How to Green Up your Grass + Destroy Weeds & Kill Grubs

Friggin' Lawns.

That's what I was going to title my post, but then I decided that if anyone ever REALLY needed some "white-suburban-girl-lawn-know-how"... that I'd better make my post title a bit more google friendly😁

I started an insta-story on my lawn journey, thinking nobody would give a flyin-flip... but then was surprised to learn that not everyone thought it was the most boring topic in the entire world (like I probably would of). So... here ya go - all of my lawn knowledge in an easy to reference post.

#yourewelcome #dontexpectmuch

Turns out, yards are a lot of work. 

Also turns out... I hate getting sweaty, dirty and working outside in temperatures over 72 degrees.

Oh! and bending over constantly is something I'm not a huge fan of either #weeds.

Soooo as you can imagine, my yard was a challenge for me this Summer, but I was DETERMINED to keep it alive, thriving and green.

Because it just looks so pretty when it is!👇

I realize that this post is coming at a weird time... seeing that most of us are heading into winter soon... but hey, a girl had to live and learn - and I needed the entire Summer for that. So stash this little bit of spotty, ill-explained yard knowledge in your back pocket, and use it for next year :)

Alright, here's how my lawn started out. Spotty, yellow-ish and just all around kinda sad.

I'm not sure what everyone else uses, but here in Utah, we went with the IFA 4 step fertilizer program + Humate. It's idiot proof. The directions are on the bags and it literally gives you the step by step instructions on when and how to use each one. You can read more below.

The left is before, and the right is after step 3 + Humate (two different applications).

Crazy RIGHT!?

Shelley - 1

Yellow, spotty grass - 0

All was well, until about the end of August. I started noticing TONS of weeds in the grass😡. I tried pulling them, but they were multiplying faster than I could get to them, and were impossible to keep up on.

Enter in the weed killer combo that destroys weeds, but not your grass.👇

Image herbicide and this Accel from IFA mixed with a gallon of water in this sprayer.

I spot treated the weeds in my yard, and then waited 48 hours to water or mow.

I didn't notice anything happening for a few days, but then the weeds started shriveling up. And after about 10 days, this is what they looked like. 

That stuff WORKS yo! No more tall dandelions billowing over my pretty grass. 

Shelley - 1

Grass weeds - 0

Then, came the Grubs.

Or at least I think...

So depressing - poor grass! It just started dying in spots, and it looked horrible! I was watering it so well, and taking such good care of it. But STILL, it got worse.

Naturally, the next step would be to put another bag of that amazing Humate down on it (that helps thicken and green up grass) which I did! But I was getting messages from people left and right, telling me that they thought I had Grubs!

Ew.

Okay, so they say that if you have grubs - a small white worm-ish thing that eats the root of the grass and kills it - that you can pull the yellow grass up, and if it comes up easily and/or you see white little wormy things... then you got you some grubs girrrrl.

But here's the thing... like I said on my insta-story before, I don't go LOOKING for bugs🙅... so I spent the money on some grub killer instead (AMDRO), spread it around real good on all parts of my lawn, and my neighbors (who I connect with) and called it a day.

I'd like to say

Shelley - 1

Grubs - 0

But I'm not entirely sure there actually were any... so let's just say that there was, I killed them, and all is well now. 

+

With grub killer AND another bag of Humate, here we are now.

Not perfect, but definitely getting much better!

Less weeds and less yellow for SURE. So that's definitely a win.

I'm thinking that I might need to reseed a few spots to get them to grow back properly... but we'll see.

It's almost the end of September and it's getting chilly. That means it's about time for step 4 in my fertilization process... and I've never been so happy for snow to come in my entire life.

I'm sure after about the 10th time shoveling all that heavy white stuff from the sidewalks and freezing my butt off, I'll be wishing for warmth and a lawnmower instead... but as of right now? I've just about had it with this finicky grass and all it's issues. lol

Hopefully these product suggestions help someone else out who needs it.

Anyone else have grass issues? Any magical tips or tricks?

I'm all ears!