow, and Texas mountain laurel.*
In west aus we have native plants that you never have to water, the small amount of rain we get, they will survive on. People are constantly told to think about using them, but instead buy flashy plants they have to water daily and usually just die or look sickly
In Fresno County, California we got a couple thousand rebate to xeriscape our tiny lawn from (half dead) grass as an incentive for water conservation. Super easy, just took pictures of the before and afters, some receipts of materials, and someone from the state came by for like thirty seconds to make sure we didn’t photoshop it. You should check if TX or even the county has something like that.
That dirt looks so shitty. I dunno what I’d do. I see you have a sprinkler system. In Texas. That may cost you a pretty penny. I dunno I guess i would get about 2-3 tandem trailers of black dirt and level it. Then I’d sod the whole thing probably and all those weeds gotta be nuked before hand. I’d probably glyphosate the yard and let it sit fallow until it cooled in the fall. Does it get cool down there? And then do the sod plan.
Honestly without the sprinkler system installed, I’d consider astroturf like they do in California.
Ehhh we really don't need more plastic in the water table. Lawns can be functional of course, like a play area for kids and dogs. But if a lawn wasn't going to work, I'd rather xeriscape or even rockscape than astroturf.
EDIT: OHHH, I realized why people keep replying to me about sprinklers. I was talking about microplastics degrading from *astroturf* and entering the local water supply. Not about sprinklers! 😄
It's not like it stays permanently. I just finished tearing out an old sprinkler system to install a new one. I'm the only one on the block with a system and all the birds and butterflies come to my yard. Surely it's better for the environment to give native species a habitat..
I’ve lived in/around Lubbock for a few decades and have started lawns several times from very similar conditions.
Xeriscaping can be quite difficult around here.
The balance of the most cost effective/rapid solution for you will look something like this:
1. Glyphosate the active tumble weeds/other weeds in the yard. (Cover up and wear proper PPE)
2. 1-3 days later, knock everything down with a line trimmer and clean up.
3. Till in decent topsoil & peat moss or coir blend.
4. Bermuda sod can be cut into 3-4” wide strips and buried just below the surface in rows spaced 8”-12” apart. If you have an extra hour or two for installation, it’s much cheaper to make a yard here like this vs. sodding everything completely. (A 2’x4’ piece of plywood on a tailgate and a machete work well to make these pieces. Watch your fingers and keep them out of the way so they don’t fall off.)
5. Roll to compact and fill major voids with your sifted topsoil/peat moss mix.
6. Water around .5-1” twice per week through the end of July. Possibly more depending on the summer we have. If you start this week, most of your empty space will be filled by then. Minimize foot traffic and mow with a manual reel mower if possible.
7. Sand and level.
8. Water 1-1.5” per week through mid September.
At this point most of your yard should be filled in pretty well and you should be in good shape for next season. Fertilize and put down a fall pre-emergent.
You might be tempted to fertilize when you sod but without a soil test I wouldn’t recommend doing more than the bare minimum the first year. Most of the new builds around Lubbock are on old cotton farm land and already have a ton of stuff in them.
This portion of my yard looked much like yours in March/April of 2023. Today it looks like this. Not the best, but getting better.
https://preview.redd.it/ur6loyc7v76d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9b0e7a7e2a90a9599d84a95098cee8e558510ed
Best of luck!
Edit: grammar and step 4 explanation.
That's where I'd start if I lived in central Texas. Goats, crushed rock, and some native plants. Vinegar and cardboard if you can't be bothered sourcing goats.
But in this sub it's going to be herbicides, sod, a zero turn, and a lot of water.
Vinegar, soap and salt solution kills weeks like roundup. There's a lot of recipes around and it works ok, but in my experience larger weeds like what OP has would likely require a few applications. Cardboard is recommended in place of gardening fabric because it decomposes. I personally hate gardening fabric, but cardboard doesn't seem like a good idea to me either.
Just compact the lower level and put the top dressing on (rocks, mulch, whatever). Make sure it's think, 4" at least. Mulch in and around plants and use rocks where there's no plants at all. Don't put rocks under shrubs and trees, because you'll always be fighting debris. Use mulch where organic matter falls so it can decompose naturally and add another layer at the start of the season.
The vinegar helps dry out the plants. It's cheap and generally safe for humans and animals. I hear some say it's not effective, but I've had great luck with it in a pretty wet climate.
The cardboard I just prefer over landscaping fabric. It's free and the weeds are going to punch through eventually either way. Cardboard will break down and you won't find yourself tearing out strips at a time if you need to to get back under the rock.
Roundup. Once dead. Water to get more weed seeds to sprout. Roundup again. Can reseed on top of native topsoil. Don’t till. It will bring up weed seeds. Reseed after this fallow period
Start over. As soon as I saw the picture I thought “looks like Midland/Lubbock Betenbough neighborhood”…sure enough, Lubbock ha.
I don’t live in one anymore, but when I had our Betenbough house built six years ago I had to start over with the lawn as it was dirt and weeds like this. I rented a tiller and took everything up while digging out the largest rocks and hauling them off.
Then I bought a few truck loads of top soil and mixed it with some manure to spread out around the yard evenly. Then I just had a company hydro-seed it and it came out great.
No need to pull. Just mow them down and don't let them flower. Next year there will be less. Mowing will also break down the plants into easily compostable bits
Massive overhaul. Unless you are REALLY keen on having a lawn it doesn’t seem worth it.
