Very New to Gardening Questions

photogrrrl26

I'm renting a house and this is the first summer that I actually have a backyard. By yard, I mean, dirt, WEEDS (dandelions), and a patch of grass. There are some nice plants back there that the previous people put in along the fence, (hydrangas, a rose bush, some type of long grass, etc) but the middle is ...a mess.

How do I naturally kill the weeds and the moss? I have a dog and I don't want to use poison. I did pull a lot of them out but they keep coming.

Also, as I said, I don't want to spend too much on landscaping, since I'm renting but what are some things I can do to make it look pretty? Or to get grass? Is sod expensive? I don't know where to begin, but I don't want my yard to look like an eyesore.

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

TarHeels&Rebels

If you can get sod from a sod farm, it's dirt cheap (pun intended, ha!).  We paid $60 for enough sod to do our 400 sq ft courtyard-sized back yard.

There's no natural way to kill them and they will keep coming back unless you dig them up and till the soil.  You can then put down sod or seed.  Seed for our backyard was $40 and the sod was $60, so the sod was definitely the better answer for us. 

mrs.rescue4

You can use lime to kill the moss but it won't help with the weeds.  You'd need to use some sort of chemical weed control if they're that bad.  Another option would be to use a tarp (or tarps) to cover the area you wish to kill and let the sun beat down on it for a few days...it may work, it may not.

You can also till the entire area which will make pulling the weeds a bit easier.  Then, supplement the soil with some decent loam and plant grass in the area using seed.  Water and wait and you should see some grass in a couple of weeks....all in all, all low cost options.  GL.

CollegeGrrl219

I have not tried it, but I hear that you can kill weeds by pouring boiling water on them.

FoxinFiji

Go to a garden center and buy a nice weeder (like a hand shovel but longer and skinnier).  Then go dig out every weed by hand.  Even if you put sod over the top you need to dig up at least the strong/invasive ones or they will grow right through. 

After you dig out the weeds if you don't decide to sod take a metal rake to areas that need grass then apply grass seed.  Hardware and garden centers sell grass patching kits that have seed, fertilizer, and mulch all in one.  We've been having good luck with that.  That would be cheapest option and would need less maintenace (sod needs a lot of water every day).

scatterbrainliz

You can pour vinegar and once the plant has died, you can dig up it up.  Vinegar is a natural weed killer.