Hi there...
Having just inherited/been given a home and lawn (yeah right) I have been looking all over for the best/easiest/least expencive ways to come to a sort of conclusion, I know im being kind of picky there.

My new land is approx 400 sq ft.
It has been overrun with trees/weeds for 10 years or so.
With the help of some friends we cut down anything that stood there and had a nice clear look at the size of this property.
We managed to pull out a few of the stumps but still more work to do there..the root systems are huge!

Short of the basic ways to prepare a soil for planting, rototilling testing ect, I am looking to find out what is the best way to kill all the weeds/plants ect that are still coming up? I have seen some of the chemicals in stores but they last up to one year, that puts me in late summer to replant next year, is that too late? or is there anything the lasts half that time?
we have alot of "goatheads?" and alot of other dry crabby weeds I dont know the names of.

I am figureing to either kill it all and start fresh, or can you rototill them under? I am guessing they will just pop back up with the new grass if you do that but I dont know the first thing about this, except for what ive already read here and elsewhere..
Last question before i end this long thing, I see that the zone 5 grasses are more suited to cooler regions? I believe. Anyways anyone familiar with Yakima and the eastern Washington area knows its scorching hot in summer and freeezing in winter. What kinds of grasses would give me a full green lawn for as long as possible and would be a nice play area for children. From what Ive seen of the area most grasses are very brittle and rough to the touch, I dont know if this is the type of grass or just dried out grass thats still green?
Ok this is long enough, any and all tips/help is appreciated.

Welcome to the group!

Longy is right I would need to know the size of your lawn before giving you advice as to how to put it in. 400sf is a pretty small area, and the methods of doing the work would vary greatly from a 40,000 or larger if that was a typo.

As far as what type of spray would be good to use, there are many on the market.

The best by far is one called Finale which is followed closely by Round Up. Actually you can mix the two together and give the weeds a one two punch.
There is one other out there that works very well but do NOT mix it with any other chemical, even though the label says you can, as it readily has a not so nice reaction. (I found out the hard way) This one is called Scythe. This works great on its own, and knocks down the weeds very quickly, but sometimes so quickly that they tend to regrow from their roots, where the other two products will actually kill the entire plant.

Let me know about the correct size of your lawn and we can go from there as to how to do the work.

Mike

* * * *

Mike Maier
aka
The Plant Doc

yeah i guess i was quite a bit wrong on the size... its roughly 45x150 or so, thats what 6750 sq ft? slightly bigger heh

we still have quite a bit of organic weeds/trees left we did get rid of some.

I am going to try to add a picture in a little bit for the trees im talking about. We have been here only a little over a month or so and many of them are already growing back, roughly 30-45 inches tall already. They sprout fast and spread themselves.
So once we reclear the main bushes to prepare for weed spray or whatever we will have a bit more brush.

The photo looks like Sumac. Some sumac can cause a allergic reaction similar to poison ivy, some is used in dried flower arrangements as the fall blooming flower clusters are a beautiful red color.
If you want to get rid of it, it can be killed by applying any of the chemicals I had mentioned before. Or simply pruning it horizontally at the base. (wacking it down with what ever you have at hand)

6750 sq feet is not to bad, I would kill the weeds soon, then after a couple of weeks rent a power rake, and get rid of all the weed debris, and also loosen up the soil a little bit.
Get a good seed mixture something close to 33% each of blues ryes and fescues (NO ANNUAL RYE!!!)
If you look at the package of seed it will have a list of all the grasses that are included in the mixture. Do not get anything labeled "Quick grow" as it will have a high percentage of annual ryegrass in it.

It will take you at least 33 lbs of seed to do it correctly. Apply the seed to the loosened soil, then back rake the seed into the soil. It does not have to be deep only a half an inch or so.
Keep it well watered, and cut it after it gets to about 5 inches high, cutting it down to about 3 inches.
If you wish apply a starter fertilizer at the time of seeding. Something in the neighborhood of 18-24-12 (50 to 75% slow release Nitrogen would be great)
You can check the pH of the soil, and if needed adjust it accordingly over the winter by applying limestone or sulfur, which ever is needed.

Hope this helps

Mike

* * * *

Mike Maier
aka
The Plant Doc

GUess i gotta start using the url link thing..those long old links are just ugly ha!

Okay Now with the bigger picture It looks more like black walnut trees.
Basically the same thing applies to get rid of them.

A power rake will scratch the surface of the soil, but not really dig it up. If that is want you want you will need a roto-tiller, but then you are making yourself a lot more work as you will need to smooth out the area before planting seed.

Those chemicals are basically contact killers, although roundup has some systemic qualities to it. They will kill what ever they touch so keep that in mind. There are chemicals out there such as 2-4-D (weed-b-gone) which you can apply over grass to kill weeds, and not kill the grass. But after using those types of chemicals you would not be able to seed for at least a month.

* * * *

Mike Maier
aka
The Plant Doc

Well I put some pictures over in the mystery section and after looking at some pictures of the ideas people had Im pretty sure the trees are ailanthus 'tree of heaven'.

Anyone have any experience with these?
Mainly the main way to keep them from spreading if there is one.
Thanks again

not sure what sucker growth is, lol, but these trees when I cut them down, (mainly the ones that are fairly well established and have huge root systems) they seem to just pop back up off a different part of the stump thats left there.

I just need to get all the stumps out and then watch for new growth I guess..

Thanks again for all the help, Mike and everyone else