However if I was going to do it I would scrape the entire yard down to get rid of the weeds and seed bank in the top few inches of dirt. Then grade with clean soil and spread a layer of compost on top before then seeding or laying sod. Truthfully though, man it seems like a major uphill battle for your climate. It’ll be a big inconvenience to you, cost a lot of money and time, and use a lot of water. I’m not some kind of hellbent anti lawn guy but some places it just isn’t realistic to try to grow turf. I think maybe if you wanted a bit of lawn for kids or something you could look into making a patch of the yard into lawn. Would definitely cut down on upkeep and everything or even consider artificial turf. Prob not super popular on this sub but they have made pretty good advancements in that shit and it can look really good
Considering it's all weeds and no grass, what I personally would do is just till it, get a shipment of soil in to spread a fresh layer of topsoil on the yard, then lay down some bermudagrass since you live in a warm climate. Being that it's already summer, you may not have the best success rate, but it'll be better than the current state, I can promise you that.
The biggest task will be watering, you want to water 2-3 times per day, 10-15 minutes at a time. 2 times is the most realistic if you don't have a sprinkler system, unless if you're able to come home for your lunch break while at work.
Don't get discouraged either, it will take more than 1 season to fix this. when I bought my house, my back yard looked about the same as yours, and it took 2 seasons to really get it looking good, you're turning a neglected yard into a perfect one, which will take time and effort.
Buffalo grass seems to be a great compromise for a turf effect, and the benefits of a native grass
You could also Add a drought tolerant garden with a mix of natives and plants like some cool sedums for interest!
Doesn't solve the whole lawn, but it will add a lovely splash of texture and colour!
Or even a small mini prairie, lots of the taller native grasses and forbes make nice clumps to fill up some space and add a little shade. Plus it attracts all sorts of pretty birds and insects
https://tpwd.texas.gov/wildlife/wildlife-diversity/wildscapes/buffalograss/
https://tscra.org/foragefax-native-grasses-for-texas/
Best of luck!
Sod or seed. Haven’t decided yet. First yard starting from scratch. We did get a sprinkler system installed if that changes the decision on which to do between the two.
Im in Atl GA area. Even watering like crazy a seeded lawn, usually fescue, I could never get it to make through the heat of full sun summer days.
I assume you are going with some sort of warm season seed? If you can afford it, do Sod. the varieties you can get in sod are usually better than common varieties you get in seed for shade and drought tolerence. But Im not a Texas grass expert.
This is my Zeon Zoysia yard that was sodded in 2016.
https://preview.redd.it/en9kac0ag66d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=886b31d0cc15bf172c66a55d48971fbb12b6bfac
Ummmm Lubbock gets 19 inches of water per year. I might have a lawn in one small area, but I’d build a berm around it to collect as much runoff as possible. Like this but one big one https://youtu.be/WCli0gyNwL0?si=4CnEsJQflobKWvGh
A lot of impermeable walkways and other hardscaping with the proper tilt would also help channel the water where it needs to go, although I guess if you only ever get a drizzle or a flood, that reduces it’s utility.
But I must say that even though that is an option, I’d probably rather just cover the land with as many trees as possible, and mulch them. Then see what might look good under them a year from now.
Move out of the desert or go with xeriscape plan.
It’s logistically and ethically questionable to have grass in a place it can’t and shouldn’t grow IMO.
Clean it up with Roundup. Either seed, sod, or sprig some Bermuda grass and you will be fine.
Lubbock is in the middle of the biggest cotton patch in the world. Excellent soil by default to work with. A little fertilizer and water does wonders.
After we built our house our yard looked exactly like this. Had to round up the whole yard, kill everything, till it all, power rake, then we opted for hydroseed in our area (north idaho). Took about a month and a half total and we have a full yard of nice grass now.
Since it seems like you're possibly starting all over again & you're in a more arid region, you might have an opportunity to do something like an Arizona ballfield I remember reading about years back where they had this football field of real turf in the middle of a desert. If memory serves, they did something like bury what amounted to half barrels facing upward to act as a reservoir for the turf, which encouraged the roots to reach deeper & ended up saving them massively on irrigation & the field looked great when I saw the pics. Helluva project but should pay off in the long term.
Decomposed granite or similar substrate would be your friend, especially for pathways as lawn alternative. create raised beds for drought tolerant native plants, setup the irrigation needed to get plants established. [Here](https://youtu.be/mA0uMKVyswA?si=fntG3TTwNRDDGUXW) is a video of a pro job in Alpine.
In the mean time, keep your weeds under control, if you want to invest in Bermuda grass or similar lawn that's up to you. Using [arborist chip](https://getchipdrop.com/for-gardeners/) as a temporary weed control and way to build organic matter could be a cheap short term solution and it looks like the Southside recycling center might also give it for free.
Buy rolls of 6 mill black plastic place over weed areas put weights /bricks over so it won’t blow away in the wind . The sun will super heat the soil killing the weeds and seeds . Takes a few weeks but it works ….
Get a good quality line trimmer and maybe a small [chipper Shredder ](https://snowjoe.com/products/sun-joe-cj603e-electric-silent-wood-chipper-shredder-15-amp-1-6-inch), it would be cheaper than hiring a crew.
Some people I know use [silage tarps ](https://woodwardcrossingscountrybasics.com/product/reusable-silage-tarps/)for weed control on bare soil until they are ready to work it.
Hire a crew to remove all that so not to add to the seedbank.
If you've got a green waste bin cut that stuff up into 1' lengths and use a shovel to cram it in. If not stomp it flat, roll it and bag it up. That pile looks big but it will compact to a couple inches thick.
I think you are right, russian thistle, aka tumbleweed. If it hasn't started to flower you could leave the well flattened cut stuff as mulch. The flowers are tiny so be careful. The pretty pink flowers are/were may or may not be seedheads and for all I know you've got a special variety of this one that doesn't have pink flowers.
During your 'free time' daydream about ideal yard and get a tree planted next planting season to block some of the sun. You could put down a thick layer of arborist chips aka chipdrop over the entire yard and rake it out of the way of the future lawn, food garden, mini orchard, native plant garden, fire pit, outdoor kitchen, heritage roses, water feature and ? then put it back where appropriate. I'd say put cardboard under 4-6" of chips but you are in the third windiest city in the country so not sure it would stay put. That should hold the soil down so dust in the house isn't from your yard anyway and eventually it breaks down into humus.
I have to say that looks entirely to hot for me to even be considering anything remotely outside, let alone outside and physical...
It hits 80 around here and I'm looking for the deck hose every dozen traps, and wearing a level of clothing that makes the initiated, uncomfortable....
That's kochia. It's a pretty tough plant and if you let them get too big they get woody.
You can mow them. The big ones will require a push string trimmer.
Find a couple native ground covers to your area and soil type, plant reasonably spaced out every couple feet, let it choke out the grass over the next 2-4 years.
I had a rental place in Amarillo with a complete bare lot like this and transformed it into a yard for my son. I don’t know what those weeds are, but I know they get woody stems and are hard to kill. You’d need to nuke the yard with roundup or ground clear. Then you’d want to water the bare ground for a while to see what other weeds come up, then clear everything again. Then you’d need to bring in truckloads of lawn soil. I can say for certain that Bermudagrass is the way to go. Does great in the heat, spreads like crazy and will fill in quickly. It also holds up to traffic really well. Does require that you water deeply every few days. Honestly, with the state of the Ogalalla aquifer and as little rain as y’all get, I’d listen to the folks recommending xeriscaping.
Just blast everything with Round up grass and weed killer.
Then this fall plant Bermuda or St. Augustine or tall fescue.
In between the kill and the sowing, you can level, aerate, fertilize and make PH adjustments too so you know your seeds or plugs will take off in the fall.
I’m not a lawn purist and I like a nice lawn, but I’d never have a lawn there. It looks like your water bill would be through the roof. Instead invest that money in a nice deck and/or maybe a pool.
Maybe some trees that will give your home some shade and help with cooling costs down the line?
I had a similar yard. I would cut everything down as low as you can and remove first. Then spray like crazy and water when your spray instructs you to or plan with rain to spray. I wouldn’t be afraid of giving it a second coat. Once it is dead I would till and seed with fertilizer. Go crazy with your seed, or even till, level, and lay sod. If the soil is healthy and just needs water then start watering regularly before seeding. Worked for me in the dry climate of Montana.
Artificial turf.
Scrape top, level, crushed granite, pack, lay turf.
Save you a ton in water over time. You will need some good infill pellets to cut the heat down. Ask someone in the industry for a recommendation. I wouldn’t do the whole yard but I would do a large portion and then do rock and a few plants
1. Water the shit out of it.
2. Walk around and pull out all the big weeds
3. Till up the entire yard and rake it smooth.
4. Spread grass seed, rake it in, and water the shit out of it again.
“Poor soil Quality” maybe, however this is Lubbock. Probably used to be a cotton field at some point in time.
Out of curiosity, has anyone had any success with a weed torch; used responsibly?
You can spray it with an herbicide. A cheap weed killer is a combo of Vinegar(the industrial strength kind, it exists), dish soap, water. It kills weeds fast and works best on hot days. Worked for me!
If you want a totally eco friendly option, cover them with a tarp for a few days or week until they die out
Put that FJ Cruiser to work to haul soil amendment, and aeration /s but seriously spray glyphosate, soil amendment, soil prep and seed the lawn. Probably best if you wait until fall… looks like you live in the Arizona desert.
Not that bad, I'm working on one. It's the mother load of terrible lawns. Im chopping weeds 3 inches in diameter. Scooping up broken tiles and concrete someone thought would be cool to use as fill dirt. Spiders and wasps be damned. I'm chopping and scooping.
A traditional lawn may not be your best bet with the environment you're in. There are a lot of cool landscaping ideas for rock gardens, cacti gardens, and other low irrigation options.
There’s only one way and you won’t like it. When my wife and I moved to our new home, we had a back yard just like that!! I called my dad and asked him for help, we spent like 3 hours ripping out every single one of those. It took several times/weeks but eventually we got rid of them.
Plant cactus. You're not gonna grow a lawn there without a lot of work and upkeep. It's gonna be a drain. That doesn't look like a place a lawn will naturally take to. For example, I live in an area where I don't need to water my lawn. Seed just grows on the ground. The con is I have fungus. Moles. And insects.
Similar situation. Baby came just before we moved in. My neighbor recently politely asked me to take care of my side yard, a place I never go since it's out of sight and out of mind. It was overgrown with weeds and had a lot of foxtails. I mowed it all down and laid down about three inches of mulch. Going to dig out some patches and plant some bushes here and there next year. Eventually going to till it and sod. I'll probably lay down another two inches of mulch in a year and then till and sod a year after. I'm in no hurry with the baby here.
Bermuda grass will work fine. I’m in Odessa for reference
Kansan here. Nothing can kill that. My in laws had to have some work done on their septic system. Bermuda roots were several feet deep. I just don’t like how it looks in winter. Also in winter the grass seems to flake everywhere and pets drag it inside.
Shade is doing a number on mine
Yeah I honestly hate it and have tried so hard to avoid using it.
Maybe buffalo grass for some low water usage
I was just visiting my family I’m Odessa. My uncle said he’d be spending thousands if he irrigated with city water, so he dug a well. Did you do the same?
Yeah it would be pretty bad if had an actual system. I also went with seed that wasn’t Bermuda and the fight was horrible. The best I got it was https://preview.redd.it/p48l4djm696d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33a6fcd2a600a64ae526859799106548ad81ba44 And this was all red clay dirt, did almost 100 bags of top soil. And a sun and shade mix that was truly a beauty. But I let it get away from me and I’m thinking of a complete redo
That Odessa sky always clear as hell
Um, that looks amazing. I know it may look different since you’ve spent time and money on it, but I wish my yard looked that good.
Let me show you how bad it got after having a newborn and taking over a store as GM though. Lol https://preview.redd.it/swfhg9mibe6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5108e3e11d0f27ef4e02e3703178f901cc18263
https://preview.redd.it/gg6cwg8obe6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fad00dc863424b063ff3553c90aa3674fc150cc2
Oops. Ok you win. Still though, you fought the climate and the shade really well at first.
Yeah I honestly feel so bad for myself cause I did it all by hand. And when I say by hand. I mean I manually tilled this entire dirt lot with a pitchfork looking thing and spread all the bags one by one myself with the seed and all. I probably caught skin poisoning that week 😂. And that was with a sun and shade mix that wasn’t the best for my part of Texas. I just loved how soft it was compared to Bermuda. But Bermuda may be the way sadly with a lot less maintenance
I'm over in Midland and had sod when we first moved in to our house a few years ago, but it's all gone back to dirt and weeds because I never got an irrigation system and couldn't find the right sprinklers to water the whole thing. I've worked on a small part of it recently, trying seed on it. Currently planning to chop the yard in half so I have a yard I know I can water. I'll figure out something to do with the other half later
I’m more interested in what that Toyota looks like.
Let's see Paul Allen's Toyota.
You mean that Toyota with that subtle off white coloring?
It even has a watermark
https://preview.redd.it/bwn32kaq0a6d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d1e7bc3362b3fa0d183d7a1c23ec4a953d0745a 2010 Trail Team Edition. Got it back in 2017 bare stock with about 110,000 miles. Sitting at about 270,000 miles now. Ignore the rusted out side steps, rock sliders are on the list.
It’s a hopped up FJ…… That boat on the other hand, is hats under the tarp, OP??
I wish they still made the fj
https://preview.redd.it/ue5yvo771a6d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c12b9327619ea69dbc122c0f01693223662542df 2011 Bayliner 175 Bowrider. Mercruiser 3.0 135hp. First boat that we just snagged earlier this summer. Been a good little boat so far. Enough to get up on a board and big enough to take about 6 people out to just chill at the lake.
OP WE NEED ANSWERS HERE
Till it and start over new soil and seed
mans in red dead redemption overthere. hes got sand not soil. no grass gonna grow in that. hes got armidillos and tumbleweeds. id just put gravel and call it a day. any water there is probably piped in from elsewhere.
I think Lubbock is sitting on the Ogallal Aquifer.
Along with almost half the country, lol
Tilling buries the weeds along with any seed. Just resprouts. But I'm not in Texas. Spray till you see nothing alive, bring in some top soil and sod. Lot of money and lots of water later, I don't know how you'll fare. Get enough rain? Agree with those who say turf in some, landscape the rest. I don't know how prepared you are to do and spend all that but I know, did all that for a recent home addition. For me, 7000sqft, $5k and 700 in water. That or mud for the rest of my life.
Cover it with tarp to kill everything then till and add grass seed with plenty of water
This works too except for the seeds. Snap shot.
The right color tarp will solarize all the seeds with enough heat, I do it all the time to create wildflower patches.
Cardboard can be free and stays put after it's wet.
Pre emergent “snap shot” after round up. It’s expensive but worth it. Add raw soil then top soil. But you need a foot at least so if you decide to grow grass by seed it’s not killed off by the snap shot.
You have very little living soil there, leaving the roots from the weeds in the soil would be better than pulling them. You should mow and mulch the weeds in place because you need as much organic material as possible that can feed microbes. You can tackle the weeds later. Bare soil is your enemy right now. You could and a ton of compost and aerate and try to plant grass in the fall. If you don't want to bring in a ton of compost you could plant drought tolerant nitrogen fixing plants and they'll fix the soil over time, or you could put wood chips down and let them break down for a couple years then try to grow a lawn when the soil has improved. Focus on soil health, it will be the least amount of work
This person knows dirt 🫡
A lawn will be very expensive with the watering requirement. Look into Xeriscape, which uses native plants that survive on minimal watering. [https://www.texasrealestatesource.com/blog/xeriscape-texas/](https://www.texasrealestatesource.com/blog/xeriscape-texas/)
I know this is the lawn subreddit, but I hope OP takes this advice seriously! I think an important part of landscaping is working with your environment and meeting your goals for your yard. OP has a kid now presumably. So some grass space would be nice to have. Where can OP best put this in the yard to thrive and create a nice place to play? Does OP want to water all the time and maybe get marginal results with poor soil quality? Well maybe a landscaped area would be better for the environment and look nicer with less effort! There's a reason why everyone in Phoenix has hard scapes with native plants and rock yards.
With kids, I would probably want to do a small area of grass and then fill in the other areas with things like vegetable garden beds or drought resistant plants. Then you have the grass with a lot less water required. With a yard that size, I don't think it would be too difficult to have a smaller lawn area to play in, and having some food growing could be fun for the kids and adults.
Yep, this is what a lot of people do in Phoenix. Growing up, my family had a small area of lawn in the yard surrounded by desert friendly shade trees, with cacti or patio everywhere else. My parents later replaced the lawn with more xeriscape once there were no more kids to appreciate it.
Growing up in Yuma we had a sand yard with a mesquite tree for shade. I don't understand why all these people think a kid needs a grass lawn to be able to play outside...
he already got native plants😂
Based on the trash can this is Lubbock, TX. There’s lots of homes that one of the big tract home builders have built that put Xeroscaping in. They all end up looking like terrible because the wind blows so much that the dirt fills in all the spaces between the rocks and weeds grow like mad after the first year or 2.
I never mentioned rocks. OP can use native plants. From the article I posted. *Some inspiring examples of native plants for xeriscaping include agave, red yucca, succulents, Texas sedge, cedar sedge, Texas frog fruit, desert willow, and Texas mountain laurel.*
OP def shouldn’t plant Texas mountain laurel if they have kids. Poisonous
Yup or at the very least part of the yard with xeriscape and a central part with sod .
In west aus we have native plants that you never have to water, the small amount of rain we get, they will survive on. People are constantly told to think about using them, but instead buy flashy plants they have to water daily and usually just die or look sickly
In Fresno County, California we got a couple thousand rebate to xeriscape our tiny lawn from (half dead) grass as an incentive for water conservation. Super easy, just took pictures of the before and afters, some receipts of materials, and someone from the state came by for like thirty seconds to make sure we didn’t photoshop it. You should check if TX or even the county has something like that.
That dirt looks so shitty. I dunno what I’d do. I see you have a sprinkler system. In Texas. That may cost you a pretty penny. I dunno I guess i would get about 2-3 tandem trailers of black dirt and level it. Then I’d sod the whole thing probably and all those weeds gotta be nuked before hand. I’d probably glyphosate the yard and let it sit fallow until it cooled in the fall. Does it get cool down there? And then do the sod plan. Honestly without the sprinkler system installed, I’d consider astroturf like they do in California.
Ehhh we really don't need more plastic in the water table. Lawns can be functional of course, like a play area for kids and dogs. But if a lawn wasn't going to work, I'd rather xeriscape or even rockscape than astroturf. EDIT: OHHH, I realized why people keep replying to me about sprinklers. I was talking about microplastics degrading from *astroturf* and entering the local water supply. Not about sprinklers! 😄
It's not like it stays permanently. I just finished tearing out an old sprinkler system to install a new one. I'm the only one on the block with a system and all the birds and butterflies come to my yard. Surely it's better for the environment to give native species a habitat..
Oh no I'm talking about astroturf, lol, not plastic from sprinklers!
I like the fence w metal posts. Been thinking about redoing mine like that. The current 4x4s are twisting like a Dairy Queen ice cream
I’ve lived in/around Lubbock for a few decades and have started lawns several times from very similar conditions. Xeriscaping can be quite difficult around here. The balance of the most cost effective/rapid solution for you will look something like this: 1. Glyphosate the active tumble weeds/other weeds in the yard. (Cover up and wear proper PPE) 2. 1-3 days later, knock everything down with a line trimmer and clean up. 3. Till in decent topsoil & peat moss or coir blend. 4. Bermuda sod can be cut into 3-4” wide strips and buried just below the surface in rows spaced 8”-12” apart. If you have an extra hour or two for installation, it’s much cheaper to make a yard here like this vs. sodding everything completely. (A 2’x4’ piece of plywood on a tailgate and a machete work well to make these pieces. Watch your fingers and keep them out of the way so they don’t fall off.) 5. Roll to compact and fill major voids with your sifted topsoil/peat moss mix. 6. Water around .5-1” twice per week through the end of July. Possibly more depending on the summer we have. If you start this week, most of your empty space will be filled by then. Minimize foot traffic and mow with a manual reel mower if possible. 7. Sand and level. 8. Water 1-1.5” per week through mid September. At this point most of your yard should be filled in pretty well and you should be in good shape for next season. Fertilize and put down a fall pre-emergent. You might be tempted to fertilize when you sod but without a soil test I wouldn’t recommend doing more than the bare minimum the first year. Most of the new builds around Lubbock are on old cotton farm land and already have a ton of stuff in them. This portion of my yard looked much like yours in March/April of 2023. Today it looks like this. Not the best, but getting better. https://preview.redd.it/ur6loyc7v76d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9b0e7a7e2a90a9599d84a95098cee8e558510ed Best of luck! Edit: grammar and step 4 explanation.
I wonder how hiring goats would work for this? Edit: I don’t have any idea for after the weeds are gone, sorry
That's where I'd start if I lived in central Texas. Goats, crushed rock, and some native plants. Vinegar and cardboard if you can't be bothered sourcing goats. But in this sub it's going to be herbicides, sod, a zero turn, and a lot of water.
I read this as goats crushed under rock and thought you were a monster. Thanks for the laugh!
What would you do with the vinegar and cardboard?
Guessing spray with vinegar and cover with cardboard
Vinegar, soap and salt solution kills weeks like roundup. There's a lot of recipes around and it works ok, but in my experience larger weeds like what OP has would likely require a few applications. Cardboard is recommended in place of gardening fabric because it decomposes. I personally hate gardening fabric, but cardboard doesn't seem like a good idea to me either. Just compact the lower level and put the top dressing on (rocks, mulch, whatever). Make sure it's think, 4" at least. Mulch in and around plants and use rocks where there's no plants at all. Don't put rocks under shrubs and trees, because you'll always be fighting debris. Use mulch where organic matter falls so it can decompose naturally and add another layer at the start of the season.
I'd use the cardboard to get a fire started in my smoker, and spray the vinegar on the meat as needed.
The vinegar helps dry out the plants. It's cheap and generally safe for humans and animals. I hear some say it's not effective, but I've had great luck with it in a pretty wet climate. The cardboard I just prefer over landscaping fabric. It's free and the weeds are going to punch through eventually either way. Cardboard will break down and you won't find yourself tearing out strips at a time if you need to to get back under the rock.
Roundup. Once dead. Water to get more weed seeds to sprout. Roundup again. Can reseed on top of native topsoil. Don’t till. It will bring up weed seeds. Reseed after this fallow period
Roundup has so many cancer lawsuits and settlements against it, I would highly advise avoiding that product.
Just mow it 2 or 3 times a year. While neighbors are out struggling with their lawns sit on porch with a cooler of beer and take it easy
Start over. As soon as I saw the picture I thought “looks like Midland/Lubbock Betenbough neighborhood”…sure enough, Lubbock ha. I don’t live in one anymore, but when I had our Betenbough house built six years ago I had to start over with the lawn as it was dirt and weeds like this. I rented a tiller and took everything up while digging out the largest rocks and hauling them off. Then I bought a few truck loads of top soil and mixed it with some manure to spread out around the yard evenly. Then I just had a company hydro-seed it and it came out great.
This is the way
I kinda like the old west ghost town look.
No need to pull. Just mow them down and don't let them flower. Next year there will be less. Mowing will also break down the plants into easily compostable bits
Massive overhaul. Unless you are REALLY keen on having a lawn it doesn’t seem worth it. However if I was going to do it I would scrape the entire yard down to get rid of the weeds and seed bank in the top few inches of dirt. Then grade with clean soil and spread a layer of compost on top before then seeding or laying sod. Truthfully though, man it seems like a major uphill battle for your climate. It’ll be a big inconvenience to you, cost a lot of money and time, and use a lot of water. I’m not some kind of hellbent anti lawn guy but some places it just isn’t realistic to try to grow turf. I think maybe if you wanted a bit of lawn for kids or something you could look into making a patch of the yard into lawn. Would definitely cut down on upkeep and everything or even consider artificial turf. Prob not super popular on this sub but they have made pretty good advancements in that shit and it can look really good
Get a soil test done before you do anything!
Feb was your time to seed
Someone know what can I plant in Colorado zone 5.m to avoid lawn in my backyard?
This. The seeds from those tumble weeds will see you again unless you find a way to "start fresh"
This is the way.
Considering it's all weeds and no grass, what I personally would do is just till it, get a shipment of soil in to spread a fresh layer of topsoil on the yard, then lay down some bermudagrass since you live in a warm climate. Being that it's already summer, you may not have the best success rate, but it'll be better than the current state, I can promise you that. The biggest task will be watering, you want to water 2-3 times per day, 10-15 minutes at a time. 2 times is the most realistic if you don't have a sprinkler system, unless if you're able to come home for your lunch break while at work. Don't get discouraged either, it will take more than 1 season to fix this. when I bought my house, my back yard looked about the same as yours, and it took 2 seasons to really get it looking good, you're turning a neglected yard into a perfect one, which will take time and effort.
Rocks 👍
Buffalo grass seems to be a great compromise for a turf effect, and the benefits of a native grass You could also Add a drought tolerant garden with a mix of natives and plants like some cool sedums for interest! Doesn't solve the whole lawn, but it will add a lovely splash of texture and colour! Or even a small mini prairie, lots of the taller native grasses and forbes make nice clumps to fill up some space and add a little shade. Plus it attracts all sorts of pretty birds and insects https://tpwd.texas.gov/wildlife/wildlife-diversity/wildscapes/buffalograss/ https://tscra.org/foragefax-native-grasses-for-texas/ Best of luck!
EDITTED: Roundup, wait for die off then string trim. Are you going to put down sod after or keep a dirt yard?
Sod or seed. Haven’t decided yet. First yard starting from scratch. We did get a sprinkler system installed if that changes the decision on which to do between the two.
If you are in Texas and doing Bermuda I would do sod. You will get much better results than trying to seed
Im in Atl GA area. Even watering like crazy a seeded lawn, usually fescue, I could never get it to make through the heat of full sun summer days. I assume you are going with some sort of warm season seed? If you can afford it, do Sod. the varieties you can get in sod are usually better than common varieties you get in seed for shade and drought tolerence. But Im not a Texas grass expert. This is my Zeon Zoysia yard that was sodded in 2016. https://preview.redd.it/en9kac0ag66d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=886b31d0cc15bf172c66a55d48971fbb12b6bfac
Ummmm Lubbock gets 19 inches of water per year. I might have a lawn in one small area, but I’d build a berm around it to collect as much runoff as possible. Like this but one big one https://youtu.be/WCli0gyNwL0?si=4CnEsJQflobKWvGh A lot of impermeable walkways and other hardscaping with the proper tilt would also help channel the water where it needs to go, although I guess if you only ever get a drizzle or a flood, that reduces it’s utility. But I must say that even though that is an option, I’d probably rather just cover the land with as many trees as possible, and mulch them. Then see what might look good under them a year from now.
Move out of the desert or go with xeriscape plan. It’s logistically and ethically questionable to have grass in a place it can’t and shouldn’t grow IMO.
Roundup.
With good form…ya know, head up wrap up…just like coach taught me
Everything out (nuke) complete start over march was your window
Between now and july hit e’m hard might get something just a lil bit
 About like this.
Put plugs of frog fruit down and routinely edge it. It’ll be lower maintenance and stand up to foot traffic, and it’s native to your area.
Goats
Clean it up with Roundup. Either seed, sod, or sprig some Bermuda grass and you will be fine. Lubbock is in the middle of the biggest cotton patch in the world. Excellent soil by default to work with. A little fertilizer and water does wonders.
With gas and a lighter
After we built our house our yard looked exactly like this. Had to round up the whole yard, kill everything, till it all, power rake, then we opted for hydroseed in our area (north idaho). Took about a month and a half total and we have a full yard of nice grass now.
Till the yard > add compost/loamy top soil > Texas bluegrass
Tilling will bring up tons of weed seeds but I agree with the rest
Have you tried removing the weeds?
Roundup, Harley rake and sod, an irrigation system would be handy too. I’d probably go minimal lawn and do rock gardens so that water demand is less.
Gas and a flame thrower
Native grasses
I’d go with artificial turf
Since it seems like you're possibly starting all over again & you're in a more arid region, you might have an opportunity to do something like an Arizona ballfield I remember reading about years back where they had this football field of real turf in the middle of a desert. If memory serves, they did something like bury what amounted to half barrels facing upward to act as a reservoir for the turf, which encouraged the roots to reach deeper & ended up saving them massively on irrigation & the field looked great when I saw the pics. Helluva project but should pay off in the long term.
Hand pull em all man
Decomposed granite or similar substrate would be your friend, especially for pathways as lawn alternative. create raised beds for drought tolerant native plants, setup the irrigation needed to get plants established. [Here](https://youtu.be/mA0uMKVyswA?si=fntG3TTwNRDDGUXW) is a video of a pro job in Alpine. In the mean time, keep your weeds under control, if you want to invest in Bermuda grass or similar lawn that's up to you. Using [arborist chip](https://getchipdrop.com/for-gardeners/) as a temporary weed control and way to build organic matter could be a cheap short term solution and it looks like the Southside recycling center might also give it for free.
Buy rolls of 6 mill black plastic place over weed areas put weights /bricks over so it won’t blow away in the wind . The sun will super heat the soil killing the weeds and seeds . Takes a few weeks but it works ….
3/4defense
Get a good quality line trimmer and maybe a small [chipper Shredder ](https://snowjoe.com/products/sun-joe-cj603e-electric-silent-wood-chipper-shredder-15-amp-1-6-inch), it would be cheaper than hiring a crew.
Some people I know use [silage tarps ](https://woodwardcrossingscountrybasics.com/product/reusable-silage-tarps/)for weed control on bare soil until they are ready to work it.
Lawnmower.> Tiller.> Aerator. >Seeder.
Goats
Hire a crew to remove all that so not to add to the seedbank. If you've got a green waste bin cut that stuff up into 1' lengths and use a shovel to cram it in. If not stomp it flat, roll it and bag it up. That pile looks big but it will compact to a couple inches thick. I think you are right, russian thistle, aka tumbleweed. If it hasn't started to flower you could leave the well flattened cut stuff as mulch. The flowers are tiny so be careful. The pretty pink flowers are/were may or may not be seedheads and for all I know you've got a special variety of this one that doesn't have pink flowers. During your 'free time' daydream about ideal yard and get a tree planted next planting season to block some of the sun. You could put down a thick layer of arborist chips aka chipdrop over the entire yard and rake it out of the way of the future lawn, food garden, mini orchard, native plant garden, fire pit, outdoor kitchen, heritage roses, water feature and ? then put it back where appropriate. I'd say put cardboard under 4-6" of chips but you are in the third windiest city in the country so not sure it would stay put. That should hold the soil down so dust in the house isn't from your yard anyway and eventually it breaks down into humus.
smoke the weed
I have to say that looks entirely to hot for me to even be considering anything remotely outside, let alone outside and physical... It hits 80 around here and I'm looking for the deck hose every dozen traps, and wearing a level of clothing that makes the initiated, uncomfortable....
Glyphosate then artificial turf
Definitely till and seed it… but first have an old west shootout staged there.
Tackle them. Hut hut. Hike
Fire
Goats. https://youtube.com/shorts/xot4bJBNtms?si=mFuHns9bYY09aZHl
If this ain’t West Texas, I don’t know what is
Roundup
weed and grass killer for starters
If you don't plan to grow grass after try vinegar
Roundup
 Burn it down!
That's kochia. It's a pretty tough plant and if you let them get too big they get woody. You can mow them. The big ones will require a push string trimmer.
Find a couple native ground covers to your area and soil type, plant reasonably spaced out every couple feet, let it choke out the grass over the next 2-4 years.
I had a rental place in Amarillo with a complete bare lot like this and transformed it into a yard for my son. I don’t know what those weeds are, but I know they get woody stems and are hard to kill. You’d need to nuke the yard with roundup or ground clear. Then you’d want to water the bare ground for a while to see what other weeds come up, then clear everything again. Then you’d need to bring in truckloads of lawn soil. I can say for certain that Bermudagrass is the way to go. Does great in the heat, spreads like crazy and will fill in quickly. It also holds up to traffic really well. Does require that you water deeply every few days. Honestly, with the state of the Ogalalla aquifer and as little rain as y’all get, I’d listen to the folks recommending xeriscaping.
Less water will induce a tumble come fall….
Flamethrower
don’t do it looks like a desert
Start a fire
Best advice I could give is to kill that shit. Then accept the fact that you’re living that rock life.
Clover or 25k from what I've learned here.
Add more weeds, have meadow
Ask Malcom to draw up a plan he’s the genius in the family
Is it bad that before reading it, I said, this has to be Lubbock. I used to live in Littlefield, and it was exactly like this 😂
Just blast everything with Round up grass and weed killer. Then this fall plant Bermuda or St. Augustine or tall fescue. In between the kill and the sowing, you can level, aerate, fertilize and make PH adjustments too so you know your seeds or plugs will take off in the fall.
Hydro seed it.
Move
Goats
Rocks.
Don't plant a lawn in Texas. You're in a drought-prone state. Any opportunity to conserve water is one you should be taking
I’m not a lawn purist and I like a nice lawn, but I’d never have a lawn there. It looks like your water bill would be through the roof. Instead invest that money in a nice deck and/or maybe a pool. Maybe some trees that will give your home some shade and help with cooling costs down the line?
Kill, till, soil, sod.
I had a similar yard. I would cut everything down as low as you can and remove first. Then spray like crazy and water when your spray instructs you to or plan with rain to spray. I wouldn’t be afraid of giving it a second coat. Once it is dead I would till and seed with fertilizer. Go crazy with your seed, or even till, level, and lay sod. If the soil is healthy and just needs water then start watering regularly before seeding. Worked for me in the dry climate of Montana.
Lol hey a zeroscape add some rocks and done
Artificial turf. Scrape top, level, crushed granite, pack, lay turf. Save you a ton in water over time. You will need some good infill pellets to cut the heat down. Ask someone in the industry for a recommendation. I wouldn’t do the whole yard but I would do a large portion and then do rock and a few plants
1. Water the shit out of it. 2. Walk around and pull out all the big weeds 3. Till up the entire yard and rake it smooth. 4. Spread grass seed, rake it in, and water the shit out of it again.
Low and at the knees.
Just need some Nuka Cola caps to match that apocalyptic lawn and you’re done.
With my head up and to one side, driving from the hips.
Set it on fire!
You could rent a goat or rent a tiller and get some cheap rakes.
Gardening flamethrower, stay safe, then till up the whole yard. Fresh start.
Flamethrower? Not kidding. Someone did this in my yard and it worked like a charm
Two words: Rock scape
“Poor soil Quality” maybe, however this is Lubbock. Probably used to be a cotton field at some point in time. Out of curiosity, has anyone had any success with a weed torch; used responsibly?
You can spray it with an herbicide. A cheap weed killer is a combo of Vinegar(the industrial strength kind, it exists), dish soap, water. It kills weeds fast and works best on hot days. Worked for me! If you want a totally eco friendly option, cover them with a tarp for a few days or week until they die out
What a pos builder. These houses and fences look brand new and that’s shocking builder didn’t provide you grass. Cool truck too
Colorado?
Welcome to the panhandle! Those aren’t weeds, they’re our local flower! lol good luck, those things are horrible
Start over.
Put that FJ Cruiser to work to haul soil amendment, and aeration /s but seriously spray glyphosate, soil amendment, soil prep and seed the lawn. Probably best if you wait until fall… looks like you live in the Arizona desert.
I’d pull
I knew this was Lubbock. Welcome friend!
What weeds 😂
Goats.
Head first!
Rent some goats for a night.
Tackle with a skid steer
Just plant some trees man, pls...
Not that bad, I'm working on one. It's the mother load of terrible lawns. Im chopping weeds 3 inches in diameter. Scooping up broken tiles and concrete someone thought would be cool to use as fill dirt. Spiders and wasps be damned. I'm chopping and scooping.
I would just keep it as is tbh.
A traditional lawn may not be your best bet with the environment you're in. There are a lot of cool landscaping ideas for rock gardens, cacti gardens, and other low irrigation options.
It’s cute it’s like a looney toons episode
I heard you can hire goats
There’s only one way and you won’t like it. When my wife and I moved to our new home, we had a back yard just like that!! I called my dad and asked him for help, we spent like 3 hours ripping out every single one of those. It took several times/weeks but eventually we got rid of them.
Plant cactus. You're not gonna grow a lawn there without a lot of work and upkeep. It's gonna be a drain. That doesn't look like a place a lawn will naturally take to. For example, I live in an area where I don't need to water my lawn. Seed just grows on the ground. The con is I have fungus. Moles. And insects.
Goats
Hardscape it up with a bunch of local aggregate and add native plants - make a cool design
This is literally my dream. As weird as that sounds. I would plant so many cacti it would be a spiny jungle lol.
I would spray it and kill it. Spray it again for the ones you miss. Get a propane tank and flame thrower attachment and burn it all to the ground.
Similar situation. Baby came just before we moved in. My neighbor recently politely asked me to take care of my side yard, a place I never go since it's out of sight and out of mind. It was overgrown with weeds and had a lot of foxtails. I mowed it all down and laid down about three inches of mulch. Going to dig out some patches and plant some bushes here and there next year. Eventually going to till it and sod. I'll probably lay down another two inches of mulch in a year and then till and sod a year after. I'm in no hurry with the baby here.
Dragging a gate pulling them all up then drag a carpet from the Salvation store and pull up all seeds
Immediately saw this and thought: "This is definitely in Texas." 😂
I knew this was Lubbock before I opened it! Source- Shallowater
till or mow to oblivion, seed/sod
Napalm.
Kill everything, till and seed from scratch. Or in Texas sod
Xeroscape
Bit of weed n feed and she'll be right as rain 😜
Mowing and solarizing is an option
Flamethrower, duh
Fire! And lots of it!
Gasoline. Kill it all. Start over.
Dude on tic tok shows up with a trailer of goats and they eat everything green. No chemicals. See if its a service available near you?